i have fished with most every brand of spinning reel made,three years ago i got some wavespin dh3000 and have never fished with a better reel.they are alittle bit pricey but most reels will only last me one season,as i do alot of fishing now that i retired but these reels are still as good as new.look them up on the internet,they have a new one out now called a xl but its not as good as the 3000dh.i crappie fish all year and catch well over 2000 crappie a year. they are about 80.00 but more than worth it.:biggrin:

 

I have two BPS Johnny Morris signature series spinning reels and they are the best reels I have. And no I don't own two reels
I have over twenty diff reels and have owned more, these are by far the best and my father owns two himself. I bought the JM20 models but for light stuff I would recommend the JM10. It's going to eat one of your BPS cards but it is worth it. Also don't settle for cheap line or you'll hate your reel, get BPS XPS signature series fluorocarbon line. Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

I have 3 Pflueger Presidents and they are mighty smooth also.

 

The only spinning reels I've owned we're junk! I guess I picked the wrong brand.
They stayed tangled up all the time.im not knocking yalls,just wondering if mine were a bad choice.

 

Nuthn but shimano on my boat.Spinning or casting.

 

Pflueger are mighty smooth also.

pflueger gets my vote. I just got one a few weeks ago and I absolutely love it. I am heading to NC tomorrow to do some fishing and it is the only one I am taking with me.

 

I use shimano.2 Symetre's and a Stradic. Both are nice reels. I like 7' medium or 7' medium light rods.

 

Pflueger President. I like the 6925 myself. Small enough for catching bait bream. Yet strong enough for hauling in some bigger trout, bass, etc. I have it mounted on a 6'0" Falcon slow action ultra light. So far it's been one of the best rod/reel combos I've ever had. Fits me well. Using 4' test at the moment but the tackle box has a 6 lb spool ready to go if the need arises.

I've almost thrown away all of my medium duty stuff. Used to swear by a Mitchell 300 on a 6'6" cheapie medium/medium rod. Started catching trout last year on the Red river with the ultralight. FUN. Then tried some bass fishing with it. Also kind of cool. You have to learn to finesse them. Got a few catfish last year with it too. Those are fun. Oh and yesterday I got a nice 6 1/2 lb dogfish with it (grinnel). Talk about a fight! Nearly 20 minutes to reel it 25 feet.

 

I have half a dozen of the Mitchell 300's. They are really great reels for the money.

 

The only spinning reels I've owned we're junk! I guess I picked the wrong brand.
They stayed tangled up all the time.im not knocking yalls,just wondering if mine were a bad choice.

Stop buying those 9.99 combo from wal-mart!!!!!

 

the shimano sahara has been my go to spinning reel going on 10 years i have 3. 2 of them are going on 10 years old still as smooth as the day i first bought them........................... shimano for life here..................

 

For mostly small fish like those I settled for a $60 Shimano Sedona spinning reel, using 2 heavier $200 Shimanos for larger fish. Mine is either a 2 or 4 pound capacity reel (in the boat and covered, I just don't remember), with about a 4 pound drag. It's rare that a crappie slips the drag even at 2 pounds, as I tend to yank them in the boat before they get up some steam to run away. A 2 pound pull is a lot for even a 2 pound crappie.

You can spend more money for fancier settings like rear drag, and that's nice to have. But the idea of using the drag is to set it before fishing. It ought to be set for the size of fish and fight, then leave that alone. That makes the cheaper front drag setup plenty fine for panfish and white bass. There's quite a jump in my opinion to get into an expensive spinning reel with a heavier drag needed for largemouths, because it takes bucks to get a really perfect wide-range drag that works as well set at 4 pounds as at 10 pounds or whatever. Whatever reel I use will have the drag set at around 60% of line test. I won't touch that until putting a heavier or lighter test line on.

So if you do the drag right, whether the drag knob is in front of rear it ought not to be changed, certainly in the middle of catching a fish. With the knob up front I'm also less tempted to mess with that at a bad time. So I saved some money for the panfish combo, and can use it for trout below the dam. I use 4# Nanofil clearmist (pricey) on that reel and can cast a tiny Mepps spinner about as far as I can a 3/4 oz jig on a bass combo.
Jim

 

I've always liked Pflueger but my son likes Lew's.. Bought one of each this past Saturday.. I may be switching to Lew's myself.. They are really smooth..:up:

 

Ive pretty much got em all when it comes to brands of baitcasters but as far as spinning ive got revo premiers and i love em. I bought a lews tournament pro baitcaster the other day and if their spinning reels are as smooth as my baitcaster its a good resl for a good price

 

I've used US reels for the past 6 yrs and I must say the large spool helps a lot with the line twist.Last couple weeks have caught many hybrids up to 17lbs with these reels and most on my crappie rig with 6lb line.Not one problem with them.If you want to see what your reel is made of hook up with a 15lb hybrid,he will give it a work out.The sx 180 for light tackle and the sx 240 for the heavy tackle!

 

Dang. No clear cut favorites out there. Quachiabassangler made a good point about not messing with the drag. I do mess with the rear drag when I hook into a Largemouth, striper or hybrid while fishing for the whites. I like to leave my drag pretty loose. I've been looking at some of the reels that people have posted that they use. I think Im going to see whats on sale. Thanks everyone.

 

Pflueger President. I like the 6925 myself. Small enough for catching bait bream. Yet strong enough for hauling in some bigger trout, bass, etc. I have it mounted on a 6'0" Falcon slow action ultra light. So far it's been one of the best rod/reel combos I've ever had. Fits me well. Using 4' test at the moment but the tackle box has a 6 lb spool ready to go if the need arises.

