Spinning reels

[RTipton]

Anyone experienced a wide breadth of spinning reels in the $200ish range and up (including JDM)?

 

I have a couple of Shimano Vanfords and love them, but my dang curiosity wont leave me alone. The main duty of it would be for general bass duties, such as shakey heads, swim baits, etc. 

 

What am I looking for? Heck if I know, just curious I guess. Would like to see what the next level spinning reel offers.

 

Which ones? Twin Power, Complex XR, Exsence possibly. 

 

How much am I willing to spend? Depends on what I get for the money! I might go up to $400, but it better do something special. Lol

 

Shimano only? No, I lean towards them and pretty much all of my baitcasters are Shimano, but I have somewhat of an open mind. 

 

What do I need try?

 

 

 

 

[QED]

I have vanford, twin power, soare (JDM), and stella spinning reels in 500 or 1000 form factors.  The vanfords are fine and are the lightest (except the soare is basically the same).  The higher up the food chain you go, the smoother the operation.  The stellas are built like swiss watches.  

[JustJames]

You owe yourself to try Daiwa LT series in the same class as Vanford before go to the next level. The Vanford is nice, solid smooth, strong drag, but Daiwa is airy smooth and lower inertia. I like ATD drag on daiwa better especially for super light line. It seems weaker but it only give drag when needed. I got ballistics FW (JDM) compare to Vanford 2000S (JDM) and that super smooth reel. Almost got Luvias airity but MQ body scare me a bit when the 50 dollars tool to remove side plate doesn’t work with all MQ reel. 

[ATA]

Exsence 3000, I have it for few years now, It is working and looks completely like first day. I highly recommend it. The carbon buddies are lighter also. Read about the all models before you purchase. It is a $800reel in half price.

[roadwarrior]

2 hours ago, RTipton said:

What do I need try?

The Stella is like holding "kitty cat" in the palm of your hand. 

 

[mrpao]

When it comes to spinning reels, I like Daiwa's better than shimano's. They are lighter, quieter, and function more smoothly.

I have some shimano's but I have alot more daiwa spinning reels.

You have a certate pictured. I dont have a certate, but I've heard they are super smooth. The only reason, I dont have one is that they are aluminum and alittle heavier than some of the other daiwa reels.

High end shimano or daiwa, you can't go wrong. They are both going to be a pleasure to use.

[RTipton]

On 9/9/2021 at 2:05 PM, ATA said:

Exsence 3000, I have it for few years now, It is working and looks completely like first day. I highly recommend it. The carbon buddies are lighter also. Read about the all models before you purchase. It is a $800reel in half price.

This reel is at the top of my list. I just don't see any other Shimano model around it that is as tempting. 

On 9/9/2021 at 3:21 PM, mrpao said:

When it comes to spinning reels, I like Daiwa's better than shimano's. They are lighter, quieter, and function more smoothly.

I have some shimano's but I have alot more daiwa spinning reels.

You have a certate pictured. I dont have a certate, but I've heard they are super smooth. The only reason, I dont have one is that they are aluminum and alittle heavier than some of the other daiwa reels.

High end shimano or daiwa, you can't go wrong. They are both going to be a pleasure to use.

What Daiwas do you like in the $200 to $400 range? I like light as well. 

[mrpao]

16 hours ago, RTipton said:

 

What Daiwas do you like in the $200 to $400 range? I like light as well. 

If you want light, it would be hard to beat the daiwa Luvias or Luvius airity. I have the Luvius airity and its pretty much the same reel as the Exist LT.  Daiwa states the Luvius airity is the lightest metal framed spinning reel they have ever manufactured. You can get them at digitaka for about $450. The regular Luvius is a carbon framed reel and is just as light weight. I think its about $260 at digitaka.

Dont forget about the Ballistics - USD model and both JDM versions. All in the mid to upper two hundred price range. I only have a US model but really want the FW version. I also have the tatula LT, which is pretty much the same reel without magseal. Daiwa makes some good reel but so does shimano. Can't go wrong with either one.