Spinning Reel suggestions

Am looking for a new spinning reel. Price range of $100 to $200. Walleye applications, mostly jigs. Excellent casting range a big consideration due to some shore fishing. Have looked at the Quantum Energy PTi-A and the Shimano Stradic MgFA. Anyone have experience with these or have other suggestions?

I own the Quantum reel and has been bulletproof for me. I have a couple of the Symmetre Shimano reels and love them also.

BigDog- Just thought I would throw in my 2 cents. I was in a similar position this spring. I went into Gander looking for a new reel. I had a $150-$200 figure in my mind. I was helped by a real great guy (who later turned out to be one of the fishing dept Managers) And he showed me reels for about a half hour. I finally asked him what he fishes for and with and he showed me the Gander Guide series reels. Most of them had the same features of the more expensive models he showed me earlier. Long story short, I ended up walking out of there with 3 new reels for about the price I was willing to pay for 1. I also couldn’t be happier with these reels they are the best I have ever owned. Love2Fish.

I also have both and for walleye fishing I prefer to use the Quantum-E10 It pulls line in slower than the Shimano and feel it keeps me fishing slower. I think Dean at Everts resort has best price on the Shimano if you go with that reel and are in the area.

Any Quantam or mid-priced Shimano.

I think it all depends on how much use the reel is going to see. If it will see a lot I would go with the higher end brands. If not a good $40 to $50 reel will do just fine. My vote goes out to the symmetre. I have owned 4 of these for a little over 2 years now and not one of them has failed me yet. I spend just about every weekend from january to sept. fishing with them. Everything from trolling cranks to pitching plastics. For me they have been a very good all around reel and can put up with the punishment they go through. I will also note they have worked very well in the cold weather. Most reels have grease in them that tends to stiffen up in the cold weather and they dont hardly work at all. With a price tag of just over $80, I would say they are well worth it.

My .02

I’ve always been a Quantum guy and my partner is a Shimano guy. He had to throw away 2 of his Shimano’s this year and borrow a couple of my Quantums.

Ben

I vote for the symetre. I have 3 of them and they see a lot of use. None have ever failed me.

Not sure why you want to spend so much. Less than $100 will get you all the spinning reel anyone would ever need from Shimano. They even make a several hundred $ reel if you really want to eliminate some cash. I have only purchased/owned Shimano spinning reels for the last 19 years. I have not broken one yet…

Shimano Symetre, cost effective, and durable.

quantum

Pflueger President are $60…tougher than nails and smooth as butter…

Save your money

but thats just me

President is good, but I have a Medalist and it’s even better.

You Pflueger guys got me thinking. I was at Gander today and took a look. Niiiiccceee. They seem very smooth and of high quality material. I’m intrigued. Maybe I’ve been living in a reel bubble too long?

i love Pfluegers, and thats why I have three and will soon have a fourth. My solara still runs great, my medalist is brand new, and i can’t believe my trion is still in one piece after how bad i’ve treated that thing. Get a pflueger and don’t think twice

I had a Trion spinning reel that was about 7 years old and making some grinding noises last fall. I sent it to Pflueger to have them give it a once over. Mind you, this was way past the warranty. Well, a week later, I received a brand new reel back in it’s place. The charge? $7 for shipping. Needless to say, I won’t hesitate to buy more. I got a President spinning reel last year and that thing is like butter.

I would opt for the Stradic..

Thanks for the input guys. I didn’t think about the Pflueger. Have a couple of their baitcasters and really like them. Will check them out for sure. Anything would be better than the Pinnacle Dead Bolt that I have. That thing has been a nightmare. It’s next outing will be to the landfill.

I have owned both the symetre and a president in the past and like them both, but if I was going to invest in a new reel today, I would buy Mitchel Avocet Gold. Now this reel isn’t in that $100 price range, its actually just under $40, but is every bit as good and dependable as those more expensive reels. The Avocet Gold has an 8 ball bearing system that is sooooooo sweet! 2 ball bearings in the bail system, and 6 in the drag system, which is every bit as smooth as the symetre drag system.

I switched all my smallie spinning rigs over to Avocet’s last year, and am thinking of switching all 16 of my walleye rigs over to them next year!

Shimano Stradic and Symmetre for me as well. Both have a great solid balanced feel and are a joy to use IMHO. I did have one Stradic that was glitchy but was able to exchange it for another. Very low line twist as well. I’ve burned through several Sedonas and won’t buy them anymore. Have friends with Pfleugers and they are nice but I can’t get used to the crank handle on them. Have heard good things about that Avocet, might have to check one out next time I’m tempted by another Sedona.

Chris

You owe it to yourself to try the Pfluegger President. Unbelievable reel regardless of the price…….

Kurt

After reading this post, I just had to run up to Gander Mountsin and try out the Pfluegers. Now they are some really smooth reels, guess after the boat is put away for the season I will just have to get myself a few of these and try them out in the spring.
Like I have heard in these posts, they are smooth as butter…Thanks guys, just got me hooked on a new reel, lol. Time to retire the Shimano’s or let the daughter use them, lol
Troy

Ya the first time i ever picked up a Pflueger i was hooked. The first time u use one you’ll know why

LOL it was a birthday present for crying out loud you didn’t go to a store and test out different reels imho i think pflugers are great reels but max you worship them a bit too much. there great products but there nothing that special. pick up a quantum or shimmano and chances are good there not going to be that far off it’s all in how much money you looking to spend.

im not a huge fan of any brand really so i’ll say this…You may be right nick, but have you tried pfluegers? You worship quantum quite a bit too….
but who really cares, people’s opinions are peoples opinions. All that matters it what reels in the fish..and that is the fisherman..

i have tried pflugers thats why i said above there great reels . Whats wrong with quantum? i have had an open mind to all reels i still own two shimmano spinning reels theres nothing wrong with those? i have no problom with what people use it’s not like you can go wrong with any of them. I know for a fact quanutm has one of the best customer service departments. that was a turn on for me along with a great product you can’t go wrong i don’t see why someone has to push me on every post i make? “im done here” i wonder how many times cade has said that

All of these reels are good compared to the Zebco 202’s we all started with at sometime in our pasts!!

Another vote for the symetre, i’ve got tow of them, and they see VERY VERY VERY VERY high use. 90% of my fishing is casting, and that isn’t counting all the trout fishing i do. Ths is not to say they haven’t been 100% trouble free, but i’ve only had one problems, and it was minor. I can’t stress the amount of use these two reels i have get, and they perform amzingly.

All i’m saying is that people can have their opinions and no matter what other people say, they probably aren’t going to change. I was mostly just backing Max up because he did nothing wrong here.
Now for my opinion. I think the reels mentioned above are good reels. I like Shimmano (probably my favorite) pfluger (only had one but from what i have experienced, its a good tool, Abu,and qunatum. Quantums are a nice reel but i have had a lot of mechanical problems with the quantums that I have owned. They’re just little things, but cost money and get annoying. I think if I was a beginner and didn’t know anything about fishing, i would be most attracted to pfluger or shimmano, unless the heavier cost is an issue, then i would buy a quantum like i did. I have a 20$ spinning reel that i picked up and its kinda crappy as far as quality but is smooth and gets the job done. As i said, just a few mechanical problems. Yes its great to have good customer service, but when i buy a reel, i would hope that i would never have to use the customer service.
Just my opinion, take it or leave it
-Cade

Guys, The original poster asked for suggestions on spinning reels. He didn’t ask for anyone to give their opinion about the other guy’s opinion. Let’s stay on track here…