Finesse Spinning Reel...suggestions?

[QUIENYO]

My old Shimano Spirex 1000FD blew up last week and now I am without a finesse spinning reel. I will be throwing mostly stick and lizard baits and a few small cranks and inline spinners when I'm river fishing for smallmouth. I have a 6'6" two piece medium rod that I plan on holding onto. My goal is to keep the price under $100 as I am on a tight budget. The reels that I am considering are;

1/ Shimano Sahara 1000FE

2/ Pflueger President 650

3/ Daiwa Fuego 100A

I know the Shimano brand and feel like I'm ready to venture away from it in this case. I'm torn about the Pflueger, half the folks I ask about it say its a great reel, the other half say stay away from Pflueger products. Finally the Fuego; I read an old TT review of this reel and at the time the MSRP was $249. The one I'm looking at is less than half of that. I'm a bit skeptical that the significant price drop was for good reason.

You guys (and gals) are the the best source of honest reviews and opinions that I know of. I hope to get some clarity before the end of this weekend so I can take advantage of the many labor day sales. Thanks in advance for the help.

[SirSnookalot]

It can be a tough choice, and whatever you buy won't be a mistake. My own take Shimano has the best spool lip design, but I would not buy anything less than a stradic. I personally have given up on those tiny reels, the line management is not as good in my experience. I like a 30 size pflueger for an all around size for smaller game, enough of a drag and line capacity if you hook into something larger, mine have been exceptionally durable. I use a $99 supreme, I'm sure it can be found for less, plus Pure Fishing customer service is excellent. Many good choices, but for a budget purchase, Pfluegers fit the bill.

[Bluebasser86]

I also use a Pfluegar Supreme for my finesse fishing. I use the 30 size with 6lb for dropshot fishing and the other spool has 8 for wacky rigs. It's a very nice little reel and very light. I like that it has the T handle, some small spinning reels have tiny handles that I seem to have a hard time keeping a hold on while fighting a fish. Any of the choices you listed would work just fine for you though.

[Sun Fish]

I have the Plueger President 656 and the Plueger Trion 208 both great reels with no issues.

[fishking247]

shimano symetre. great reel and durable!

[Dwight Hottle]

That diawa fuego retails for $299.99 and is being sold at $99.99 for the labor day sale. That's 66% off according to tackle warehouse. There are five pages of a tread on tackletour by guys talking about what a good deal this is and they are buying it left & right. Don't wait too long or they will be out of stock.

[thehooligan]

I picked up that fuego 100 on the sale, its a great reel, just have to get used to a 4:7:1 gear ratio. Im so used to my shimanos at 6:0:1, the 4:7 is a bit slow.

On a $100 budget id be looking for a used stradic, i love my 1000fj which i picked up new on ebay for $130.

[Jake P]

Pflueger spinning reels are flawless.

[thehooligan]

Pflueger spinning reels are flawless.

There good reels, not sure id go that far though

[matt996]

There good reels, not sure id go that far though

I would i love mine to death!

[VolFan]

Of those three the Fuego is your best value at $99. But there's nothing wrong with the other two. I have 6 Saharas in service.

[thehooligan]

I would i love mine to death!

lol, i dont have anything against pfluegers, i own one. But the only one i really liked was the supreme xt,

[Jake P]

There good reels, not sure id go that far though

figuratively not literally. Though almost literally, IMO.

[bassinbrian]

Daiwa Fuego 100A! It's a fantastic reel and at $99 and take 15% at TW for labor day sale......sounds like a win to me

[QUIENYO]

Thanks for all the feedback. I would have grabed one of the Fuegos, but they are sold out. I think I'm going to shop eBay for a stradic. I love my 2500. My AC died yesterday and the repair ate my reel money, so this purchase will have to wait a bit longer.

[Busy]

In that price range I'd also suggest a Quantum Kinetic. I have a Pflueger President and a Quanum Kinetic and I like the Kinetic a bit more but they are both great reels for the money I think. The Kinetic's magnetic bail trip is guaranteed for life.

[Goose52]

I personally like Pflueger spinning reels and feel that they are a best value. I have 10 of them: 2-Presidents, 1-PresidentXT, 5-Supremes, 2-SupremeXTs; in sizes 20, 25, 30, 35.

Of all of these, I feel that the Surpreme is in the sweet spot on price vs. features - magnesium frame, light, durable. Of the sizes, the 30 is the classic, do-it-all size for light freshwater...but for "finesse", I actually use a Supreme 25. I have one of these on my "grub rod" (Loomis GLX BSR852). This reel has been in service for 3 seasons; as of this morning, it has reeled in 1,344 fish, up to 5 pound bass. The only service it has had is to put a drop of oil on the line guide roller bearing about once a year.

Good luck with your decision...

[Jake...]

I've got a Sahara 2500 that I've had for 2-3 years now and it's been great. Just got a President size 30 and it's been great as well the past month.

Get whatever you like, both are great reels, the differences are minimal. Shimano's got that little service port that you can drop oil into, the President you have deal with a few screws. The President's spool is also "braid ready"

[jerzeeD]

For a finesse reel I would look at the Pflueger Patriarch or Supreme. Both are great, light weight, magnesium bodied spinning reels. The Patriarch is the lighter of the 2 and uses higher quality bearings, but you can't go wrong with either.

[dam0007]

I'd pick up a Sonora for $50 and wait and save up for a Stradic. To me all the inbetween reels are too similiar to justify any price jumps. Sonora is on par with sahara sienna symetre etc

[SirSnookalot]

Not sure I understand what a finesse spinning reel is, they come in all sizes and any technique can be employed, not being naive I'd say most would call finesse a smaller sized reel to be used smaller baits. Not really a new concept but modern materials and technology has come a long way, which is great.

I'm not going to endorse or condemn any product, I have in use about 20 some odd spinning reels, 3 of which are strictly freshwater and cost about $100 each. Everyone once in awhile I'll use one of my small saltwater reels as I did yesterday, an Abu soron 20, which compares very favorable with my stradics. IMO more reel than I need for fish that average at best 2-5#. How many bass fisherman average 5-10# fish, probably no one and if they did they most likely are using b/c gear.

Looking forward to my next freshwater reel purchase, mine have been rock solid for 3 years or more, I don't see the need for me to spend more than $75. I'll get a smooth reel, with up to date technology, that should give me worry free usage for the next 3 years, at that time I'll buy another and may get improved technology over today's 2-$300 reel, that may or may not last the same 3 or 4 years.

Just my take on what's right for me.

[Crestliner2008]

If you are going to use this for drop shotting, the no. 1 requisite is a good drag. Same for split shot fishing and most other finesse techniques. I have 4 Shimanos - 2 Symetres and 2 Saharas. Excellent reels in my opinion. There are a lot of good ones out there. Recently bought 2 Abu Cardinal 101's. Very pleased. Light weight, good drag, tough and cheap. Had one for 2 years now and just finished the season with the second. No complaints.

[QUIENYO]

Thanks to everyone for the replys. I plan on picking up a President for $59 this weekend.