Fish--

Can't answer for the stickiness of the Suveran reel... I'm surprised though. I have a couple of the smaller models that are very good; the best drag I've used on a spinning reel since the days of the Daiwa SS series. Since I haven't fished with the Shimanos, I can't compare them.

What I do like with the center drag reel is the fact that the drag is right under your finger tips. You don't have to do contortions to change your drag setting. If you give me your e-mail address, I can forward a jpg file that shows the differences in drag washers... if I can find it.

Another point, on a trip the party I was with caught 5 chinook in the 28-30 lb. size range on the Abu Center Drag. At no point did we have problems with the drag sticking or chattering.