Baitcaster Suggestions?

In the market for a new baitcasting reel, want something quality but not looking to break the bank…budget is $120 and not really sure what I want. Open to any suggestions!

The Tackle Trap has a special on the Diawa Tatula SV thru May 31st. Use code BBC10 at checkout. $149 delivered to your door. Do yourself a favor and spend the few extra bucks. Be happy for a long time. You may kick yourself for not buying two.

For $99 retail I recommend the Lews Speed Spool LFS. In my opinion it is the best reel for $100 retail. I worked at bait and tackle store and this was by far our best seller at the price point. However, you can find some good deals on ebay and searching around.

At this price point there’s so much great reels to choose from and it’s a high competitive market share. So it sometimes goes with what you’re familiar with already or what you may like in bling blings.

Diawa and Shimano do their reel manufacturing so they stand to be in housed brands. The Abu Garcia, Lews, and Pfluegers, and some others share the same manufacture plants. So they have similar frames and share many internal parts.

Diawa in general always looks like parent to child clone in reels when set side by side compared to their more expensive line up. You see a lot of that in like the Abu Garcia, Lews, and Pflueger reels too. Again only because they share the same manufacture plants and using like frame in design. Shimano has generally been odd one out, but they have great engineering concepts that just works as well as performing self maintenance that even novices can do.

I would look at and consider the following list at just about 1 Ben
Shimano SLX
Diawa Fuego
Abu Revo S
Okuma Citrix A

Was in the same boat as you and after reading through some posts on here decided on the Diawa tatula CT. Found it new on ebay for around $100, wait for a site wide 10% off code and get one even cheaper

Probably not what your looking for but I just ordered a Pascifun Torrent off of Amazon. I kept seeing a add on Face Book with the discount and reviews thought what the heck. Should be here tomorrow. I got it for a new trolling rod I am building, so I went for the left hand 5.3:1.

Even though I am a Shimano and Daiwa guy, in that price range, Lews makes the best options.

You might be able to get a Shimano or Daiwa on sale depending on timing. e.g. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Shimano_Citica_I_Casting_Reels/descpage-RCI.html#customer_reviews

bigcrappie wrote:

Probably not what your looking for but I just ordered a Pascifun Torrent off of Amazon. I kept seeing a add on Face Book with the discount and reviews thought what the heck. Should be here tomorrow. I got it for a new trolling rod I am building, so I went for the left hand 5.3:1.

I have a Piscifun bait caster I also got the smaller spool put it on a Kistler Helium 3 MLXF impressed me. I can cast Crappie crankbaits with it just fine. How the longevity will be not sure but impressed me for the $89 off of Aliexpress. Not as smooth as my Core 50 but will out cast it with lighter baits.