Reel of choice

[TheBassMachine]

By the way things look Shimano will be number one on this forum. It is going to be interesting for second place! Forgot to mention I love my Quantums. The new reels are the best I have found for pitchin and flipin.

[Warpath]

I own nothing but Shimano.  Not only do I think they are great reels, but their customer service is second to none I believe.  I called them recently and they shipped some parts to me 100% free.  I like that in a company, even if the parts only would have cost me $10 to get.

I gave my Abus to my wife !!!!!

There are other great reels.  I just prefer Shimano because they have always treated me right.

Eric

[MotherNature]

For all the guys out there that give their old stuff to the wife... If she fishes with you regularly you should give her the good stuff instead

Mike has always made sure that I had the best stuff that we could afford and when we got the Crucial and Curado combos a few months back I got those too... I think his theroy is that if I have good stuff and it works smoothly 1) He spends less time fixing things for me and 2) I enjoy fishing more so I am willing to do more of it

Besides.. I only fish half of the time so when I am not in the boat I know he is using whatever he needs to catch fish and that includes the new rods

[Fishaholic]

I use mostly Shimano, but, there's some other very good products out there too, depending on what your needs are...I also use Zebco, Shakespeare, Abu-Garcia.

I think I own one Daiwa...and that's only because at the time, it was the smallest reel I could find locally for use with my super ultralite rod and 2 lb. test line.

[Steve_W]

As far as the reel's go for bass it's Shimano all the way, but if I want power (cat fishing or using a jig in heavy cover give me a Ambasadeur)
as far as what My wife uses,that is what ever she wants, When I get lucky enough to have her in my boat with me I want her to catch fish. It's no longer about me catching fish but about spending time with my wife on the water, a sun rise or sun set dancing off of my wife's hair on the lake just makes me want to ask her to be my wife all over again

[Chris]

No doubt...... Shimano fits the bill for me . Curado , Calais and my favorite is the magnesium Chronarch . I havent had to worry about their customer service because Ive never had a problem with them. I do have one Pflueger,one Johnny Morris and a quantum and that was only because I wanted to try them out.

[Chris]

As far as the reel's go for bass it's Shimano all the way, but if I want power (cat fishing or using a jig in heavy cover give me a Ambasadeur)
as far as what My wife uses,that is what ever she wants, When I get lucky enough to have her in my boat with me I want her to catch fish. It's no longer about me catching fish but about spending time with my wife on the water, a sun rise or sun set dancing off of my wife's hair on the lake just makes me want to ask her to be my wife all over again

You go ,Tim!

[Fishaholic]

I remember when we went up to Northern Ontario to fish we only took my good equipment, and whenever Lura had a problem, I simply took the rod from her, and gave her the one I was using so she could continue to fish, while I worked on her problem...after all, she only gets to go once in awhile and I get to go all the time!

My in-laws ridiculed me for doing it, but I just wanted to see her have a good time...and whether or not they were going to make fun at me for the next 6 days, I continued to do it this way...

Untangling a bird's nest takes patience when it's on a spinning reel...and that's one thing I got plenty of when it comes to fishing.

[blake711]

I am a shimano man as of this year.. Used to be Team Diawa man I also have a quantum USA setup from a few years back and all my ultralight stuff is still quantum just becuase I haven't had crappie season come up since I switched to shimano.. I imagine come Christmas it will all be shimano.. I looked at a Qauntum last night at academy and it was a nice real but not near as free as a Shimano Superfree..  Plus I can't wait to get a New Curado D..

[kw4570gov]

I have two Shimanos and a Diawa but most of my reels are Abu Garcia. Day in day out, dollar for dollar I think they are the best (IMHO).

Kent

[Tritonrob]

I'm sure Shimano will take number one, but I have been using strickly Quantums for the last 3 years.  This was even before I was on their pro staff.  They ahve come a long way and I believ will give Shimano a run in the next 3-5 years. Also beofre going to all Quantum I had some Bass Pro reels.  They were n't have  bad either.

[Fishaholic]

I used to be all Abu-Garcia ...well, until the most disasterous trip of my life...had 3 spinning reels and 1 baitcaster on a long awaited trip...first day two of the 3 spinning reels ended up with broken bail springs, 2nd day the baitcaster had something unknown go wrong internally which I simply couldn't figure out, and 3rd day, hard to believe, 3rd broken bail spring...drove to 10 or 11 different towns looking for parts but my trip was a total bust.

