Cheaper Reels That Have Worked Well

[NOC 1]

18 minutes ago, LCG said:

I had a pflueger president xt that lasted me 3 years with no problems at all. I sold it to buy the Shimano Stradic FL, and yes there is a big difference.

 

But if on a budget I would recommend the president xt. I have a Daiwa Fuego CT and it's a solid reel, but not the same smoothness as my Curado K.

 

I am frugal so I always wait for a sale. I will also add that there is something to be said for buying something of quality and paying once rather than buying something of less quality and replacing. 

Buying the highest quality you can afford at the cheapest price you can find it at is a winning strategy.

[greentrout]

6 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

I haven't bought a new fishing reel in many years.   The Shimano Chronarch Bantam 100 was one of the best bass reels ever made.   It's light, rugged and smooth.  Mine are over ten years old and still going strong.  I buy them used on EBay for under $100.  My spinning reels are all Daiwa BG 13s.  They are simple, inexpensive and easy to maintain.  I buy my rods from Bass Pro for less than $50 each.  An expensive rod and reel does not catch more fish.  If it did, I would pay more.  

got a couple of BPS TOURNEY SPECIALS rods that normally sale for 49.99 ... got 'em both marked down to 29.99 ...

 

happy with both of 'em ...

 

good fishing ...

[Teal]

1 hour ago, NOC 1 said:

I have a couple of those old green Lagunas. I don't much use them, but I have them on rods and occasionally hand them out to family which don't ordinarily fish much. they work very well and feel like a solid Daiwa reel. One of the best cheap reels in my book.

I think mine was silver.  I had a daiwa excellor too... it was a great reel as well.  Hard to be daiwa even on the cheap stuff.  

[FishTank]

Shimano Sahara and Symetre.  I have seen a lot of the SLX on the water and mean a lot.  Just walking around at the last tournament on Saturday, there was over 50 boats at check in and I bet 20 boats had them on the deck.   It maybe to early to tell on longevity but for $100 and you get through more than one season of tournament fishing, bargain. 

[NOC 1]

4 minutes ago, FishTank said:

Shimano Sahara and Symetre.  I have seen a lot of the SLX on the water and mean a lot.  Just walking around at the last tournament on Saturday, there was over 50 boats at check in and I bet 20 boats had them on the deck.   It maybe to early to tell on longevity but for $100 and you get through more than one season of tournament fishing, bargain. 

One of my sons has a couple of the SLX MGL reels and he likes them a lot.

[Bankbeater]

All of my spinning reels are presidents. Last one I bought was for a ML rod back in 2016.   

[new2BC4bass]

Black Max 1600C, older Trion (casting reel w/alum. frame), older gray Cabela's Prodigy (casting) made by Daiwa, Procaster 100HN, Penn 430SS, gold colored Carbonlite (no idea of cost new), SS Tournament 1300.

[Mobasser]

One brand I havnt seen mentioned is Okuma. They make some good affordable reels too.

[swhit140]

Diawa Procaster. I think it was only $35 or $40, still in good working condition. I keep it around for a backup or pond setup.

 

[Cgolf]

I have some older Shakespeare excursion and Cattera spinning reels that I love and have talked about on here from time to time. They are old, but assume that the newer Excursions would last a season or two. Baitcasters, like others above the best low cost one I have is a Daiwa Laguna. The only other one I have is a Lews Mark Rose that I got on clearance for under 25. It isn't horrible, but backlashes very easily so not a good reel for a beginner. Not sure if they count but Daiwa Regals, minus bail spring issues, and the presidents are good lower cost spinning reels.

[NYWayfarer]

Spinning: The old Pflueger President with the wooden knobs, Kastking Sharky 3, Lew’s Speed Spin, Lew’s Carbon Fire Speed Spin.
 

Baitcasters: 13 Fishing Origin C, Lew’s LFS, Shimano Caenan.
 

[plawren53202]

10 hours ago, greentrout said:

My "budget reels" I have had for many yrs. are the Shimano Sienna 1000 and Solstace 2500 ...both are bullet proof and have been in some battles ...

 

If money is a constraint for some right now ... been there done that ... Piscifun offers the Flame 2000 for 23 dollars ready for braid if desired ...  a good little reel ...

 

good fishing ...

Just a couple of weeks ago I wanted to get a "cheap" spinning reel to fill with copolymer and swap out with the Daiwa Regal on my ML spinning rod, which is loaded with braid, when I use that rod for crappie fishing. I got the Shimano Sienna, and to do the same thing on my son's spinning rod, a Lew's Laser Lite spinning reel. Both are $29.99 at Academy and seemed to get the best reviews in that price range. 

 

I guess at this point I shouldn't be surprised by the quality of any Shimano product, but I was really surprised and impressed by the Sienna. Can't speak to longevity yet, but it seems like an unbelievably solid and smooth reel for that price point...and at that point longevity is not really an issue. Actually the Lew's Laser Lite seems like a really solid product too, though it's funny b/c it is great in a "Lew's" kind of way, while the Sienna is great in a "Shimano" kind of way, if that makes any sense. I'm really happy with both.

[LegendaryBassin]

6 hours ago, WRB said:

Everyone today wants the latest and greatest rod and reels. This may be a result of always upgrading computers to current state of the art. Reels haven't changed very much the past 30 years. 

Tom

Regarding mechanical functionality you are right but reels have drastically changed in materials utilized and round reels vs low profile.

[WRB]

Reels have incorporated more composites, faster gear ratio's but the early 90's with instant anti reverse, light weight free spinning spools, new drag materials and designs with wider crank handles, precision gears, 1 piece alunimum frames by both Daiwa and Shimano set the state of the art we enjoy today.

