Apex Magnum

I have two of the Apex Magnum reels and have been very happy with them. I have used them for throwing mid sized swimbaits for bass to reeling in 15 plus pound catfish and they have preformed flawlessly.

I was at a fishing expo and I needed to get a add a few bass setups to my arsenal. I bought an elite, a grande, a flipping model, and a magnum. I kept the elite and the magnum and gave the grande and the flipping reel to my brother. He fishes for bass much more than I do. (5 stars on the elite, grande, and flipping reel) the first time I cast the magnum it made a horrible sound and vibrated in my hand. Tried making adjustments to it with no luck. Sent it in for repairs. It came back with the same problem and the drag was making the same noise and vibration when line is pulled from it. Sent it back once again, comments said they lubed and replaced drag washers or something. The reel was still having the same issue, I doubt they ever tested it to see if it was working. Due to me being in the military and deployments and it sitting in a box it’s over it’s 3 year warranty by now most likely. Maybe I just got a bad reel, I don’t know. I haven’t thrown it away yet, but I probably should. With all of the shipping cost I really don’t feel like I should keep throwing money away on a lost cause. It’s too bad, because we really like all of our other Ardent reels, but such a bad experience with the magnum has made me very hesitant to buy another Ardent reel.