New favorite cheap reel

I have tried a good number of low to moderate priced reels over the years. The Shimano Symetre has been my favorite since 2014. But some of my lower priced reels have not stood the test of time as well. I have a Shimano Sienna that I bought right after the Symetre because a spare spool for the Symetre was more than the entire Sienna reel and the Sienna spool fit the Symetre. It still gets fished, and works pretty well, but it’s tired and does not feel great any longer. So I was shopping for cheap reels a few weeks ago, and I saw that Shimano has upgraded the Sienna. I had a coupon and gift card and the credit card for Scheel’s, so I bought two of the 1000 size for $29.99 each. I have fished them twice now, and they are fantastic! I don’t think there is a better buy in fishing reels anywhere. I have three Ceymar reels, some Chinese reels (Piscifun and KastKing) a couple Pfluegers Presidents and the Symetre, and this reel feels as smooth or smoother than any of them. It has a bit of drag surge, but that can be fixed for like $7 with a carbon drag kit. Otherwise it’s a beauty, probably not better than the Symetre, but nearly as good, and for under $30, it’s a steal.
Scheel’s has a coupon code for $5 off $50 purchase (plus free shipping over $49 everyday) it’s “APRIL21” good through 4/18. I can highly recommend the Shimano Sienna for anyone looking for a low cost nice reel.
Good luck everyone.

I agree, the Sienna is a great reel in that price range. Both my kids have them on their rods. Some great value for money, I even got my neighbor one for his birthday.

Sienna is the best 29 dollar reel on the market.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Sienna is the best 29 dollar reel on the market.

That reminds me, I need to buy a new one. I lost my last one somewhere on 169.

Siennas are on 3/4 of my ice rods and my crappie rods. Haven’t had one fail or freeze up in the 5 years I’ve been using them.

I don’t want to sound like a shill, but the new black & red Sienna is a huge improvement over the old (gray) Sienna models, no comparison. It feels solid, smooth and tight, but remains lightweight and balances nicely on a 7 foot panfish rod. Zero slop in the anti-reverse. Feels better than a $30 reel should for sure. Yeah, okay so I sound exactly like a shill. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been this impressed with a piece of equipment at the low end of the scale.

I’ve been running almost solely siennas for the past 4 years. Ice and open water. That and pflueger presidents have been my go to reels. The drag is great, reels super smooth, I’ve only had an issue with 1 on a panfish rod that got used a lot and I think I ended up wearing/breaking a tooth off of one of the gears. Which let it back reel 1/8 of a turn once and a while. Still fully functional. I still have it as a backup. I’ve owned expensive reels and can’t notice enough of a difference to warrant paying 3x as much for a reel that feels/performs only a fraction better.

In gonna have to check out these new ones! If I can find them, I’ll definitely grab one or three and report back lol

Ordered some carbon drag kits for my sienna’s. Seems the Pfleguer purist already has a sealed carbon fiber drag. I’m going to check on a few of my other reels this evening to see if the Ceymar baitfeeder and a quantum I have came with the carbon drag or if I can order for those. Good idea for a low cost upgrade.

I’ve been using 2 sienna’s for a few years now and love them. I can add here for everyone’s reference, Shimano has excellent customer service. I was lubing and cleaning a Sienna once and lost the drag nut- no idea where it ran off to but it was gone. Shimano sent me a new one no questions asked.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Sienna is the best 29 dollar reel on the market.

Although I agree, I’d appreciate it if people kept this secret to themselves. Those suckers are hard to find on shelves at times. They’re my go-to for my ice rods. The drag is reliable and they perform well in the cold. I’ve yet to see a situation where I think “I wish I had a more expensive reel on here.”

The Piscifun Flame 2000 is very smooth and selling for $23.99 on Amazon now. I have two for ice fishing and they handled mid 20’s walleyes and a 32″ pike without issue on a trip to Leech this winter. One trip there was -30 and it worked the same as it did at 20*. It’s made in China. I know that’s a deal breaker for some.

buckybadger wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
Sienna is the best 29 dollar reel on the market.

Although I agree, I’d appreciate it if people kept this secret to themselves. Those suckers are hard to find on shelves at times. They’re my go-to for my ice rods. The drag is reliable and they perform well in the cold. I’ve yet to see a situation where I think “I wish I had a more expensive reel on here.”

Come to my neck of the woods and they are in every small bait shop around. I usually work out a deal 2 for 50 and for 25 bucks each its a steal.
I do have one that sounds a little ugly but last Saturday on the rainy that poor reel fought a 48 inch sturgeon when I was searching for walleyes and after a long battle I think it might need a new drag washer and good oiling

Always been a Shimano guy, but the Daiwa Legalis is pretty nice for $45.