Are High End Reels Worth Hundreds?

[WayToGo88]

I have been looking to buy a new bait casting reel. I will be using this to throw plastics weightless and weighted. I'm having trouble deciding if the expensive Shimano and Daiwa are even worth it, or if i should get a cheaper  reel like a curado or tourny pro and put most of my money into baits. I haven't seen many reviews on the Patriarch, but i love the way it looks. What do you guys think????

 

[A-Jay]

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~

Interesting first post.   Justifying any purchase is solely in the mind of the human making the purchase. 

I'll say get what you can afford & spend whatever makes you happy. 

As long as it does what you need it to, frankly what difference does it make ? 

The bass have no clue what you spent.

Good Luck with your choice & purchase.

btw - I'd encourage you to consider function, design & durability as well as aesthetics (how it looks)

A-Jay

[new2BC4bass]

I personally have never been able to justify the expensive reels ($300 up).  Too frugal....and poor.    If I could afford them I'd have a few simply because of the pleasure I would get from using them.  Not because they were so much better than what I already have....or would catch any more fish.

I've not used the Patriarch, but have 2 of the Patriarch XTs and a 3rd on the way.  These are the older blue ones.  Nice looking with a tough finish.  Pretty light.  Cast quite well.  One I have set up with 40# braid and mostly use it for throwing unweighted 10" ribbontail worms back into the weeds and lily pads.  It is set up with fewer brakes than any of my other reels, and I have no problems with backlashes.

Pfluegers are mention in a thread currently on the first page entitled "Top 3 Choices of baitcasters?"   An Online buddy who has given me lots of good advise (smalljaw67) has a couple of the Supreme XTs and likes them a lot.  He use to tournament fish and has used quite a few different brands of reels...including some expensive ones.

What reels are you using now?

[burrows]

Yes it is worth it. You don't need it but it sure is a pleasure to fish with.

[MickD]

How about some details on what makes them worth the extra money.

 

 

[kickerfish1]

What higher end reels are you considering? May also be helpful to know what reels you are using or have used in the past.

Are they worth it? IMO the differences are not proportional to the cost. For example is the Metanium MGL twice the reel the Curado is? IMO once you start moving passed the $200 price point you are generally paying for more refinement, collectability, and weight reduction plus perhaps a unique color combination.

[fishnkamp]

Here is my suggestion. Look very seriously at the Daiwa line. The original retail price of a Tatula is $150  The retail price of a Tatula Type R is $199. There is the new model called the Tatula CT and Tatula CT Type R. They run $130  and around $170. The R series is a tiny bit lighter spool and 1 bearing is upgraded. What is the result not much. You can easily find a Tatula in any gear ratio and both left and right hand retrieve for around $99 online. A Tatula CT, which is the newest  version is a tiny bit lighter and a tiny bit smaller. I own a bunch of all of these reels. They are awesome reliable, well built, easy casting reels. I have around 20 baitcasters and have been replacing older models with these reels. They are workhorses. Right now across the board with all of the manufacturers the $100 to $200 price range is the best bang for your buck. In the Daiwa lineup there are lots of higher priced reels and they are terrific.  If I had unlimited funds I would probably own some of them. Some offer less weight, higher priced bearings, lighter weight spools, a lot more bearings etc.  Be careful with more being better. Some reels have handle knobs which have 4 bearings in them. Some offer knobs with 1 bushing and 1 bearing, all of which will not increase the distance you will cast by 1 inch. Maybe a professional angler will appreciate the difference in feel. I have been fishing for over 40 years. I do not want to fish with junk, nor a reel that will hinder my casting ability or my ability to fight and land a fish. I have come to believe most reels that retail below the $100 range are not worth it, when these $100 to $200 reels are available online. 

[Redlinerobert]

To me the high end tackle serves two purposes.   Fun to collect, and fun to use.  There is something quite satisfying from using my stuff.  

[byram bassturd]

Only you can decide if it's worth it to you. I know that it's worth it to me. 

[Big Bait Fishing]

to me spending an extra hundred or even two hundred on a reel is not worth it to me as i find there are plenty great reels for around $200 , i'll always put the extra money towards a custom rod any day of the week !!

[Bluebasser86]

I can't justify it personally. They are nice to look at, and very enjoyable to fish with, but I'm more about function personally. I own a few dozen reels and I can count on one hand the reels I paid over $150 for, and 2 of them are my swimbait reels. The only other ones I paid over that for are my Curado 70XG, Scorpion 70HG, and Stradic CI4.

I'm not making a living doing it, and the fish don't care how much my gear cost, so I get what I feel the best value options are and just take care of them and they last for years. I still have the very first Curado B that I ever bought when I was 15 and it's still in my starting lineup. 

[smalljaw67]

I'm with Kickerfish1, I stay in the $120 to $220 range anymore for the reasons he mentioned. Once you get past the $200 range there aren't a ton more features to have, it is basically refinement, frame materials and small details. These things added up make the reel enjoyable to use and it also adds resale value as most anglers in what I call the "enthusiast" crowd will buy high end reels and sell them off in a few years to get newer. Now, there are some that will hold onto a few reels but when you get into the $300+, those are enthusiast level reels with small added touches line anodized knobs, bearing supported level winds and machined star drags and carbon fiber handles. I like light weight reels, and one of the reasons I haven't ventured into the magnesium realm of sub 6oz reels is because of what the sub 7oz reel did to me. I so wanted to like the Tatula reels but they were just too heavy and cumbersome after using reels under 7oz for a few years before the Tatula came out, and it isn't just me, I've heard from a lot of anglers that splurged on a enthusiast level reel and now can't stand to use anything else, sometimes the lighter weight and refinement are just too good to do without.

