Need some help choosing a reel

I am in the process if building a new jigging rod and I am not sure what size reel to pair with it, I’m hoping you guys can give me a hand with that. For right now lets not worry about brand or model just the size.

The rod is going to be a 7’3″ medium light fast action rod used primarily for casting 1/16th to 1/8 oz jigs and plastics. It’s going to be a split grip with a skeleton reel seat. The idea with this rod is to make a very light weight ultra sensitive rod. I am torn between using a 500 or 1000 size reel for it. Obviously a 500 will make it lighter I am not sure if it will be to small and adversely affect the rod and vice versa to the 1000.

What are your guys opinion on the situation?

Go with a 1000 size. A 500 size will have to much line coil for casting those light jigs maybe try the smallest size fleuger arbor with the wide spool for casting distance the 1000 will offset the length of the rod also by giving it a lighter rod tip feel

I agree, 1000 size will likely balance the rod nicely.

Above info is spot on. In the quantum line, a size 15 makes for a great jigging reel and will balance nice. If you were looking to cast small cranks with it as well, then I’ll go size 20. A size 10 would be undersized and the rod wouldn’t balance and become tip heavy.

I recently bought a 6’9 smoothie from limit creek to do mostly jigging and tossing real light jigs. I matched it up with one of the bigger sizes of the pflueger president… Ive been casting from shore the past week or so and im really liking the feel… just excited to get out on the boat in the upcoming weeks!

I would go with something bigger then a 1000 it would balance the rod better, it will have a bigger spool for more line capacity and easier casting and the bigger the reel the better the drag system.

I just went with some 2500 sedonas for my jig pitching rods. Tried Pfuegers Presidents and Arbors and wasn’t happy. Bad seals, bad design on the bails, anti reverse not working in cold temps so it was back to Shimano.

I would definitely go with a 1000 sized reel over a 500. I recently just purchased a Pflueger Supreme XT 9230 and paired it up with a 7’0″ MLF Avid and it balances perfectly. The reel only weighs 7.2 ounces which is 0.2 ounces heavier than the 2500 sized Ci4+, but at a $70 cheaper price point. For what you’re trying to do, I would look at a 1000 sized Shimano, 25 sized Pflueger, or a 15 sized Quantum.

Shimano CI4 1000

I would go with a 1000, also ensure that the rod you are using is balanced. While a light weight rod is great, a lot of times you can get a rod balancer and it will give your rod the same feel. an unbalanced light weight rod is just as bad as a heavy rod.

all good replies…
The new technology of rod components has paved the way for lighter reels for balance. The new St. Croix 7 foot Legend Elite Spin sticks are only a hair over 3 oz .
If you have around a $100-150 budget…There are many great reels…Pflueger Supreme and Supreme XT 30 size…Quantum Energy PT series in the 25 size (on sale @ Cabelas for 69$!) …Shimano Symetre 2500.
Although some here don’t like them…I just put 10 days of frigid walleye fishing on my veteran Pflueger Arbor 30s w/o a hiccup, per usual…they were the only reels out of 10 guys that didn’t freeze up at P-4 last week…
Or treat yourself to a C-14 Stradic or Pflueger Patriarch…both dream reels! Good Luck

Here is a killer price on a quantum energy reel. I own two of these and love them.

http://www.rogerssportinggoods.com/quantum-quantum-energy-e10ptib-spinning-reel-p-3720.html

I would go for the 2500. Will be easier to cast the lighter jigs, will pick up more line per turn for when you need to catch up with running fish, and its not hardly any bigger profile than the 1000. I have both sizes on walleye rods and I prefer the 2500 over the 1000. Was actually just thinking last night that I should go ahead and order another 2500 and dump the 1000.

Reel size all depends on the rod for me. Bring it in store, and whatever size gets you to a balanced 10-11oclock position is what I would get. If you put a super light reel on the rod and its s bit tip heavy that strain will counter the overall sensitivity. A reel that gets that perfect position where your rod tip is going to be 95% of the time is different on every rod. My 2 cents.

I love my Shimano Stradic Ci4 1000’s. Lightest reel I have ever held, and second to none in quality.

thanks everyone I appreciate the help. I would love a Ci4 but its not in the budget at all. I was thinking more in that 50-100 dollar range. I was thinking maybe a Sienna, I love the ones on my ice rods but I love my Presidents too.

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Reel size all depends on the rod for me. Bring it in store, and whatever size gets you to a balanced 10-11oclock position is what I would get. If you put a super light reel on the rod and its s bit tip heavy that strain will counter the overall sensitivity. A reel that gets that perfect position where your rod tip is going to be 95% of the time is different on every rod. My 2 cents.

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nhamm,

I like this idea, I may take a few of my reels that I have in various sizes to see which feels best.

Dont over look the Okuma RTX 30S reels 6.6 oz>>> RTX 30s

I did a fair amount testing with these reels last summer and now own 3 of them

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I like this idea, I may take a few of my reels that I have in various sizes to see which feels best.

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I’m same boat as you, would love to the lighter more expensive reels but just not in the cards right now. Since you like your presidents, as do I, try the purists out. Carbon drag is a big upgrade and a little better build well worth the extra $$ but still in budget. Talked to a few people who had custom rods built and they ended up putting purists on em. Have fun, love being in store throwing on 15 different reels on to the rod and give fake pitches right in the store.

