$40 chatterbait and deep cranking reel

[Bigbox99]

Not a review.   I'm just sharing my newest find and purchase in really cheap aluminum frame reels as well as some on the water initial impressions.  I usually wait year or two to do a review.

 

The reels are the Sesir Megacuda and Leydun G6.  Both reels are the same with different branding and colors.  You see this with OEM reels a lot and especially on Aliexpress.  Eventually these Aliexpress reels get picked up by a major brand and end up for sale on the US for a significant price increase such as the Dobyns Maverick (Histar Black Mamba) but these are sort of a hidden gem for now.  

 

They are aluminum frame 6 gear 36mm deep spool reels with a 110 power handle and a cone shaped level wind.  They cast really well with the heavier baits I have been throwing like chatterbaits, 6 inch magdrafts/cullshad and 25 to 30 foot deep cranks.  Leave the spool tension set to just eliminate side to side play as they came out of the box and set the dial to max and I was casting into the wind no problem and making spool emptying casts with the wind at lower magnetic dial settings.  I have 15 pound Big Game on one and 12 on the other with no conditioner and the line is able to flow freely out of the reel thanks to that cone level wind.  

 

The ergonomics are really good for a 36mm spool reel with a cone level wind placed far from the spool.  This usually makes the reel rather long but these are pretty compact and small palming for a 36mm spool reel and palm smaller than a TD-Z or TD Zillion.  It reminds me of an Alphas TW or Tatula 80 but taller with 36mm spool. 

 

The smoothness is pretty good too.  There is some gear mesh when winding under load if you hold the reel off the rod and drive your thumb onto the spool to simulate winding under heavy load but once on a rod cranking a super deep crankbait I just don't really feel it palming the reel or through the knobs.  I really only pickup a slight buzz when winding in a cullshad but it's very uniform feeling and in the background.  It's not unpleasant at all unlike a black max or every other plastic frame reel I have and I have many that all feel horrific and make horrible sounds when wind under load.  These cheap aluminum 6 gear reels have so far been quite nice.  Time will tell how they hold up but they were actually greased out of the box unlike most of my Aliexpress reels so that's a good start. 

[ABU is overpriced]

Even tho these reels become grindy within a month, for the price, it looks good.

But at the same time, why would a grown ass man that fishes more than once a month bothers with this? This is a reel you give to a kid, or buy it if you aren't sure if fishing as a hobby is something you see yourself getting into. Someone who is on the water multiple times a week should use proper gear, and with the newer tatulas and the slx, you aren't even breaking the bank.

[Bigbox99]

1 hour ago, ABU is overpriced said:

Even tho these reels become grindy within a month, for the price, it looks good.

But at the same time, why would a grown ass man that fishes more than once a month bothers with this? This is a reel you give to a kid, or buy it if you aren't sure if fishing as a hobby is something you see yourself getting into. Someone who is on the water multiple times a week should use proper gear, and with the newer tatulas and the slx, you aren't even breaking the bank.

Because people still buy plastic blister pack reels like the Black Max from Walmart or $50 plastic Amazon reels or  vastly over pay for rod and reel combos when reels like this exist offering an aluminum frame that are a far better option.  Some people simply won't spend over $50 on a reel and to those people the SLX, LFS or Tatulas might as well not exist.  Honestly, I think these people are the majority of anglers out there.  Whenever I eye what the locals are using from the bank it's always a pre made combo or blister pack reel.  

 

It's for those people I buy, review and recommend cheap aluminum frame reels paired to big box stores rods.  I even try to match the reel to the rod so there can be no argument in favor of rip off combos about color matching.  I paid under $100 for a MH that fishes like a MH+, floats in my hand and let's me throw chatterbaits, magdrafts, ploppers and buzzbaits when an absolutely vile combo (I've handled them in store) like this lews struggles to even be a MH in power, is enormously tip heavy and has a plastic reel on it for an outrageous $150. 

 

Also I think this is fun.  I am a tackle enthusiast so that also means I get excited about cheap stuff too.  I enjoy the hunt for cheap rod and reel pairing that does what my high end rod and reel can do.  There are times like the past two trips I take nothing but the cheapie fleet out fishing.

[ABU is overpriced]

15 minutes ago, Bigbox99 said:

Because people still buy plastic blister pack reels like the Black Max from Walmart or $50 plastic Amazon reels or  vastly over pay for rod and reel combos when reels like this exist offering an aluminum frame that are a far better option.  Some people simply won't spend over $50 on a reel and to those people the SLX, LFS or Tatulas might as well not exist.  Honestly, I think these people are the majority of anglers out there.  Whenever I eye what the locals are using from the bank it's always a pre made combo or blister pack reel.  

 

It's for those people I buy, review and recommend cheap aluminum frame reels paired to big box stores rods.  I even try to match the reel to the rod so there can be no argument in favor of rip off combos about color matching.  I paid under $100 for a MH that fishes like a MH+, floats in my hand and let's me throw chatterbaits, magdrafts, ploppers and buzzbaits when an absolutely vile combo (I've handled them in store) like this lews struggles to even be a MH in power, is enormously tip heavy and has a plastic reel on it for an outrageous $150. 

 

Also I think this is fun.  I am a tackle enthusiast so that also means I get excited about cheap stuff too.  I enjoy the hunt for cheap rod and reel pairing that does what my high end rod and reel can do.  There are times like the past two trips I take nothing but the cheapie fleet out fishing.

Sure, but at least you're buying it from the bigger manufacturers, the ones that have a warranty if something goes wrong (and on those cheap reels, something going wrong is a feature of the reel).

[Bigbox99]

This is another one everyone buys for $80.  I've used the gen 3 rod from this combo and it was probably the worst rod on earth.  A lighting rod really is a massive improvement and the fact that you can get a lightning rod and an aluminum frame reel perfectly color matched to each other for what Abu wants for their walmart combo makes it kind of hard to stand buy and watch people get told to buy a Black Max.  Look at any "best budget reel" thread here and there will be a never ending stream of people responding with BLACK MAX IS THE BEST BUDGET REEL HANDS DOWN type of statements that boggle the mind.  It's like they aren't aware there are alternatives.

 

19 hours ago, ABU is overpriced said:

Sure, but at least you're buying it from the bigger manufacturers, the ones that have a warranty if something goes wrong (and on those cheap reels, something going wrong is a feature of the reel).

That's what I thought but I've put 2 years into to a Piscifun Alloy M, Johncoo Ares and the Histar Black Mamba without issues.  I think a lot of the issues people encounter with cheap reels stems from a combination of user error and plastic frames and clutch components.  Things like the clutch spring wallowing out the hole in the plastic frame it is stuck into and them coming out or just the frame flexing and things getting out of alignment. Things that an aluminum frame prevents.  After owning many "graphite" reels I refuse to own another at any price.

 

Also I distinctly remember in the 2010s the BPS Pro Qualifier getting shade for being a house brand reel that would never last.  A user did a 5 year review on it and during that time it became the go to $100 reel recommend here.  We still have members using those reels to this day.

[Bluebasser86]

I can understand why someone would buy one. Not every reel is an everyday use reel. The reel on my deep cranking rod is probably going to get 100 cast on it a season, it just doesn't get used, but I want to have one in the box because every once in a great while, I actually catch fish deep cranking. However, I don't want to buy another 150-200 reel like what most my workhorses have on them. I got lucky and found a Pflueger Supreme on FFO for $50, but I was looking for something cheaper that I could get by with and just happened to find them.