What’S A Good Budget Wide Spool Spinning Reel?

[whale]

I'm look for a good sub $100 wide spool spinning reel to cast weightless plastics. Any Ideal?

[fishking247]

wide cast? do you mean long cast? if so, daiwa ss. most reliable spinning reel you can own

[roadwarrior]

Used: Shimano Stradic 2500 FI or FJ

New: Shimano Synetre 2500 FJ

[whale]

I was reading a wide spool is better for casting. My baitcaster doesnt do well with weightless plastics and the bass on my lake are hitting them hard. The handle on my spinner broke and wanted something decent to cast a good distance with weightless plastics like senkos.

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/weightless_worms.html

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/honest-angler/2011/03/size-spinning-spools-narrow-vs-wide

[iabass8]

pflueger arbor

[Fishes in trees]

I've got a few of the US spinning reels and they work great. I know that several years ago they had some quality control issues, but I haven't had anything bad happen.

They have the widest spool in the industry, they come with several different arbors so that you can adjust line capacity. I don't know about the drag. I just screw the drag down tight and back reel if I have to anyway.

They are a little loose in the anti-reverse, but that hasn't been an issue for me.

They are made out of carbon fiber so they are light for their size. Oh, yeah, they are always on sale for $40 so if you break one you aren't out a whole lot of money.

I've had 3 of them for several years now and I haven't torn them up yet. From time to time I use them as loaner reels and the newbies I've loaned them to haven't torn them up yet.

I have mine spooled up with 14 lb Fireline crystal and that line works great on that reel.

[PABASS]

Used: Shimano Stradic 2500 FI or FJ

New: Shimano Synetre 2500 FJ

Second this as I own a few stradics[2000,2500], howerver i also own and like the Sahara FE[2500], bit heavy but casts like a champ.

My 2000 is the first year the stradics were introduced so they last, made from Japan, zero issues, except after owning the new stradic I dont care for the wooden handle much anymore lol..

[tholmes]

Used: Shimano Stradic 2500 FI or FJ

New: Shimano Synetre 2500 FJ

X3^ I also agree with PABASS re: the Sahara. A great reel for the $$.

Tom

[MCS]

pflueger arbor

^^^X2 or any of the Pflueger spinning reels are great reels for the price you are looking in. Here is something I read on the subject a while ago.

http://www.fieldands...-narrow-vs-wide

[Darren.]

Wide spool is better if you are spooling up straight mono, copoly, or fluoro.

But is not necessary if you go with braid mainline + leader.

[via]

you can try bass pro shop's new carbonlite spinning reel. it holds alot of line and is very light. i believe its just under 100

[DaveT63]

Stradic I'd a great reel, but I have a Sahara 1500 that will out cast my strati CI4 2500 all day long. I'm sure the 2500 Sahara is just as good, and I think I saw then on sale in cabelas bargain room on sale for $60.

[Ima Bass Ninja]

I just bought the pq spinning reel and have been happy with it so far.

[aceman387]

Like fishes in trees said look at the us spinning reels,I bought one when they first came out years ago and i liked them so much i bought two more. I have one paired up with my legend elite,super light combo.

[Team9nine]

Another one to throw into the mix that fits your parameters is the Daiwa Exceler. I have a 3000 series that has a nice wide spool and a super smooth drag. Believe the going rate is about $80 online new. Been very happy with mine, and I use it a lot for fishing weightless floating worms in spring.

[whale]

I'm thinking about the Abu Garcia orra s

http://www.amazon.com/Abu-Garcia-Spinning-8-Pound-175-Yard/dp/B005GOU5HI/ref=sr_1_1?s=sporting-goods&ie=UTF8&qid=1351824060&sr=1-1&keywords=ORRAS30

[thehooligan]

The orra s isnt a bad reel, but if i was working with $100 bucks id save 30 more and get a stradic 1000 fj on ebay. I picked mine up on ebay brand new at $130 and love this reel.

I had the pflueger arbor. didnt think it was anything worth writing home about, so i started using it for saltwater then sold it. I really dont like any of the pflueger reels, with spinning reels you really cant go wrong with the shimanos, from the sahara and up, and daiwas.

Good luck

[Stasher1]

I just bought the pq spinning reel and have been happy with it so far.

X2

It's a surprisingly nice reel for the money.

[SirSnookalot]

What is budget to you? If it's under a $100 a Pflueger arbor is an ok reel, but I'm not sold on the wide spool aspect. I do have an arbor (in a larger size for saltwater), bought it to replace my Pflueger medalist, I'm going back to the medalist. Why, it's about line management, the medalist works a lot better for me, my attempt to trim 6 oz off the weight of the reel didn't work as well as expected. I did own a wide spool JM 4000 that lasted me a week before returning it to BPS.

Personally I would not invest more than $100 for any spinning reel for targeting bass, my focus is on line management first and foremost. I have no concerns about line capacity, corrosion, drag, or even casting distance, the rod probably has more to with distance than the reel, it's just line coming off a fixed spool. As much as I like my supremes and abu's, I won't buy them again, wind knots are the norm and not the exception. I have never ever had a wind knot on any of my Shimanos or Daiwas, that said every one of my Shimanos and Daiwas have needed some kind of repair, my supremes never have. From a construction standpoint Pflueger wins the day for me, from a performance standpoint I like Shimano.

