What is your all time sleeper baitcaster?

[zell_pop1]

18 hours ago, J Francho said:

I had a few Daiwa Capricorn 100H reels that were amazing casters.  They are a little heavy and large by today's standards, but in the day they were excellent value.

Yes those were real sleepers, I had the mostly orange one DSG sold as an exclusive-great reel, aluminum frame and like 50/60 bucks.

The Daiwa Coastal Airds I have are real good reels too, even with composite frames I think they are great

 

[J Francho]

2 hours ago, zell_pop1 said:

Yes those were real sleepers, I had the mostly orange one DSG sold as an exclusive-great reel, aluminum frame and like 50/60 bucks.

There was silver (what I had), orange, blue, and red versions depending on where you bought them.  Retail was around $120, but like you said they could be found heavily discounted.  This was another era where the Japanese Yen was weak against the dollar and great reels were selling cheap.

[bulldog1935]

On 8/17/2022 at 10:21 AM, redmeansdistortion said:

A lot of you all are putting up reels that aren't sleepers, but very well known and occupy the middle price point of the $100 to $200+ range (when new).  Sleeper to me means cheap, good, and reliable.  With that, I'd agree with both the Revo X and President XT.  The Black Max is also another worthy of mention.  These are also pretty reliable reels that perform well and punch above their price point.  Just goes to show you don't have to be a tackle nerd to have a nice reel. 

 

The reason I listed Super Duty G, though list was $180, I bought my first from ebay vendor for $120. 

I still can't get over the reliability of this reel after 4+ hard salt years, and remain shocked by its versatile ability to cast light weights with a simple bearing swap.  Discovered this one day with an ML leader break-off (let an over-slot fish tangle in my drift sock rigging) and finished the day on a forced reel swap.  It was enough to cause me to sell two higher-priced Lew's and replace with another SD and a Zillion.  Even my second SD was $145 sale price from Lew's, and can back up most niches. 

If I'm going to define sleeper, can't beat surprising reliability and versatility at the price point. 

 

@Eric 26 nah, you don't get to count reels you traded in.  Another part of sleeper is couldn't pry from my fingers, etc. 

[dodgeguy]

On 8/17/2022 at 3:00 AM, islandbass said:

Pleasant surprise for me was the first pflueger trion baitcaster, the beige one. 
 

It was on par with the curado bsf in all ways except 

1) price - it was way cheaper @$79.00 vs the curado @$149.00 at that time. 
2) lower weight range - the curado had it beat. Once in a while, perhaps once every 75 casts or so, out of nowhere, I’d experience an overrun if the lure was 1/4oz. It did not handle sub 1/4oz well at all. No big deal. Just don’t use it for lighter weights. 
3) turning the crank felt “nicer” to me on the pflueger than the curado. Weird!

 

Truly a hidden gem and imho, was severely underrated. I still have it to this day. 

Those were nice. I had one. I sold it when reels got smaller.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

On 8/16/2022 at 5:06 PM, A-Jay said:

May be a bit of a surprise ~

The Quantum EXO PT made its debut in retail locations late in the Fall of 2011.

I started my collection a year or two later which includes 100 & 200 sizes.

Some of these were scored for a song on E-Bay. 

Stock handles were 'EVA Foam'.

Didn't care for it.

Went with all new HawgTechs

Better. 

All 9 are still making it happen for me. 

A-Jay

I’ve handled these and agree they are a fine collection. 

[A-Jay]

15 minutes ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

I’ve handled these and agree they are a fine collection. 

  Thanks Mike ~

Pretty sure that's your pic in my post ~

A-Jay

 

[new2BC4bass]

On 8/17/2022 at 3:00 AM, islandbass said:

Pleasant surprise for me was the first pflueger trion baitcaster, the beige one.

 

Truly a hidden gem and imho, was severely underrated. I still have it to this day. 

That's the one I have.  Had 2, but gave one to a young guy with 2 kids, trying to go to school and working part time.  He seemed to like it a lot.  Unfortunately he broke the new rod I gave him when a jig hit it.

 

Paid $30 on closeout for the Daiwa Procaster 100HN.  Feels like it's worth a lot more than the $69.95 MSRP.  I keep it on a dedicated short range spinnerbait rod.

[Catt]

Wish I still had that one ?

 

[freelancer27]

Daiwa Coastal 200 TW. 

 

I have (had) all the high end bait caster from Daiwa and Shimano. The Coastal, for the money, is hard to beat. Cast everything from 1/4 to 7 oz with the right rod. 

[Eric 26]

I’d like to add 1 more, I’m not sure if this counts but I purchased a Favorite Soleus reel from DSG for $50.00 on Black Friday. It just has that “feel” to it mounted on a Lews Carbon Fire rod. I wouldn’t recommend it at full retail but hey for the price its a sleeper in my humble arsenal. I also purchased a Favorite Lit reel for $30.00 at the same time but promptly returned that one?

On 8/17/2022 at 4:57 PM, James Pondscum said:

 BPS Browning midas.  Bought three on sale around 2007 for 79 .00 each. Only fished shimano for previous 20 some years.  This is the reel that turned me to the dark side.  I now own a couple of abu,s and lews.  These are still one of my favorite reels. Just replaced the trios handles as they are all wobbly and wore out, reels still fine.  I fish about 50 weeks per year.

