Most popular spinning reels

I’ve talked to a bunch of people, made a post on another site, looked at them in the store and here’s the answer:

Pfleuger and Shimano are far and away the most popular. Daiwa would be third. The pfleuger president has a very good following and reputation for durability. That being said most reels these days are pretty darn good. The two options I see from most people are 1. buy nice reels and maintain them
2. buy a value reel and use it until it breaks, then toss it in the trash.

Final note, buy a size that will balance well with the intended pole. If lots of drag pulling will occur over the life of the reel a larger size will be better. Larger drag washers=more surface area=smoother and longer lasting drag system. Maintenance obviously helps on this issue as well. Larger diameter and length of spool also aids in casting and line management.

Happy fishing!

I’ve purchased a couple Piscifun reels for ice fishing this year and have been very impressed with them. Lots of features and good quality for the price point. I will see how the durability holds up after a few seasons but I see no reason why they won’t hold up right now.

I’ve got a pair of mitchell 308’s on my laketrout rods, so far they are very nice, smooth drag.

Presidents are nice, not sure why I don’t have more. They get a lil grindy after some use, when pitching light jigs it gets annoying. My purists fell apart after couple years. Like the way pfluegers balance my rods tho.

2 sedonas crapped on me after couple years, both were on nice fish which really urinates me off. Sahara is still going but doesn’t see much use. I don’t like having to take apart a reel to work properly, these things would be jammed with grease, impossible to operate in cold weather. Shimanos seem to be more top heavy, not the greatest fit for my rods.

Okumas been great so far. Time will tell.

All these reels have been last 6-7 yrs, not many years ago. Unfair to compare anything more than 10yrs old to today.

I also have most recently purchased Okumas and have been pleased. I still use the Mitchell 300 acquired in 1977. Changed the drag washers and lube it, still is a good reel. Probably use it more out of nostalgia than anything.

Brad Dimond wrote:

I also have most recently purchased Okumas and have been pleased. I still use the Mitchell 300 acquired in 1977. Changed the drag washers and lube it, still is a good reel. Probably use it more out of nostalgia than anything.

How many Bail springs have you broken in that reel? I use to carry spare bail springs for the old Mitchell 300 and 308’s in my pocket every time I fished with one. I could not tell you how many I replaced over the many years I used those reels. They were the gold standard in spinning reels in the late 70’s thru the 80’s

I fell in love with the 408 Mitchells back in the late 60’s. In fact I have two of them still, in their original boxes, un-used and never will be.

I’ve had good luck with Presidents, Daiwa Revros, and 13 Fishing Creed something. I think all 3 are around $50 range. I do want to add a Stradic this summer for my main walleye rod.

I’m pretty sure Shakespeare and Zebco probably sold more than reels. LOL. That’s how I started.

One other reel model I’ve heard mentioned in several sources is the Daiwa BG. It’s supposed to be designed as a heavy duty reel, has a sealed drag etc. List price is $110 but can easily be found online for less than $90

I admittedly don’t end up fishing as much as most on this site, but I think the mid-range Daiwa spinning reels are the nicest feeling reels out of the big brands. Can’t speak on durability or anything, but they feel right to me.

For ice fishing I really like Tica Cetus reels.

I’m in the Shimano and Pflueger crowd. I used to run all Shimanos but I feel Pflueger has the better market in the smaller reels, which I prefer for ice fishing.

Hard to beat a Shimano Stradic for open water and a Pflueger President for ice fishing.

Pflueger Presidents here. Use to be Shimano

crawdaddy wrote:

One other reel model I’ve heard mentioned in several sources is the Daiwa BG. It’s supposed to be designed as a heavy duty reel, has a sealed drag etc. List price is $110 but can easily be found online for less than $90

I started using these a couple years ago. I think I have 4 now. Great reels for the money and you can usually get them for about 80 bucks.

Penn Battle 2 reels are also very good in the same price range. Both are my go to.

I have a pflueger patriarch on one of my jigging rods. Bought it used and it’s great but I can’t see how they fetch $300 new.

A few years ago I switched to pfluegers entirely, partially thanks to many great reviews on this site. I’ve got a few President XTs on my main rods and a few presidents as back ups. For ice rods I usually run cheaper equipment and have all trions. I tend to not treat my equipment too great, but they’ve all held up well. Very impressed.

For walleye rods spinning reels I run all stradic’s. I have never had an issue with one. My pan fish rods I run Sedona’s and they also double on my ice rods. They have been flawless too, but those don’t get nearly the use that the stradic’s get.

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lindyrig79 wrote:

I’m in the Shimano and Pflueger crowd. I used to run all Shimanos but I feel Pflueger has the better market in the smaller reels, which I prefer for ice fishing.

Hard to beat a Shimano Stradic for open water and a Pflueger President for ice fishing.

X2

I’m in the process of waiting from Shimano on 3 of the Sienna’s just bought new they all had a rough spot when reeling not impressed. As someone mentioned the Presidents get very grindy after a year roughly. I have had good luck with the 13 reels that came with my white out rods never had an issue yet wish I could buy them separate without the long stem. Had a Ceymar 10 Sent it back 2 times threw it away the third. Believe it or not the Abu black max 20 has been great for me the drag is so so but it just keeps on ticking go figure a cheapie reel at that. I don’t believe I will by anymore Shimanos It’s 3 weeks already and still not back. Abu had one back in 5 days.

snowflake wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Ice Cap wrote:</div>
I’ve purchased a couple Piscifun reels for ice fishing this year and have been very impressed with them. Lots of features and good quality for the price point. I will see how the durability holds up after a few seasons but I see no reason why they won’t hold up right now.

Come one meow! Pacificfun? He is going to say KastKing next. But it’s your biz if you want a turd on your rod. Do the “lots of features” include a big poopy in the box and an hammer so you can smash the reel after an hour and then hit yourself in the nutz for buying it?

I have 8 stradic FI series that have been absolute workhorses. These are 10 yo, right before the Ci4 stuff came out.

I think if I got new stuff right now, I’d probably get some Abu Garcia revos.

I’ve been using Okuma’s for about 10 years now. IMHO, they are probably the best reel for the money.