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Trying to to stretch line and get the most use out of it these days. Can I get away with keeping my older 6lb test flouro as a base for my spinning reel and tying on a slightly heavier 7lb test flouro on as my working line? I cut down the older 6lb line to make up about 15% of my total as my base. Then filled the top 85% with the new 7lb test flouro line. I’ve got it tied on to a solid leader knot which is buried deep in the spool. I know that it’s not usually, or maybe ever practical to tie on a leader that’s heavier than the line behind it, but in this case the base line will never get close to touching air, or even seeing sunlight. With that being said, I still want to present the issue to everyone here because I don’t want to end up wasting more line by doing this… if it ends up causing me issues with casting distance? or my line to just break? Would it be safer for me to go ahead and take this base/leader line off and string only the 7lb on it? Of course I should of asked this question before I even spooled it…better now than never I guess 🙂. Thanks everyone!

Penn is one of the older reel companies. I've never owned any Penn reels myself, and I don't see them talked about much, as far as freshwater- bass fishing. Is anyone using any of the newer Penn spinning reels? Do you like them, and how do they compare with some of the other popular brands?

For over thirty years, I've been a backreeler with a spinning reel. Every spinning reel I've owned has had an anti reverse switch. My newest spinning reel is a Shimano Sahara 2500fi, and, it has no AR switch. At first, I thought this might be hard to get used to. But, it's been an easy transition. The drag on this reel is so smooth, and easily adjustable, that I havnt missed the AR switch at all. One thing I always liked about an AR switch, was that if you accidently reeled the bait too close to the rod tip, you could flip the switch, crank the handle back a couple of times, and get the bait to drop a few inches before you cast again, without opening the bail. Other than that, I can get by without the switch. I still fish on and off with a couple of older spin reels, mainly a Shimano Sedona, and an old ABU Cardinal 4, both of which have an AR switch. I'll continue to use those as I always have. The AR on the newer Shimano spin reels is super tight, with no backplay, and the drag is so much better than reels of even ten years ago. Many of the newer reels still feature an AR switch, and , I've liked the Lews, and Diawa models that I've seen. Both companies make some great reels. But if your on the fence about buying a new reel with no AR switch, you don't have to worry. Many folks think this may be a trend in the newer reels, eliminating the AR switch completely. I'm not sure if this is true or not. I've also experimented by setting the drag overly tight, hooking a fish, then backing off the drag while fighting a fish. Of course, this is not the recommended way to land a fish, but with a drag this smooth it's not hard to do. That, coupled with light pressure from your forefinger on the spool as needed, gives you a lot of control. To sum this up here, my new reel, with no AR switch, is working great so far. When I'm ready for a new reel( hopefully not too soon), I can choose either style of reel, and the lack of an AR switch won't be a concern.

I am looking to buy a new spinning reel for around $100. I would put this reel on my dropshot rod. I want a reel that would have supper smooth drag just like my stradic but I cannot spend the money to buy another one. I was looking at the Shimano Nasci and the Diawa Fuago but I wasn't sure which one has smoother drag.

What spinning reel would you get in the 40- 50 dollar range? I have a grandson( and fishing partner) who has a birthday soon. Size 2000 , durable, and decent quality. What would you recommend?

Hey all, Was looking to finally get a spinning rod for finesse fishing. Really just looking for something that can toss some lighter lures. I tend to fish spots with fish that run 3lbs and larger so a good reel is a must; however, I'm not looking to get a Stella though haha. Used a Shimano Sienna for years, and that's been great. However, I wonder if they still make them like they used to. Anything below $100 is good. Anything below $75 is great. Really, anything durable and with minimal flexing in the body of the reel will do. Might also be worth mentioning I plan on using it for the occasional redfish and flounder. Thanks for any recommendations. Cheers!

