What is your favorite fishing reel?

['96 Charger]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

Shimano Curado from any generation. Have three of them from different generations and they are all incredible. These are reels that are worth fixing when something happens. My newest one wasn't cheap but it's the sweetheart of the bunch. It's sitting on a 6.5' Falcon Lowrider medium action. I need the lowest profile setup possible because of my fingers being so short.

 

[codybullard]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

I only fish freshwater in Texas and ive had all shapes and sizes... and there aint nothing better than zebco 33 for bass and zebco 808 for catfish, all my fishing buddies swear by there fancy open face reels, and they tell me that it will strip out if I catch a big one... but my 808 is 5yrs old...sits out in the weather year round...has caught its share of bigguns...and I could toe a boat to shore with it while they're getting line untangled from the spool.

 

[scipper77]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

I mentioned earlier that my old pflueger had been acting up on me. Well I just cleaned/lubricated that one and my Quantum that was failing on me. The pflueger feels like brand new again. I can't believe how much I have used it and it still performs great. All the old lube and grease was black and the hinge on the bail took a lot to work all of the black lube out.

My Quantum on the other hand (shaw grigsby edition) is pure junk. It was already clean as I don't use it much but I cleaned and relubed it anyways. The spool shaft is very loose and sloppy. I remember when I bought it it felt very solid. Loved the thing, I guess it just didn't stand the test of time. If you go fishing with me and don't have a rod you get the Quantum!!

 

[dingbat]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

My Quantum on the other hand (shaw grigsby edition) is pure junk. It was already clean as I don't use it much but I cleaned and relubed it anyways. The spool shaft is very loose and sloppy. I remember when I bought it it felt very solid. Loved the thing, I guess it just didn't stand the test of time. If you go fishing with me and don't have a rod you get the Quantum!!

I know what you mean. We use small spinning reels (2XXX and 3XXX series)for jigging Striped Bass. A bunch of guys jumped on the Quantum when they came out. Most of the reels didn't make it through the first season. Couldn't hold up to the pressures. A lot went to the Shimano Sahara.

 

['96 Charger]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

The Sahara 750 on my 6' Falcon ultralite is a great little reel too. Between trout and goofing off in the pond that combo gets beat like a redheaded stepchild. However, I have a pair of Sedona 500's that have seen better days but are great crappie reels. Both of them caught more than their share of trout and pond fish. One of them I turned the bearing housing into an ovalThe guy that does all the work on my reels told me he doesn't see oval bearings very often. He's great about fixing a problem the first time and making reels better than new.

 

[mommicked]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

Im no expert.but I believe the new Energyptib reels have 10 bearings now and assume that more quality bearings allow reels to last longer by reduceing wear to moving parts.when fighting larger fish I use the rod/drag to pull them and reel up the slack sometimes as opposed to cranking them in w the reel alone.I understand that crankbaits and heavy lures will speed up wear and tear with more resistance for the reel to pull.Friends have had good luck w some models of Quantum spinning reels.years of more than average use.this is the first one Ive owned though.I like the titanium bail wire and magnetic bail actuater for times I dont close it by hand,its very smooth.i also have 4, 5 yr old diawa regal-x spinning reels, 2 2500s and two 4000s.I think they were on sale for $20 for the 25s and 30 for the 40s.the 25s have been used heavily every year and one is starting to get pretty noisy.they all have performed great for the price and came w spare plastic spools.The new Energy is A gift from my dad.I think he wants a guinnie pig to find out if its a good reel.He's very happy w a new Diawa Certate he got recently and was a Shimano spinnin reel fan for years,but he says lately their quality has slipped a little ( Issues w them right out of the box)one was shipped back and had problems when they returned it to him.not a cheap one either.

 

[jt57]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

Since 90% of my fishing is trolling,I tend to lean toward level wind reels. I use mainly Okuma's 15's. I also have a couple Penn M-9's that see duty from time to time. I prefer level wind reels with line counters. I had a couple tica's reels,but could never get use to the release button on them. All of these reels are fished on Lamiglass 7'6" ulta lite rods.

 

['96 Charger]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

Mommicked you're right about Shimano slipping on their spinning reels. Last Shimano I bought was at my usual small tackle store. The owner of the store had half a dozen of my rejects laying on the counter that he needed to either fix on his bench or send back. Abu Garcia seems to be really coming along on their spinning reels even their cheaper ones. I gave my dad an Abu cheapie Wallyworld special for fathers day and I like it better than my most recent Shimano spinning reel purchases. I'm still happy with the Curado even though they cost a small fortune. I'll probably have them for the rest of my life if they don't get stolen.

 

[dingbat]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

Im no expert.but I believe the new Energyptib reels have 10 bearings now and assume that more quality bearings allow reels to last longer by reduceing wear to moving parts.

Don't fall for that more is better stuff. Bearings require maintenance, and lots of it. You are better off not using a bearing unless they provide substantial increase in performance over a bushing.

In a spinning reel, good engineering practices call for 4, maybe 5 bearings, with at least one of them being a roller bearing. You may find it interesting that most the high-end spinning reels, Stellas, US Reel, Van Stahl, all keep bearing counts to a minimum. Most use 4 - ball bearings and a single roller bearing as noted above.

In my application, there are two primary modes of failure. The first, and most common, is bearing / bushing mount failures. This is caused by the flexing of the side covers and the bearing covers mount being made of too soft of a materials for the load.. Overtime, the flexing causes the bearing mounts to elongate which allow the drive gear to fall out of alignment with the gears on the spool shaft and gears strip. Lots of stripped out gears from this problem.


