I discovered this little gem back in 2004. Until that time I had never seen or even heard about the XL 75. One of my customers from Trinidad alerted me to the existance of this reel. I had this reel special ordered from Kristal in Italy via Kristal USA. Upon arrival I was thrilled with the reel and purchased one for myself. Thoroughly impressed with it's performance, I immediately commenced marketing the XL 75. I am proud to say that BMC was the first US dealer to sell this reel.
In addition to it's incredible performance, the attractive price tag allowed me to feature a high end, high performance deep drop combo for under $1000. At BMC I like selling quality merchandise while saving my customers their hard earned money, so the XL 75 was the perfect addition to my offshore tackle offerings.
The XL 75 has the same motor, same features, and same power specifications as the Kristal 621. Contrary to popular belief, the XL 75 is a rod mounted electric reel. The XL 75 may be mounted on our Sceptre Deep Drop or the Crowder Deep Drop Rod. Our XL 75 combos feature the 130 LB Class blanks from Sceptre and Crowder Fishing Rods.
When anglers inquire about this reel the question that always comes up is:
"Why is this reel less expensive than a 621?"
The answer to this question is very simple. The 621 is an excellent reel that was developed for the US market. It features a front mounted spool with a lever drag. This spool configuration, while more attractive to look at, is more labor intensive to manufacture. In addition, the 621 is belt driven because of the spool's location. Since the 621 takes more time to assemble and manufacture, it has a more expensive price tag.
Here are the differences between the reels:
- XL 75 has a side mounted gear driven spool the 621's spool is on the front
- XL 75 has an interchangable spool, the 621 does not
- XL 75 features a star drag, the 621 features a lever drag
- XL 75 features one up and down switch, the 621 has an up and down switch and an over ride
- XL 75 is about $350 to $400 less than a 621
I have been using the XL 75 since 2004, throughout this time this reel has served me well. In addition. all of my customers who have purchased this reel from me have been extremely satisfied with it's performance. I feel comfortable recommending this reel to all my customers.
Tight Lines,
Louis
CEO BMC Tackle Inc.