TESTIMONIAL OF THE ANGLER Dave Mercer
HAGANE concept, Shimano’s unique design.
My experience with Shimano reels goes back to 1990. At that time, I was surprised to discover the first Japanese reels that outperformed foreign-made reels, which were popular in those days. Since then, I have been using Shimano reels for 25 years. My impression of Shimano reels has been that they are precise, extremely durable, and rigid because their gears and the main parts of their bodies are metal. Every model has the same basics; the concept of reel manufacturing does not seem to change at all. In my opinion, this is probably because Shimano believes that only pursuing the concept leads to a “catch,” the greatest pleasure for anglers. Fishing is a sport, and a reel is a tool. Strangely enough, in the world of fishing, a cool appearance and new functions tend to be regarded as evolution, and because of this, anglers have difficulty in choos- ing proper reels. From my point of view, these tendencies are proof that many anglers do not see the true nature of reels. A reel is a tool for “fishing.” Every reel should be designed for this purpose. Shimano builds reels based on this principle. Shimano always sees the true nature of reels and pursues the optimum solution. I believe that these attitudes result in the reeling performance, strength, and beauty of Shimano reels. I believe that all the anglers who have used a Shimano reel once has felt these features. Shimano has released “HAGANE” which reflects this design concept. “HAGANE” is a powerful
word that only Shimano, who
have been seriously manu-
facturing reels for more than
40 years, can utter. The word
indicates the confidence nur-
tured through Shimano’s un-
changing attitudes and the
determination that Shimano
won’t change their attitudes
in the future. “HAGANE” im-
plies the hope that something
new will emerge.