What reels do you have

Don

Don

Well-known member
I see how over-reactive everyone is and I haven't been able to get a word in edgewise. I still have plenty of questions to ask and, after all, we cant expect Uncle Melvin to teach us all. In the past we've covered rod length, line, flies and lures. So today I'm wondering what reels you employ in the course of your fishing year and what are you after when you use those reels? What brand, what size, what style, when?
 
troutspinner

troutspinner

Nuts & Bolts Guy
I am a Shimano fan and I guess I am not afraid to spend the money when it comes to reels....within reason that is. For spinning, I prefer a Stradic and have several in the 3000 series. These have seen action for Bass, Salmon, and Saltwater Striper, Fluke, etc. I prefer Shimano to many brands as they are just lighter than most, have a great drag and the quality is there. I do however have to mention that I have been transitioning from spinning to casting and the spinning reels are not seeing much action this season. I have bought a couple of Shimano Ultegra Reels for Saltwater use as a cost savings approach. They last me roughly 2-3 seasons whereas a Stradic lasts me about 4 seasons.

For Trout Spin Fishing, I use both the Shimano Stradic and Sustain in 1000 series. I've had several Stradics but splurged one time and bought the Sustain and got spoiled with that one as the Sustain casts just a little further and helps just a little bit with line twist. Unfortunately, trout has taken a back seat for me the last few years and those reels have become Crappie / Whiper reels, talk about overkill. ;)

Bass Fishing / Bait Caster, I have a couple of Shimano DC reels but I think the bang for the buck is the Shimano SLX. It's smooth, reliable, can cast anything and it's $99. Relatively speaking, cheap! compared to the other offerings. I even use the SLX for Saltwater fishing for Fluke and Striper now. Yes, it will only last 2 salt seasons but it's $99, not $250 like a Stradic.

I want to add another baitcasting reel to my arsenal for finesse flipping and I am eyeing several right now, I might even venture out of the Shimano world for that and try a Daiwa but the fanboy in me tells me it will end up being one of the Curados.
 
Don

Don

Well-known member
Sol whatever your busy schedule allows. I’m trying to learn here. It’ll be fun.
 
Melvinp

Melvinp

Well-known member
Oh boy gear + use that a lot of spell checking I’ll need to write it down first lol good loopy you start lol
 
MB3

MB3

Well-known member
In short, I like Quantum Smoke or any of the mid to upper end Quantums fresh or salt. Some the cheap Quantums can be sketchy. You can't go wrong with Shimano either at any price point.
 
A-5

A-5

Moderator
I have the shimano SLX. Love it. Also I have a cabelas combo bait caster. I will say for the money I can’t beat that deal and I hate cabelas. We/I have picked three reels and two rods out of the trash we still use. That’s a great deal. My centerpin is a raven.
 
Solitario Lupo

Solitario Lupo

Moderator
I don’t know if I could do it all at once but here goes. I have a whole crate full of reels. A lot are from combo sets. Some are just the reels bought buy themselves but usually I wait on a good sale like buying them 20percent off or more.

I’ll start with the ones I use now. I was into cabelas stuff when it wasn’t owned by bass pro. So I got into the salt strikers reels. Ocean and freshwater reels but they are class 6 reels. So very big spinning reels and are very well built. Used for river and musky fishing now and sometimes ocean.

I own some okuma. My newest addition was the komodo baitcaster class 5 I believe. Yep another big one for musky. It was very expensive which I would never buy another 300 dollar reel again. The only problem I had was I was trying to put braid on it and the braid kept slipping so I had to use a thick mono first.

For fly I had a a pflueger medalist but didn’t really care for it. Then I replaced it with a cabelas. Both are cheap reels and both stick.

For my small trout it’s a Shakespeare class 2.

As for river and most my fishing I run around with a class 4 fin nor fin ite.
 
Solitario Lupo

Solitario Lupo

Moderator
One reel I would stay away from is a GSX tournament. I found them on at a good price so I bought two in different sizes and thought they were nice cause they have a piece of rubber in the middle for holding just braid. Will I caught some nice fish on them and the spool would move side to side when reeling. If I kept using them, they probably would snap in half.
 
Solitario Lupo

Solitario Lupo

Moderator
I got a lot. Some older reels work the best still

Started getting into guide series gander reels. Glad I hit them up when they went out of business.

