Advice on good spinning reel

[Bills25]

Looking for some suggestions on a good spinning reel at a decent price range for jigging for walleye.  I'm usually using heavy jigs in the 1 to 2 ounce variety, using heavy sweeping motions on the body of water I fish.  I've blown out a few rods drag system due to this aggressive style of fishing. I'm almost thinking of a saltwater style spinning rod, I'm already using saltwater jigs large gotcha lures.  If you would have told me this would be the hottest lure on the lake I fish 5 years ago I would have laughed, but it's the hottest bait I've ever used for eyes in this lake I fish after a guy telling me about I've never went back.  I don't know if it's just the lake I fish or what but if any of you guys are having a tough time catching walleye on a lake that you know there's a good population try jigging gotcha plugs it's honestly brought my catch rate up almost 80% I'd say it's almost like magic!!!!

[boondox]

For sure check these out..before you buy any thing

http://www.alanhawk.com/reviews/lists.html



http://www.alanhawk.com/reviews/reviews.html

How about any thing like okuma makaira or shimano sargosa or shimano Stella?  .. depending on what you want to spend??

[boondox]

If looking to save money over the shimano  sargosa  look into fin-nor  lethal lt100 the review put it 5 over all in bugget friday reels.. in like a 60 size reel.. by the way I just bought 6 fin nors from tAckle direct.com  fin nor megalite reels mlc60  size to be exact.. for $30 a reel.. the MLS60 share similar good points that alan hawk  brings up along with a few that got over looked to make the reel cheaper for the general public..  by the way that sale at tackle direct ended midnight last night and there out of stock of all the mls60s that are on sale.. other point is the reel I bought was bogo threw a private sale and you have to click threw email addy they sent... for $30each. reel  does not seem like I could go wrong?? For a $30 reel with carbon fiber drags and some very close similarities to the fin nor lt100  but any how these reels in above reviews share similar asspects with other reels look for those aspects and get the best bank for you buck

[Bills25]

Thanks bro that was very helpful, I appreciate the info!!!

[Mac Attack]

https://www.myfishfinder.com/fishing_forum/index.php?topic=74447.msg786686#msg786686

[boondox]

Hay mac for some reason the direct link does not work I had to copy paste the link to get it to work ..

 was that the recent post about pfluger being good reels ??  If it was here is some stuff to think of that company is owned by "pure fishing" wich own neumorus other brand names including penn reels..  we all know penn reels went into the toilet after they aquired penn usa .. just remember that point cause pfluger is different then penn is my point here totaly different company but the over seeing parent comany maybe bad at design? Not sure yet??   

the current pfluger is good but how good are they?? And for how long??  same with fin nor they were aquired by zebco wich also owns quantum as in the quantum  smoke reels..  wich some were complete junk.. not saying that fin nor is the best.. etc etc.. but  if he reads that site alan hawk blog..  well enough he can find reels that will out last common shimano reels like the spirex sedona and etc..

 cause some of shimano lower end reels are total junk..  I am noticing it too!!  some of those are high end fresh water reels like the sedona  are junk to.. were the shimano Sahara wich is not total junk but it rates lower then a lot of other reels .. it is all in the design and Alan hawks blog he does a tear down of reels and has pictures of this..  what I was looking at was the reel I bought had a lot of the finer or better options  on it that the lethal "the better reel" had but just rember it's not the lethal reel  so some of the plus that really stood out were not on the reel I bought..


  cause I did not want to spend $100 each reel buying 6 reels x100 is rediculous to pay..  if two or three gets stole from me.or lost broken etc... that's why I was able to spot a decent reel cause of the options and tear downs Alan hawk did..  it has options that are on the lethal reels that are good   but some of them not being there..

makes it a less valuable reel.. and for good reasons if I am willin to buy one reel at $100 versus 4 reels for $120 that's a big difference in price..  when you shop around and compare. Each and a lot of the pluses for the reel I found were on the more expensive reels ..

just remember there are a few better reels out there then pfluger..   but pfluger is better then a lot of low end shimanos and other brands.. . next year things may change for better or worst when new models come out!!  so every year it changes the ball game and how you do your reasearch before  you buy..

 I have had good luck with My pfluger Trion on pan fish..  compared to Abu cranial and diawa regal reels in pan fish size.. like I say he looking for bigger reel then pan fish size.. like a salt reel for jigging walleye??  like a 4000 to 6000 size reel..  wich to compare one size to another  from one brand or series like a 4,000 size  to a 10,000 is wrong!! 


cause some features are found in the bigger 10,000 size reel that not in the 4000.. of that same brand and size..  and a lot better reason to look at internails etc fond a lot of this from alan hawk which lowaccord66 suggested reading.. just a heads up ..

[rivereddy]

I've used the same Cardinal 3 made by Abu in Sweden since 1968.  Changed the bail springs a couple of times during the last
50 years and most of the paint is worn off the frame, but it is my go to reel for panfish and trout.  I has taken a pretty fair number of mongo smallies and zilloid sized northerns as well...

Fish on,

rivereddy

[canoeist]

Shimano Sahara is a decent reel.

What I highly suggest though is that you swap out any cheap felt washers with Carbontex washers, check it up out online, use Cal’s Reel Grease and make sure the whole thing is lightly greased. Check out YouTube and eBay to make it happen. You will not burn out drags this way and this will make any reel cheap or expensive much better in the drag department.

[Mac Attack]

Hay mac for some reason the direct link does not work I had to copy paste the link to get it to work ..

 

Fixed.
I used the wrong button.
Thanks Boon.

Who cares if Fleugers "get" bad.
The guy needs a reel "now".

Of course we all don't want to see any product go negative.
But you get my point.

[Mac Attack]

One suggestion that was made in the other thread (and maybe here) that really needs repeating; is to go try reels side by side and judge yourself.
Cabelas and Bass Pro have huge displays that allow you to do this.

Here's what I have done.
Take your rod and install the reel(s) you are looking at on YOUR rod.
See how it feels.
Balance, weight, etc.

When we were looking for reels for the 2 hand built rods Jeff is making me, we grabbed a couple of high end Loomis rods off the rack and started swapping reels on them.
Sales guy said it was ok.
I found out that the original sizes that I absolutely knew I wanted, were wrong.
I ended up selecting different sizes for these 2 rods.
Very worthwhile trip!!

Fishing equipment is like steakhouses.
Guy and his wife absolutely love a certain steak house.
Highly recommend it to you and your GF.
You go there and eat a couple of shoes.
And the other couple cannot stand where you eat steak.

Personal preference!!!!
It's what makes living on this rock interesting.