Kustom Made Westlake 10000
High street chain, Go Outdoors come crashing into the reel market with a budget-priced (under £40!) but feature-packed winder. Here is everything you need to know...
Take it as the perfect indicator of the current resurgent popularity of fishing—and carp angling in particular—that Go Outdoors are throwing their considerable weight behind a range of products to sell at their nationwide network of 66 stores. We’ve already covered one of their bivvies in these pages and now it’s time to inspect this budget big-pit reel.
This is the Westlake Kustom 10000 Pit Reel. Who are Westlake?
That’s Go Outdoors’ new own brand in the fishing market. They’ve recently brought out a huge range of items including bivvies, bedchairs, nets, reels, seat boxes and even terminal tackle.
Blimey, that’s quite a commitment from them. What’s this reel all about?
Well, in essence it’s a big front-drag reel at a very attractive price. Westlake’s marketing blurb calls it ‘the perfect carp reel’ and while we wouldn’t quite go that far, it’s definitely worthy of a closer look.
It certainly looks like a typical big-pit reel…
Yeah, there’s nothing revolutionary here but there’s also plenty of tried-and-trusted mechanics at work, so we’re pretty confident it’ll do what it’s designed to do and should be tough enough for plenty of use, too.
What are the specs?
It’s got nine internal ball bearings which is a good start as far as smooth operation goes, and you won’t be fumbling around to try to crank it if you get a bite in the dark—that handle knob is large and easy to grip. The big spool at the front of the reel can house plenty of line and there’s a ‘rapid drag’ system operated by the dial on the top to go from locked up to free running (and back again!) very quickly indeed.
Anything else I need to know about?
Aside from the cost (we’ll get to that, don’t worry), then you’ll be pleased to see you get a line clip, a heavy-duty bail arm, a 4.1:1 retrieve ratio and a pleasant mix of silver details and a matte-black body.
So, go on, how much is it?
With a Go Outdoors member’s card (if you’ve ever stocked up for a camping trip you’re likely to have one) then these reels cost just £39.99! If you’re on a tight budget, or need a no-frills reel for spod or marker work then that’s good value. And of course, you’ll be backed up by all the customer-service benefits that come from such a large chain like Go Outdoors.
