Spinning reel opinion

[joesanch]

Just sold my older ci4’s that had some years on them and only negative was the shallow spool. Gonna use for bass fishing 1/8-1/2oz weight and price range $150-$300 what should I be looking at. 

So far I have handled the revo s, Daiwa tatula, shimano vanford. Tatula felt cheap and hand decent wobble, revo x felt solid and vanford felt the best. I still need to locate and handle Daiwa ballistic, lews custom speed spool spin, Daiwa fuego(a lot of good reviews) and Stradic do.

I am looking for 3 reels to use for shaky heads, drop shots, wacky rig, Ned rigs. Any opinions or recommendations to try

[newapti5]

For 1/8 ~ 1/2 oz weight, I think Stradic FL would be a better choice. 

Abu's spinning reels are kind of overpriced IMO, I would only consider them at half price sales.

Tatula LT is stronger than how it feels, and if you didn't mind the weight, BG would be a better bargain. 

These are just my 2 cents.

[Fishes in trees]

Unless the older ci4's were outright malfunctioning, I would have kept & used them.  I haven't drank the high dollar spinning reel Kool-aid yet, so I'm pretty ignorant about reels in the $150+ range.   I have several mid range cost wise spinning reels - Pflueger, Diawa & Shimano, mostly I the 1000 or 2000 size  and they have all worked properly with no issues.  I really like my Spirex rear drag 1000 size reel to throw wacky senkos with.   I like the lever operated "Fighting drag" feature, where you can instantly tighten your drag all the way down and then instantly back it off if you want to.

Want until I turn away to snicker, but for throwing jerk baits, I have an older US Reel 230 Supercaster.  It has the extra large spool.   It wasn't manufactured to the tightest tolerances and is kind of herky/jerky on the retrieve.  The anti-reverse backs up a quarter of an inch or so before it engages.    All things you don't want on a reel - BUT it is very light weight and throws  a pointer farther than any other spinning reel I've got so I just deal with it.   It came with extra spools and I have issues with wind knots when I'm throwing 10 lb braid, so that is another plus - when the wind knots happen, just put on another spool.

[roadwarrior]

I bought the original rod and reel from Ray Scott himself! That was cool,

but the rig was a TOTAL BUST.

 

[bowhunter63]

I like Lews and Okuma. Not real pricey and work great. 

[VGT]

17 hours ago, joesanch said:

Just sold my older ci4’s that had some years on them and only negative was the shallow spool. Gonna use for bass fishing 1/8-1/2oz weight and price range $150-$300 what should I be looking at. 

So far I have handled the revo s, Daiwa tatula, shimano vanford. Tatula felt cheap and hand decent wobble, revo x felt solid and vanford felt the best. I still need to locate and handle Daiwa ballistic, lews custom speed spool spin, Daiwa fuego(a lot of good reviews) and Stradic do.

I am looking for 3 reels to use for shaky heads, drop shots, wacky rig, Ned rigs. Any opinions or recommendations to try

I believe The 2021 stradic and vanford are the same internals and design mostly including spool. Vanford is just lighter felt a little flimsy when compared to the aluminum body stradic. I just picked up the stradic 2500 a few weeks ago very happy with it. The vanford does look more aggressive if you are into that.

[joesanch]

So after some handling I really liked the vanford, ballistic lt, stradic fl and a sleeper is the lews custom pro speed spool

[JustJames]

Most of Daiwas LT series should feel almost the same, I would say fluid smooth, with some hollow feel to it, while shimano are solid smooth but some would feel grinding. Don’t know about others.

If you are not happy with Tatula forget about Fuego LT, or even Ballistic LT which is the same reel with Magseal. You might have to jump to Luvias LT with Zaion Rotor and MQ body. If you want a tank go with Daiwa BG.

No matter what you get Daiwa LT or Vanford even Stradic FL, it would feel much better than your old Stradic CI4 F. My Stradic CI4 2500F come to the end it it’s life. It is still smooth but resistance on the handle kill it. I was also shopping for couple of new reels. The one that hit me the most is Stradic FL 2000 after handling the Vanford 2000 for awhile. In the meantime I already placed an order for Fuego LT 2000 just in case my wife doesn’t approve the budget.

[SK1]

I bought both a Stradic FL and a Vanford, very pleased with both.

[Gary_Snyder]

Check out the Daiwa Procyan AL - it's got an aluminum body.

[J Francho]

Buy more CI4+, but get the 3000 with a deeper spool.

[JLBBass]

I use several different brands of spinning reels.  Shimano Pflueger, & Daiwa. I like the deeper spools on these models, because of better line management and you still get a lightweight reel in these sizes. I own 2 Ci4+'s in the 3000 size, & 2 Daiwa Tatula LT's in the 4000 size. Also like the Pflueger Patriarch XT's. Have 2 of those in the 35 size.

Also own 3 Okuma RTX 30's. GREAT reels for the money (I got them for under $50 each, new)

[Randy Price]

I've never been letdown by the Stradic series (regular or Ci4+).

[MickD]

Many new reels do not have anti reverse switches, so be sure you know what you're getting and are in agreement.  I would not buy a reel without a switch.  

[joesanch]

So I handled all and honestly thought the ballistic lt felt best, Stradic fl was smooth and surprisingly the lew custom pro speed spin felt good. It was heaviest but smooth and felt very tough. My buddy who fished numerous trails as a co angler and fishes a ton all up the east coast has 3 years with the lews and says no issues smooth drag and impressed for $130. So I seem to between those 3 all pretty different lol

[GetFishorDieTryin]

2 hours ago, joesanch said:

So I handled all and honestly thought the ballistic lt felt best, Stradic fl was smooth and surprisingly the lew custom pro speed spin felt good. It was heaviest but smooth and felt very tough. My buddy who fished numerous trails as a co angler and fishes a ton all up the east coast has 3 years with the lews and says no issues smooth drag and impressed for $130. So I seem to between those 3 all pretty different lol

IMO your better off with the Shimano or Daiwa then the Lews.  Both the Ballistic and FL have been around long enough to be proven reliable.  

It might be a good idea to see where the rod you are planning to put the reel on would balance with each weight.  

 

[joesanch]

59 minutes ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

IMO your better off with the Shimano or Daiwa then the Lews.  Both the Ballistic and FL have been around long enough to be proven reliable.  

It might be a good idea to see where the rod you are planning to put the reel on would balance with each weight.  

 

Have 2 Denali rosewood shakyhead rods, 1 Abu Garcia fantasista regista 7ft med fast, and will be getting a zodias or Denali lithium dropshot rod