Why buy a high end reel (metanium dc, steez...)? Are they worth it?

[Herbert Lorenzo]

This topic brings back memories and makes me laugh . 37 years ago I talked my wife into going fishing with me . To perk her interest I told her I was going to buy her a brand new rod and reel and new lady's tackle box . I figured she would last maybe one trip before giving fishing up as a fun activity. Not wanting to throw good money away I bought her a makeup box for a tackle box and a low priced Zebco reel . After a few trips it started raining and I asked her to help reel up some of my rods . She started reeling stopped and stared at me and said , " How come your reels don't t make the sounds mine make and don't shake when I turn the handle ? " Yes ,even newbies can tell the difference. Lol ... PS she still fishes and catches some nice Bass .

[OnthePotomac]

Like anything you buy it because you have the money and want it.

[Basseditor]

I started following this forum and read a lot of talk about high end reels like the Steez. I bought one used from someone on here.

 

I now have more than 10. I have close to 10 Zillions too. 

 

When I compare those to my Tatula models, although there is nothing wrong with the Tatulas, I usually reach for the Steez equipped rods.

 

I must say, however, the Tatula Elite P/F is perfect for how I like to fish heavy cover. I don’t think I’d use a Steez for that.

[new2BC4bass]

1 hour ago, fishwizzard said:

I have bought two reels that cost about $500, Steez TWSV and a Ryoga 1520, and have maybe a dozen or so in the $300-350 range, a mix of other Daiwas.  Overall, while they are both great reels, I will not pay that much again, the difference isn’t great enough compared to cheaper reels with about the same feature set.  I would absolutely buy another Steez TWSV, but only used and only if I could find one in the $300 range. 

That is why the few high end reels I have were all used with the exception of my PXL Type R which was purchased new on closeout for $200 less than normal price.  Even then it was the most I had (and have) ever spent on a reel.  What a pleasure it is to use on the Aetos 6'6" MLM. 

[Heartland]

I would say that their is a pretty big difference, but not sure how much of it is in terms of performance compared to ego.

 

[Tywithay]

Very little in terms of on the water performance gains, in my opinion. The biggest difference is in refinement. Same reason a Mercedes costs more than a Ford Focus, even though they essentially perform the same task.

[fishwizzard]

24 minutes ago, BaitFinesse said:

At the point that I am at the Steez is just a lightweight 1016 reel.  Casting performance is determined by the spool and I have many to choose from. 

That is more or less where I am at.  The Steez TWSV/A is the best all around platform I have found for the various 1016 spools, so I will keep buying them.  

 

 

[Hewhospeaksmuchbull]

A daiwa tatula sv, is my high end reel.

 

I'm going the other direction now, I bought a few Tatula 100's and love them, but Fuegos do the same for less money. Money that I am now spending where I feel it's best spent, on rods.

 

 

[NOC 1]

3 hours ago, Heartland said:

I would say that their is a pretty big difference, but not sure how much of it is in terms of performance compared to ego.

 

I don't see much ego in it. Who would notice? The guy in the boat 100 yrds. away? For me it is simpler than that. I have somewhere around 40 different combos right now, ranging from a Daiwa Laguna reel on a Laguna MF rod, a $80 rig to Steez, TD-z, and Px68R on Megabass and Daiwa Black Label rods.

 

The Lagunas aren't terrible, they catch fish if I do my part and they don't feel like rattle trap junk. I have a couple of Tatulas, CT-R and SV-TW, that I bought new and put them on St Croix rods. They are decent too. But yet, somehow when I am picking 5 or 6 to take out on the boat, the combos that 9 times out of 10 get the call are the Megabass rods with 10 and 15 year old Steez, TD-Z, and PX68R. It has nothing to do with ego, it's simply that those combos just feel better and I enjoy them the most. Since the whole point of fishing is my enjoyment, that matters big.

 

I'm choosing to use 15 year old top of the line reels rather than brand new $200 reels, so I'd have to say yeah, there's something to it.

[brophog]

Reels are bound to diminishing returns like most consumer goods. In other words, the value doesn’t increase as fast as the price does. So if the question is one of worth, the answer is probably “no” for a top priced item, but that’s not the same as suggesting you shouldn’t buy it.

 

Baitcasting reels are an excellent example of this because they’ve been priced at certain intervals for so long that most manufacturers build to certain price points. A $99 reel is going to be a really good, functional, workhorse reel from most brands. In comparison to more expensive models, it may not be as light, have as many bearings, or be built to as tight of tolerances. It may not have optional features like a clicking drag. 