Shimano has not let me down really...even though a reel finally gave out on me this year, it was over 20 years old!

The Garcia's that gave me fits on my trip were 2 years old.

Shimano 1 - Abu-Garcia 0

[bass1cpr]

     Bait Casters I'm with Shimano my last abu garcia finally bit the dust SM 3000C. It may be rebuildable I'll see. IT's a comfortable reel. I still have two Diawa spinning reels I like their push button folding handles, when they give up the ghost I'll replace them with Shimano's with folding handles.

[OHbassaholic]

This poll is showing exactly what I figured it would.  Shimanos sell when all others smell.  Just kidding!  (sorta)

[SUPERTUNER!]

Most folks have strong emotional ties to their preference of reel manufacturers and once their opinion is formed it's as hard to change a persons mind about this subject as it would be to get them to change their religion! ABU fans are the absolute worst about this! I get to see fishing reels from a little different perspective as a reel repair technician, I get to see them years down the road after they have seen a few miles of casting, this is where the "Men get separated from the Boys"! To give credit where credit is due the Abu Garcia family of baitcasting reels cannot but be praised for their track record or durability, they have been around for what seems forever and their reels hold up very well over time, they are generally easy to service and parts support for them is available, their downside is that they have not re-engineered their reels to keep up with the times ( their heavy spools backlash easily because of poor brake design) and they feel "loose" and "coarse" compare to Daiwa and Shimano, although recent improvements have been made especially with magnetic control in their reels.
      Daiwa entered the ring with them in the 1980's, and Shimano in 1993 with the introduction of the impregnable Curado 200B and the VBS braking system. Since the mid 90's these two Japanese firms have made huge strides forward and have handily surpassed the ABU's in terms of engineering and component quality! Daiwa kind of dropped the ball and let Shimano overtake them in the early 90's in terms of quality and price but they (Daiwa) are definitely the most innovative of the "Big Three", who else has designed a left hand retrieve baitcaster that is ergonomically correct to left hand retrievers as they have done! Their reels are simply brilliant in design and their new "SUPER SPEED SHAFT" is the best idea that's come along in the baitcasting reel world since ABU made their first 5000 series reel! Know doubt other manufacturers would be using this design but Daiwa has the PAT. And that leaves everybody out for now! The downside to DAIWA is that they didn't pursue Centrifugal braking! Don't get me wrong their magnetic braking system is great but the magnets always have some effect on the spool! Thus they limit the Daiwa's ability to compete with the Shimano's in distance casting. Plus their reels are not owner serviceable friendly, Daiwa reels have a LOT of parts in them and this makes them difficult to service and reassemble for the novice.
     This then brings us to Shimano. The company made a decision in the early 90's to either get all the way into fishing reels or to get out of the business, and get in they did! The Calcutta and Curado took the fishing reel world by storm because they made every body else's reels look bad, Period! I'll never forget when I first saw that Calcutta 200 in my local fishing tackle dealers showroom, The $130+ sticker price was a shock, I laughed and thought they had gone crazy, "who in the world is gonna pay that much for a stupid fishing reel" I said! Then I gave it a test cast! Bad Idea! My wallet has never recovered! Calcutta's are definitely worth the money even though the average Abu fan would regard this comment with disdain! The company's Curado is simply an unbeatable value! 4 ball bearings and a roller bearing make the reel indestructible and reliable, the VBS system eliminates backlashes if properly maintained and adjusted, you can change spools in a snap and what's more they sport a simple internal design which makes them easy to service and maintain. The only freshwater baitcasting reel that can out distance them in casting in their big brother the Calcutta "please read my "SUPER TUNING BAITCASTING REELS" for details on this fact. I could go on and on but the bottom line is this, all the bargain "off brand reels" (includes Pfluegers, Bass Pro shops, Quantum's, etc) you can get are not worth the money, sure they cast good and feel good and you can boast to your buddy that you only spent $70 dollars on a reel while he spent $150, until three years down the road that no name reel breaks, or its inferior components and bearings begin to fail and now you have a $70.00 piece of junk! I have seen this time and time again. In my experienced opinion if you aren't buying and ABU, DAIWA or SHIMANO reel you just wasted your money! Its just gonna take a few years for you to realize it! If you are pressed for money go to Ebay and buy a reel made by one of the BIG THREE manufacturers there, you'll save a lot of money and get a quality reel that will stand the test of time!

