Recommended Fishing Reels?

[Terrierman]

Pflueger President, Daiwa Exceller, and great reel for the money, Lew's Laser Speed Spin. I've personally had good luck with Shimano Sahara's as well but Shimano spinning reels have a reputation for binding when they get wet. That said, neither of mine has had that problem.

[Seth]

Pflueger President. In my opinion it is one of the toughest spinning reels made. I doubt I will ever buy any other spinning reel. I like the 6925 and 6930 size for smallies.

http://www.pfluegerfishing.com/Pflueger%C2%AE-President%C2%AE-Spinning-Reel/1280293,default,pd.html

Have you used braid on the President? I'm looking at getting a new setup for weight less plastics and shakey heads and am trying to decide on a reel. I've heard a lot of people gripe about braid getting stuck between the bail when using braid and that higher end reels usually have better machining to prevent this. I'll be running 15# power pro on it.

I was looking at the Abu Garcia Revo S/SX. They run 2-2.5 times as much as the President but had awesome reviews when used with braid.

[Guest]

deleted.

[Seth]

I use 10lb power pro as main line on two different spinning setups using the presidents and one with a pflueger trion. I have never had any issues.

Thanks. I'll save the money and go with the President then.

[Al Agnew]

Just a thought...

All other things being equal, I much prefer a large diameter spinning reel, one that has a short, wide spool rather than a long, narrow one. It cuts down on some line twist problems, and seems to cast better. I've been using a $70 Bass Pro Shop Pro Qualifier for several years now, and admittedly, I don't put in all that many hours with spinning tackle, much preferring casting tackle for most of my smallmouth fishing, but this reel has held up well and been a pretty darned good one. I had a BPS Johnny Morris Signature reel before that which was given to me, and it was a very nice reel, until I used it enough that I needed to tear into it to clean and lube it, at which time there was no way I could figure out how the heck to get into it, and ended up breaking it trying

[Old plug]

That is a good and often forgotten point AL. I am the same way. I also like a spinning reel that is simple and breaks down and cleans easily. The newer ones could do with a lot less parts. I used to make my own bail springs out of piano wire when I had Mitchell reels. Those were pleasant and dependable reels.

[joeD]

Dear Old Plug:

Get a new plug,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbU4Cb4A4-o

[joeD]

Get a shimano.

Or, Daiwa makes good reels.

I hear Bass Pro Jonny Morris Series are pretty special.

Don't discount Zebco though.

Pflueger appeals to those who think they are in the know.

Of course, All Star cannot be denied. Thank you for your service.

Mitchell? Oh my!

Okuna? How could you NOT?

Shakespeare is on the move.

Quantum you would be remiss to ignore.

Penn might be something to consider.

Abu Garcia just sounds sexy.

Hopefully I've cleared things up old chum.

[RSBreth]

I've never had trouble with any superline on a President - I have several spooled with NanoFil, Fireline, and the the old Stren Superbraid - no issues.
Another couple to through out there - I've been using a 30 size Abu Garcia Orra S on my new 1/8-ounce finesse jig spinning rod since this summer - very nice reel without having to shell out the bucks for a Revo. Maybe I'll buy another this year, it's just super smooth and well made for the price.
Another thing is the wide spool thing Al mentioned - I've used one of the wide spool Pro Qualifiers since they came out and I'd recommend one like that (the new Pflueger Arbor is similar) if you still use mono - less tangling from fewer, but bigger loops - but they handle superlines extremely well, too.

[Quillback]

A couple of years ago the JM spinning reels were given a "Best buy for the money" award by Outdoor Life. I've got a couple of them, they work just fine.