[PABASS]

What is budget to you? If it's under a $100 a Pflueger arbor is an ok reel, but I'm not sold on the wide spool aspect. I do have an arbor (in a larger size for saltwater), bought it to replace my Pflueger medalist, I'm going back to the medalist. Why, it's about line management, the medalist works a lot better for me, my attempt to trim 6 oz off the weight of the reel didn't work as well as expected. I did own a wide spool JM 4000 that lasted me a week before returning it to BPS.

Personally I would not invest more than $100 for any spinning reel for targeting bass, my focus is on line management first and foremost. I have no concerns about line capacity, corrosion, drag, or even casting distance, the rod probably has more to with distance than the reel, it's just line coming off a fixed spool. As much as I like my supremes and abu's, I won't buy them again, wind knots are the norm and not the exception. I have never ever had a wind knot on any of my Shimanos or Daiwas, that said every one of my Shimanos and Daiwas have needed some kind of repair, my supremes never have. From a construction standpoint Pflueger wins the day for me, from a performance standpoint I like Shimano.

To OP: I really don't think you will be disappointed with a Shimano Reel, the Sahara great reel like I said just a bit heavier then a Stradic, and when it comes down to it at a certain point weight reduction is where the extra money is going.

SirSnookalot: The reel has allot to do with distance and I mean allot, same rod, the exact same lure and same # test using mono. Using Different reels and I can cast much, much further depending on the reel.

Let me break it down

Shimano Stradic 2000 [Original made in Japan]

Lews Speed Spin comparable to a 2000

Shimano Sahara 2500

Shimano Stradic 2500

Guess which one casts the farthest??

In order

Shimano Sahara 2500 casts the greatest distance

Shimano Stradic 2500 close call and with fireline I would say it may cast further, however with fire line on the Sahara I think the Sahara will still win.

Lews Speed Spin comparable to a 2000

Shimano Stradic 2000 [Original made in Japan]

So the original Stradic casts the least distance, odd you might think, howerver not really its a 2000 for one and just looking at its spool design compared to the Sahara, has a much wider spool, thinner metal lip and perhaps even slippery metal lip, it’s a casting machine.

[whale]

look like amazon has a good deal on the Sahara 2500 $59.97

http://www.amazon.com/Shimano-Sahara-2500-Spinning-Reel/dp/B001OGUTAU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351869765&sr=8-1&keywords=Shimano+Sahara+2500

when a did a compare on some other reels, this one has less ball bearing. where will that matter?

[SirSnookalot]

I have different brand reels (apx same size) on the same identical rods (same line wt and lure wt) using the same line (power pro) and my distances are all about the same. I can take any one of those 4000 spinning reels and stick it on a 9' rod, the increase in distance is very noticeable.

[PABASS]

look like amazon has a good deal on the Sahara 2500 $59.97

http://www.amazon.co...ano Sahara 2500

when a did a compare on some other reels, this one has less ball bearing. where will that matter?

As I understand it and depending on the location of the ball bearing it will increase the "smooth" feel, quietness and longevity of certain parts. I would suggest go to BPS, Gander MTN and or Dicks and try each reel out and see if you can tell and which feels better, I forget I have big hands and to some this reel might be to big.. I have always heard more ball bearings means better but also think it depends on the location. I know there are some reel experts "lol pun" on this forum that would be able to answer this question better then I.

SirSnookalot,

I don't know if we are talking apples to apples here, a 4000 size reel is much different then a 2000-2500, maybe there is a point of no return, meaning you basically eliminate the spool as being a factor in the 4000 size range?? Or maybe it was the lure used??

My experiment and I just tried it over the course of the last few months, used the exact same lure a 1/8 ounce spider jig, fishing the exact same location going much further with different reels and the furthest being the Sahara.. The reason why I did this was as a bank fisherman I couldn't hit a certain hole with my Stradic, I could with the Saraha and newer Stradic and came close but not right with the lews..

[SirSnookalot]

SirSnookalot,

I don't know if we are talking apples to apples here, a 4000 size reel is much different then a 2000-2500, maybe there is a point of no return, meaning you basically eliminate the spool as being a factor in the 4000 size range?? Or maybe it was the lure used??

I used 4000 because I have quite few different brands on the same rod brand, line and lure weight, I would think comparing would be the same if I had used smaller reels and lighter rods. I do use the same lures for all of my fishing using those 4000 reels, exception would be if I'm using a rod with a higher lure rating, in my case that's only 1 of my inshore rods. I have 4 inshore rods that are all the same brand, stradic 4000 on 2 of them, 1 soron stx 40 one one and 1 soron stx 20 on the other, my soron 20 casts about the same as the other 3. If others have different results so be it.

There is a difference between a saltwater and a freshwater cast, I do both. Freshwater is more of snap cast that results in better accuracy but I think less distance. A saltwater cast is similar to a golf swing, longer backstroke, more flowing with a follow thru, creating a wider arc and IMO more distance with less effort, but not as accurate. One of the longest casting guys out here, longer than me, uses a 30 year old Penn 704 with 20# cheap mono on 6' 30# ugly stick, his lures are appropriate for his rod, amazing ever time I really chuck one way out there, he sails by me.........lol.

[Mike__D]

Definitely the pflueger arbor. Great smooth reel with lots of power and is exactly what you are looking for.

mike d