Looking for a light 2500 reel $150-$300

[Columbia Craw]

Daiwa Luvias is incredible.  Got to shop though.

[imabassguy]

So after getting a day out with the Vanford I have to say, I don’t like the reel foot arm on it.

 

I keep finding it gets in the way of my knuckle unless you fully wrap your fingers around it with a firm grip. I’m used to slightly holding my Daiwa’s and the angled bar on the Vanford gets in the way.

 

I will mention if you are someone who likes to fully wrap your hands around your reel, it does feel like it’s more secure than the Daiwa would be so reeling in heavier fish would never be a problem with grip.

 

This is my first Shimano spinning reel so I wasn’t aware of the way the handle changes angle earlier than the Daiwa’s do and no stores around me carry them for me to hold.

 

The reel is extremely smooth and feels good. Unfortunately I had a horrible day on the water so I can’t comment on how it performs with a fish on but I’m sure its great.

 

Heres a couple pics of what I mean about holding. The left pic shows me with a full wrapped around tight grip where my knuckle is passed the reel foot arm and the pic on the right is how I normally hold my Daiwa’s with a lighter, less firmer grip but the arm on the Vanguard hurts my knuckle.

 

 

I could get used to fully gripping so the arm doesn’t bother me but when I drop shot with light lures, I tend to find myself barely holding the reel arm for some reason.

 

I might be crazy but I’m wondering if there’s any of you that use Daiwa reels and notice the Shimano arm get in the way?

[bulldog1935]

I hate tee-handles on spinning reels - they grab everything.  

 

My favorite handle knob on a mid-size spinning reel is Livre EF30.  

It swaps out with Shimano A and Daiwa S.  

 

This one is on a Tica Libra 3000, which is a bit larger than Shimano 3000 (closer to Shimano 5000).  

It's round against your palm, with seven facets on on the inside cone for your knuckle and thumb - you can hook it with two fingers.  Both comfortable and lightweight.  

 

 

 

There are a few 10th Anniversary black ones out there, but they'll be asking collector's prices for them.  

[imabassguy]

I’m so sorry, I meant to say the arm where the reel foot is. NOT the actual handle. The handle is perfectly fine. Sorry for the confusion, I’ll fix my post. 
 

 

[mrpao]

Never had any issues and i grip my spinning reels the same way you do.

I use both shimano and daiwa reels.

I find them equally as comfortable on the same rods.

Maybe try it on a different rod to see if your grip changes.

Looks like you have it on a P5 and the grip on that rod is very small. It took me a bit to get use to the tiny P5 grip but now I'm fine with them.

[imabassguy]

10 hours ago, mrpao said:

Never had any issues and i grip my spinning reels the same way you do.

I use both shimano and daiwa reels.

I find them equally as comfortable on the same rods.

Maybe try it on a different rod to see if your grip changes.

Looks like you have it on a P5 and the grip on that rod is very small. It took me a bit to get use to the tiny P5 grip but now I'm fine with them.

Good idea. Originally I wanted a reel for my Whipsnake but I ended up throwing it on my P5 Windbuster so I’ll switch it to the Whipsnake and see if the grip changes. 
 

thanks!

[QED]

15 hours ago, imabassguy said:

Good idea. Originally I wanted a reel for my Whipsnake but I ended up throwing it on my P5 Windbuster so I’ll switch it to the Whipsnake and see if the grip changes. 
 

thanks!

 

Worth trying other rods perhaps, but do so before the return period is up.  I never just try to learn to live with equipment that causes me basic ergonomic issues.  That said I have several smaller vanfords (500F, 1000F, C2000HG) and I really like them for use with ultralight rods and they handle just fine.

[imabassguy]

17 hours ago, QED said:

 

Worth trying other rods perhaps, but do so before the return period is up.  I never just try to learn to live with equipment that causes me basic ergonomic issues.  That said I have several smaller vanfords (500F, 1000F, C2000HG) and I really like them for use with ultralight rods and they handle just fine.

I threw it on the Whipsnake and it seems to still bother me. I’ll take it out on the water with it and see if I can adapt but if it still bothers me I’ll probably end up selling it and getting another Tatula LT.