U.s. Made Spincast Reels

[acajun2]

I like to fish with an ultralite Spincast reel for bass fishing in a small lake in our neighborhood. I have purchased 3 reels in the $25 -$40 range lately and all of them either hang up or don't work. I've noticed that Shakespere, Abu Garcia and Zebco are all made in China now. Are there any decent reels still made in the US anymore?

[Crestliner2008]

Try open faced reels instead. I've fished with closed face spinning reels 50+ years ago. They were never very reliable back then. We had the Zebcos, Pfluegers and the Johnsons. The line pick-up was always hit or miss and the line got tangled under the guide pin plate quite often. Very frustrating, but we used them anyway. And we did pretty well with them too.

The Johnson Century and bigger brother, the Citation, were the better closed faced reels of the day back then. Even those caused me problems, which is why I switched to open faced spinning reels. And, I've been using them ever since. Get yourself one of these and you won't look back.

As far as where the reels are made, I wouldn't be too concerned. Reel manufacturing today is extremely competitive. They have to be <at least> good, in order to survive the demands of modern anglers. As far as modern closed faced reels go, I have no clue how they perform; I'd just recommend that you change to open faced spinning instead.

[J Francho]

Not in the US, but the Daiwa Goldcast is the last spincaster you'll need to buy.

[Five-Alive]

x 2 on the Daiwa Goldcast, probably in the $50 range but they are the best quality spincast reels I have seen. My partner got on for his son, they all seem to have a lower gear ratio but seem to be good reels. Like most spincast they may come prespooled with line so you may want to change to your favorite brand/# test.

[Hyrule Bass]

I like to fish with an ultralite Spincast reel for bass fishing in a small lake in our neighborhood. I have purchased 3 reels in the $25 -$40 range lately and all of them either hang up or don't work. I've noticed that Shakespere, Abu Garcia and Zebco are all made in China now. Are there any decent reels still made in the US anymore?

i got a shakespeare tiger series spincaster combo from walmart about 5-6 years ago thats held up pretty well, its made of mostly metal. its not ultralite though, it comes on a 6'6 MH rod. you look at them now and the newer models are plastic and garbage, i bought one of those too because i liked the rod, reel broke in two days of catfishing with it so its a good thing i bought it for the rod mostly(which now is fitted with an abu garcia 5601 baitcaster). but the older metal spincaster is still going strong and has never given me a problem. it does have a weak drag though, i had a 20 inch crappie from smith mountain lake go on multiple runs with max drag on, hell of a fun fight though. also have landed a 6.5lb striper on it, fun fight there too. i mostly use it for catfishing but get a lot of bonus fish because of the bait i use. had no problems bass fishing with it either. at one time i had 20lb stren on it and could throw light weight lures like a rebel crickhopper a mile despite the line size. i guess i got lucky for a cheap $20 combo, although a few zebcos i owned in that time period have steered me away from spincasters completely(i like to have a couple around). i would probably recommend getting an ultralite spinning combo instead of spincaster as well. overall it would probably perform much better and last longer...

[Bluebasser86]

The Diawa Goldcast and Zebco Omega are both about as good as you can get in a spincast reel. My father-in-law had 2 Omegas that I've even used for bass fishing when I didn't have my gear with me and they performed very well other than being painfully slow for a guy used to 7.1 gear ratio. I know the Omega comes in a smaller sized that is prespooled with 6lb test I believe and should work fine with smaller lures and light line.

[tomustang]

Yeah, the Omega Z02, it's 6lb rated. The problem with omegas is they are way too heavy

For ultral lights, you best bet is the zebco platinum 11. Shame it's the only spincaster I never tried out, the platinum 33 is nice though, so hopefully the quality trickled down the line.

Stay away from the pflueger/shakespere micros, they break too easily, never knew 4lb triline could cut through a metal bell in 2 days until my wife bought them

[OnthePotomac]

Bass Pro Woo Daves still uses a spincaster on occasion.

[catchnm]

I've landed fish up to five pounds on a Shakespeare Synergy Titanium 10 spooled with 6 lb. Yo-Zuri Hybrid Ultra Soft. That's from the bank too, BTW. I use a 5'6" pistol grip rod rated Med. action but it's pretty stiff, more like a M/H. Anyway the Synergy Titanium has the double line pick up and is constructed of metal, has three bearings, and is very affordable. Also check the "Ultimate" series of the Synergy reels. They have four bearings and are also quite affordable. Both reels have double-paddle handles, fit well in my hand, are smooth on the retrieve, have decent drag, and can handle good size fish.

[rookiebasser]

response to acajun2's post reguarding spincast reels. While I don't know of any spincast manufacturers this still build their reels in the U.S. but I can tell you that I just recently purchased a Zebco Omega Pro, and I think it is the last reel I will ever buy. It's the most expensive reel that they make, but for less then 80 dollars, it's a d**n good buy. it has a larger opening in the hood of the reel for better casting distance, and i can actually cast farther with it than i can with my more expensive reels. It comes with two different handles, a single blade "speed handle," and a double bladed "power handle. also the handle can be mounted on either side of the reel. Which is nice because it's always better to hold the rod in your dominant hand, and retrieve with the other. hope this helps.

[roadwarrior]

Spincast reels are for kids and people that fish a day or two every other year

or just on vacation. My fishing partner guides on the Tennessee River and carries

a couple of Zebco Omega. I have fished them for bait and they are just fine. After

three years and no maintenance, no issues. The reels are "disposable", when they

wear out they will be replaced, not fixed.