I have 4 reels. 2 MR2's that are about 3 years old and 2 MR3's that I bought this year. I've serviced my MR2's regularly and they both work great still and I expect them to for many years to come. In terms of pure sport of fighting the fish I'd lean towards the MR2's for a couple reasons:
1) I like the tension on the MR2's more. When a fish is running I find it easier to find that perfect tension setting on my MR2's vs. the MR3's. That said, I'm newer to the MR3's and have only caught a couple fish on them vs. 100's on my MR2's (during coho runs up north and sockeye run last year in Van
. I think for smaller fish (sockeye for example) the MR2 has a more consistent drag whereas the MR3 catches a little bit. I'm sure with a big fish on they are quite similar.
2) This is pretty ticky-tacky but I like the sound of MR2 better. When a fish is peeling line the MR2 has a softer 'scream' than the MR3. MR3 has a louder click to it. Again, splitting hairs but just my personal preference.
3) I too notice the slight creep on the MR3's while in the rod holder on a downrigger. I've seen it on both my MR3's as well as my buddies MR3's when we're out fishing. Not a major issue but I'd prefer it didn't creep at all.
At the end of the day you are going to have the best reel of your life whichever you choose. The retrieve on the MR3 is noticeably better (faster) but, again, if it's all about the fight I think I prefer the challenge of having to reel like a madman on the MR2 vs. reeling at a controlled pace on the MR3. As for colour I'd suggest the black one. I have black and gold and have caught many more fish and my biggest on the black one
Congrats!