I changed from Abu Ambassador reels in 1990 to Daiwa HTSA 103 & 105 reels and Shimano Calcutta reels. Added Daiwa TD Feugo reels* in 2005. Hard to find better performing casting reels today.

2012 added 3 Diawa Tatula 100R 8:1 ($134) that suit my hook setting technique after a long cast. Good reliable reels not better casting or smoother then my 90's era HTSA's or TD Fuego's.

Tom

*magnesium frame 

[greentrout]

59 minutes ago, plawren53202 said:

Just a couple of weeks ago I wanted to get a "cheap" spinning reel to fill with copolymer and swap out with the Daiwa Regal on my ML spinning rod, which is loaded with braid, when I use that rod for crappie fishing. I got the Shimano Sienna, and to do the same thing on my son's spinning rod, a Lew's Laser Lite spinning reel. Both are $29.99 at Academy and seemed to get the best reviews in that price range. 

 

I guess at this point I shouldn't be surprised by the quality of any Shimano product, but I was really surprised and impressed by the Sienna. Can't speak to longevity yet, but it seems like an unbelievably solid and smooth reel for that price point...and at that point longevity is not really an issue. Actually the Lew's Laser Lite seems like a really solid product too, though it's funny b/c it is great in a "Lew's" kind of way, while the Sienna is great in a "Shimano" kind of way, if that makes any sense. I'm really happy with both.

Believe Shimano is shrewd in introducing buyers to their less expensive products so as to impress the buyers with the quality of the products that are worth more ...

 

As the buyer's circumstances or preferences change and he is ready to buy another reel and rod it's highly likely Shimano will be the reels and rods he buys ...

 

good fishing ...

 

[basser27]

Abu Garcia silver max baitcasting reel

[Heartland]

Shimano Citica E model, they closed them out for around $80 dollars.   I still think this may have been one of the best buys on a fantastic entry level reel.   

[new2BC4bass]

10 hours ago, Mobasser said:

One brand I havnt seen mentioned is Okuma. They make some good affordable reels too.

I feel Okuma has given me good value for my money....but I haven't tried their less expensive reels (below $100).  I have two Helios Air and a regular Helios (both casting).  The Air amazed me on the first cast with it.

[Catt]

Abu Garcia Black Max & Silver Max is a solid reels

 

Academy's H2O Express reels are overlooked 

 

Lew's American Hero & Classic Pro Speed Spool SLP CP1SHC

[BrianMDTX]

I don’t have a ton of time on it, but so far I have been impressed with my Daiwa Revros LT2500. On a Fenwick HMX66M-FS-2 with 8# YZH, it’s been my wacky style rig and has performed flawlessly. 

[waymont]

Nasci is a fantastic reel for $100

[shimando]

When I was upgrading my Silver Max, I was between the Pfleuger President and the Daiwa Regal LT since they are the same price.

 

Both were nice but I went with the Daiwa because it felt a little higher quality and I appreciate that Daiwa produces their own products as opposed to ordering from Doyo and other manufacturers like Lews or Pflueger.

[Greg728]

I love my Lew's Speed Spool LFS. $99. Definitely fishes above that. 

[txchaser]

On 7/16/2020 at 6:49 AM, new2BC4bass said:

I feel Okuma has given me good value for my money....but I haven't tried their less expensive reels (below $100).  I have two Helios Air and a regular Helios (both casting).  The Air amazed me on the first cast with it.

Okuma Epixor spinning reel, about $40. I have four, and Shimano CI4+. The Shimano is better, but it isn't 5x better. If I had to buy a new spinning reel today I'd buy the okuma and put better carbontex in it to get a smoother drag. The rest of it does just fine. 

[Linewinder]

On 7/15/2020 at 11:06 AM, Mobasser said:

Reading through the threads here, I see many questions about the most expensive, high end reels.                It's a fact. Bass fisherman love good qaulity, expensive, reels. For some, only the very best will do.                     But what about the folks who can't always afford to buy these reels?                        Here's a few reels I bought years ago, that have caught plenty of fish, and, are still working perfectly.                                                    Casting: ABU4600C, Qauntum Tour grade, Lews LFS.                                 Spinning: Shimano Sienna, Diawa Laguna, Shimano Sedona, Pflueger Trion. Most of these reels are several years old, and, many cost well under 100.00. These days, that's not considered expensive for fishing reels.                                  Only two of this list are newer. My Lews LFS, and Qauntum Tour Grade. Both are impressive considering the cost.                          As for longevity? It's all about maintenance. A good clean and lube at the start of the season keeps them working well. Since I joined BR, I've gotten some good tips about reel maintenance.                                           Lots of folks are struggling now, due to Covid 19, job loss or layoffs etc. If you fall into this group, don't worry. After you've been around this stuff for so long, you realize that the mid grade reels are so much better than what was available years ago.                              I would never recommend buying the cheapest, off brand reels.                      Most of these will fail in some way, and usually don't last long.If you stick with a good proven name brand, and maintain them, you can get years of fishing out of them.                                What are some less expensive reels that have you've owned, that have worked out well for you?                                                              

Well, how far back do you want to go?   You can still buy, but not new, Ryobi reels like the V-Mag4.  No, it's not all I have, but it works.  I even took my AD5000V on a trip last year.  The only parts I've replaced on these, and nothing else has broken, are the level-wind pawls.  Easily both are 30+ years.

 

Ultralight?  Spinning.  Penn 716Z, although it appears to me that they cost adjusted more now used than new.  Just replaced the one ball bearing for more years of use.  How about the Mitchell 308?