what reel?

[ken82]

Hi guys

today i went to a particular shop and i was asking him about reels and  he showed me a few an okuma ESR60 , shakespeare, abu garcia and a boxter. all were  if i remember correctly gear ratio 5:1 and 3 bearings.

Now as you know i am new to this hobby, what makes a good reel, good? i mean the 4 have more or less the same key features. but then there is a variation in price. For example the boxter was on offer together with the rod!!??

A friend of mine told me not to mind the brand name. But still i got a bit mixed up. What i need is a reel for squid fishing and for cudas i.e. a general purpose for shore fishing.

Any comments and/or advice ? thanks in advance guys.   

[skip]

The number of bearings def makes a difference, as well as whether there is a bearing in the handle shaft, I think it's called. In fact many people will just compare a spinning reel based on no. of bearings!

Gear Ratio and Retreive rate are important if you will be spinning (popping lures). 5.0-5.8 depending on the retreive rate is usually pretty good. The higher/ratio / retreive rate lets the popper move through the water evenly and at a good rate without you cranking like mad. As you won't be hitting into big fish, you don't need the power from a lower gear ratio, sometimes referred to as PG or Power Gear, as opposed to HG/HS (high gearing)

Then it all boils down to materials but for something like Squid and cudas I don't think you need an expensive reel.

It also depends how often you're going to use it......a few times a season and you can get away with a cheaper reel, and then you go up from there.

I think Okuma make some very well priced spinning reels, not familiar with Abu, shakespeare and the boxter brands.

But I think the local shops should be able to give you pretty good advice once you tell them what you're targeting.

[robby017]

I'd recomend grauvell or shimano blindly (Shimano more than Grauvell) depends what your budget is mate...

[redbus9]

For an inexpensive reel which will do the job you want go for okuma or shakespear.Shimano are usually much more expensive.3 bearings is ok.gear ratio 5-1 or above.Just remember the larger the reel the more weight you will be holding and it will seem to get heavier as the day goes on.You can get a reasonable one in the UK for about ?10 to ?15.Another tip if you are right handed go for a left hand wind on the reel and vice versa.This means you don,t have to swap hands when you reel in ready to cast out again. Good Luck.

[ken82]

Thanks for all guys

i agree that shimano reels have heftier prices, as i had a look at the reels in another shop. From what i saw you can get a reel as cheap around 10 Euros or as expensive as 100 Euros.

For now i 'll stick to the one i have, then later on will see.

Once again thanks guys, i appreciate very much.

[Gazzetta]

Okuma for me are great, Abu Garcia are massive !!!

Chris 

[owenbullu]

I agree 100% with roby17. I have a shimano reel which I use for spinning. One of the best reels I've got. I use it for all type of spinning but not for squid as I have a smaller reel for that type of spinning. The reason is that practically I don't have a reel for general use but depends on what type of fishing I'm going for that day.
For squids I prefer a small (and cute ) reel. For cudas, bonito etc.. I would prefer a reel that can handle upto about 300m of line when using 0.25-0.35mm of thichness.

But this all summes up to your budget, but in my opinion you're better off buying it later on to save more money so that you'd have a very good reel. One thing that make a reel better than another is the bearings..for example shimano use steel/iron bearings while reels that cost 10euros use plastik bearings

[MartinB]

Okuma & Abu Garcia are very good reels what ive seen of them   It all depends on how often you go fishing and also how well you take care of your reel.My mate just got an Okuma (forgot which model!) & it came with a 2yr guarantee (from ta' bormla) & i had few casts with it imho - a very nice reel 

I personally love Shimano reels as they use very good quality materials and are all well suited to their purpose.
True they are on the more expensive side but i give my reels ALOT of stick! & after a few seasons of hard fishing you can see where that extra money went as they are still as good as new!
It all depends on your budget but when your spinning your putting alot of continous stress on your reel and hopefully on your drag too!!! so it makes sense (if you fish frequently) to get the best quality you can,rather than going through a bunch of cheap reels (like i did! ) with plastic bearings as owenbullu mentioned! or with carboard drag washers like a certain reel i once had,which gave way after the 4th bonito i caught on it!  The main shaft of the reel bent! although had it not i doubt the cardboard drag washers would have took much more abuse! 

Ive also got a Penn spinfisher 850ssm which is a fairly basic reel "feature" wise but very,very sturdy and built to last! Again they are also a bit on the expensive side but i can't reccomend Penn reels enough! Obviously if you purchase off the net they are ALOT cheaper than buying locally...

[Freeman]

Got an old penn FD1080 7bb (lm58), been using it for the past 8 years and it still performs as new, abu i Got a small 4 bb (lm24)and after the first couple of months it started to go apeshit drag wise. Altough many ppl would say that daiwa make good reels I had 2 bad experiances with 2 of their reels, 1 was a massive reel 5bb (lm35)wich i used for rock fishing and the reverse mackanism just broke off one fine day, the other one was a small spinning reel 3bb (lm12 with 50% off) , landed 2 cudas and a bonito with it but on the bonito the middle shaft which holds the spool bent a little bit and it started giving me trouble by not positioning the line correctly and therefor having trouble while casting. Receantly got 2 warrior reels 7bb (20eur) and so far so good. I always rinse after use and open them up and give them a good service at least every six months.

Those are my good and bad experiances on reels, hope you can learn something from my mistakes.

[ken82]

Thanks guys,

with regards to maintence/care after fishing i always wash the reel with fresh water (spool only), then check metal parts and spray some solv-it. The reel i have is the cheapest possible (don't even know if it is branded). i hope i am not doing any harm.

For now i am just giving fishing a try later on will see.

One last question is there a price range by which you can determine that a reel is good. i mean for EXAMPLE if you spend 100 Euros it must be ok.

Thanks ta kollox

[skip]

Depends where you buy it from!!!

Probably better to start with, what's your budget and then one can provide better advice.

[fish-noob]

just to give you an idea, i have bought a shimano catana 2500, its light and gr8, havent really been too long but for 40 euros, i got a good brand reel which is gr8.... you could go for that one if you like, and if you do your homework, you can get it cheaper online, since it still comes without warranty locally. it also comes with an extra spool. so i done ne with braid and another with thin mono, to use for clamari..

just my 2 cents

[TaKinu]

What about Classic okuma CL 450L? Gear ratio4.0:1 Any information re this reel? Thanks for your help

[placebo]

it's a good option for a trolling reel. I use a couple for barracuda fishing and is also practical for alungi.

the price as is all OKUMA models is great.

this reel caters for a 310mtrs of line 0.50mm, if you fill it with braided line then you can easily put thos 400 - 500mtrs of 50lbs braid!

[TaKinu]

Thankyou Placebo. So it is good a 0.50mm line for alungi? Or go for a 0.70mm?