Bass Pro Qualifier reels any good?

[NavyVet1204]

I’ve seen these reels all over my fishing locale and they seem to be very respected. A good buddy of mine has about five setups that he swaps around to on the boat when we go bass fishing and he swears by them and all of them are nearing ten years old at least. 
 

I am particularly interested in this one:

 

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-johnny-morris-platinum-signature-baitcast-reel

 

If I don’t go with that one, then it will be a curado K for my next setup.

[Smells like fish]

I am sure the JM reels are fine. I even used one this morning that belings to the buddy I was fishing with. You know Johnny put his name on it, it is fine but with that said since I was a kid in the early 90's I have thought of the Curado as being equal to Excalibur though short of the sharp edges lol it was not King Arthur that wielded it but Larry Dahlberg (my hero!!) when other kids got up on Saturday mornings to watch teenage mutant ninja turtles I was up at 5am tuning into ESPN waiting on 'The Hunt for Big Fish'. Larry would catch something that looked like it could eat 3 tribesmen and still hit a topwater. He did it with a Curado often. Johnny is neat and worth 6 billion bucks but Larry is priceless lol. If I was you I'd get the Curado and pretend to be Larry ?

[Kelvin]

Shimano and Daiwa are the gold standard and then everything else comes in 3rd. 

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

At sale prices you get a lot of reel for the $. Retail, ok. Are there better reels? Yup. Are these bad? No. 

[PourMyOwn]

I love my Pro Qualifiers, love my first and second gen Johnny Morris. I'm one of the few here who doesn't like the Shimano SLX. All that said, if you are dropping that kind of money, buy the Shimano. 

[Nai]

6 hours ago, NavyVet1204 said:

I’ve seen these reels all over my fishing locale and they seem to be very respected. A good buddy of mine has about five setups that he swaps around to on the boat when we go bass fishing and he swears by them and all of them are nearing ten years old at least. 
 

I am particularly interested in this one:

 

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-johnny-morris-platinum-signature-baitcast-reel

 

If I don’t go with that one, then it will be a curado K for my next setup.

I have three of the new ones, primarily because of budgets and sales. For a budget I would say they're pretty decent. One I use on my frog rod has gone through some decent abuse and isn't too worse for wear. If your on a budget, or if they're on sale go for it. Last year I got the blue one for $50 on sale. 

[Beeno]

They are nice reels you won’t be disappointed.

[Hower08]

I believe doyo makes the JM reels. Same company that makes the cheaper Lew's and abu's and probably a bunch of other reels. My Lew's and the one Revo I own both have interchangeable parts. If you can pick up one of the JM reels on sale it should serve you well

[Tywithay]

I have 4 or 5 of the old gold round PQ reels that are probably 20-25 years old and they still work really well. Like a poor man's Calcutta. Haven't used the latest models, but they appear to be a Lews/Abu variant. Imagine they perform similarly to the $100-$120 models of those brands.

[Mobasser]

My son in law has the BPS casting reel you mentioned, along with the spinning reel. I think he's had them two years now, and likes both. They seem like good reels for the money

[OnthePotomac]

I had a Pro Qualifier on my frog rod for three years and it was flawless.  The only reason I no longer have it is because BPS gave me $50 for it on a trade in for a Chronarch MGL.  I thought it was a sweet little reel.

[NavyVet1204]

28 minutes ago, OnthePotomac said:

I had a Pro Qualifier on my frog rod for three years and it was flawless.  The only reason I no longer have it is because BPS gave me $50 for it on a trade in for a Chronarch MGL.  I thought it was a sweet little reel.

Bass Pro takes used reels on trade??

[Jaderose]

I have 4 or 5 of the older PQ's and they have got nothing but BETTER with age and basic maintenance.  The PQ2?  No idea but I suspect they are ok.  

[OnthePotomac]

39 minutes ago, NavyVet1204 said:

Bass Pro takes used reels on trade??

Every early spring, usually in March, BPS hold a Classic sale where you can trade in a reel, or rod and receive a cash allowance on your trade in commensurate with the cost of the new item.  The higher the cost of what you want, the higher the cash trade in.

[dodgeguy]

17 hours ago, Kelvin said:

Shimano and Daiwa are the gold standard and then everything else comes in 3rd. 

totally disagree. 

