Real World Tests: The arrival of my Twin Power FE 2500SHG coincided with the release of Sunline's new Almight sinking braid. It was the perfect time to check out both products, so I filled the reel's spool with a healthy supply of 16lb (gou #1) Almight in high vis pink. As for the rod with which to pair the Twin Power, I chose my ARK Reinforcer RFC73MLXS - one of my favorites from this aggressive upstart of a tackle manufacturer. Zander primarily fishes his TwinPower reels on NRX and NRX+ rods spooled with yellow PowerPro and a Seaguar Tatsu leader.

Casting is of course, effortless, it's a spinning reel

The very elegant handle and exceedingly comfortable knob

Retrieve: Marketing terminology, buzzwords, and catch phrases aside, what it always comes down to for me, especially with a spinning reel, is how does the product feel when you turn that handle and all the components housed in that frame begin their dance. The Twin Power is very smooth and dare I say, solid. It does not have the feathery light start up inertia of my '23 Vanquish, but that's splitting hairs and a testament to how different MGL Series reels feel versus power oriented reels like the TwinPower. Considering the reel's more stout construction, that startup is still very light and overall the reel has a very high end feel.

This model comes with a felt drag, and if you look closely, you can see the bearing at the center of the spool

Drag: Having said the Core Solid reels are built for more robust applications, my 2500SHG, of course, came with a finesse felt drag to compliment that shallow spool. There is a bearing nestled within the spool to enhance drag performance and it all comes together perfectly for a super smooth and consistent drag with light line. So despite the engineering in response to applications that are a bit more demanding, the 2500SHG is still a great finesse reel.

According to the spec sheet, there's another bearing beneath that pile of washers

Power: If you're looking for a mid-tier spinning reel with more "oomph" in your pursuit of bigger game fish, the Twin Power would be a good choice. I say this because of the reel's aluminum rotor and frame that will give you reassuring support against flex.

Core Solid reels are engineered for more robust applications - like catching sunfish

Otherwise, the reel's actual inherent power will vary between models - an interesting trait unique to spinning reels. The 3000 sized Twin Power, for example, is available in three different spool depths and four different retrieve ratios (JDM models). For me, of course, in pursuit of largemouth bass, I catch bluegill. My 2500SHG had plenty of oomph to handle those feisty game fish.

Zander enjoys fishing the Twin Power FE on classic NRX and NRX+ rods

Zander was able to spend much more time putting both largemouth and smallmouth through the TwinPower and one of the reasons he likes the reel so much is that it does feel very rigid, and delivers a similar winding power and feel to the much more expensive Stella. The Stella FE may be a dual-material body construction with aluminum and carbon fiber reinforced CI4+ but you would never know it when tangling with green fish as it just feels light winding under load.

Zander's first experiences with the new Twin Power came wrangling Smallies on Lake Champlain

Next Section: Twin Power Bail Operation and Line Twist