The second leading cause of death is the anti-reverse bearing (ARB) giving out. Anti-revering bearings are sensitive to being over lubricated. An overzealous owner can actually lubricate an ARB to death. The AR is also prone to corrosion. Many a reel have died a cruel death when water got in under the spool and made its way into the ARB.

 

[sasto]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

All Penns...from 6lb to 80lb test...and a couple cane poles...my fav is the one with the jerk on the end.

 

[scipper77]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

In my application, there are two primary modes of failure. The first, and most common, is bearing / bushing mount failures. This is caused by the flexing of the side covers and the bearing covers mount being made of too soft of a materials for the load.. Overtime, the flexing causes the bearing mounts to elongate which allow the drive gear to fall out of alignment with the gears on the spool shaft and gears strip. Lots of stripped out gears from this problem.

So based on this could the use of say 20-30 lb braid along with excessively tight drag kill a reel? Some times I do this to my reels to pull free from a snag. I wonder if that's what killed my Quantum?

Also I lube the heck out of my spinning reels at times. I generally don't take them apart to lube however. Where do I want to avoid so I don't over lube the anti reverse bearing?

 

[dingbat]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

So based on this could the use of say 20-30 lb braid along with excessively tight drag kill a reel? Some times I do this to my reels to pull free from a snag. I wonder if that's what killed my Quantum?

Also I lube the heck out of my spinning reels at times. I generally don't take them apart to lube however. Where do I want to avoid so I don't over lube the anti reverse bearing?

It doesn't take #20 or #30 line to kill a reel. We kill them all the time using #10 braid.

What kills them is the ?jerking? caused by an overly tight drag. This ?pounding? is transferred to the bearing mounts where is absorbed, usually by some sort of a plastic composite in the cheaper reels. It doesn?t take long for the plastic to fatigue and failure after repeated ?poundings?. You typically do not see these types of failures in reels with metals side plates although it does happen from time to time.

The other way of killing a reel is to crank against pressure. Spool gear moving one direction, your cranking with the leverage of the handle on the opposing gear. With all that leverage, it doesn?t take much to bend the drive shaft or strip a tooth out of the gear set.

The location varies from reel to reel, but the most common place for an ARB is where the spool shaft passed thru the body in the front of the reel. Pull of your spool and look where the spool shaft passes thru the body of the reel. You will typically find some sort of the bearing retainer held in place with a screw. The bearing behind this plate is the ARB.

 

[scipper77]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

The other way of killing a reel is to crank against pressure. Spool gear moving one direction, your cranking with the leverage of the handle on the opposing gear. With all that leverage, it doesn?t take much to bend the drive shaft or strip a tooth out of the gear set.

So when I am trolling I shouldn't retrieve my lure with the boat still moving? Too much resistance in that scenario. I guess I'll stick to my baitcaster for trolling. I am under the impression that the drag system is much more robust on a baitcaster.

To the OP, I hope you don't mind that I am kind of thread jacking!!

 

[mommicked]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

I must add,I have a Shimano sustain 2500FD bought used on Ebay 2 yrs ago.It had a slight amount of play in the handle/rotor or pinion? gears.It has performed well though.caught lrgmouth Bass, Redfish to 30":and some fat alberts to 6/8 lbs.about 10 mins. or more w 30lb braid and 7'med act.!!!what fun!!!its doing well. Im not sure its my favorite yet.but the drag is awsome.its 5yrs or so old and sold new for $229,the stickers still on the foot.

 

[KeyWestBoater]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

I have 2 Mitchell 300XE's on 6 1/2 ft Ugly Sticks with 12# line. Seems to work pretty well.


KWB

 

[CreekRunner]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

Decided to go all American. Bought an Ardent spin reel made in USA (expensive) and matched it with a USA made St. Croix rod (expensive). Had it customized with my name and University of Alabama logos and colors. Probably don't help catch fish but it makes me feel good when I'm using it.

 

[howardepgco]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

Abu Garcia Skeet Reese. Smooth as silk very nice reel.

 

[rolmops]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

Let's see.
For Ocean fishing (cod ,tuna,striped bass,bluefish):
Penn 500 M Jig master loaded with 50 pound braid
Penn 112,113,114.(2 of each) either loaded with super braids or 600 feet of single strand stainless monel or malin
Penn 330 GTI levelwind (two of those) One for 600 feet of copper,the other is 17 pound mono.
A couple of Penns for surf casting
For great lakes (salmon,brown trout or steelhead):
Daiwa Accudepth 57 LC level winds with counter (2 with 20 pound flea flicker mono,2 with power pro 30 pound and 2 with 7 or 9 strand 30 pound stainless, a thousand feet on each)
4 Shakespeare tidewater 30 L level winds with counter for leadcore.
And then a bunch of Zebcos closed reel for perch and a bunch of open bails for pike and any fishing using a float.
I love the zebco 33 for under hand spin casting between the trees and bushes.

 

[nam6869usmc]

Re: What is your favorite fishing reel?

Pa. Mountain Streams "Trout & Smallies (Okuma Aveon OKMAE10)

"Susquehanna River" Smallies/Lakes"Largmouth" (Pflueger Supreme 8030MG)

Trolling for Hybrid Stripers (Penn Slammer 360) also use a (Shimano Stradic 3000) run two poles out the back,,, but I would take the Slammer anyday.

Vacation =Saltwater (Penn 705Z, 711Z, & Slammer 360), but last time down "Lewes, De." I bought my wife an (Abu Garcia BCX Baitcast) because she has trouble cranking with open face. I let her pick it out that's why it isn't a Penn or it would of been.

I also have a Penn 722Z. 430SSG.
My Son bought me the Okuma, Stradic, & the Plueger for various Xmas presents, they came with St. Croix(Mojo Bass) & Ugly stiks