Wavespin DH3000

BUILD:	2008
MATERIAL:	Plastic and Aluminium
MADE IN:	Made in China
SERIAL:	N.A
PRODUCED:	?
PRICE:	US 79.99 at BassPro , Baltimore USA
BALL BEARINGS:	8 + 1 Stanless Steel Ball bearings
GEAR RATION:	1:5.2
WEIGHT:	10 OZ (295 gr)
BOX	Yes, with free DVD from Doug Hannon
REMARKS:

This is a very interesting fishing reel, designed in the USA by Doug Hannon, but Made in China.
The Wavespin website explaines the complete series, in this artikel we discuss the model DH3000.

This fishing reel has also been tested by tackletour and you can read the test here

The result of the tacketour test: Total Score: 6.67 + INNOVATION AWARD!

When the Wavespin entered the market it raised a lot of interest among anglers, here at stripersonline you can find a nice discussion about this reel.

Wavespin is promizing that you can cast a wopping 30% further and more important less or no wind knots with their special spool design. We had our holidays in 2009 in the USA, also because I had to be there for my work. After a week of work my wife came also to the US and from DC we decided to drive up north. Of course we passed the Bass-Pro in Baltimore which was probaly not a coincidence according my wife and because it was lunch time we went to visit. Of course within 5 minutes I found the department were they sold fishing reels. Of course loads and loads of fishing reels, maybe to much to make a choice. One of the reels which was interesting was the Wavespin DH-3000 reel, and because of the strange spool and the promize of more distance in casting and no wind knots, I selected this reel. The price was 79.99 in US dollars, so in Euro's that is something like 57 Euro which is a fair price.
The reel is deliverd in a nice box with a free instruction DVD.
I found later the reel is also available without the Wavespin Technology in a standard model, its called the JVS AXIM 4000, which is the same model, only with a standard spool You can find a picture on this page of the AXIM or have a look at the site of Jan van Schendel who is the importer of the reel, click here.
The price of the AXIM is about 50 euro in Europe , so very similar as the Wavespin reel.

What I like about the Wavespin is the handle and grip, very well made and very nice for heavy lures. Also I like the design of the splitted spool, makes it very easy to remove old nylon, briljant idea. But there is a catch, the spool is to my taste too deep, so you need to fill it up before you add nylon or dynamee, it would be much nicer to have a more shallow spool. I consider this a design mistake, I really need a more shallow spool. The rest of the reel is all plastic , just the standard Made in China reel, its not bad, I mean the reel turns very nice, but it does not look so nice as the handle and the spool.

Now the most important thing and the reason why I spent money on this reel, can I cast 30% further and have no wind knobs.

So I took it out for fishing, spooled it with Suffix 25/100 nylon, and started fishing. First impression, I was not too impressed, I did some casting and changed at the same rod a Mitchell 300 and it looked to me the Mitchell 300 was casting a bit further. The wind was not too strong , but because I was fishing a large river, i made some far cast to the current rimple, this caused wind knots at the Wavespin but also for the Mitchell 300.

But the statement of Wavespin that no wind knots would occur was 100% busted.

A second session was done and because of wind knots I lost at least 25 meters of nylon, so i decided to remove the nylon and spool dynamee. Of course I spool the reel with enough line, so it will come of easy, just like its shown in the instruction DVD. This time I decided to make some test on a grassfield and measure the distance with banksticks. Casting weight was rapalla surface lure and I made 20 cast with my rod and a Mitchell ACX 4000
reel. After that I made many cast with the same rod and the wavespin, I never reached the distance which I cast with the Mitchell, the Wavespin did not cast 30% further, the claim from wavespin was busted. On avarage the reel actually cast 10% less, and when you try to force your casting by applying more power, the number of wind knots increases.

The fourth test sessing was on the water, shimano rod, jensen spoon and heavy wind conditons. Almost every cast against the wind was now a wind knot, I was using not very stiff braid, one of the cheaper brands, but every cast was a wind knot. After 10 minutes I removed the Wavespin, it was impossible to fish with this reel. I placed a standard reel and continued to fish. With the conventional reel I also had wind knots, but maybe once every twenty cast, so i was able to fish in a strong wind.

So the claims of Wavespin are totally busted.

This reel cannot be used when there is a strong head or side wind, then this reel is giving a lot of problems. This reel was awarded by the magazine Field & Stream, but I dont thinks their testers did a good job in testing this reel. Wind knots are not prevented for sure and the reel does not cast further for sure. The reel is casting fine if there is not too much wind and with soft cast its actually not too bad. But when conditions are though and far cast are needed, this reel is a no buy reel. For the price the reel is OK, I specially like the handle, its very good. The drag is also very good, but the fact that the claims of Wavespin are busted, I advise to buy someting else for your money if you need a new reel. For the same price you can by very nice reel from Quantum.

Wavespin DH3000	JVS AXim 2000 and 4000