19 hours ago, NavyVet1204 said:

I’ve seen these reels all over my fishing locale and they seem to be very respected. A good buddy of mine has about five setups that he swaps around to on the boat when we go bass fishing and he swears by them and all of them are nearing ten years old at least. 
 

I am particularly interested in this one:

 

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-johnny-morris-platinum-signature-baitcast-reel

 

If I don’t go with that one, then it will be a curado K for my next setup.

good reel but i think you should look at the Lews tournament Pro at sportsmans outfitters for $139.

[dodgeguy]

32 minutes ago, BaitFinesse said:

They appear to be the same reel from the same company in different brands with slightly different specs.  The takeaways are externally adjustable centrifugal vs the dual brake and a cheap carbon fiber handle vs an aluminum handle.  I would probably go with the Lews too.  I'm not a big fan on the Doyo dual brake.  The BPS PQ can be had for $50 on sale sometimes.  It's good at that price.     

even though they are all doyo they are made to different specs for different brands.for whatever reason the Lews seem to cast furthur.better bearings and lighter spools ? at 139 the tournament pro cant be beat. the externally adustable centrifugal brakes are awesome. the carbon fiber handle is nice. the 20 carbon drag is smooth and strong. not that bps reels arent good. all the ones i have owned were good im just a Lews fan now.

[Tywithay]

20 minutes ago, dodgeguy said:

even though they are all doyo they are made to different specs for different brands.for whatever reason the Lews seem to cast furthur.better bearings and lighter spools ? at 139 the tournament pro cant be beat. the externally adustable centrifugal brakes are awesome. the carbon fiber handle is nice. the 20 carbon drag is smooth and strong. not that bps reels arent good. all the ones i have owned were good im just a Lews fan now.

They're not really made to different specs. Just a different sticker slapped on the side. You can purchase the exact same reels with the Doyo brand on them in different colors on the Korean sites.

[PhishLI]

40 minutes ago, BaitFinesse said:

They appear to be the same reel from the same company in different brands with slightly different specs. 

It's not that simple, and they're not. Having fished the Alde MGL and the 2020 TP Pro LFS side by side, the TP gives up little other than weight to the Alde. Regarding actual fishability and casting light weight lures, practically nothing. The spool is super light and free. I think I measured mine at 20 grams with a full spool of Advance 8lb including the bearing. Honestly, the TP brakes are easier to dial in. No popping off the side plate and engaging/disengaging brake blocks is a bonus, and not messing with that miserably placed dial of the Alde is a plus. BTW, the sideplate of this particular Alde is at the bottom of a lake right now because it popped off fighting a fish. $111.00 later...I'm not saying the Alde is junk. It's marvelous. The TP Pro LFS is a fantastic performer too, and a different thing compared to typical cheaper Doyo, and at that price its a hidden gem, IMO.

[dodgeguy]

5 minutes ago, BaitFinesse said:

What baits and line where you using?  The Alde MGL is meant to be used to with very light line and light weight baits.  To me the two aren't really comparable unless you are using heavier baits and line.  

I fish 1/10 oz Ned rig with a small trd on 8lb Sufix Advance Mono with no issues with a Tournament Pro.

[Tywithay]

10 minutes ago, dodgeguy said:

I fish 1/10 oz Ned rig with a small trd on 8lb Sufix Advance Mono with no issues with a Tournament Pro.

1/10oz with a finesse TRD weighs a little over 1/4oz. Most modern baitcasters should handle that.

[PhishLI]

11 minutes ago, BaitFinesse said:

What baits and line where you using?  The Alde MGL is meant to be used to with very light line and light weight baits.  To me the two aren't really comparable unless you are using heavier baits and line.  

It's the MGL 50, not the BFS. 8 lb Tatsu. 1st bait was a 7" Berkely Powerbait ribbon tail. 5 grams. 6 grams with a 2/0 fine wire worm hook. TRD at the same weight. The worm is tricky without a bullet or nail as the tail catches air.

[PhishLI]

1 hour ago, Tywithay said:

1/10oz with a finesse TRD weighs a little over 1/4oz. Most modern baitcasters should handle that.

Sure, but the question is how well they'll handle it. 6 grams is under 1/4 oz, and here's where the gap in performance while throwing those baits becomes an issue for heavier spools as you know. The 2020 TP has a 10-ish gram spool, which is rather low for the price range.