$100 spinning reel for dropshot

[Jared Herman]

I am looking to buy a new spinning reel for around $100. I would put this reel on my dropshot rod. I want a reel that would have supper smooth drag just like my stradic but I cannot spend the money to buy another one. I was looking at the Shimano Nasci and the Diawa Fuago but I wasn't sure which one has smoother drag.

[evilcatfish]

I picked up a Daiwa Legalis this past summer and have been very happy with it, at $69.99 its well within your budget. Don't forget the Black Friday sales are coming up to save a few bucks

[Joshua van Wyk]

You can't go wrong with either one. Daiwa and Shimano are top of the line manufacturers for a reason. Personally I'd go with the Daiwa,  just because I prefer daiwa to shimano in general. Also you can get the Fuego for <$70 on eBay with a 20% off code.

[FrankN209]

Pflueger Supreme.

[WRB]

Just speculating; check if the Stratic and Sadona spools are interchangeable. If the spools are then buy the Sadona and extra Stratic spool, the drag components are in the spool.

Tom

[Bass_Fanatic]

I’m a fan of pflueger springing reels. The Supreme is a fine real at your price point.

[JWall14]

Shimano NASCI 2500

[ItsHardwick]

I bought a pflueger president xt about a month ago, they come in right at $90. I was so impressed with it I went and got another one for my other spinning rod already. 

[Bankbeater]

I got rid of my Shimano and Daiwa spinning reels when I got my Pflueger Presidents. 

[Russ E]

I replaced three pflueger presidents with 2 Kastking sharky 3 and 1 speed demon spinning reel this year.

They preformed flawlessly all summer and fall. 

the sharky 3 is $52.00 on amazon.

the speed demon is $90.00.

they are both very nice reels. I use 2000 size in both

I use the speed demon for shakyheads and the sharky 3 for everything else that I need a spinning outfit for.

[burrows]

Any of Daiwa Lts will do good.

[Jared Herman]

Is there anyone who has used both of the reels and knows what the drags are like?

[newyorktoiowa57]

I picked up a legalis for 50 bucks which is a great reel IMO.

[Brad Reid]

For $100, a Shimano NASCI is hard to beat. I have several of them and I think a 2500 series is ideal for drop shot presentations, most other finesse applications.

 

My favorite spinning reels are my Ci4+ Stradics, but you get about 85% or more, by comparison, with a NASCI at about 40% of the price.

 

Diminishing returns . . . very common to most fishing tackle/gear.

 

Brad

 

[Bluebasser86]

I have an Okuma RTX on my dropshot rod. It's very light and smooth. I really like that it has a faster retrieve than most reels in it's price range, which is great for bringing your bait up from deep water quickly. You can find them for well under 100 as well.

[Big-Bass]

A buddy of mine has a few NIB Tatula LT reels that he is selling for $120 if you are interested.  He bought a bunch is bulk but has a new rod sponser so he is selling a bunch of gear from the many brands he uses.

[Derek1]

Another vote for the nasci 2500. Great for the money,smooth every thing. 

[Joshua Vandamm]

8 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I have an Okuma RTX on my dropshot rod. It's very light and smooth. I really like that it has a faster retrieve than most reels in it's price range, which is great for bringing your bait up from deep water quickly. You can find them for well under 100 as well.

Faster retrieve? 

Its 6:0:1 30 IPT. totally standard. 

What stands out about the Okuma RTX is the drag... 6KG = 13.2Lb. That’s rather good for a light spinning reel and although I havent used the Okuma I’ve found that a higher drag typically also means a smoother one. On that I may be over-genetalizing...just in my own experience. 

[iceintheveins]

Pflueger supreme or Daiwa Fuego

[fvogel67]

Diawa Tatula LT  2500 or 3000   You can find these reels on Ebay for around 150.00 Shipped 

The Fuegos are def a step below and Kastkings  are junk no matter what you read.

Buy quality once and not junk twice

[Bluebasser86]

48 minutes ago, Joshua Vandamm said:

Faster retrieve? 

Its 6:0:1 30 IPT. totally standard. 

What stands out about the Okuma RTX is the drag... 6KG = 13.2Lb. That’s rather good for a light spinning reel and although I havent used the Okuma I’ve found that a higher drag typically also means a smoother one. On that I may be over-genetalizing...just in my own experience. 

It's a full inch per handle turn faster than the Shimano and noticeably faster in use than most other <$100 reels I've used. It's very connected feeling, no slop or play anywhere, which makes it very smooth and I'm sure probably also enhances the feeling of it being a faster reel. Just checking and it can still be found for around $75 pretty easily. 

Admittedly, I haven't had to shop for spinning reel for several years since I bought this one. Seems like most of them when I bought the Okuma were around the 24-26 IPT range. 

That Fuego LT looks really nice and is quite a bit faster still than the Okuma, but it's also a bit heavier if that means anything to the OP. My BIL has several of the the NASCIs. He loves them, but the times I've tried his I was not a fan. I'm a backreeler, they completely lost me when they took that feature away from their reels. 

[Joshua Vandamm]

Get a daiwa BG2500. 

You don’t need any particular reel for dropshoting. You just need a good reel with smooth drag. The BG is all that and a lot more. 

[fvogel67]

53 minutes ago, Joshua Vandamm said:

Get a daiwa BG2500. 

You don’t need any particular reel for dropshoting. You just need a good reel with smooth drag. The BG is all that and a lot more. 

Love my BG 2000 Really sweet reel

[Joshua Vandamm]

BGs are the original extra rugged oversized gear in light tackle reels. Original and still the best. Its a little heavier because it’s a real “fine tuned” machine that’ll last forever. Worth every gram. 

 

Best all around spinning for the money. 

[WRB]

What you don't need in a drop shot finesse reel is a drag with more then 8 lbs max, or high speed retrieve. What you do need is a smooth flawless drag in the 2 lb to 4 lb range, 5:1 to 6:1 gear ratio, larger spool diameter is an advantage with mono or FC line to reduce line twist, 2500 size is good, braid a 1000 size saves weight. The OP's choices are both good, go with the reel that feels good to you on the rod you plan to use. Spinning reel handles are important part of the touch and feel process.

Tom