I decided to call no. 8 company about the reels and the man convinced me to keep the reels.They want me to be happy and to use their reels. "That problem with them is rare" is what he said......hey will do what ever they have to so I has 2 good working reels.So with this being said one has to try them
that dude is clueless, we have spoken before too. what a jerk he is.
just take them back to the store and forget about that guy in florida (why do florida people know ice fishing is beyond me). he gave me a sob story how when i bought his rods to go with my reels and my reels where too loose on his rods, he says spend more and you get what you pay for. that's all he had for me. i told him he shouldn't have them for sale then since they are junk. i ended up shimming the reel seats to accept my reels i like a lot.
that being said, i do love the 13 fishing wicked rods! 19"UL is my favorite. they did get some thing right. the tickle stick version one was a big joke too tho.