 

A $500 reel is not ever going to be 5 times the reel as that $99 reel because that $99 reel is already a fully functional reel. That doesn’t mean you don’t still buy that $500 reel if it does something for you that a less expensive reel does not. If you want a 5 oz and under reel, it’s likely going to cost you. If you can deal with a couple ounces more, you can often save a lot of money and get basically the same reel. Certain people have certain features they consider a deal breaker and those features are generally priced into certain tiers.

 

One word of caution when comparing reels. A lot of reels today are built off of the same platform. Sometimes the price difference is justified, sometimes they just decided to put in more handle bearings and sometimes that platform is even shared amongst different brands.

 

 

[waymont]

17 hours ago, king fisher said:

I fished old Ambassador 5500 and 6500 that I bought in the early nineties for years.  I thought they were great and landed thousands of fish on them.  OK drag, cast far, easy to maintain, and lasted me for 25 years.  When I had the opportunity to get back in to bass fishing, I decided to buy a smaller modern reel.  I asked people on this forum what is a good economical bait caster, and the Tatula CT was highly recommended.   I bought one and was blown away.  I felt like Rip Van Winkle.  I don't want to bad mouth the tried and true 5500 but for me, the difference is equal to the difference in telephones from the 90's compared to phones of today.  I immediately bought two more Tat Ct and a Diawa Coastal 200. This madness was coming from a fanatical Shimano fan for offshore gear.(  I'm sure the modern Shimanos in this price range or just as good just haven't tried them)

       I bought the Tat for $100 and the Coastal for less than $200.  I do not even want to try a $400  BC.  If a $100 reel is this good, what could a top of the line one be like?  If the difference is anywhere near what I found making the jump from the 5500, I will go broke.  The bait monkey will be living with me looking over my divorce papers, and introducing me to his uncle the loan gorilla.  I beg every one answering this thread to please say the only difference between the $100 dollar reels and the most expensive is cosmetic.  I can't afford to be tempted.  I went through this before with fly rods in the 90's.  I'm fine driving a junk car as long as the engine runs like a Swiss watch.  As far as catching fish goes, it is the fishermen not the equipment.  As far as fishing enjoyment is concerned, that is up to the individual.   

The good news for you is jumping up to the the $200-250 Daiwas would blow your mind too. The SV tw, and the new 2020 SV tws are so killer. Give one or both a try.

[redmeansdistortion]

I recently got into higher end reels with my purchases of a couple of Daiwas (Alphas CT SV, Alphas ASC) and a Revo (ALC-BF7) and my first takeaway is how smooth they are compared to the other reels I have.  When you disengage the clutch they make a nice click as the spool begins to turn.  On my Fuegos it's more of a loud and hollow "clack" that would wake the dead by comparison.  The refined feeling of a Japanese made Daiwa is unlike anything else I've ever owned.  Even the Korean made Revo of mine is very well built and oh so smooth.  Would I do it again?  Heck yeah, these are great and a lot of fun to fish.  High quality gear costs no matter your hobby.  In the grand scheme of things, I spent a drop in the bucket compared to some fly and centerpin fishermen I know.  Those guys really drop some coin when it comes to higher end gear.

[Mobasser]

I still fish with an older ABU4600c casting reel. It's caught a lot of bass over the years, and has been very durable. All you need to do is handle a Shimano Calcutta casting reel, and you can easily see the difference. All the parts are machined to fit better to a tighter tolerance. This is what you pay for in a top end reel. I don't own this reel, but have handled a few. If you can afford one, it's an heirloom investment with proper care. But, the mid priced reels work very well and can last a long time also. Will you catch more fish with the most expensive reel? Hard to say. It can't hurt to have one, but I think for many folks it probably won't make a huge difference.

[DitchPanda]

When I stepped up from a $100 to $200 dollar rod there was a huge difference in quality. Then I tried my buddies $400 rod the difference was there but it wasn't nearly as substantial. Diminishing returns are a real thing imo.

[Tywithay]

11 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

When I stepped up from a $100 to $200 dollar rod there was a huge difference in quality. Then I tried my buddies $400 rod the difference was there but it wasn't nearly as substantial. Diminishing returns are a real thing imo.

Depends on the rods. There's a couple brands that you're paying more for the name.

[DitchPanda]

 

1 hour ago, Tywithay said:

Depends on the rods. There's a couple brands that you're paying more for the name.