[blake711]

Hey supertuner that was an excellent post and thanks for your first hand knowledge I have read the info on your site about supertuning and its great.  One question if you don't mind.   Do you know who makes the private lable stuff like BPS and Cabelas?  are they a name brand manufacture making the reals for them to rebadge or are they just made by the cheapest chinese outfit.   The reason I ask is do you know of any good reals that are a name brand thats rebaged..

[cummins2u]

i do not have a preferred type of reel  as yet I'm new to fishing and the reel i have make me stretch my fingers too far when casting.  the reel is too far from the rod and i end up holding the rod too far up.  any suggestions?

[Lipripper]

eye've only got one bait caster and that's because eye used it when eye use to go to Canada for Walleye fishing and it's a Abu Garcia but now that eye'm learning to BASS fish eye guess eye'm going to have to get a new one and learn how to use it 

[SUPERTUNER!]

Hi Blake,

Thanks for your kind comments on Super Tuning! To answer your Question If we define a major manufacturer as one of the big three (Shimano, Daiwa, and ABU Garcia) we can safely state that there is NO relabeling going on here. (ABU has manufactured reels for companies like bass pro but there name still appears on the reel) These three companies aren't available for hire in that way as far as I know. If you look at the industry closely you will see that Asian importer Johnny Morris of Bass Pro Shops( father of the cheap reel deal) has been insturmental in causing many of the smaller and older us manufacturers of reels to be moved to manufacturing bases in Asian countries, for instance Pflueger, is used to make many of their reels thus why there is a resemblance in the Pflueger and B.P. Brand reels, I am certain that Pinnacle does and or did some manufacturing for B.P. but they could be owned by B.P. also as far as I know... I would definitely stay away from any reels manufactured by anyone other that the Three Big Guys, you never know what you are getting, some off brand reels or other manufacturers like Zebco Quantum's are actually designed pretty well and cast well also, but in order to compete with the big guys they use cheap ball bearings and sub standard metals in their gears the result of which is component failure after a few years and once that happens just try to get a part or service done too them! You'll know for sure you didn't save any money then!

Doug Hannon helped me the most when I watched his fishing for big bass video years ago! He emphasized buying good quality equipment and having less of it! I remember having a bunch of bass pro reels and rods, some Quantums and some cheap rods that "felt" good, but after a few years they were all failing, the reels especially and when I tried to sell them so I could upgrade I got pennies on the dollar for what I paid for them. Now I buy Shimano and Daiwa reels and loomis rods, I have a lot less equipment but its all top notch stuff, and If I get bored with it I can sell it and get 60 - 90 % of my investment back, try that with an off brand, you might get $20 bucks for one of their used reels where as a Curado thats in need of rebuiding will still fetch $50.00 and a good used one will get $70-90 dollars on ebay!

I guess Im in preaching mode now and this is my message "A POOR MAN CAN ONLY AFFORD THE BEST!"! In the past I like many other fisherman didn't have a lot loose cash laying around, so I would reason that buying the latest Bass Pro special was the way too go! pretty soon I'd have five or six of these cheap deal rigs laying around that would be in a non working state. Buy the time I added it all up I spent more for all these "cheap" rods and reels than I would have If I had invested in a couple Loomis GL3's and some Curado's to match them! Plus these rigs would still be working and a joy too use!

Thats where I am at today and I am all the happier for it! Forget the Junk!, quit trying to save $20 - $40 dollars and buy the good stuff, its not a Prestige thing! Its about Quality! "YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!" that statement could not ring more true than where the world of fishing reels is concerned! Hope This helps

GOD BLESS YOU ALL!
JEFF NIELSEN

[Pferox]

I picked Abus, cause thats the only baitcasters I have own.
My favorite reels are Mitchells and Penns, and they didn't even make the list.

[bass1cpr]

          Way to go Jeff.     