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I like this idea, I may take a few of my reels that I have in various sizes to see which feels best.

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I’m same boat as you, would love to the lighter more expensive reels but just not in the cards right now. Since you like your presidents, as do I, try the purists out. Carbon drag is a big upgrade and a little better build well worth the extra $$ but still in budget. Talked to a few people who had custom rods built and they ended up putting purists on em. Have fun, love being in store throwing on 15 different reels on to the rod and give fake pitches right in the store.

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Keep your eyes open, I bought a Purist last spring for the price of a President. However they are a bit heavy.

Purist 25 7.3oz

Symetre Fl 1000 6.5oz

President 25 7.2oz

Sedona 1000 7.7oz

Sienna 500/1000 6/7.4

I’d go on, but point is comparably plfuegers are not that heavy, in that price range.

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Purist 25 7.3oz

Symetre Fj 1000 7.1oz

President 25 7.2oz

Sedona 1000 7.7oz

I’d go on, but point is comparably plfuegers are not that heavy, in that price range. Just sayin.

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I must have read a wrong weight. I have six Plfuegers and like them. The second smallest purist is 8.6 oz, the small one holds 110 yds of 4lb mono

Yeah your right, I tried to get around that line capacity of 110/4. Tough BC shimanos are typically a lil smaller than the pfluegers. Just wanted to give the specs and not give any stigma on the reels. I still say let the rod tell him what to buy. Each reel balances out differently.

Should of asked this question earlier in the conversation. So how do you guys balance your rods and reels. Seems to me depending on who you talk to they like to balance them at different point. Some where the reel contacts the rod. some where the front grip meets the blank. Others somewhere between those two points.

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Should of asked this question earlier in the conversation. So how do you guys balance your rods and reels. Seems to me depending on who you talk to they like to balance them at different point. Some where the reel contacts the rod. some where the front grip meets the blank. Others somewhere between those two points.

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I put the reel on, grab it like I would fishing, and there’s your balance point. Just seems right to have it balanced out like you would be fishing it, and not with 1 finger at any given point on the rod.

I’ll add I have a 610 rage with a purist 30 on since I bought it. Just acquired a 25 purist and put it on, and became tip heavy, the overall weight is lower but with the slight strain that’s put on the wrist to hold the tip up while pitching decreases the sensitivity and long term comfort for myself. Will be going back to the 30. I’m sure its why a few pros have weights in the butt of the rod to achieve perfect balance BC when you have that not only do you feel through the fingers/hands but the wrist is now in play as well and not using any muscles to keep the tip where you need.

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Should of asked this question earlier in the conversation. So how do you guys balance your rods and reels. Seems to me depending on who you talk to they like to balance them at different point. Some where the reel contacts the rod. some where the front grip meets the blank. Others somewhere between those two points.

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since this is a custom build and I am building it then I will primarily get the balance that I want out of the rod but adjustments in the positioning of the reel seat along with the reel that I end up choosing to use. I want this rod to be a hair butt heavy, it will be rod that I primarily use for wading right now and it will only be used for throwing small jig so if I make it a hair butt heavy then it will help reduce the strain of holding the tip high in the air all day while jigging.

On a factory rod the only thing you can do to balance the rod is with the selection of the reel that you use. You can put counter balance weight in the rear of the rod but that will add to the overall weight and a lighter rod is a more sensitive rod so its a bit of a catch 22 there.

Oh man that’s nice to be able to balance it out wherever you want with a custom. Would go with a 25 or 1000. Let us know what you choose!

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Oh man that’s nice to be able to balance it out wherever you want with a custom. Would go with a 25 or 1000. Let us know what you choose!

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it is going to be nice to get it to be exactly where I want it to be, I just hope I am able to get it perfect and still have time to hit the water with it this spring while the fish are shallow!

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Should of asked this question earlier in the conversation. So how do you guys balance your rods and reels. Seems to me depending on who you talk to they like to balance them at different point. Some where the reel contacts the rod. some where the front grip meets the blank. Others somewhere between those two points.

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I put the reel on, grab it like I would fishing, and there’s your balance point. Just seems right to have it balanced out like you would be fishing it, and not with 1 finger at any given point on the rod.

I’ll add I have a 610 rage with a purist 30 on since I bought it. Just acquired a 25 purist and put it on, and became tip heavy, the overall weight is lower but with the slight strain that’s put on the wrist to hold the tip up while pitching decreases the sensitivity and long term comfort for myself. Will be going back to the 30. I’m sure its why a few pros have weights in the butt of the rod to achieve perfect balance BC when you have that not only do you feel through the fingers/hands but the wrist is now in play as well and not using any muscles to keep the tip where you need.

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I find I can balance most of my rods under 6 1/2 ft with reel choice. When the rod is longer the reel weight required is often times higher than I want to use. No sense having a light a sensitive rod and the having to put a tank reel on it. So I opt for lead at the butt of the rod. Since it takes less mass when placed there you don’t have to markedly increase the weight of the overall set up.

I have two longer shimanos I really like that are very tip heavy. One took 1\2 oz of the lead in the handle and the other took 3/4.