What’s your favorite reel brands?

[MittenMouth]

I have a ton of Daiwa , probably 20, 7-8 shimano, 6 pflueger, 2 BPS, 1 gander mountain even and 2 abu. Daiwa is my favorite but I do like the Shimano Stradic and Curado K reels quite a bit.

 

The worst value is the BPS pro qualifier and that’s at $50 for what I paid for it.  Personally I think a Abu Silver Max is better.

 

  Best value are my 6 Tatula SV reels that were $135 and the Pflueger president is great for the money but I also got a Daiwa Fuego spinning reel for $40 from Cabelas which is an absolute steal. 

[J-rod]

Daiwa has treated me good for the past few years. Tatula 100 for baitcasting, Legalis for spinning. 

 

Lew's has never done me wrong for spinning reels. Abu Garcia's Black Max is good on a budget.

 

Was not impressed with Quantum. Only reel I have had that failed in less than a season. That's just my personal experience... I know people who love them.

[Hooked_On_Bass]

All my reels are Shimano at this point. However, I’ve had my share of Daiwa’s in the past. 
 

Those are the only two for me. 

[Heartland]

On 7/14/2020 at 7:46 PM, Mr Swim Jig said:

I prefer Daiwa rods and reels...my favorite reel is the Abu Garcia Skeet Reese reel....still have 4 of them stored in their boxes....

Those ABU's are some cool reels.  There were two versions of the Skeet Reese reels, one had linear magnetic and the other had dual brakes.   Other than paint and a longer handle they were basically Revo Premiers, they were not on the market long as this is when Skeet made his jump from ABU to Wright and Magill.   Wonder what choice Skeet would make now if he could do it over.

[Hook2Jaw]

I own reels from all the brands that start with a D and end with a WA.

[walleyecrazy]

I tried reels from pretty much every brand I could find, and after doing a ton of trials I found that I definitely prefer the Daiwa reels over any other brand. 

[GreenPig]

Shimano(Precision) & Abu(Power) make up the bulk of my reels. But that new Daiwa Tatula 300 is gonna get to ride in my boat, soon.

[onenutinthewater]

Daiwmano

 

Just when I think I will go 100% daiwa the other guy comes out with something great like the bantam.

[Bankc]

I'm not a brand loyalty kind of guy.  Then again, I've never had a bad reel, so I've never had a company leave a bad taste in my mouth.  Neither have I ever been paid to endorse any brand, so I've never had any motivation to stick to just one company.  I pretty much just decide what I want in my new reel, find a few reels that meet my needs in my price range, and then go try a few out and buy whichever one seems to meet all of my criteria best.  The name on the side isn't of any concern to me.   

[MAN]

I haven't really found a baitcast reel that I didn't like. Not really brand loyal either. My go to reels this past year or so has been old Bantam Mag Plus reels.    

[NavyVet1204]

1) Abu Garcia 

2) Daiwa

 

[Heartland]

1 hour ago, NavyVet1204 said:

1) Abu Garcia 

2) Daiwa

 

Which ABU reels do you enjoy?

 

[Scott F]

Quantum for spinning reels. No particular favorite for baitcasters.

[NavyVet1204]

2 hours ago, Heartland said:

Which ABU reels do you enjoy?

 

I am particularly fond of the older round reels as well as the newer model Revo line. I recently bought two Revo SX’s from bass pro on sale and one of them ended up being a dud so I swapped it out for a Lews tournament SLF and I can’t stand it. I wish I had just swapped it for another Abu.

[Heartland]

37 minutes ago, NavyVet1204 said:

I am particularly fond of the older round reels as well as the newer model Revo line. I recently bought two Revo SX’s from bass pro on sale and one of them ended up being a dud so I swapped it out for a Lews tournament SLF and I can’t stand it. I wish I had just swapped it for another Abu.

About 10-12  years ago I fished all ABU reels, Premier Gen 1 and 2, STX Gen 1 and 2, MGX Gen 1, Elite IB Gen 1 but then Lews came out with the Tourney Pro the Original, I sold a few of my Revo's and purchased about 5 TP's right after they were released, I fished them hard for about a year or so and noticed that they were not holding up, the bearings started to show signs of wear - casting distance and ease of casting, the gears were becoming rough and unpleasant to fish, two reels had small mechanical failures of the drag assembly, the part that makes them click when adjusted failed.  In total my experience was not good.  

I held on to a few of my old ABU's a custom 5500,  Premier Gen 2, an Elite IB Gen 1 and a recently rediscovered Mgx Gen 1.  Honestly I have not seen a reel in the Lews lineup that I would trade anyone of these reels for, they have failed to regain my interest or trust.   Several years later my fishing partner decided he would sell off his ABU's mostly Premiers and Elite IB's  and dip his toes in the Lews pool.  Short story his experience was not any better than mine, he now fishes Daiwa and so do I.  My reels are older, OG Zillions, Pixy, Sol, Fuego, Steez EX, Alphas, T3 MX and a couple of OG Tatula Type R's.  My partner fishes half a dozen or so new Steez reels.   Lews 0, Daiwa 2.   No way would I ever choose again a Lews over a comparable Daiwa.

