How good is a Lew’s reel?

[HookingDreams]

The more that i do research on baitcasters the more i want my next one to be a Lew’s. i want someone who has or has had problems with them to tell me how they liked or disliked theirs. i see a lot of people with lew’s rods and was wondering if their reels are just as good. i am deciding between a Lew’s or a Diawa.

[desmobob]

I have eight Lew's reels (I finally did a reel inventory) that I enjoy very much and that have been 100% reliable.  I will continue to buy them.

 

Tight lines,

Bob

[papajoe222]

I own two Lew’s and eleven Daiwas. That’s not to say a Lews isn’t a quality reel, I just prefer a Daiwa. Aftermarket parts are much easier to find for the Daiwas if you ever decide you want to upgrade and not purchase a whole new reel. 

[Tywithay]

I have/ have had the BB1, BB1 Inshore, BB1 Pro, Hyper Mag SLP, and the Tournament Pro. They offer a lot of features for the money, but I haven't found them to be overly durable. On nearly every one I've owned, the gears have noticeably worn over the course of a year. They don't seem to stay as smooth, for as long, as a similarly priced Daiwa or Shimano, in my experience. I wish they'd stop trying to make everything super light and put more durable brass gears in their top offerings.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Which models? Compare similarly equipped and priced reels and see what you like. Once you get north of $125 on a baitcast reel from a major brand it's hard to go wrong. 

[ratherbfishin1]

Lews is by far my favorite, I wasn’t one to jump on the Daiwa  bandwagon because I much prefer my lews reels

 

[Shimano_1]

I've been using some original tournament pros for 5 years and a few tournament pro g's for a cple. My dad uses all lews as well and we haven't had any issues to date. I do break em down and clean/lube every year or so. Had one that came with a funky side plate and they sent me a new one no questions asked. Awesome reels with excellent customer service is all I need in reels. I'd buy with confidence! Daiwa and shimano make fine reels but I prefer my lews! Good luck 

[Vilas15]

I have enjoyed my tournament MB so far.

[Dtrombly]

Tournament MB is fantastic, that's the only Lews I've owned as I'm currently on a Tatula kick. ?

[Lead Head]

I have 2 tournament mb and a bb1 that I absolutely love. I will be replacing all my reels with the mb eventually. 

[LionHeart]

Own 3 Tournament MB reels.  Next reel will likely be the same.  A lot of reel for the $.

[Log Catcher]

I have a BB1 and two tournament MB reels. The BB1 and one MB reel have been good. One MB reel casts good but you can feel the handle tighten up and get harder to turn after a while. I have taken it apart and lubed it several times. This helps for a while then it will start to tighten up again. Also I am not a fan of magnetic brakes and the ones on the MB reels seem so weak I can't tell they do much so I leave them turned off. I wish I had spent a little more and bought the different gear ratios in the BB1

[jubantique]

Go with the Daiwa Reel. I’m looking at one of Lew’s high dollar bait casters that has a Spool that is completely locked up!

FYI.....I used the reel maybe on six outings!

You say go to customer service......how do a bunch of rude and unhelpful people get into customer service!! 

Don’t know about those puzzle pieces that you have to assemble???

[NYWayfarer]

Rise from the dead one year old thread!

 

Have 5 Lew's baitcasters. Love them all, no issues yet. Anyone can get a lemon. Contact their customer service and they will make it right.

[dodgeguy]

own 4 getting more.3 lfs which are awesome and 1 tournament pro. which is superior to any reel ive owned including the abu garcia mgx. the tournament pro is as backlash free as it gets.

[Shimano_1]

Seems kind of ridiculous to me to crap on a company because you had 1 reel malfunction.  Yes it sucks but I've had reels from every major company have problems.  The question is will they make it right. Anyone who has dealt with lews customer service knows the answer is absolutely.  I've never had them be anything but wonderful the cple of times I've needed them. I had issues with a daiwa and once it was finally corrected made me feel a lot better about lews. Still love daiwa products but lews is hard to beat in my book.

[BassKicker42]

I love all my Lews. I have 3 MBs and for the price, I really don't feel like they can be beat. I have a newer LFS that was like $80 on ebay that I use for casting baits like chatterbaits and paddletails, and I literally can take my thumb off the spool when I cast it. As for Daiwa, I think they also make a great reel. I tend to use them for pitching and flipping set ups though because of the T Wing. In regards to comfort I would say that the Lews reels are much more palmable and comfortable. Really you can't go wrong if you ask me. 

[LionHeart]

1 hour ago, jubantique said:

Go with the Daiwa Reel. I’m looking at one of Lew’s high dollar bait casters that has a Spool that is completely locked up!

FYI.....I used the reel maybe on six outings!

You say go to customer service......how do a bunch of rude and unhelpful people get into customer service!! 

Don’t know about those puzzle pieces that you have to assemble???

Strange.  I have dealt with Lews customer service numerous times and they are always exceptional.

[waymont]

I have three Tournament Pro G reels that have been beat on with zero issues. Excellent casting reels.

I've Used Lews customer service numerous times and they are always fast and helpful.

[Koz]

Quote

How good is a Lew’s reel?

 

Very good. I have 3 or 4 Lew's baitcasters and the primary reel I use is the Mach II Speed Spool and it's been great. I really like the Winn grips. I needed Lew's customer service once for a rod issue and they went above and beyond to make sure I was satisfied.

 

That being said, my next reel may be a Tatula just to see what all of the fuss is about.

[Glaucus]

Quantum, Lew's, Favorite, and Thirteen all have one thing in common for me. I wouldn't touch them or recommend them to anyone. That's how good they are.

[dodgeguy]

33 minutes ago, Glaucus said:

Quantum, Lew's, Favorite, and Thirteen all have one thing in common for me. I wouldn't touch them or recommend them to anyone. That's how good they are.

Good that's more Lew's reels for me.