Pflueger Spinning: Are the Supreme and Supreme XT's Higher in performance enough to justify the price?

[iceintheveins]

I have eight pflueger presidents, and honestly they are the best spinning reels I've ever owned, better than Shimano's $100 Symetre. I need another spinning reel now to add to my collection (not to replace any presidents they are still going strong). I was wondering if Pflueger's Supreme ($100) or the Supreme XT ($150) are better than the president, at least enough to justify the price? Or should I just get another president and save the rest for lures and gas?

[fishnkamp]

They are a bit prettier! LOL  I do not think so. I have never had a problem with any of our Presidents and my wife and I own around 7 or 8, some are newer and some have been fished for around 10 years. It is the most reliable reel for the money. If you are interested in something with a bit bigger retrieve ipt then look at an Okuma RTX30. They are a composite framed reel, feel really smooth and are super light. I purchased one in part because I played with one my friend owned. I wanted something to match up on a super light fineses spinning rod for Sencos and real light texas rigs.

[zell_pop1]

Pflueger tends to have new models every year, wait for clearance sales in the spring and snag one cheap. I have a gold xt I bought for $70 at gander mountain a couple of years ago, it's a nice upgrade over the pres.

[MIbassyaker]

I have a supreme and supreme XT along with a few presidents. Two functional advantages for the supreme and supreme XT I can think of: they are lighter and have a faster retrieve rate (Inches per turn, IPT).

To compare at size 30:

--the president is 8.3oz with 25.2 IPT

--the supreme is 7.5oz with 31.8 IPT

--the supreme XT is 6.8oz with 31.8 IPT

Are these differences worth the jumps in price, over the president ($60), about +$40 for the supreme ($100) and +$90 for the XT ($150) at full retail?  Not to me, but getting them at a discount is another story; And the advantages, plus any others may very well be worth it to you either way; in the end, only you know whether it is or not.

[Bluebasser86]

For most situations I stick with the Presidents but I'm very happy with the few Supreme XT's that I have, but all of them were bought on sale. If you look around they're pretty easy to find for around $115 new. The lighter weight and faster retrieve is very nice to have when you can get it for a good price. 

[smalljaw67]

I found the Pflueger Supreme MGX on sale when they discontinued the model. The difference is the regular Supreme wasn't magnesium but instead of having two separate models they just made the Supreme with the magnesium frame and dropped the MGX. Now that the explanation is out of the way, I can honestly say that after 4 seasons with my Supreme, I have no trouble paying the price for them, you are getting a better reel if light weight is your thing. The Supreme I have works fantastic, it hasn't had any issues and my only problem is that I didn't buy 4 or 5 of them as Cabela's were selling them for $64.99, the best spinning reel at that price point in my opinion.

[SJex]

The magnesium frame is well worth the extra money. Note that the gear ratios are different between the President and the Supreme series. I purchased a Supreme XT (on sale) and I have been very impressed with it. Great looks, very light weight but with a very solid feel to it.

[Onvacation]

18 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

For most situations I stick with the Presidents but I'm very happy with the few Supreme XT's that I have, but all of them were bought on sale. If you look around they're pretty easy to find for around $115 new. The lighter weight and faster retrieve is very nice to have when you can get it for a good price. 

I'm with Bluebasser86 on this.  My wife has a Supreme XT and I find myself using it as much as my Shimano Stradic Ci4+. I even like the handle knob better.  We have a couple of Presidents and they are great reels but the Supreme XT feels really nice.

I never have bought a reel anywhere close to the advertised price so shop around and you can find it substantially cheaper than $150. 

[.ghoti.]

I have a Supreme, and two Supreme XT's. never had a President, so I can't compare them. I can say the reels I have belong on the "best bang for da buck" list.

They also made the cut during my thin out the herd process. I decided five spinning setups would be enough for my use. The Pfleugers made three of the five spots.

[Lucky Craft Man]

I went from Presidents to all Supremes for one reason, the increased line pick up (the Supreme has over 31 inches per turn vs. the Presdents ~25 inches per turn).  I wanted the faster reel was to keep up with a charging SM coming up from 30' of water.  

[EvanT123]

Try a daiwa bg 2500

[smalljaw67]

7 hours ago, EvanT123 said:

Try a daiwa bg 2500

Daiwa has nothing close the Supreme or the XT version for the money. If you go Daiwa you get high end but the BG sells same price as the Supreme yet is a full 2 ounces heavier on the 2500 and 3000 size and doesn't have more features that make it a better buy. Solid reel for sure but it just doesn't measure up, and I'm not knocking Daiwa, they make the best high end reels you can get but they don't do much in the under $300 segment.

[junyer357]

I have 2 supremes and a president my wife uses. I agree with the others that the supremes are lighter. Thats the main thing for me. It makes a diffrence, especially if its what you are using all day long. I also like the increased speed since the 2 i have are used on my dropshot and senko rods. 

[Paul Roberts]

Dunno. But... I recently picked up a President LE and it is wonderful. I bring it up bc Cabela's has them on closeout right now for 49.99.

[WdyCrankbait]

I have gone through two Supreme XT's.  So, I can see a lot of people will not agree with this response, but mine just flat broke.  They were great reels when they worked, but I barely used them.  If you are set on one, go for it, they are light comfortable and will cast a long way.  The Pure Fishing customer service was great for me so you should be taken care of there.

Wdy

[Molay1292]

I own many Pflueger reels throughout their line-up, the Presidents I have owned were good reels but they did exhibit some flex in the reel stem. I have seen a few come back with broken reel stems, a very small percentage compared to what is sold.   I prefer the Daiwa RG-AB at this price range, every bit the reel that the Pflueger is, and I prefer the frame material.   The Supreme and Supreme XT are both very nice reels as well, mag frame, better internal materials, better drag,  nice reels all the way around, hard to beat at about a 100 dollars, the Patriarch is a very light reel and a pleasure to fish with, but once you start spending this kind of money you have a  lot of options.     

Great all around reels through out the line up and you would not be sorry for choosing any of them.