Reels

Iv been looking into getting a thorne bros perch/walleye sweetheart im somewhat new to jigging walleyes I fish mostly Northern Wisconsin and make a few trips a year fishing Minnesota. I was wondering what kind of reel everyone uses for there walleye setup.

I really like the pflueger president and have those on all of my rods, mostly 6920 but a few 6925 series.

I used mainly Shimano Siennas and Saharas for the sticks in 500 sizes.

I put drag washers in all mine too. Sienna’s are a great reel.

tucrs……….
I recently bought a few of the Sienna 500’s to setup some combos for walleye (and perch once in awhile). Previously I was more of a tip up fisherman, but want to get after going more mobile and getting after them…not waiting for them. What are some of the recommended brand drag washer swap outs to do? I’ve also read to take out the stock Sienna oil & grease and replace it with more low temp products?

I’m a big fan of the upper line up of Quantums in the 15 size. Regardless of what you get, (non Quantum) – clean them out of the junk grease and replace with the Quantum Hot Sauce Lube. Best stuff on the market for cold weather performance

Tica 500’s

They work all day everyday out in the cold right out of the box. I’m not one to be putting different grease or washers in my reel.

When I buy something I expect it to just work… Maybe I’m weird that way. I have 8 Tica’s and have never had one issue. Smooth reeling and smooth drag in below zero temps, plain and simple.

Note I’ve used Pfluegers and Shimanos with very poor results. Stiff drags, stiff rotation and constant back reel issues. Hence why everyone needs to change their grease. If you sit in a warm shack any reel will work for you.

I used carbontex washers we sell them at the shop with grease or we can swap them out there. Easy swap takes the issues out of the drags.

I also clean and lube my reels with Purple Cals grease it is the cold weather type.

rickwalley wrote:

tucrs……….
I recently bought a few of the Sienna 500’s to setup some combos for <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>walleye (and perch once in awhile). Previously I was more of a tip up fisherman, but want to get after going more mobile and getting after them…not waiting for them. What are some of the recommended brand drag washer swap outs to do? I’ve also read to take out the stock Sienna oil & grease and replace it with more low temp products?

Joe Scegura wrote:

Tica 500’s

They work all day everyday out in the cold right out of the box. I’m not one to be putting different grease or washers in my reel.

When I buy something I expect it to just work… Maybe I’m weird that way. I have 8 Tica’s and have never had one issue. Smooth reeling and smooth drag in below zero temps, plain and simple.

Note I’ve used Pfluegers and Shimanos with very poor results. Stiff drags, stiff rotation and constant back reel issues. Hence why everyone needs to change their grease. If you sit in a warm shack any reel will work for you.

X2!!! I have around 8 Ticas Cetus GV500’s as well, they are an excellent winter reel! And most of my fishing is out in the open.

New GV500’s can be found on Amazon and EBay for about $34.

Abu Garcia’s Cardinal SX line of reels are worth a look too. I have the SX5 and the SX10. They have a pretty good drag system, IMO. They can both handle river smallie runs (20″+ smallies) no problem on my 1-4# ultra light. I HotSauce all my winter reels and haven’t had a problem yet (other than HotSauce leaking from the bottle). They are around $30-$40.

I’ve heard nothing but praise for the Tica Cetus. I have a Tica Libra 3000 I use as a summer bass reel then use it as a winter pike reel. Tica makes nice stuff.

Any of the mentioned Shimano’s will work well also although I believe they have discontinued the 500 series for the Sienna and the Sahara.

Things I look for in any reel (spinning) that are a must, regardless of price or size, is a legitimate functional instant anti-reverse with absolutely zero play, a smooth drag, and a decent feel on reeling (grinding, binding, etc). I usually strip my reels anyways so the latter is usually remedied by a thorough cleaning and a re-lube with what I feel is a better quality grease/lube, which is HotSauce grease and lube, no grease in the winter though, just lube. It’s been working out well for me since I started personally servicing my reels a few years ago.