Agreed..but I'm just guessing with all brands that the improvement isn't equal to the money increase somewhere in their line. Meaning the $300 rod may be twice as good as the $150... But the $600 while being better is likely not twice as good as the $300. Now that said this is speculation on my part as I havent ventured into that high end territory.

[garroyo130]

3 hours ago, DitchPanda said:

 

Agreed..but I'm just guessing with all brands that the improvement isn't equal to the money increase somewhere in their line. Meaning the $300 rod may be twice as good as the $150... But the $600 while being better is likely not twice as good as the $300. Now that said this is speculation on my part as I havent ventured into that high end territory.

The whole "twice as good" talk always gets me ... how do you use something concrete like numbers to describe something so subjective??? 

 

 

Are we talking twice as light, twice as smooth, casts twice as far? or about the experience like 

 

The $100 reel made me level 1 happy

The $400 reel only makes me level 3 happy

[DitchPanda]

Well I guess what we are talking about is how it feels to the owner...know lots of guys with high end gear that love it and lots with buyers remorse for wasting the extra money.Of course you can't put it into numbers because the math doesn't matter the experience of the user matters. To me I've used a $200 rod then a $400 rod and it wasn't twice as good to me..in terms of twice the build quality and twice the enjoyment or

even function. So it's not worth twice the money.

There is a reason that the pros aren't always using the highest dollar gear. Yes some of it comes down to sponsor responsibility...but they rarely use the highest end gear up the spinners they have. Why do you suppose that is? These guys are fishing for hundreds of thousands of dollars...if there was advantage to this high end gear wouldn't they use it? Let me say that I'm more geared for function over form so where a lot of this gear doesn't matter to me is when a rod or reel is .5oz lighter or a tiny bit smoother. Maybe I'm the opposite of the person these companies are developing this high dollar gear for.

[Manifestgtr]

I tend to throw “high end” reels but it matters not one bit to me what anyone else throws. I like the ergonomics, light weight and I like to maintain them myself. It’s kind of the same reason I have high end guitars. I appreciate things that are well built and thoughtfully engineered. It’s part of the experience for me.
 

That being said, I do also believe there’s a limit...a point of diminishing returns. For instance, I’ve never bought an Antares. To me, they just seem like heavy, shiny showpiece reels for the most part.

 

So while I love the Aldebaran and Metanium, if you think the fuego represents the pinnacle, that’s great. Who cares? What I truly don’t understand are the brand wars. The people who pick “teams” and will argue endlessly about “why the Metanium ‘beats’ the Steez” or “why the Air models ‘own’ the Aldebarans”. To me, that’s a goofball waste of time. 

[iabass8]

chicks dig the long ball.

[brophog]

On 8/2/2020 at 11:00 AM, WRB said:

In most reel brands the higher price models are made in Japan for example in lieu of S.Korea or China by skilled craftsmen and state of the art components.

Mid range reels today are excellent however so it's a choice of budget.

Tom

 

Practically nothing is made in Japan these days, nor even Korea for that matter. Now it’s places Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand. 

 

 

[redmeansdistortion]

23 minutes ago, brophog said:

 

Practically nothing is made in Japan these days, nor even Korea for that matter. Now it’s places Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand. 

 

 

From my observations, once you get above the $300 price point, there are plenty of Japanese reels out there.  Calcutta D, Alphas, Steez, Luvias, Stella, Aldebaran, Bantam, etc.  The list goes on.

[Chris Carey]

In my limited experience I think there is some merit in getting the most bang for you buck in the mid range. The first hand example I’ll use is I have a bantam and a new metanium, IMO the only difference is the weight. The bantam is very smooth, casts a mile and can do everything the metanium can. 

[NOC 1]

22 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

  High quality gear costs no matter your hobby.  In the grand scheme of things, I spent a drop in the bucket compared to some fly and centerpin fishermen I know.  Those guys really drop some coin when it comes to higher end gear.

I have rifles that are worth 5 brand new Steez reels each. A great pistol will cost more than 5 Conquest rods. And then there are the folks crabbing about spending over $100 on a reel. I get it, for some it is a matter of budget. For the others. I don't know, I guess they value money above all else.

[brophog]

14 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

From my observations, once you get above the $300 price point, there are plenty of Japanese reels out there.  Calcutta D, Alphas, Steez, Luvias, Stella, Aldebaran, Bantam, etc.  The list goes on.

 

The 2020 Alphas is made in Thailand.