Spinning Reel cost

[msgf91]

Quality drag was discussed in some of the tackle advisors videos. Quality drag stacks are not the only thing that makes up the drag and why as you go up in price, the drag goes up. It also depends on the quality of the rotor. If there's flex in the rotor while fighting a big fish it will cause the drag to be inconsistent. A stout rotor will not flex as much during a fight so the drag is more consistent.  This is also why I like to watch eliasfishing, he fishes inshore with small reels like fuegos and stradics and leans on them every video. 

[Bigassbass]

I use finesse fishing gear to catch big fish I like that style of fishing and I've been doing it way before someone tagged a name to it.  I know how drags work and they are important, I've had 200 dollar Shimano reels that the drag was sorry and I've got Shimano reels that the drag is perfect.  I've caught more big fish on my crappie rigs than my bass rigs. Drag does matter and that's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

[bulldog1935]

No names, I've been catching big fish on light tackle all my life. 

 

We're probably saying the same thing about drag.  You're looking from the outside at the fish. 

I'm looking from the inside, and a lifetime of fishing through spinning reels on big fish. 

The very worst were made in the '90s when they started messing with plastic (for Light) and long spools (magnifying loads and deflection on gears and rotor bushing). 

 

Big drag numbers on paper are just numbers on paper.  What matters is two years from the store. 

[ska4fun]

On 1/15/2023 at 8:41 PM, bulldog1935 said:

@AlabamaSpothunter

Sticking to just the worm-drive Shimanos, Stradic to Stella, the current crop interchange parts with '18 Stella - the design is all the same. 

From Stradic with forged aluminum frame, composite rotor and anodized alloy gears, you're paying for MOC upgrades in the frame and rotor.  All but Stella share the hard anodized gears, cheaper to manufacture, and which have gear tooth hardness equal to hardened steel.  Stella has all the top-line parts, forged magnesium frame and rotor, titanium bail, and stainless gears.  Stainless gears are  expensive to broach, start softer, but improve both hardness and toughness with use, and effectively never wear out.  Because of the alloy gears, both Vanquish and Vanford are lighter than Stella. 

Noteworthy, all these reels share '18 Stella over-designed A/R clutch and the same ball bearing line roller. 

The reels in between mix higher-grade components in the different sizes, swap MOC in the frame and rotor, forged aluminum, composite, and forged magnesium; e.g., Twin Power has forged aluminum frame and rotor, and the titanium bail.  Ball bearings vs. bushings in a few spots. 

The other thing you pay for is labor.  Stradic and Vanford are built on the Malaysia assembly line.  The higher grades are built on Japan benches with parts matching for improved smoothness. 

All top-line parts, minus the AR clutch. Starting in 2019, Shimano on its usual journey into cutting costs and quality, started using cheap AR clutches on the Stella.

[Boomstick]

Really cheap spinning reels will often not have a very good drag system as well, so unless you back reel you might be losing fish or breaking off. They also might not last for long. There are reels from $60-100 (Pflueger President, Daiwa BG) which are solid reels with a good drag system but they tend to be heavy.

 

Higher end spinning reels are starting to enter into the nice to have territory as they tend to be very light. My Tatula LT isn't really functionally better than my BG, but it is 5.3oz which is lighter than most baitcasters. In fact, when I got it, I wasn't sure I wasn't sent a box with just instructions in it because the box was so light. It's nice to have on the rod that's in my hands sometimes over half of the day, but not required.

[the reel ess]

8 hours ago, Boomstick said:

Really cheap spinning reels will often not have a very good drag system as well, so unless you back reel you might be losing fish or breaking off. They also might not last for long. There are reels from $60-100 (Pflueger President, Daiwa BG) which are solid reels with a good drag system but they tend to be heavy.

 

The Trion fits into this category for $40. $30 for the smallest one.