Am i the minority when it comes to reels?

[volzfan59]

I have found what I like and suits my fishing style. I only use BPS Platinum bait casters (7:1.1) and Shimano spinning reels. I have one Piscifun spinning reel that my friend @Eric 26 recommended. It seems to be a good reel but I haven’t had the opportunity to use it very much.

[Motoboss]

@A-Jay I see 20 bait casters and 11 spinning!! That’s an uneven number of spinning reels, which my ocd would never accept an odd and even collection.

 

Better pony up another spinning set up there soldier 🫡

[new2BC4bass]

3 minutes ago, Motoboss said:

I see 20 bait casters and 11 spinning!! That’s an uneven number of spinning reels, which my ocd would never accept an odd and even collection.

 

Better pony up another spinning set up there soldier 🫡

I have an odd number of spinning reels and an even number of casting reels....I think.  Will have to recount the casting reels. 

 

I'm sure most will realize from my first post that I enjoy trying different gear.  It is the only thing that kept me from quitting fishing again.  I continued fishing for 2 years after moving to the ABE area, but then quit for 23 years because fishing sucked so bad.  Especially when compared to where I moved from.

 

Sometimes a reel can surprise you.  I'd be surprise if more than 2-3 people on here have a Primmus HS Xi.  It was a factory tuned reel.  Liked the first one enough to buy two more on closeout.  The reel is not the least bit finicky.  Casting distance is great.  Looks very nice.  Pretty light.  Whats not to like?

 

My first thought after making my first cast with the Helios Air was, "Man.  This reel can cast!"  I remain very pleased with this reel. Looks are so-so, light, not finicky.

 

The BPS Prolite was their 'finesse' reel.  However, I used two older Carbonlites when learning to cast #5 Shad Raps (3/16 oz.).  Dual brake.  Not pretty (to me), but they are a pleasure to use.

 

The old blue Patriarch XT, dual brake, light, nice looking.  Can run brakes set lower than almost any other of my reels without backlashing.

 

My old aluminum framed Trion is not light, not small, and not pretty (put nicely), but is a fine casting reel with the right line/rod combo.  Thank you DVT for the suggestion.

 

Chronarch 100B is like the Trion.  It's not light, not small, and not pretty, but is a great caster with the setup I am using.  A backlash is hard to get.

[Bigbox99]

Daiwa

Shimano

Abu

BPS

Seasir

Piscifun

Johncoo 

Leydun

Histar

Haibo

Pinnacle

 

And they are all function the same.  All have zero adjust spools tension and all cast in the same ball park with each other for distance.  The Daiwa SV spools reels are my stand out reels in that they make skipping easy compared to any other reel I own.  

[Randy Price]

I'm primarily a Shimano guy for spinners and BC but I do have a couple of Diawa spinners that I have been please with.

[Texas Flood]

From the first BC to the current. 
 

BPS

Abu

Shimano

Lews

Daiwa

JDM Daiwa

 

 

As of now I see no reason to at all to switch from a JDM Daiwa. The difference was night and day. 

[MonsterZero]

I do not have brand loyalty to any one manufacturer, but I do have some that I very much prefer and tend not to deviate from. I have never been let down by Daiwa, and have consistently been impressed by their quality:price ratio, so they are usually where I look first. But Shimano and Lew's have also been good to me. In the salt, I am 90% a Penn man for the same reason; I have horsed in some big fish on my Penn reels with no malfunctions or disagreements.

 

How a company and their product treat me factors heavily into how I shop next time I need something, and if they stand by me, I stand by them, until they give me a reason not to.

[redmeansdistortion]

I don't discriminate. If it's good, it's good.  I can appreciate anything that's well made regardless if it's a vehicle, knife, cookware, or fishing gear.

 

[The Baron]

I like to try different brands. I’m also extremely frugal, so the majority of my gear has been bought used for 1/2 or less than retail.  For reels I’ve got mostly Diawa and Shimano, but also a couple Bass Pro Johnny Morris and a Quantum Smoke that I like.  I don’t have any reels I don’t like, but my overall preference for both baitcasters and spinning is Diawa.  In particular, a cc80 I bought last year quickly became a favorite and I plan to get another.  And I’m very impressed with the Diawa Revros LT spinning reels for the money, but the sweet spot of cost/performance for me is the Fuego.

 

Early on in my arsenal build up I bought a couple Shimano Curado DCs.  Great reels, but IMHO they’re overpriced.  I’ve read before that Shimano is amazing at the top end gear, but for my budget I could buy nothing but Diawa and be very happy.

