Originally Posted by ToolMan184
Good point. Wish more people would think like you. We should try to buy American made products if they are priced good and made well.
Every post in here is an opinion about what each one likes. But only a few guys in this thread actually talked specifics.
I have all the reels that I need for now and still have over 40 rods so I'm not in the market for a fishing reel. Beside the current generation of reels are way overpriced IMHO.
If I were in the market for a new reel I would be hard pressed to choose one.
How do you judge a reel? I mean there are many things that make one reel different from another.
1) Weight
2) # of ball bearings
3) Drag type
4) Anti backlash devices Magnatice or Centrifigal Brakes etc
5) Type of metal it's made from.
6) Smoothness of the reel
7) Manufacture's reputation and advertizing
8) Size of the reel and how it fits your hand
9) Ease of maintenance
10) Ability to repair if necessary
11) and Price of the Reel.
I'm sure there are other factors but that's enough for now to help with making a decision on buying a new reel.
Another factor is what type of fishing will the reel be used for.
1) Worm
2) Jigs
3) Crank Baits. Then add retrieve ratio to the list above
4) trolling Then add a line counter to the list above
5) Muskie or LM Bass
6) Saltwater or Freshwater
I'm guessing that most all of you guys are fishing for Largemouth Black Bass or some sort of bass.
I'm going to pull out my BPS catalog and check out some of the reels you all mentioned above
In the past my father bought all the rods and reels and he spent a lot of time reading about them. I still have most of his equipment but it's a little dated now. But Abu Garcia and Ambassator reels along with Pfluger Reels are some of the types he owned. I also have a few Shimano reels from the 1980's that I still use.
The biggest thing about a reel is keeping it clean and oiled up in the right places and greased up in the right places.
Do you guys maintain your own reels during the winter? I wish I had the patience to take the reels apart and the ability to put them back together again. All my reels that I use and keep in my boat need cleaning. They are full of dust now. I store them in a rack in the boat. So when I drive the boat trailer down a gravel road I get a lot of dust on the reels. All it takes is one time driving down a gravel road to get the reels all dirty. That dust can create havoc on the internal parts and stick in the gears and wear down the metal over time.
Dad use to use TriChloroethylene Solvent to clean the old oil and grease off his reel's gears and then after they were cleaned he would re oil and re grease them and put them back together. But that was before they got more complicated with the magnetic antibacklashing devices and centrifugal braking systems.
In the last few years I bought a couple of cheap new reels and they work ok for what little casting I do. I mainly use them for trolling for crappie now.
I don't have the energy anymore to cast a crank bait all day long.
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