I just went on a week-long vacation where it was very humid and affected our spinning reels a bunch. I own two Shimano Siena spinning reels (yes, I know they are cheap), and my dad has three or four slightly more expensive Shimano models (can't remember which model). Both of my reels began to bind after a while of use and one of my dad's reels began to bind as well. I know mine are cheap and it is about time to upgrade them. I haven't had a problem with them until now, and they could have ruined my fishing vacation if it weren't for my uncle who lent us some higher quality reels to use for the rest of the week. I have done some research as follows: I know Stradics are thought very highly of, but they are a little more than I would like to spend. Are they worth the extra money? I have done some research and a website or two had positive things to say about the Pfleuger Supreme XT reel. It appears to be a good option. Because i loved the Quantum that my uncle lent me, I looked into the Quantum Smoke, and Quantum Energy spinning reels and was wondering if anyone had anything to say about them. I have read on the internet that the Abu Revo S reel is a great reel for the price, just wondering if it is a reliable option. I heard somewhere that Diawa spinning reels were good, but they seem to weigh a bit heavier than their competitors. We do mostly finesse fishing with our spinning reels (wacky worming and very light texas rigging, some dropshotting). Was just wondering what your thoughts were on some of my research and/or if you had any other suggestions to look into. I'm looking into the $150 range. Thanks!

So as you can tell from other posts I've made about the Whopper Plopper and other larger baits I haven't nailed down what line would be best to use for a WP 130 and a Savage Gear 6" Line Thru swim bait. The setup is a spinning reel set up. The rod is a Fenwick 7ft. MH (lure weight: 3/8 oz. - 1 oz.), the reel is a Pflueger President LE size 30. Since the 30 size only goes up to 10lbs. test mono (or equivalent 40lb. braid) I'm contemplating switching it out with a Shimano Sienna size 40 which would bump up the max line rating to 12lb. mono (or 50lb. braid) as well as giving me a deeper spool to work with. I've debated the pros/cons to both mono/copolymer and braid for heavier top water and swim baits, above all I want to avoid my line snapping and losing my expensive (to me) new lures which according to some folks braid has more of a tendency to do that than mono or copoly when casting heavier lures. If this holds true what brand of mono/copoly would be the toughest 12lb. test line I could get to minimize this risk (Berkley XT, Big Game, P-Line CXX etc.)?

i saw this ree on GM and the specs seem pretty sweet. carbon fiber and 9+1 bearings. anyone have opinions on these? i know stores have reels made that are the exact same as name brands but better price. is this the case here? http://www.gandermountain.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?pdesc=Gander-Mountain-Elite-Series-Spinning-Reel-GMEX10-S&i=772664

The wife knows! I’m addicted During post spawn, I was fishing with a Shakespeare graphite spinning reel combo and while casting on the bank, my immediate thought was dang, I’m hung again. Needless to say that I was not hung, there was a fish on the hook (never felt him bite). After reading on the forums, I read about better quality rods and I immediately went to BP and purchased St Croix Premier 7’ M/ fast action graphite rod w/ Shimano Sahara 2500FE 6.2:1 reel. I added 12lb fluorocarbon line I would like to mainly use this rod for crank bait, swim bait and top water St. Croix Premier 7’ MH/fast action graphite rod with a Pflueger Supreme 6.2:1. I also added 12lb fluorocarbon line I would like to mainly use this rod for Carolina Rigging , Spinner bait and Jigs After reading several post, I realized that I need to change the fishing line on the medium rod (used for crank bait) from fluoro to mono. I read on the post that fluorocarbon line does not sink and then I read that it does sink. Will someone please clarify that because my chug bug goes underwater? Can someone give some recommendation on a quality mono (no braid please) that will work for an OK setup? Do I need to swap my reels and place the Shimano Sahara on the MH rod? Are there any other recommendations on my setup (besides buying a bait caster)? I will probably buy another set up in the future (been looking at the 7’ Duckett Micro Magic) but until then I want to learn to properly use the set up in place. Thanks in Advance. I have learned from the videos and reading on the site but I still a lot to learn. Keep posting guys!!

I just bought two new Rouge Rod Spinning Rods, in a 7'6" Medium, and a 6'6" Heavy. I am looking to find some quality reels that would match up with them in about the same weight limits for the line as the rods. (The Medium lists it as 7-16# and the Heavy as 12-25#.) My price range is the $100.00 to $150.00 per reel. Thank you in advance for your advice.

I'm having trouble trying to decipher what the sizes of spinning reels are. Pflueger has different numbers than other manufacturers. So I guess what I want to ask is what size Pflueger reel would work best for shaky heads, wacky worming, and drop shotting?