 

I’ve got a few Lews rods I like a lot, so might give one of their reels a try sometime.  Will just keep an eye out on Facebook Marketplace.  lol

 

 

[ike8120]

All my rods and reels are Kastking. I have never had any issues with them.

[ABU is overpriced]

1 hour ago, ike8120 said:

All my rods and reels are Kastking. I have never had any issues with them.

But have you ever tried anything else? If you get used to Temu grade gear, you'll be fine with it because you get used to low end stuff.

[bp_fowler]

I use stuff from all the major brands, or at least what I consider “major”.  Shimano, Daiwa, Lew’s, and Abu.  
 

Admittedly I’ve been on a bit of a Daiwa kick lately.  The last 4 rods and reels (3 baitcasters, 1 spinning) I’ve purchased have come from them. Although I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself a “Daiwa Guy” just yet since I still use my other rods and wouldn’t be against buying one of the other brands if it filled a need and the price was right.
 

[Robinhood21]

I'm the type of guy who finds a pair of pants or a certain shirt that I like and I'll buy multiples of them.  When I dove head first back into bass fishing a while back I bought BPS, Lews, Abu & Shimano...  I've switched them all to Shimano, mostly Curados with a couple scorpions and a Metanium.  I like what I like and have a hard time getting away from it.

[thediscochef]

I have no brand or model loyalty outside of the lews tournament pro. The new daiwa tatulas with the hyperdrive are also great. But it's all tools in the toolbox, being a brand die-hard is limiting 

[AzBassin]

On 2/2/2025 at 9:02 PM, MediumMouthBass said:

I have 24 casting reels currently consisting of prices between $30-375 MSRP (US Zillion is a bit steep in price huh?), i bought almost all of these between 20-80% off with the majority being 30-60%. The prices i paid blew the discount from ordering from Japan away too (even for the Zillion!)

Only one reel outperforms them all, the last gen SLX MGL 70. Shouldve bought a bunch since the new ones are smaller (what i heard), and arent getting the best reviews😌

But even this truly amazing reel has a flaw, its shallow spool that gives it the legendary status in my mind is also its downfall...

Only reel i dislike is the Tatula SV TW, i just dont like it.

Only one reel i was disapointed in and underwhelmed with was the 21 Zillion, it does everything my other, cheaper, supposedly not up to par reels can do. Only thing it does better is cast a lipless, however it does do that better than anything else, but its only that. Its too light, feels like a plastic toy (not that, thats a bad thing i just prefer having something substantial feeling in my hands), its also a bit too small and causes hand cramps after awhile. Still a nice reel, but very overrated....

Out of all of my reels i would only ever buy 4 if i had to for MSRP, the Fuego CT, SLX XT, BB1 Pro, and SLX MGL 70.... They have the looks, they are dependable workhorses, and they fit my hands which is more important than any tech a reel can have to me. Still love my other Tatulas (minus the SV) and the rest of the SLX/LFS line, but these are special to me.

 

I will admit Lews is taking meds they shouldnt be with their MSRP, its absurd. But for some reason people keep paying it or else they wouldve lowered it by now. They must be doing something right? But i think most of us know Lews rods and reels go on sale many times through the year for dirt cheap. Example i bought 2 BB1 Pros for $100 each, Superduty LFS $100 too, and got my 2nd LFS a few weeks ago for $25 including tax. Find me a Shimano or Daiwa from Japan with an aluminum frame for $25? Also got 3 Team Lews Custom Pro rods for $200 (again including tax), MSRP alone would be $660 for them.

Im a bigger Daiwa and Shimano fan, as ive used Daiwa for a long time and have been a big critic of Lews in the past, but they keep drawing me in with their sales. Because i can live with not having the newest and greatest tech to save a ton of money. And guess what? The reels still catch bass, even without the tech.

 

Serious question though, aside from Shimanos truly amazing MGL spool (that like i mentioned is also a con since unless using braid theres not much room for line) what do either companies offer thats so much more advanced? Because i havent noticed it yet.

I have 54 reels only in these brands

Lews, Shimano , Diawa Abu. 
 

Only 2 Abu and premiere models 

cant cast em for darn. But pretty reels. 
 

anyhow keep in mind now a day your paying for longevity or lightness. 
 

Im not saying you will have issues with SLX. And they keep improving them.