I own shimano, okuma, pinnacle, plfeuger, and so on mostly spinning reels.
 
Melvinp

Melvinp

Well-known member
Dawia crossfire 2000,Sham syncopate 2500,Mitchell avocet 1000,Sham baitrunnner 4500,Sham soltace 2000,Sham solstace 4000 are the ones I use fly reels tomorrow lol
 
G

Gremcat

Well-known member
Spinning:
Okuma Helios,
Okuma something or other for salmon, Daiwa BG 20,
few others

Spincast:
1950s Johnson (Thanks Don)
Zebco something or other


Fly:
Sage 4650,
Cabelas 5wt something,

Centerpin:
Kingpin Imperial

Probably others, I’m liking the Galvan Brookie, something like a drag less fly reel, I don’t even fly fish, haha, I need help,,,,
I even got shooting heads, etc. but never tried even roll casting.
 
G

Gremcat

Well-known member
I have never touched a baitcaster but might try one for salmon. I sort of want to Pin them. If my luck on trophy sized kings holds I don’t think I can handle a king on one. Debating tackling Striper on them too, hahahaha. It fits my natural style anyway. I drift with every type of setup so a float setup makes sense.
 
truecrimson

truecrimson

Well-known member
Spinning;-
Shimano Sedona
Shimano IX I have to say for the money it's a great reel. I think I have several laying around. They aren't fast or fancy, but they last forever and take punishment like an army mule and they are inexpensive.
Bass Pro Crappie Max
Daiwa I have several, don't know the models
Bunch of junkers I saved from father in laws trash and other places.
Those 2 Penns my father in law picked up fr me at a neighbor's yard sale. Don't have rods for them yet.

Casting;
Honestly can't remember. Brother in law was going to throw it away years ago. I picked up an Eagle Claw telescoping rod for it. Maybe I'll dig it out tonight when I get home and see WTH it is.

Crappie Reel;
Uncle Buck's Crappie reel. Not a bait casting reel. For the love of God don't cast with this or you will curse the day you were born. Good for jigging, ned rigging, spider rigging, slip bobbers. On the mini cast rod currently.

Compared to a lot of the guys here I'm po (or cheap). I think the Sedona is the most expensive reel I own, at least that I didn't get second hand. Even then, it was a Christmas present from the wife after I drooled over it for months. That tends to happen. I'll go back and forth over something until she buys it for me for some occasion or finally tells me "Just buy the damn thing!"
 
Don

Don

Well-known member
Of Course, as usual, A-5 and Uncle Melvin shorted us, didn't give us the full report. But we can carry on, don't worry. Shimano was mentioned the most, Okuma (one of my faves) was next. Of course for flyreels you should have all said Pfluger Medalist but I guess this is the the crowd than it is, unenlightened. I wonder who made the reels for Gander, Uncle Buck, Bass Pro and Cabella's. The one A-5 is holding looks like a lower level Shimano that I had and liked.
I've been collecting gear, mostly reels, all spring and summer and prefer still water fly fishing.
I use Johnson Century 100B, 125 and one Zebco that is the 33 for Gills and averag.e bass. these are the traditional pushbuttons of your youth tricked out to perform well. These styles hold a special place in my heart. Not because I think they're the best but rather for sentimental reasons. They make me happy as I reminisce.
Pfluger Medalists in 6 different sizes are my preferred fly reels and I don't use drags much on them. Simple and reliable.
For bigger stuff I sold all the more modern stuff. Penn and medium quality Shimano stuff. I'm rebuilding some Mitchell 304 and 300's and will use these if I have to for Striper, Blue and other biggies. I hope to fish with gear older than me for a while. I like it.

By-the-way! You all knew that Zebco owned Quantum. Did you know that Zebco, Quantum and a bunch of other little stuffer's were just sold to Rather Outdoors in February? That is the company that owns Strike King and Lews. Sad but true.


Zebco/Quantum Sold to Company That Owns Lew’s, Strike King

Louie Stout is a Hall of Fame outdoors journalist who has worked as a senior writer for Basssmaster and BASS Times magazines for two decades, and in 2005, was inducted into the National Freshwater Hall of Fame as a “Legendary Communicator.”
michianaoutdoorsnews.com michianaoutdoorsnews.com
 
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