baitcast reels

[J Francho]

Just a durability thing for me.  Although, I will break from that, I do own a CI4.  Also, the TD-Z and the Zil aren't exactly ultra lo-pro.  I prefer the Alphas profile.  Just fits better fishing all day.

[Nibbles]

I hear ya about the Alphas thing - I'm addicted to those reels! They seem to multiply in my closet like rabbits, although I wish they didn't hit my pocketbook so hard. 

My most recent Alphas though, wow, it was a heck of a deal. I managed to trade my Sol outright for an Alphas R. Crazy huh? 

[J Francho]

Probably had the cork knobs scavenged off it......

[Nibbles]

Yeah - in fact the guy replaced the whole original CF swept handle. But it's cool because he replaced it with a 90mm bassart CF handle with aluminum knobs.

Still, for a Sol, I feel like I got the better end of the deal by quite a bit. 

[northern basser]

Out of reels I've owned;

1) shimano core50mg7

2) pflueger patriarch xt

3) shimano chronarch 50mg

4) shimano curado 200e7

5) shimano citica 200e

6) abu garcia revo sx

I just purchased a 2011 revo premier 7 to 1 thats coming soon.  Also,  I haven't used any diawa bc's yet.

[skunked_again]

Current baitcasters in my boat are:

Calais 200 DC

Core 50MG7

Curado 200E7

2010 Revo Premier (4)

2010 Revo SX

Daiwa Steez 103HA

BPS Johnny Morris Gold

The 2010 Premier's are the standouts. Smooth as glass in every way, super strong drag, extremely versatile and easy to dial in for any conditions or lures. They are an ounce heavier than my core or steez, but I personally don't notice it while fishing. And they do show boat rash a little quicker than some. These are a much different reel than the older versions, which did not get the stellar reviews of these 2010, 10 bearing models.

The Calais is 2nd, and 1st when it comes to casting distance in any condtions. The only reason it's not #1 is it's very heavy and it's not as smooth when retrieving big cranks or big fish. Price is quite high, too. I did catch a 15lb striper with it the other day while fishing for black bass, and it did a great job. But you could hear it working, although the drag was very smooth and very adequate for the job. I caught a 19lber last winter on one of my Premier's and it was unreal how smooth and quiet it was. It blows me away that Shimano has not come out with a lighter version of the Calais with the full DC system it has yet.

The Steez, quite honestly, is at the bottom of the list. I've only had it a couple of weeks, but what a fussy reel. Forget about fishing it on a windy day. It's getting customized right now by a reputable tuner, so hopefully that will bring it around, but it's very, very disappointing, especially at its price point.

The rest are all nice reels, but nothing special. Core is okay, small and light like the Steez, but much less fussy. Does not like small lures when loaded with #12 flouro. I understand it's a much better small bait reel with mono on it.

He already stated Premiers are garbage...he doesn't like them. It boggles me how much of a nice review you gave it yet so hated by him.

I find it quite hard that the steez can be at the bottom of your list.Then again I never fished one.I think I need to pay a visit to steezy down in Texas...LOL

its possible he was just listing the reels and not ranking them.

[flippin and pitchin]

Interesting.  Look at the mix of brands guys have.  I have owned reels under 8 different brand names and only found one that was a true dissappointment and soured me on that brand. There are so many reels today that are all outstanding performers.  There is no BEST, just what might be better for you.  It's great to be " dialed in " with your gear but you can only decide what meets your expectations.

[Sam]

Shimano! 

[bwell]

have tried revo premiers... that was a waist of money, have tried curados.. better..but still looking for something more.. have been using the new lews speed spools and have been quite a bit better with the tournament pro versions for $180 but is there still something better? most likeley $200 and up??

: :

I'll take that revo off your hands if you dont like it!

[SeanW]

Current baitcasters in my boat are:

Calais 200 DC

Core 50MG7

Curado 200E7

2010 Revo Premier (4)

2010 Revo SX

Daiwa Steez 103HA

BPS Johnny Morris Gold

The 2010 Premier's are the standouts. Smooth as glass in every way, super strong drag, extremely versatile and easy to dial in for any conditions or lures. They are an ounce heavier than my core or steez, but I personally don't notice it while fishing. And they do show boat rash a little quicker than some. These are a much different reel than the older versions, which did not get the stellar reviews of these 2010, 10 bearing models.

The Calais is 2nd, and 1st when it comes to casting distance in any condtions. The only reason it's not #1 is it's very heavy and it's not as smooth when retrieving big cranks or big fish. Price is quite high, too. I did catch a 15lb striper with it the other day while fishing for black bass, and it did a great job. But you could hear it working, although the drag was very smooth and very adequate for the job. I caught a 19lber last winter on one of my Premier's and it was unreal how smooth and quiet it was. It blows me away that Shimano has not come out with a lighter version of the Calais with the full DC system it has yet.

The Steez, quite honestly, is at the bottom of the list. I've only had it a couple of weeks, but what a fussy reel. Forget about fishing it on a windy day. It's getting customized right now by a reputable tuner, so hopefully that will bring it around, but it's very, very disappointing, especially at its price point.

The rest are all nice reels, but nothing special. Core is okay, small and light like the Steez, but much less fussy. Does not like small lures when loaded with #12 flouro. I understand it's a much better small bait reel with mono on it.

   Interesting thing about the Steez, well and a few others. I stopped by the local tackle shop today, I have a friend there. His main job is commercial fishing, rod and reel type. We got to talking about reels, and he whispered that the Steez is not a good quality reel. He takes all the reels apart and checks out the design and quality of parts inside, then said it is a problem reel. Ive not fished em, and would never buy one as Im not into spending that for a reel. He is a Diawa guy by the way, and he said that the Zillion is a much better reel.

[flippin and pitchin]

have tried revo premiers... that was a waist of money, have tried curados.. better..but still looking for something more.. have been using the new lews speed spools and have been quite a bit better with the tournament pro versions for $180 but is there still something better? most likeley $200 and up??

Looks like you can move up to the Lews Team model at 249.99.

[baluga]

CTE 100 DC - this one is a piece of art.

Core 100  - light weight, cast far and smooth drag.

Calais 200   - cast far and super smooth, smoother than cte 100 DC.

Shimano all the way.. 

[jeb2]

Interesting thing about the Steez, well and a few others. I stopped by the local tackle shop today, I have a friend there. His main job is commercial fishing, rod and reel type. We got to talking about reels, and he whispered that the Steez is not a good quality reel. He takes all the reels apart and checks out the design and quality of parts inside, then said it is a problem reel. Ive not fished em, and would never buy one as Im not into spending that for a reel. He is a Diawa guy by the way, and he said that the Zillion is a much better reel.

Yeah, I didn't do my research well enough on this one, it seems. Seemed like a lot of folks swore by it, so I popped it onto the Xmas list along with a Stella. Wife got me both of them. So hard to take it back, you know? But there does seem to be a bit of the "emporer has no clothes" with the Steez, at least in the 103 version for a casting reel. I'm also buying a 100 spool for it, which has a different mag system on it. Supposedly, that will help a lot for making it behave in all conditions. Going to be one very expensive reel by the time I get it setup, and really for no good reason that I can see at this point. My core is lighter and just as small, but much better behaved out of the box. Steez has a weak drag too, but I knew that before I put it on the list.

At this point, I just don't get the hype over the Steez.