[BIG PAPA]

I love my Curados without a doubt my favorite, I have one chronarch and love it.
But I also want to say I just bought 2 quantam E600PT reels and used them all day today, man are they sweet reels. much smoother than even the curados. Now I will not quit using Curados just because I like the Quantams, in fact I will probably never stop using Curados just because they are so trouble free and really do everything I want a reel to do. And I do not know how well the new Quantams will hold up. I am very hard on all of my equipment.
papa

[OHbassaholic]

SUPERTUNER!, The last I heard was that K2 is the owner of Pflueger along with Shakespeare and most recently All Star rods. 

I agree with you that the BPS brand reels remind me of Pflueger and Pinnacle.  I have been wondering about this issue myself but haven't been able to get anything but that BPS is manufacturing all their own reels.  This info comes from the inside of BPS but not high up.

[blake711]

Lots of good info Supertuner.. I appricate it.. I always like to know whats going on with private lable stuff..  I have a second question if I may.  I noticed that you said its hard to get parts for some of these brands.. I know I have some old quantums that are exactly like you talked about I spent 70 bucks on them at the time instead of steping up to a diawa at the time for 130 like my brother did.. I thought my brother was insane..  plus at that time I was earning about 30% of what I do now.   Well his diawas are still working were as those quantums all whurrr on each cast and their magnetic drags are disengrating on them..  I Was thinking about fixing them up to give to a youngster but its almost not with the time to have them cleaned and repaird.. as I could just buy them a new  entry level shimano and let them toss it when its broke.  plus it wont weigh a pound each..  Anyway rant over can you comment on getting parts and repairing reels like the BPS ones..  I have never seen parts avaliable for them.. So do you toss them when they break?  I know right now I can go to Academy sports locally and they have a peg board with Abu and Curdao parts on it..  I know reel repair shops can also order stuff for the big 3 but what about the smaller stuff like Pflueger and Pinaccle.. I had a fellow try to sell me a pinacle last night when I was looking at the qauntum papa was speaking about.. I said no thanks.. It did spin free for a long time but I just didn't want to chance it.. I know my curado is like the M22 Muncie Rock Crusher of the reel world..

[SUPERTUNER!]

Blake

you can get parts support for pflueger by clinking on this link

http://www.pfluegerfishing.com/how/gen-parts.html

and parts support for pinnacle here:

http://www.silstar.com/service/warranty.html

As to the current owner ship of Plfuegerand Shakespeare you can look at their website and find nothing about the present parent companies! you will see that they are Asian made (not in japan) also K2 may be present owner but I believe with a little digging you'll find MR. Morris has got his fingers in these companies, I know for sure he did a few years back but since NORTH ALABAMA OUTDOORS shut down a couple years ago (Thanks to Bass pro and Wal-mart, they have put a lot of MOM and POP operations out of business the last four years) I have lost touch with all the inner working of the fishing industry! Bass pro has made a Killing profit wise by selling us all cheap labor made rods and reels from poor asian countries over the last decade. This has hurt smaller fishing tackle manufacturers and they have been absorbed by bigger conglomerates using their old established American brand names to make it look like we are buying originally unique product, when in fact all are money is going into a bigger company that owns them all (kind of like how PRADCO bought up all the lure makers years ago!) . When we buy this cheap Asia made gear they actually make more money profit wise from those sales than the Japaneses or American tackle companies do (high cost of living in these countries)! Then they use these profits to buy out smaller companies that aren't doing as well to further their share of the huge billion dollar+ a year fishing industry.

WE are getting inferior products and enabling them with our money to make sure it stays that way! We all should really consider what we are doing with our fishing dollars, supporting quality companies like. Loomis, Allstar, Lamiglas, St.Croix, Daiwa, Abu garcia, Penn (a great American large game reel maker) etc,etc. not only insures Quality fishing gear for us all but takes our money and puts it in the hands of people who have a genuine commitment to customer support and manufacturing Quality gear instead of those who just want our money and are willing to make junk to get it! Case in point your experience with the $70.00 Quantum reel and your brother's Daiwa. I'm Preaching again ...sorry!

Anyway for any off brand reel that you need parts for search the net and you Will find something that will help, I know that bass pro was associated with metropolitan rod a reel years ago they might able to help with some of the off brands.

for the best parts support and authorized service for many reel brands go to
www.southwesternparts.com  they have good prices and great service!

Hope this helps!
Jeff