Fox Stratos FS 10000 Fishing Reel

I originally purchased this product more as a backup for my then reels of choice ( daiwa regal freespools) than for a replacement and I also purchased a stratos FS 70000e for the specific use on my fox controller rod. Inevitably the smaller reel developed serious faults finally ending up with the occilation system stopping and this took out the freespool mechanism, I also found that the after market service was dire. I wasn't having the same problems with the 10000 but I only use it sparingly but fox used to claim that all the stratos reels were built identically regardless of their size ( 10000, 70000, and 40000) so I am expecting it to go " bang" one day thus I have zero confidence using it. A footnote: a fishing friend purchased the

update series of reels - fox Eos 10000 and one of them has failed with the anti reverse packing up whilst playing a carp, contacting fox was a complete waste of time for him. Incidentally my pair of daiwa reels are still going strong, just saying!

I have a lot of Fox gear among my fishing tackle, all of which is good value, well made items with one exception - a pair of Stratos 10000 FS reels. At separate times, both have suffered broken free-spool levers. Neither have been handled roughly and have sustained damage at different times and without just cause. That wouldn't have been so bad if I'd been able to get replacements from Fox, but not only are they unable to supply spares, their Customer Services will not even reply to a polite enquiry about replacements. A big thumbs-down for Fox reels and Fox Customer Services. I wish I'd known in advance how poor the after-sales service was. 

I've been using these reels for around 7 years now, on the first 5 years I thought they were quite good value for money, but then basically everything started going wrong. The clutch on all 3 of my fs10 000 seized, and the anti reverse just broke off.

I have tried to get them repaired at FOX on numerous occasions with some sort of excuse each time. The latest being that these reels have been discontinued and they can no longer help me.

In the 12 years that I have been specimen angling I have sworn by FOX and would generally only buy FOX products, now I refuse to ever buy anything FOX again....

The least one could expect from the so called "Giants" in specimen products would be good customer service.

"Shame on you FOX"

hi guys ,firstly sorry to hear about all your problems with your strattos 10000 ,but i purchased 4 about 8 year ago when they first came out and the only problem ive had was a handle breaking on one, other than that they had a good field test

had a pair of these reels maybe 4 years can not fault them and they have had loads of use. all good

Good looking reels and they look the part! I have purchased 3 of these and 2 are now dead. Free spool lever will not operate on one. another the rachet lever did'nt do anything? made the mistake of taking the latter apart and as with the second - only now good for spares! Third one working Ok and also my FS 12000E is working OK - at the moment! Would i have them again? not if they were given to me!! Shimano all the time!

I have had these reels for four years and they have been back to Fox at least four times(TWICE OF WHICH I HAVE HAD TO PAY FOR THE REPAIRES). The spools would just pop off while casting, bait runners get stuck on, clucth wouldnt tighten enough. I have fished for 17 years these reels are the worst reels Ive ever owned. Would like to sell them but would feel guilty to whoever bought them. My advice is stick with diawa or shimanno still have reels by both of them from when i started and they all work. !!!!DO NOT BUY FOX!!!!!

I have two of these , both handles had to be replaced due to plastic teeth shredding off, i aint a genius but i know not to mix plastic and metal when it comes to gears and teeth , the same happened to my replaced handles but fox would not replace because they said i was over tightening them, they said they have never heard of this problem before even , not realising my mate has 4 and had the same problem twice ,which they replaced twice, nothing but liars and cheats. avoid at all costs. Not worth the hassle. Have purchased two new handles , only so i can auction off on ebay. SORRY FOX NICE TRY BUT NOT EVEN CLOSE.

I bought these reels after a recommendation from a friend, i originally had the shimano baitrunners and had no problems in the 10 years or so i used them for. After using the Fox reels for just over a year i can conclude that these are positively the worst reels in my opinion on the market !

They are unnecessarily heavy as they obviously contain nothing more than plastic clutch fittings. I looked after these reels as i do with all my fishing gear and disappointingly the baitrunner clip decided to shear off while clipping back into place. The clutch totally seized shortly after this for no apparent reason. After reading terrible reviews of Fox's aftercare service i decided to find this out for myself and confirmed how bad this was after 8 weeks waiting for a replacement baitrunner clip to arrive.

All 3 reels have deteriorated in some form due to poor quality and cheap fittings and not to any mis treatment or over use as i will unfortunately be using these again.

If anyone is thinking about buying these reels first or second hand then please avoid them like the plague, all they will do is make you forget what a pleasure it is to have a proper reel which does the job.

Affordable reels with good line lay but awful reliabilty.

Sent them back time and time again, bail arm stayed open after casting, freespool tensioner seized solid, clutch siezed solid, bits fell off them etc, the list went on and on.

There are much more reliable reels on the market for similar money or even less

**AVOID**