Stasher1 Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 FWIW, I ditched all of my Shimano spinning reels in favor of Pfluegers and have absolutely no regrets. Quote
Chaz Hickcox Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 You may be surprised, bu the Abu Garcia Cardinal is a great spinning reel. And for $31 bucks its a inexpensive choice. In the words of Woo Daves, 'You don't need a spinning reel that costs more than $50.' He said his set up for tournaments is about $130. Quote
Texasfishingtips Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 Shimano Sahara hands down. Why you might ask? Because of the first word... Clancy W Quote
Chaz Hickcox Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 Shimano Sahara hands down. Why you might ask? Because of the first word...Clancy W All you're doin is payin for a name. Quote
Texasfishingtips Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 Their reels are made to last. Only used one Abu reel and it was horrible. It jamed up within about a week. It was their cheep blackmax but lost me on that. Clancy W Quote
Stasher1 Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 I've owned 8 Saharas, 3 Symetres, and 2 Sonoras and all but the Sonoras have been replaced with Pfluegers. If my boys fished more than two or three times a year, I'd replace the Sonoras as well. Quote
Chaz Hickcox Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 Their reels are made to last. Only used one Abu reel and it was horrible. It jamed up within about a week. It was their cheep blackmax but lost me on that.Clancy W Been using the cheapo Black Max for about a year, and the Cardinal for almost five. No issues yet and I'm in brackish tidal rivers 90% of the time. Quote
Loomis24 Posted January 25, 2011 Author Posted January 25, 2011 I was looking at the cardinal reels actually. I'm a big fan of pflueger, I bought a cetina last year cuz I wanted a higher gear ratio and I must say best $90 I ever spent. But on the other hand, there's nothing like my premier from Abu . They both make fantastic products but the supreme 8030 weighing 7.4ozs is hard to beat Quote
bassin is addicting Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 Pflueger President hands down. X2 for the money, the best.. imho Quote
TrippyJai Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 I had the Pflueger President for 3 seasons with an issue so I went out and bought a Supreme this year when I saw it on sale. Can't wait to use it. Great spinning reels for the money. Quote
KenG85 Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 I have had a shimano sahara 2500 FD for three years now. This thing is smooth, tough and durable. I use it for dropshotting/finesse largemouth fishing. Most impressive, I take this thing with me into my local river in the summer months. While I'm wading this thing is repeatedly submerged. Especially while landing a pig smallie waist deep. ;D To date no issues, nothing replaced. I did do a swap for the spirex handle. Quote
Texasfishingtips Posted January 25, 2011 Posted January 25, 2011 Their reels are made to last. Only used one Abu reel and it was horrible. It jamed up within about a week. It was their cheep blackmax but lost me on that.Clancy W Been using the cheapo Black Max for about a year, and the Cardinal for almost five. No issues yet and I'm in brackish tidal rivers 90% of the time. Mine jamed up like I said. I cleaned it really good and it was still not working right. Took it back to academy and got another one. Had the same problem so took it back again and got my money back. Clancy W Quote
Chaz Hickcox Posted January 27, 2011 Posted January 27, 2011 Their reels are made to last. Only used one Abu reel and it was horrible. It jamed up within about a week. It was their cheep blackmax but lost me on that.Clancy W Been using the cheapo Black Max for about a year, and the Cardinal for almost five. No issues yet and I'm in brackish tidal rivers 90% of the time. Mine jamed up like I said. I cleaned it really good and it was still not working right. Took it back to academy and got another one. Had the same problem so took it back again and got my money back. Clancy W Hmm, either I'm lucky or you got a lemon. Quote
ChiCityBasser Posted January 27, 2011 Posted January 27, 2011 Shimano Sahara hands down. Why you might ask? Because of the first word...Clancy W Maybe I got a bad one then because it was my first Shimano and I wasn't impressed Quote
Carrington Posted January 27, 2011 Posted January 27, 2011 The shimano sehara is a great reel, i have 2 and they have lasted for a while now. if you had more i would recommend the stradic ci4. Quote
ctf58 Posted January 28, 2011 Posted January 28, 2011 Hard to beat the Shimano Sahara ... I have 2 and we sell a ton of them in the store. where you work? local shop? Might be coming down to the lakes in a couple of weeks and would like to check one out. Quote