 

This is not a flame against Lews it is just a  bit of my experience.

[NavyVet1204]

12 hours ago, Heartland said:

About 10-12  years ago I fished all ABU reels, Premier Gen 1 and 2, STX Gen 1 and 2, MGX Gen 1, Elite IB Gen 1 but then Lews came out with the Tourney Pro the Original, I sold a few of my Revo's and purchased about 5 TP's right after they were released, I fished them hard for about a year or so and noticed that they were not holding up, the bearings started to show signs of wear - casting distance and ease of casting, the gears were becoming rough and unpleasant to fish, two reels had small mechanical failures of the drag assembly, the part that makes them click when adjusted failed.  In total my experience was not good.  

I held on to a few of my old ABU's a custom 5500,  Premier Gen 2, an Elite IB Gen 1 and a recently rediscovered Mgx Gen 1.  Honestly I have not seen a reel in the Lews lineup that I would trade anyone of these reels for, they have failed to regain my interest or trust.   Several years later my fishing partner decided he would sell off his ABU's mostly Premiers and Elite IB's  and dip his toes in the Lews pool.  Short story his experience was not any better than mine, he now fishes Daiwa and so do I.  My reels are older, OG Zillions, Pixy, Sol, Fuego, Steez EX, Alphas, T3 MX and a couple of OG Tatula Type R's.  My partner fishes half a dozen or so new Steez reels.   Lews 0, Daiwa 2.   No way would I ever choose again a Lews over a comparable Daiwa.

 

This is not a flame against Lews it is just a  bit of my experience.

I completely understand friend. The lews reel I bought was amazing out of the box. The retrieve is still the smoothest I have ever felt to the point that I have to look down while retrieving to make sure the spool is in fact moving. The cast however....sounds like an electric weed eater that is wide open on throttle when casting. A very Geary sounding “WEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY”. The side plate doesn’t want to close completely either. It snaps shut for sure but there is a bit of flex and play in it where it doesn’t mate up to the side of the reel. I’m thinking I’m gonna send it to lews and see what they can do.

 

My other Abu’s and my one Tatula 100 are perfect. I understand that there are duds in everything, but this was mostly a reminder to not venture away from what I know.

[Bird]

Owned way more shimano's over the years than any other brand, bullet proof. 

 

Quite the mix now. 

2- Lews

2 - Kastking 

2 - pflueger 

1 - shimano 

1 - Abu " favorite "

 

And 1 quantum that never made it through a season of fishing. 

[cadman]

ABU MGX and MGXtreme for baitcaster.

Shimano Stradic for spinning reels.

[NavyVet1204]

54 minutes ago, Bird said:

Owned way more shimano's over the years than any other brand, bullet proof. 

 

Quite the mix now. 

2- Lews

2 - Kastking 

2 - pflueger 

1 - shimano 

1 - Abu " favorite "

 

And 1 quantum that never made it through a season of fishing. 

I own one old(12 years) quantum spinning reel from Wally World that is still going strong. Haven’t had another since though.

[FishTank]

I have about 15+ set ups and a variety of brands but Shimano and Daiwa have been the most consistent and most fun reels I have owned. 

[coak]

I’m definitely in the minority here. Majority of my reels are the older Tour Editions (all chrome not the blue) from Quantum with 2 Shimano, a T3 ballistic and an Okuma Helios. Also have an older Quantum Energy as well, along with a gen 1 Smoke. 

I love my TE’s and Energy and really do think that once they get dialed in they’re a great reel. The Okuma is a great little reel as well. The Diawa is a tank. The Shimano reels hardly get fished anymore. Almost forgot I also have 2 of the og BPS Prolite reels from years ago that I use for fishing runs/creeks/small rivers. I absolutely love those little reels!

[Teal]

On 7/14/2020 at 9:35 PM, new2BC4bass said:

Reads more like how many brands do you fish rather than what are your favorite brands.

 

 

Unless you are a guy like me that has never met a reel he didn't like. 

 

 

That's pretty much it.  I own mostly less with 1 shimano, a few daiwas, and a few 13 fishing.   My favorite reels honestly are the high end ones.  I have a TD Zillion and a Core, those reels are awesome.   If I had an unlimited budget I'd probably be market for the daiwa tatula Sv tw, or the high end stuff....all that said, my lews tournament pros have been excellent reels.... 

[new2BC4bass]

1 hour ago, Teal said:

That's pretty much it.  I own mostly less with 1 shimano, a few daiwas, and a few 13 fishing.   My favorite reels honestly are the high end ones.  I have a TD Zillion and a Core, those reels are awesome.   If I had an unlimited budget I'd probably be market for the daiwa tatula Sv tw, or the high end stuff....all that said, my lews tournament pros have been excellent reels.... 

Always wanted to have a Core.  My 50th Anniversary Zillion is one of my favorite reels.  I don't care that it weighs more than 6 oz.    My budget isn't unlimited either, but I have often worked a second part time job over the years and have purchased a lot more reels than I should have.  BUT...I just had to have them. 

 

It isn't like I have 200 reels.