Choosing A Reel

When Choosing A Reel, What Is It That You Are Looking For In The Reel.

I look for something that is tough. When my brother gets in my boat he manages to step on every rod and reel in the boat. I have never seen such a clutz but he is my little brother so I got to take him LOL

I Hear Ya Buddy I Don't Have No Brothers, But I Have 4 Kids And You Know Kids. Before I Started to use PENN reels i use to be a ZEBCO 33 fan and still am for different fishing than catfishing. But my Penns that i bought from chef jim is my #1 choice as far as toughness and all around big fish rod. now them Zebco's are still a good reel when casting for pike and trying to get the lure were you want it and light weight also for packing down the trail.

For catfishing, mostly just something tough and castable. For everything else, I want a smooth reel. I don't like a reel that grinds when you turn the crank. Got to be smooth. Real smooth.

Grumpy wrote:

For catfishing, mostly just something tough and castable. For everything else, I want a smooth reel. I don't like a reel that grinds when you turn the crank. Got to be smooth. Real smooth.

grumpy i agree, the first fish i caught on the reel from you other than the tugging from the fish that thing was awesome smooth.

I would have to say my Penns are my favorite, I've got a few others around but the ones I go to every time is my PENN's. My all time favorite, just because my wife bought it for me for father's day in 1982, is my Shimano 250 mini-mag plus, and it's still a good reel.

Mike
As you have already demonstrated there are different reels for different situations.

If I could only have one reel for all my fishing situations I reckon I would have to go to an Abu 6500 TC.

Fortunately for me I have several different reels and select the ones for each trip that will provide the best service for the waters I fish.

You know I put a lot of thought and research in looking for a do it all reel and something I can use for bass to catfish is an abu rev stx . I bought one and it is soo smooth and castable all with 24 lbs of drag!! believe me thats a lot . all a calcutta 700 has is about 22-24 lbs and you pay out the wazoo for one of them I haven't caught anything over 19 lbs on it so far and it was a cake walk, it handled it like it was a brim. now if I was choosing one reel for catfishing and money was no problem it would be calcutta 700 all the way coupled up to a tiger rod , spooled with 80lb power pro with a 60lb leader of mono or fluorocarbon!

Well Mike, the only thing that I'm concerned with is the drag. It has to be a good one, smooth as glass and with enough washers that it won't burn up prematurely. I look at a reel this way. The reel to me is just a place to store the line. I know there are some that cast better than others, but I am pretty good at casting just about any of them so that doesn't bother me. I know that some are quite a bit faster than others too, but again that doesn't enter the picture to me either. The rod is what does the work, and the drag is what controls the fish pretty much. So I would have to say that the drag is the most important thing in a reel to me. I've had reels with pretty bad drags in them and there is nothing worse than having a nice big trophy sized fish on, and your drag sticks and jerks.

jim

Everything that has been said leads me to believe that the Penn 209 can't be beat.

arlington wrote:

Everything that has been said leads me to believe that the Penn 209 can't be beat.

Well There Probably Is A Better Reel But I Have A Dozen Penn 209's And That Is What I Will Use For My Cattin, I Do Have A 309 And A 155 And They Are Awesome Reels To, And Wow That Reel i Won On JmJ Is Awesome So Far For Ice Fishing.

For boat, low current conditions I like my Shamano Calcutta 400's they cast a little better than my abu 6500's and have really good drags on them. They will handle any fish I get ahold of. The clickers are loud but have low tension for when i'm fishing that style of fishing.


For bank and high current I like my Abu 7000 reels.

......................ABUs and PENNs............thats all I need...................