 

but I offer one example scorpions built better for long haul. 
 

a kid had a slx with that electronic anti backlash i forget name of it. 
 

while i was picking out his backlash I let him use my scorpion with gen 5 ir what ever called electronic brakes( man can recall name). I noticed he had previous models electronic brake and no feature to set line. To mono. Braid or floro. 
 

in other words although not same reel as your slx.  You pay for features and or longevity or lightness. 
 

would not surprise me if your slx outcast some my diawas. My lowest or oldest diawas are CT Type R’s and Sols

 

And another point Zillion is the test rat for the Steez.   Look it up, Zillion gets latest goodies before the Steez. 
 

lastly not all upgrades upgrade casting distance.  Some times hinders it but gets newbies to cast bait casters in my opinion. Or upgrade might be lighter. 
 

i learned along time ago. No more cheap reels for me

 

cheapest i go in shimano is curado/scorpion

 

Diawa is CT or Zillion

 

lews Cheapest is BB1

 

my take

[AzBassin]

On 2/2/2025 at 11:23 AM, MediumMouthBass said:

I see on here, FB, Youtube, and Reddit that a large amount of people only buy one brand and wont buy anything else. I dont get it, am i the only one who spreads the wealth evenly and buys everything? I have reels from Daiwa, Shimano, Lews, and Abu. From low-mid-higher end and i dont have a favorite reel, nor brand.

Now i do have favorite reels when it comes to specific uses, like weightless plastics and lures that arent aerodynamic, or bigger stuff around the 1-3oz, or even 4-8oz range. But when it comes to choosing only 2 reels to take with me to the lake for all around casting purposes i struggle deciding if i want to take the Tatula CT, Zillion, Fuego CT, SLX A, SLX XT, SLX MGL 70, BB1 Pro, Superduty LFS, or LFS.

 

When i go to buy a reel i dont filter it by brand, more so by the discount i can get one on sale for (i only buy stuff on sale since i was taught my whole life MSRP is a scam, and it really is). As long as it has a warranty, isnt a terrible color, fits my hand, has an aluminum frame (although i have bought a bunch of plastic framed ones that im happy with), and isnt plagued by terrible reviews, if the price is right i dont prefer one to another.

(Theres no way i would pay $40 or more extra for a certain reel thats comparable/equal only because it has a different name on its side, whether its a higher end brand or the opposite). Now if i find a reel thats $40 more but has something very different inside of it to back up the price increase thats another story, but in todays world of fishing reels even the budget reels are starting to become loaded with features.

 

I know some guys go really far down the rabbit hole into looking up materials used, spool tech, braking systems, etc... But thats not for me, as after fishing for several years with most of these reels theres not one brand in particular that blew the rest away, or made me cast farther, had less backlashes, etc... Now theres certain spools/tech out there that do certain special applications very well, but every brand makes something with that in mind these days, im talking brands as a whole, not one specific reel here.

 

And i also understand theres people out there who want a streamlined, and organized system. Using all the same reels, and thats cool, since they all use the same parts, feel the same too.... But does anyone else buy whatever they want without being held back by a brand? I for one am glad i fall into this category, because each brand offers something different. And i like that, even if its just a slight difference. It freshens up the fishing and keeps me from getting bored too. I also like having options, the more the merrier.

 

 

I am alot like you now 4 major brands only Lews Shimano Diawa and Abu

 

wont buy more abu though long story

 

But  lowest grade shimano i buy is curado. 
 

out of 54 reels i bet 20 maybe more bought used from japan. 
 

if buy good reels they outlive you. 
 

some folks have to have the latest. 
 

example so say my metaniums Or Zillions.  I buy em few years old. 
 

i have  few theories say if guy on ebay selling reel from michigan if good good pictures and not see scratch on it chances are little use considering they under ice long time and if no scratches

the guy not abuse it therfore get high end reel cheap. 
 

other way i buy is from japan

The guy i buy from in japan does amazing camera work.  If no scratches

probably not abused.  
 

This is how i save.  
 

i pretty much do same with cell phones 

but dont buy used i just stay year or two back. 
 

I work with people that live paycheck to paycheck but always latest iphone 

 

i like nicer fishing gear but i wait for it

because dont want say a Slx not holding up to frogging in slop. 
 

some most things i look for is strong frames on reels. Good bearing and gear support.  Because if know how to cast and maintain reels wont have to buy another SLX

 

i should not pick on shimano slx

great price point reel that gets better every year.   But i use it for example

because only time will tell  all have to do is read schematics on reels can see which is better

[CaughtMeABiggun]

I use everything. I would not go as far as to say that any reel manufacturer does not have the potential to make a crap reel. I'm not sold on Daiwa and Shimano reels that are not made in Japan. Unfortunately there are very few made there now. Only the highest end reels. My Metanium feels just like my Curado D. Both made in Japan. My Curado MGL feels like a Revo or Lews. They are not made in Japan. That's why I use everything because the real difference to me between all the reels are Made in Japan and not Made in Japan. You can rate China, Thailand, Malaysia, and South Korea in any order that you think but each one of those countries can give you a gem or a rock off the same assembly line.