Galen Zink wrote:

I am planning on buying a new Shimano Spirex to fish Flukes and Bass
Assassins. And I see that they come in either front drag or rear drag.

Whats the difference and what do you prefer?

Thanks guys!

I have used the 2000 rear drag for years and liked it but I am
considering another one and may go with the front one because if has
another bearing, so should be smoother, and they call it knew so looks
like its a bit of a redesigned reel which I might have some interest in.
but it will be tough giving up the rear drag, turn the knob too what you
generally want it to be and then there's the fighting lever which lets
you adjust the drag +/- on the fly by simply pushing a lever instead of
messing with knobs. pretty nice ..... I love never having to look down
to flip the bail, or basically, never mess with it plus I like the 2
pole handle.

the only thing I don't like about the reels in general is the amount of
gear play in the reel. I think it has something to do with the extra
gear mechanism involved in designing the reel to stop with the trigger
in the proper top dead center position on the backspin to properly flick
the trigger. the result, there is a lot of play, sloppy comes to mind.
you grab the bail and lock its motion with one hand and you can turn the
handle back and forth some before it actually engages the bail. makes it
a little sloppy. you don't see this in even the cheapest of normal
reels. but like I said, I like the trigger so I will be buying another
and the deal in Bass Pro is pretty good, same as Cabala's (89.99, rod
and reel) but I like the rod handle design better on the BP's Bionic Blade.