[WayToGo88]

8 hours ago, A-Jay said:

8 hours ago, new2BC4bass said:

I personally have never been able to justify the expensive reels ($300 up).  Too frugal....and poor.    If I could afford them I'd have a few simply because of the pleasure I would get from using them.  Not because they were so much better than what I already have....or would catch any more fish.

I've not used the Patriarch, but have 2 of the Patriarch XTs and a 3rd on the way.  These are the older blue ones.  Nice looking with a tough finish.  Pretty light.  Cast quite well.  One I have set up with 40# braid and mostly use it for throwing unweighted 10" ribbontail worms back into the weeds and lily pads.  It is set up with fewer brakes than any of my other reels, and I have no problems with backlashes.

Pfluegers are mention in a thread currently on the first page entitled "Top 3 Choices of baitcasters?"   An Online buddy who has given me lots of good advise (smalljaw67) has a couple of the Supreme XTs and likes them a lot.  He use to tournament fish and has used quite a few different brands of reels...including some expensive ones.

What reels are you using now?

I'm using Lew's speed spools (99$) and an Ardent apex elite . Thanks for the reply 

 

[NHBull]

This question comes up on all forums.....Guns to Cigars.

For me it is simple, when demoing reals, there is a feel I am looking for.

Sometimes it cost 100.00, other times 200.00. I find I don't pay extra for subtle differences, but do for quality.

[Brayberry]

I'm with everyone else, a reel costing between $100 and $200 is the way to go.  I use mostly Revo's and I love them.  This time of year with Black Friday and Christmas, you should have a problem finding a great reel and really good prices. 

[pawpaw]

Reels above a certain price point ,  let's say $150 or so, are what most would say are good reels. Beyond that it seems you start getting a more fine tuned and in some cases, specialized reel. It's like with a car. Some folks are fine  driving a Chevy with crank windows, manual transmission and no a/c. Others want high end Porche's and such. Both move your butt from point A to point B. Only you can decide what your comfortable or able to spend on a reel. For myself, when making purchases of any kind, I try to buy  what I feel is the best product I can afford at the time.  

[KDW96]

Buy only what you can afford. Look in the fleamarket area, and sales on web sites.

A 300.00 reel does not make a person a better angler.

The reels you have now will be just fine.

The reel doesnt catch fish, the person holding it does:)

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard!

Worth is a value judgement in the "eye of the beholder"
so to speak. I/we cannot make that decision for you.

Opinions, however, are a dime a dozen  

What is "worth it" to me is not to someone else.

Kind of like driving a Toyota Corolla vs a Porsche.
Both get you from point A to point B. 

As has been said, the fish don't know what you spent,
what brand you bought, etc.  So it only matters to you
in terms of value/worth.

Me? My sweet spot is the Shimano Stradic lineup for
spinning, and the Chronarch for casting; however, I 
always look for deals and usually don't pay full retail  

[cottny27]

12 hours ago, WayToGo88 said:

I have been looking to buy a new bait casting reel. I will be using this to throw plastics weightless and weighted. I'm having trouble deciding if the expensive Shimano and Daiwa are even worth it, or if i should get a cheaper  reel like a curado or tourny pro and put most of my money into baits. I haven't seen many reviews on the Patriarch, but i love the way it looks. What do you guys think????

 

Not unless you have a bunch of disposable income or you tournament fish for a living.  A Tourney Pro G is all you'd ever need imo.  Upgrade your rod over your reel.

[sarcazmo]

You know how when you close the door on a well made automobile it has that satisfying thud?  It's like that.

You don't need a Rolls to get you from point A to point B, but if you could afford it, why wouldn't you?

I personally prefer to spend more money on the rods as I don't think the reels have nearly as much to do with detecting bites etc.  Today's climate is differently than just a few years ago.  Everyone's affordable reels are very good nowadays and you'll catch just as many on a $100 dollar lews than you would a Megabass variant.

[rippin-lips]

Being worth it is up to you. In all honesty I could pick up a reel in the $150 range that performs just as well as some of my reels costing 2-3x as much.  As Robert mentioned there's a weird sense of joy that comes from using some of the high end gear. Tolerances feel tighter. It feels better built. Smoother and so on. There's also the collectibility part of it too for some people.

Is it actually better? That's for the buyer to decide.  Here's what a $400 reel looks like in pieces and a $150 reel. Not much difference. 

[Master Bait'r]

Oh god not this again.  

 

To some, yes.  To others, no.  

 

Find your own comfort zone.  Nobody but you can decide what feels right, and there are no shortage of options.  Nobody is forcing anybody to spend dough, but you'd think they were based on some peoples' response to this topic.

 

I havent read read the whole thread but I'll give an "over" bet of of 5 posts where someone can't wait to tell everyone how awesome they are and they only use an ugly stick etc. haha

[JustJames]

If money is no object why not? Any reel still better than no reel cheap or ridiculously expensive. 

BUT, for me I'd rather spent xtra money toward the rods more than reel. 

[DrMarlboro92]

The only reason I started buying expensive reels is from when I used to musky fish. I found out quickly that when throwing those massive baits that cheap reels are cheap for a reason. That mentality carried over to bass fishing for me, but, some of my bass reels are el cheapo's that have held up for years. The real deciding factor in all this is if you can justify it. 

Personally, I can justify $200 for a reel that is durable, fits well in my hand, and looks gorgeous. But that doesn't mean that theres anything wrong with you if you can only justify a $50 reel. Get what you like, and what you feel will work best for you. If you don't have many expensive baitcasters anyway, it's not likely that you will be able to tell the difference.

[bigfruits]

if you can afford it then it is worth it. life is short!