I bought one as my second ever bait cast reel. Never really liked it as I felt it was really large which I’m thinking wasn’t the case as I have a Cabelas Arachnid and a Daiwa Tatula Type R (not theCT) that I absolutely love. Just traded it in 2 years ago for a Tatula 100 during the BPS spring classic sale.

[the reel ess]

On 8/18/2022 at 1:06 AM, craww said:

BPS Pro Qualifier Tournament. I have 2. They were a long forgotten special run reel added for a summer flyer I believe...Same reel as the famed Gold Carbonlites everyone loved, but I believe it had brass gears instead of aluminum of the carbonlites. So theyre smoother. Handles light weights pretty well for a doyo dual brake reel. Just a nice, smooth casting, well mannered, ergonomic reel for $69 (+/-) or so about a decade ago.

You used to see Pro Qualifiers on pros' decks. Now, maybe they were performance tuned. But still...

[ska4fun]

On 8/16/2022 at 4:51 PM, Joe Henry said:

What is the baitcaster you have or had that most surprised you with performance and durability for the price?

 

My cheap Lurestar C9 Air, who landed pretty decent fishes and is smooth as hell, after 2 years of intense use.

 

In a morey pricey range, Alphas CT SV >>>> Any Steez.

[papajoe222]

My Team Diawa Advantages. They have some years on them, but the've also seen a lot of use over the years. They're a bit heavy by today's standards, but balance out nice on the rods they're paired to.  I upgraded to carbon fiber drag washers and used one of them on my bucktail musky rod for years.

[GRiver]

BPS CARBONLITE.

I walk in to a BPS with the intention of buying a new bait caster for around $250.00. It was a huge purchase….a lot of money for me.

BPS salesman showed me a carbonlite rod and reel for $70.00 each, in house sale. 
I beat myself up all the home, should stick to my plan an bought the Lews, all most turned around.

I’m so glad I didn’t, it’s my go to rig, I use it the most.

So my sleeper is a BPS carbonlite 6.8.

 

[Jrob78]

21 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

My Team Diawa Advantages. They have some years on them, but the've also seen a lot of use over the years. They're a bit heavy by today's standards, but balance out nice on the rods they're paired to.  I upgraded to carbon fiber drag washers and used one of them on my bucktail musky rod for years.

The Advantage HSTA was an awesome reel, I have one that's been retired and one in like new condition.

[PourMyOwn]

24 minutes ago, Jrob78 said:

The Advantage HSTA was an awesome reel, I have one that's been retired and one in like new condition.

I have two and one is brand new. The other is a 3/4 ton truck of a reel that my buddies who barely fish use for frogs. 

[Eric 26]

On 8/18/2022 at 6:42 AM, bulldog1935 said:

 

The reason I listed Super Duty G, though list was $180, I bought my first from ebay vendor for $120. 

I still can't get over the reliability of this reel after 4+ hard salt years, and remain shocked by its versatile ability to cast light weights with a simple bearing swap.  Discovered this one day with an ML leader break-off (let an over-slot fish tangle in my drift sock rigging) and finished the day on a forced reel swap.  It was enough to cause me to sell two higher-priced Lew's and replace with another SD and a Zillion.  Even my second SD was $145 sale price from Lew's, and can back up most niches. 

If I'm going to define sleeper, can't beat surprising reliability and versatility at the price point. 

 

@Eric 26 nah, you don't get to count reels you traded in.  Another part of sleeper is couldn't pry from my fingers, etc. 

???

[Tatulatard]

Sleeper?  For the little shimanos it's the scorpion 1000xt.  Same reel as the curado 50e but gets slept on because it wasn't sold in the US.  This keeps the bidding wars down and they used to (haven't bought on in a long time) go for way less than their green counterpart used. Similar relationship with the core/aldebaran from this period. All the big money americans bid up the cores because they didn't know what an aldebaran was. 

[roadwarrior]

I have two Core and two newer Aldebaran.  I prefer the Core.

[Tatulatard]

1 minute ago, roadwarrior said:

newer Aldebaran

There's your problem.  The aldebaran from the same era as the core is a core.  Actually it's the other way around I suppose and a core is the old aldebaran.

[roadwarrior]

Hmm...

The frames are different, the braking system is different and performance is different. 

Also, the core was introduced long before the Aldebaran.

[Tatulatard]

54 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Hmm...

The frames are different, the braking system is different and performance is different. 

Also, the core was introduced long before the Aldebaran.

Same reels.  Basically a usdm and jdm version.  

[J Francho]

The Core he's talking about is way older and totally different. 

[Tatulatard]

14 minutes ago, J Francho said:

The Core he's talking about is way older and totally different. 

I see.  The big core.  That one is a few years older and a metanium.  Same principal probably applies.  If you find your self hunting down a core of any size, check for the jdm reel under a different name and you may be pleasantly surprised by the prices you find.  This used to be the case.  I'm sure the word has gotten around by now.

http://www.tackletour.com/reviewshimanocore.html

[Manifestgtr]

For me, it’s not even a question…no hesitation…Shimano Scorpion xt1000.

 

In a way, these reels represent the pinnacle for Shimano and they can be had around $100 if you’re patient. A tightly engineered, JDM, curado 50e that palms and throws as nicely as any “modern” reel…and better than most. 

 

The aldebaran mg7 is in the same category for me but they’re a little tougher to find in good condition under $150 shipped.

 

I know the spirit of this thread is more geared toward new reels that don’t get the attention they deserve but the scorpion xt should STILL be in that conversation, imo.