I've almost thrown away all of my medium duty stuff. Used to swear by a Mitchell 300 on a 6'6" cheapie medium/medium rod. Started catching trout last year on the Red river with the ultralight. FUN. Then tried some bass fishing with it. Also kind of cool. You have to learn to finesse them. Got a few catfish last year with it too. Those are fun. Oh and yesterday I got a nice 6 1/2 lb dogfish with it (grinnel). Talk about a fight! Nearly 20 minutes to reel it 25 feet.

If you throw anymore away, Ill take them.:biggrin:

 

douglas: For the Pflueger Presidents, Cabelas has a sale on them right now, marked down to $39.99 from $59.99. You can also get 1 cent shipping right now if you throw in a article of clothing or footwear.

http://bit.ly/HlxlfL

 

douglas: For the Pflueger Presidents, Cabelas has a sale on them right now, marked down to $39.99 from $59.99. You can also get 1 cent shipping right now if you throw in a article of clothing or footwear.

http://bit.ly/HlxlfL

Dang. And my gift Cards are for Bass Pro. I think I will get one of those presidents. A person cant have to many reels. Isnt that the AH.Net way?

 

The best reel on the market is worthless without a good rod unless you enjoy casting alot and not reeling much in. Its like buying the best rifle and putting a $20 scope on it. The best combo I have it a bass pro Pro Qualfier on a 7' carrot stick. I never gets rat nests unless I put too much line on it and the rod is senceitive enough to feel everything. And all for about $175.

 

The best reel on the market is worthless without a good rod unless you enjoy casting alot and not reeling much in. Its like buying the best rifle and putting a $20 scope on it. The best combo I have it a bass pro Pro Qualfier on a 7' carrot stick. I never gets rat nests unless I put too much line on it and the rod is senceitive enough to feel everything. And all for about $175.

I 1000000% agree. I spend more on my rods than I do on the reels.

 

douglas: For the Pflueger Presidents, Cabelas has a sale on them right now, marked down to $39.99 from $59.99. You can also get 1 cent shipping right now if you throw in a article of clothing or footwear.

http://bit.ly/HlxlfL

Ok. I still have the two gift cards and I bought two of those reels and a t shirt for my boy that I actually saved more in shipping than the shirt cost. Now I need a couple of rods. Any suggestions anyone?

 

There are a ton of good spinning reels out there and of course, Shimano is probably one of the best. I have tried all makes and models and found it somewhat amazing that my best spinning reel is one of the BassPro Extremes which is an 8-bearing unit and cost me all of 15 bucks. They sold them in both front and rear drag models and smooth as silk. Very well balanced and if you spinned the handle as fast as you could, there was no wobble or out-of-balance problems. Also had two sizes - a medium and large. I originally purchased two to check them out and was so impressed, I went back and got four more as backups and for spare parts if/when they wear out.

I got these reels in the Outlet instead of the main store. They originally sold them for something like 30 bucks but were getting rid of the inventory and sold them for half price in the Outlet Store. So what I am getting at is check out the Outlet Store before you go crazy in the Main Store. I believe the stuff in the Outlet Store carries the same warranty as the Main Store so you can always take it back if you don't like it.

Hate to say it but most complaints about spinning reel tangles and such are more operator problem than reel problem. If you are turning the handle on the reel when a fish is taking out line, it will twist the line something awful. Using any kind of reel without a barrel swivel with spinners will twist your line. If you get slack in the line when you are casting, it will throw out a birdnest or knot up your line if you are using braid. But I will admit that some reels are better than others and that some lines are better than others. What you want to look for in the reel is smooth reeling, immediate anti-reverse, very smooth drag and easy drag control. I think the rear-drags are the best.

Anyway, good luck on your purchase.


Cheers.....

 

I have shimano's and pfluegers. I actually like my 39.99 dollar trions better than the shimano sahara. I ought to take advantage of that sale at Cabela's but I am already reel poor. :biggrin:

 

There are a ton of good spinning reels out there and of course, Shimano is probably one of the best. I have tried all makes and models and found it somewhat amazing that my best spinning reel is one of the BassPro Extremes which is an 8-bearing unit and cost me all of 15 bucks. They sold them in both front and rear drag models and smooth as silk. Very well balanced and if you spinned the handle as fast as you could, there was no wobble or out-of-balance problems. Also had two sizes - a medium and large. I originally purchased two to check them out and was so impressed, I went back and got four more as backups and for spare parts if/when they wear out.

I got these reels in the Outlet instead of the main store. They originally sold them for something like 30 bucks but were getting rid of the inventory and sold them for half price in the Outlet Store. So what I am getting at is check out the Outlet Store before you go crazy in the Main Store. I believe the stuff in the Outlet Store carries the same warranty as the Main Store so you can always take it back if you don't like it.

Hate to say it but most complaints about spinning reel tangles and such are more operator problem than reel problem. If you are turning the handle on the reel when a fish is taking out line, it will twist the line something awful. Using any kind of reel without a barrel swivel with spinners will twist your line. If you get slack in the line when you are casting, it will throw out a birdnest or knot up your line if you are using braid. But I will admit that some reels are better than others and that some lines are better than others. What you want to look for in the reel is smooth reeling, immediate anti-reverse, very smooth drag and easy drag control. I think the rear-drags are the best.

Anyway, good luck on your purchase.


Cheers.....

I love that outlet store. I got several of my rods from there. They had two Johnny morris 150 dollar rods for 80 bucks each one time I was there. I buy a lot of my hunting and fishing stuff at the outlet store. I always check there first before I go into Bass Pro.

The biggest problem with bird nests is how you put the line on the reel.