That first time out there was a lot of fun and fish were not picky. The last trip on Friday started bad with foul hooking a bass in a small rapids area. I took the 45th anniversary out again. One of the differences that I have noticed is the drag display. The selector is round, like a knob, on the 45th while the same part has a point on the 40th. The display on the 40th also goes from 1-8 while the same display on the 45th has two arrows indicating more or less. I have included a picture to display this. I also believe that the line spool is plastic, 45th, versus, metal, 40th. I would have to disassemble them to confirm this.
I do know that this reel took a few beatings during the trip though. I threw a spinner across a small rapids, there are four to five sets on that separated the river sections, and got snagged underwater. I was able to drag myself in a kayak by reeling in and using the snag as a pivot point to dislodge it. I weigh 270 and the kayak with gear was an easy 60+lbs. I now have very few reservations about the power of this reel.
The next Veteran organization outing for these reels and maybe even some new to me will be either Lake Palestine, TX on Sept. 9th for a bass tournament or living in Michigan for six months.
I do have one question for the group and may post in the main Century 100b forum: did Johnson make metal line retrieval pins for the 100b? I'm asking because I want to use braided line and was told that eventually it would cut though the plastic.