New reel recommendations? Besides Shimano!

[dtrs5kprs]

The old Excelers in the smaller sizes had too much grease in them. They would gum up in bad cold. New version is a different animal.

Bought two used Daiwa Lexas over the winter. Put one through some hard Ned use. Pretty good reels, not sure they are $40 better than an Exceler or Legalis.

[Quillback]

Cabelas has the "Verano" on sale in the Bargain Cave for $99.  It's a Daiwa, but I have no idea which Daiwa it is.  Maybe one of you folks that know Daiwa can take a look at it (link provided) and see if you can tell which Daiwa it matches or comes close to.

I have no skin in this, I'm just curious.  if you think it is a lousy reel, please say so.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/bargain-cave/fishing/reels%7C/pc/105591780/c/105740280/sc/105742980/cabela-s-verano-spinning-reel/1749496.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Freels%2F_%2FN-1102770%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_105742980

[nomolites]

I have an assortment as I too tried to flee Shimano for a time but in the end I must be honest and admit that these days I have a hard time selecting a spinning rod from my locker that doesn't have one of my two Stradic ci4s attached.  I am very thankful to have tough choices like this and as luck would have. it, my Ned rod happens to be one of them...

Mike

[Champ188]

3 hours ago, chi0082 said:

You don't have to convince me to spend another $29 bucks. But you'll have to convince my other half. She thinks $29 would be more than enough to buy me a new reel with a rod attached to it and a small tackle box full of goodies wrapped up in one package. I can buy the coffee and you can pick the place and I'll bring her and you can have at it. Trust me it wasn't easy asking for $100. I sat through 2 Twilight movies and 2 dinners with my mother in law for that much money. So you have your work cut out for you.

Horror stories like this make me soooooooo glad that my better half is also my best fishing buddy. We scrimp on household stuff in order to buy better fishing and golfing gear.

[dtrs5kprs]

2 hours ago, Quillback said:

Cabelas has the "Verano" on sale in the Bargain Cave for $99.  It's a Daiwa, but I have no idea which Daiwa it is.  Maybe one of you folks that know Daiwa can take a look at it (link provided) and see if you can tell which Daiwa it matches or comes close to.

I have no skin in this, I'm just curious.  if you think it is a lousy reel, please say so.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/bargain-cave/fishing/reels%7C/pc/105591780/c/105740280/sc/105742980/cabela-s-verano-spinning-reel/1749496.uts?destination=%2Fcatalog%2Fbrowse%2Freels%2F_%2FN-1102770%2FNs-CATEGORY_SEQ_105742980

Pretty similar to a Ballistic. Too high end for my taste in twirly reels.

[chi0082]

3 hours ago, Champ188 said:

Horror stories like this make me soooooooo glad that my better half is also my best fishing buddy. We scrimp on household stuff in order to buy better fishing and golfing gear.

You're one lucky man Champ. Although I'm not wishing she was anything else. I love her to death and she lets me fish whenever I ask and makes me a sammich when I get home so I guess I'll keep her around. She doesn't understand why I need a $100 reel as much as I don't understand why she needs a $100 purse. 

[abkeenan]

I'm not a big spender when it comes to spinning gear either. I had a Quantum Energy from the mid 90's that served me for about 15 years. When it finally kicked the bucket I went to the Pflueger Supreme MGX paired on a Falcon Cara and its a dream setup thus far. I actually just bought a cheapy around the house, pond, small lake, creek, river, etc rod for light baits and some light nedding. Dave recommended I take a look at the Daiwa Revros as a budget reel and also the 7" UL Lews SG spinning rod for like $50. I bought the combo online from Gander Mountain which had a $20 off $100 sale going last week with free ship. For $80 bucks its gonna be hard to beat that combo. I went into Gander Mountain after I had already purchased online just to feel the Revros and it felt solid and has some of the mid to upper end Daiwa features that trickles down to the lower models as they update them over time (air rotor, drilled spools, etc). I felt as though the Revros was on par with the $80-$100 Shimano stuff. I can't speak as to it's performance or durability yet obviously but first impressions is that it is a nice economy reel. Probably better than the Pflueger President at the same price point. I know that I am becoming a bigger and bigger fan of Daiwa gear. I have Lews, Shimano, BPS and other brand reels......I find myself reaching for combos that have the Daiwa stuff attached to it.

[bluebasser86]

I have an Okuma RTX 25 on my drop shot rod and like it really well. I found it online for $75 shipped for free. Very light weight and I like the higher speed retrieve (6.0:1 and 6.6 oz). 

If I was going to get a Pfluegar under $100 I'd go with a President. A buddy of mine has gone through 2 President LE's, both of them had problems with the knobs coming off the handle. They replaced the first one but wanted him to pay for the handle with the second one so he sent it back to get himself an Okuma too. I have several Presidents though and haven't had any issues with them, they're just a little heavier. 

[Unimog]

13 hours ago, Champ188 said:

Horror stories like this make me soooooooo glad that my better half is also my best fishing buddy. We scrimp on household stuff in order to buy better fishing and golfing gear.

Horror stories like that make me glad I'm single lol. 

Have to agree with mr babler though, I've only have shimano and daiwa and between the two shimano is the clear winner.   I had a few daiwa baitcasters get noisy and I boxed 5 of them up and sent to daiwa. They gave me the runaround  for a month, kept telling me they'll ship tomorrow. I've  ended up replacing spool and pinion bearings on most of them now. Never had an issue with my shimanos so that's all I buy anymore. 

[LD Fisher]

Bought the wife 2 of the Cabelas Verano's last year, she was having a lot of problems with line twist with the Shimano's (spirex).  So far, she hasn't had any problems and that means more fishing time for me.