What is a good dependable spinning reel

[Guest]

Last year, my brand new sahara lasted exactly 15 minutes before it locked up. Fortunately, I kept the box & receipt so cabelas was kind enough to take it back.

I bought a used Stradic FJ from a fellow OAF member (don't remember his name) I've had zero problems with that reel.

However, my 2011 Stradic Fi locked up temporarily last week. It's the first time those reels have ever given me a problem. Maybe there was a piece of grit that caused it, but it cost me 4hrs of fishing time. Its working fine now, but I have zero tolerance for that kinda crap.

I went out a bought an Abu Garcia Revo S30 last week to replace the Stradic.

The binding issue is like a herniated disk, once it goes out then it can flare up anytime. I didn't pay $200 for a reel to lock up. Shimano should've fixed that problem & I should've learned my lesson. Either way, I will never buy any of their spinning reels.

[Guest]

I put the Abu Garcia Revo S30 to the test last weekend. Its far & away the best spinning reel I've used over $100. It's not $200 reel, but they've got a winner in the RevoS. I will buy a couple more this fall if they go on sale.

[Smalliebigs]

If it is a boat reel only I like Shimano Stradic CI4 http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Shimano_Stradic_CI4_Spinning_Reels/descpage-SSCI.html but, I have not bought one in 5 years or so as I have 5 that have all worked flawlessly......they may have changed in the last couple of years??? this is not a reel to paddle or wade with for sure......IT WIL BIND EVENTUALLY in that application.

When I am paddling or wadding and not in my boat I have fallen in love with Quantum Smoke PTsA, http://www.quantumfishing.com/products/3303/Smoke-PTsA-Inshore.aspx yeah it's a salt water reel but, it is fully sealed and I have never had one bind thus far and I have treated them like total dogshit, trust me.

I'm starting to agree with Al Agnew though as I am seeing less and less reasons to be using a spinning reel......especially if I am fishing from a boat....spinning outfits are a little more manageable from a kayak or canoe but, I am fading away from my spinning gear.

[Al Agnew]

Find ya one of these...

IMG_20150623_201613.jpg

This one took 42 years of river punishment and still looks and operates as good as new.

The original Zebco Cardinals were even better than those old Garcias. The first really smooth as silk reel and practically indestructable. Only problem with all those old reels is that they didn't have skirted spools, so you'd get the line wrapped around the shaft behind the spool more often. I fished a LOT with spinning reels back in those days. For one thing, the casting reels (and rods) weren't as good as they are now, and it wasn't as easy to cast the light stuff with them, so spinning reels were necessary for more applications. I ended up cutting the bail off my spinning reels around 1970, leaving only the line roller itself and half inch or so of the bail wire, locked it down, and used them bail-less. With a few days of practice it became about as simple as you'd ever want. To cast, you picked up the line on your index finger as usual. Then you backed off on the reel handle very slightly (you kept the anti-reverse off), and the bail roller came away from the line and you were ready to cast. At the end of the cast, you just picked up the line again with your index finger and started to reel; the bail roller would come around and take the line. It completely eliminated those loose loops of line you get by closing the bail on loose line when there's a little bit of line twist, that come off in a birds nest on the next cast, and it was quicker and more efficient by far than opening and closing the bail by hand. The Garcia 300s didn't work well doing that, though, because the bail turned in the opposite direction than on other spinning reels, so as you picked up the line on your index finger and started to reel, the bail roller would come toward the tip of your index finger and try to push the line further up your finger instead of taking it smoothly off your finger. But the Cardinals worked beautifully, and they fit my hand so well that there was no strain whatsoever in picking up the line under all conditions.

I've tried cutting the bail off some of my "modern" reels. Disaster. It often totally imbalances the reel and the thing flops like a beached whale when you're reeling. The reels don't fit my hand well enough and I have to use my other hand to catch the line and move it onto my finger about half the time. I still try it before replacing a reel that I've grown tired or replacing bail springs, but so far nothing has worked nearly as well as those old Cardinals, and the first reel I ever did it to, a Garcia 314.

Edited to add: I just checked my go-to ultralight spinning rig for crappie fishing, which I haven't used at all this year so far, because I knew the reel had the bail cut off. It's an Abu-garcia Cardinal C3. I took it out to the pond to see if I was still able to handle it bail-less. Yep. Even caught a 12 inch bass and a 10 inch bluegill while playing with it for a bit. Once in a while I have to push the line onto my finger with my other hand at the end of the cast, but mostly if I pick up the line on my finger just as the lure hits the water, the line is tight enough at that point to be easy to pick up; it's only when I let some slack into the line after the lure hits that I have trouble picking the line up with my index finger. I don't know how many years I've had that reel, but it's been bail-less since a year or so after I bought it, the first time the bail spring got weak.

[joeD]

So what reel did you buy C&R?

Unless, of course, we have completely forgotten C&R, I think his question was beaten into submission and his request got lost in our zeal to "help."

[C&R]

Wow, wow,,,,,,,,,,,what great responses to my shimano problem. I learned "WAY TOO MUCH'' about spinning reels. However, thanks to all who commented. I recently settled in on a Cabalas's Prodigy ($70- on sale) and thanks to a fellow member who alerted me to a sale tackle warehouse had over the 4th, I bought a Pfleugar President 6930 for $50, which included shipping and no tax. Felt those two prices were good.

Wanted to try the Quantum Energy. Too much $$$ for me...... but hope to catch it one day on a good sale. Love the Prodigy and President. However, it looks like it will be another week before I can get back on the creeks due to what "Mother Nature" just unloaded on us here in S.W. Mo.

After reading about some members using bait casters for light soft plastics, lures, etc,,, because of spinning reels not holding up,,,,,,,, I would love any suggestions on a good bait casting set up that can throw the "light stuff" for smallies. Yahoo,,,,,,,,thanks to all

[Al Agnew]

There are a number of good casting reels that will handle the light stuff, but the real key is the rod. You need a rod that is light enough in power to load with a 1/8th ounce lure, and such rods are actually pretty rare. Look in any tackle catalog and you'll see a plethora of medium heavy and medium rods, and almost zero that are medium light. So you have to test out the mediums and try to find one that has enough give in the tip that it will load well. And if you're wanting to fish soft plastics, you still need a rod with some backbone to set the hook through the plastic. So finding a good rod for fishing such lures isn't easy. You can get around it partially by using braided line, however, IF you can find a rod light enough to load.

My go-to reel for fishing the really light stuff is an old Shimano Scorpion, a reel that was for the most part only sold to the Japanese market, but was available and probably still is on Ebay. However, I have a couple of the old green Shimano Curado 100s that also will handle light lures very well, and a newer Citica that is pretty good, too. Probably any of the smaller, lighter baitcasting reels that are in the $100-150 range will do the job if you have the right rod.

[joeD]

Don't throw "light stuff." And don't dismiss spinning reels.

And don't

don't

don't

don't

don't

listen to me for f**** sake.

[Quillback]

Re-introduction of the Daiwa Fuego:

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/ICAST15.html?ccode=DAIWA15D