So I recently bought a new side drifting setup and chose the Shimano Sahara 3000 for the reel. For 80$ you would be expecting a decent/above par reel, and I have had good experiences with Shimano in the past, unfortunately, this reel is just a LEMON!

I have it spooled with 10 lb Izorline high-vis and every time I close the spool the line gets caught out on the bar, and not the bearing where it is suppose to seat. The result: Every time I hook a fish are get snagged up the bail comes flying open rather than the drag engaging. Doesn't matter if I manually close the bail, or reel half a turn to close it, the line still seats outside of the channel and on the bar causing this problem.

The reel overall functions smoothly and casts very well, but with this small defect this real is a useless piece of junk.

This image shows where the line SHOULD be seating. From this image you can see the seam that is catching on the line and preventing it from fully returning.



This pic shows where the line ACTUALLY seats when you close the bail.



You can tell from the amount of borax and egg goo all over the reel it have been getting used, I don't know if I can return it to the store at this point, so I think my only options are contacting Shimano, or trying to fill the seam with some type of epoxy or something to smooth it out.