Which reel reviews do you trust?

[guitarkid]

I trust Tackletour.com and Bassresource.com

-gk

[CWB]

I think any reviews that you read on retailers' sites can be immediately dismissed. BPS has been known to "filter" their reviews to skew a product's ratings. What's left are a bunch of reviews from people who haven't even used their new reel(s), but feel compelled to leave a positive review anyway.  :

Just curious about BPS filtering the reviews. Where did you here this? I've read plenty of crappy review of their own products.

Don't put a whole lot of stock in them anyway.

[boatlesswonder]

I think you have to take them all with a grain of salt. If you use a reel with a quality rod, keep up the maintenance like you should(Clean and lubricate it) all of the ones you mention will do a good job. Like any thing else it only will last as long as you let it. Just my humble opinion.

[Stasher1]

Just curious about BPS filtering the reviews. Where did you here this? I've read plenty of crappy review of their own products.

Don't put a whole lot of stock in them anyway.

I have left negative reviews which never got posted, and some of the ones that did get posted were somehow "lost" during the refreshing of their site...yet some of the older positive reviews remained. Sounds like filtering to me.

[JacobK]

I'll usually go and check out online reviews on store websites or forums then go see how the reel feels in person. If a reel gets good reviews in general it can't be that bad. I'm a huge Daiwa fan for casting reels, but I've been using Shimano spinning reels my entire life so thats what I'll recommend.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

It's kinda hard to wrong with a brand name spinning reel at this price point. IMO Pflueger spinning reels are one of the best bang-for-your-buck wise.

[21farms]

i don't trust anybody's really...that's why i've bought and sold so many rods and reels over the past few years...i basically have to see for myself.

the reviews that i almost completely discount are from pro staffers and from self-described fans. fan is short for fanatic and fanatics are inherently biased toward overlooking any fault with their favorite brand's products while discounting anything good about their competitors. when someone says, "i only fish brand X", that tells me they're not open-minded to anything else no matter how good it might be. i've fished with enough stuff from many different manufacturers to know that not any one company holds a monopoly on quality and innovation.

generally, however, i do find tackletour's reviews to be an excellent source of information. i really respect how they fish with a piece of equipment for many months or even over a season before they ever post a review. for example, they've been fishing the new lew's reels for awhile now (even mentioning them in their amazon peacock bass trip article, but are still evaluating them. i appreciate them not rushing to judgment even though there's probably a lot of people clamoring for it.

[BrASSmonkey]

I actually like to look for the negative reviews. I then filter out reviews that I do not think are based on any substance (ie - have not actually used the product). I then tend to look for common complaints or issues with a particular product. If there are enough of the same issues, then it is not likely user bias; a lemon; or too small of a sample for me to develop an initial opinion. I try to ignore the obvious biased reviews in favour of any brand, and dig until I find the grain of truth, if there even is one.

It has worked for me thus far.

[roadwarrior]

Choosing the right equipment is challenging. Even listening to guys you trust, their response is going to vary.

We have fans of just about every brand here on BassResource.com. If you want specific advice, you really

need to specify a price range. I'm a Shimano guy, so these are my recommendations:

Spinning reels:

<$100 Symetre

>$100 CI4

Baitcasting:

~$100 Citica

>$100 Curado

[SoFlaBassAddict]

I generally ignore the reviews on most of the big box store websites. Like other people have mentioned, a lot of those get filtered and whatnot. I put far more stock in independent websites, and the opinions of people that I know and trust. As long as you can get through the biased opinions of the manufacturers fanboys, you'll find some honest reviews on several different websites.

The single best way to learn what you'll like is to get out and test it. Each person will have their personal likes and dislikes about a certain reel.

[rubba bubba]

My recommendation:

If you are a brand zealot, then I would search out the reviews on this site from your fellow zealots. Their input will be most similar to your needs.

If you are not a brand zealot, then I would discard all the reviews from the zealot population (that would be both the positive zealots - i.e. Abu/Shimano snobs - and the negative zealots - ie. the Quantum bashers). I would focus on the reviews from those who are not brand loyal but have obviously used the gear for a while (not the noobs). People like Raul/J Francho/etc... They have their preferences but they aren't nazis either.

[SirSnookalot]

For the most part I'm leery of any review, especially bias towards any certain brand. I like to think I have enough experience to know what I want, not that I have never made a mistake, I have. If possible I want to see someone using equipment, then try it it myself if they let me. A few weeks ago a guy I see at the jetty all the time was using a loomis rod and calcutta reel, so I tossed it around for a half hour and I liked it very much, something I would buy if I were a B/C kinda guy, which I'm not, but the outfit was super.