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Obscure Adventures Magazine
that I’m suspect of. Time will tell if this design will hold up, it appears to be rugged enough, but this is
one area where many reels fail. Additionally, the reel comes pre-loaded with 200# test braided line from the same company. After shooting the reel a few times, I noticed that the line would stack up on the lip of the metal rotating assembly just below the pick-up pins. It would only do this within the last few feet of the retrieve. Since this problem occurred I have removed some of the line from the reel and the problem seems to be corrected, but it’s something I’ll be monitoring.
As far as the Archenemy reel seat is concerned, we’ve seen this design in other seats on the market. Most notably the Muzzy Anchor. There have been some concerns with the design. For example, there are pins that hold the pieces together to prevent them from spinning. I’m aware of some of these pins breaking and the parts will spin around on the seat. Care should be taken to avoid overtightening the reel into the seat, or overtightening a rod into the front of the seat.
The slip fit design used in the seat’s tube construction is held together with these locking pins. I noticed that this design contributes to some overall looseness between the tubes in the seat, even after all the components are tightened (rod, reel, and to the riser). This is not a show-stopper, but the seat is not as rock-solid as others on the market. Also, when reviewing the features for this product on the Bass Pro website I noticed that it claims to have a picatinny rail for mounting a light, or laser. I do not see that feature on the product itself, or in the packaging.
One nice thing about this reel and seat combo is that even with the Nemesis’ extended reel cap the standard length rods like the F&D Archery Straight Shooter and TJE Shoot-Thru still work well.
Overall, the Archenemy Nemesis reel should find its way onto many bows in the coming months and buyers should be happy with the results. The reel seat should also work, unless it’s abused, and the price is right. The Archenemy Nemesis reel has a retail price of $49.99. The Archenemy Bowfishing Reel Seat is listed at $19.99 and both are available through
The slits in the cap (left) allow for easy application of silicone spray to keep the line free-flowing. However, the slits also showed that the reel was stacking line above the metal lip below the pick-up pins (right), making the last few turns of the reel difficult.
Comparison of reel handles between the Ti-20 (left) and the AE Nemesis (right).
The Nemesis reel comes pre-spooled with Archenemy 200# test braided line. The spool contains 100', however the reel only seems to hold approximately 75'.