Texasfishingtips Posted January 28, 2011 Posted January 28, 2011 Their reels are made to last. Only used one Abu reel and it was horrible. It jamed up within about a week. It was their cheep blackmax but lost me on that.Clancy W Been using the cheapo Black Max for about a year, and the Cardinal for almost five. No issues yet and I'm in brackish tidal rivers 90% of the time. Mine jamed up like I said. I cleaned it really good and it was still not working right. Took it back to academy and got another one. Had the same problem so took it back again and got my money back. Clancy W Hmm, either I'm lucky or you got a lemon. I think its both, ive read some other reviews on them and some other people had the same problem. Clancy W Quote
Texasfishingtips Posted January 28, 2011 Posted January 28, 2011 Shimano Sahara hands down. Why you might ask? Because of the first word...Clancy W Maybe I got a bad one then because it was my first Shimano and I wasn't impressed What did you not like about it? Clancy W Quote
Super User SirSnookalot Posted January 28, 2011 Super User Posted January 28, 2011 For freshwater use and a price range around $100, the Supreme is an excellent choice. I have 3 of them, 1 was used for saltwater for more than a year, without issue, before moving it to freshwater. As this is my Bass season, I have been fishing bass on my way home form the ocean every morning and using my small saltwater set up. Abu Soron 20, I prefer it over the Supreme and it isn't much more. Quote
zero limit Posted January 28, 2011 Posted January 28, 2011 I stated symetre earlier, also have a stratic and president. In the flea market right now there is a stratic for 115.00 which is a very good deal for an exclent real Quote
Pantera61 Posted January 28, 2011 Posted January 28, 2011 it's an oldie but why not the Daiwa SS1300? Quote
The Rooster Posted January 28, 2011 Posted January 28, 2011 not to hijack or anything as I am interested in good spinning reels for good prices...Anyone have any experience with the Abu Garcia Soron SX? Or even the Cardinal 500ALBi? I'm a Revo guy and I hate to shy away from Abu Garcia.. especially if they make a good spinning reel.. I'll own one of the 500ALBi's tomorrow. Mine will be the 502 size. It's being shipped from Bass Pro right now and will be here in the morning. Other than that I have not fished one or even handled one. I made my decision to get it based on how the Soron SX and STX felt, and also the cheap 100i series Cardinals too. All felt good and smooth and built well also, so I went in the middle price range so I could get the aluminum frame and brass gears too. Only difference I can really tell between the Cardinal 500ALBi and the Soron SX is that the SX has 2 aluminum spools and 7 bearings while the ALBi only has one aluminum spool and one polymeric one, but has 10 bearings instead of 7. Otherwise they seam to be very similar. Both have an aluminum frame and graphite rotor (but the STX has all aluminum EVERYTHING if you want to step up from the SX). To all who said the Pflueger President......after two of them, I'm done. The one I currently have left is in like new, mint condition (including the gear grind that came with it) and it'll be for sale soon enough. President for $60, Cardinal 500 for $70...hmm....Cardinal has aluminum frame, President has an aluminum sideplate only. Cardinal has brass internal gears for both drive and pinion, President has brass pinion only and something else for the drive gear that obviously is not good enough (for me). Quote
ChiCityBasser Posted January 28, 2011 Posted January 28, 2011 Shimano Sahara hands down. Why you might ask? Because of the first word...Clancy W Maybe I got a bad one then because it was my first Shimano and I wasn't impressed What did you not like about it? Clancy W After a couple outings the bail would stick open if I just started to crank to close it, now I normally hand close the bail but in haste have forgotten a few times. It then started to feel like the gears were grinding and since then it has spent more time at home than on the water. Maybe a good cleaning and some time with a reel mechanic can bring it back to life. Quote
Texasfishingtips Posted January 29, 2011 Posted January 29, 2011 Shimano Sahara hands down. Why you might ask? Because of the first word...Clancy W Maybe I got a bad one then because it was my first Shimano and I wasn't impressed What did you not like about it? Clancy W After a couple outings the bail would stick open if I just started to crank to close it, now I normally hand close the bail but in haste have forgotten a few times. It then started to feel like the gears were grinding and since then it has spent more time at home than on the water. Maybe a good cleaning and some time with a reel mechanic can bring it back to life. Well I havent had that problem, but I dont reel the bail closed. Clancy W Quote
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