Spinning Reel Suggestions??

Socal Bassman · Post by **Socal Bassman** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 6:02 am

I have heard quite a bit about the Daiwa Sol also, but I'm too stubborn to make the switch, lol. Guess I'll just have to buy a backup setup with a Daiwa Sol.

Geo, I'd suggest when you're ready to buy a new reel, to take your rod into the tackle shop and try the reels you have in mind on the rod. You'll be surprised at times how one reel which weighs more than another according to specs, actually balances out better and making the whole setup feel lighter.

BTW, the fishing's been good for me so far Brendan. I'll try to post some pics as soon as I figure it out. I'm still trying to learn everything on these boards.

brendanc · Post by **brendanc** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 1:48 pm

Glad to hear the fishing has been good. I see you figured out how to post pictures in the gallery. Sorry for the delay, I have the galleries set to require a moderator's approval before they are shown to the public (just in case someone decides to get creative with a camera!).

You must be able to get into some really good lakes and ponds with that float tube, right?

George Cawthorn · Post by **George Cawthorn** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 4:27 pm

Wow........ Socal Bassman. Yeah glad to hear from you too man, it's been quite a while. Whoooops, that's what I get for not carefully rereading stuff before I ad to a post... I missed the part up to where you ID yorself as Socal Bassman.

Well all of this advice is being very well taken guys! And I want to say that Daryl is highly skilled bass guy and I admire his talents very much.

And speaking of the devil.... I bumped into FlyMaster at Castaic Lagoon yesterday and your name popped up in conversation. He had mentioned to me how impressed he was that some guys like yourself have the ability and patience to face a challenge like the Lagoon and get a grip on it in short order.

What a coincidence.......Brendan and Daryl, I am off with my new rod today to go and check all of this out. After your last comments here Brendan I may just end up with the Daiwa because in some close comparissons of the specs I also saw that it was lighter also.

I would like to ad that being an amature (although a very serious one) I only have so much money to spend on good stuff and I don't get to buy reels of this quality level that often.

I am sure that once you get over a certain price point they are all good and of high quality. Personal preference, experience, and just the feel of a reel has alot to do with it for me.

I'm not big on brand prefernces..... as far as cars go, I have a Lincoln, Pontiac, Dodge, and a Toyota for my family vehicles.

I'm more into quality, and performance in relationship to the price... in other words value!!

And as I said before I like to experiment, try new things and expand my horizons as a fisherman in general. That goes for line, lures, scents, techique, rods, reel, hooks, you name it.

I'm always open to suggestion as willing to learn. To me it's all about becomeing better at fishing and fishing becoming better for everyone.

Being that I am an amature recreational fisherman with experience limited to four years fishing one day on the weekend mostly from the shoreline.... I know I have tons yet to learn about bass fishing.

Thanks for taking the time to give me all this help and advice.
I really appreciate it.

Good fishing to you guys, later.......... geobass

BassFreak · Post by **BassFreak** » Sun Sep 30, 2007 10:33 pm

Hehe, Brendan, Me being a big Daiwa fan try and stay out of threads like these since I am obviously biased. And to be honest, most reels in this tier ($100-$200) are built well and more than capable. It just falls on the anglers personal preference that makes us pull the trigger in our final choice.

Now if an ultra-smooth drag is paramount to you, you owe it to yourself to try a Daiwa. their rep precedes them in this area. aside from the fact that theyre smooth, theyre also sealed too, so performance wont be affected by water / moisture. I dont have a Sol or Fuego though to give more input on those. I did have a capricorn and also a non-mg stradic which I used for trout fishing where drag is of utmost importance dealing with 2lb line. (both reels fit the same tier) both performed flawlessly but I felt the drag on the Capricorn wa just a tad smoother at start-up . Either way, you cant go wrong.
Good luck with your choice..

brendanc · Post by **brendanc** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 2:17 pm

Originally Posted By: ChoyIt just falls on the anglers personal preference that makes us pull the trigger in our final choice.

Choy,

You hit it right on the head... it comes down to what you like personally. I have a friend who swears by Team Diawa Rods and I swear by St. Croix & G-Loomis... I can't stand the Diawa flippin' sticks, he loves them... it all come down to personal preference.

George Cawthorn · Post by **George Cawthorn** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 3:08 am

After fishing with my new rod and the Quantum PTi 30, I finally realized that it was not going to be another Quantum for this rod.

Reading all the advice on this thread led me to do a lot of looking into specs, prices, etc. and I heavily weighted all the opinions expressed here as well.

I shopped it around on the internet, followed up on Daryl's tip about the sale at Turner's which was unfortunately over. But Turner's Outdoors did have the reels in stock for approx the same price as BPS. I also figured I'd stop in a Sport Chalet in Porter Ranch and see what there prices were like and what they had in stock before I went over to Turner's.

For those of you who may live in the San Fernando Valley or the LA area.... Turner's Outdoors is located on Vanowen on the North side just past Tampa.

OK first stop Sport Chalet, they have one of the best fising departments that is open at night till nine so I go in there a lot. The fellow in the fishing dept. gave me some pretty good info on the reels.... they had both the Stradic and Sol in stock so I was able to put them on the rod just to get a feel for them.

I have to say that they both felt pretty good on the rod but while talking to the clerk he was telling me that the Sol can be used in the salt too.... everything that is moving inside is sealed so you can rinse it off pretty good without getting water inside. That in itself was a BIG plus for me because living on the coast I do get a chance to go surf fishing or deepsea once in a while.

The Shimano was $159 and the Daiwa was $199 that was not a huge factor but it was a bit more than a 20% difference. The clerk told me the quality was good on both but in his opinion considering the seals and as he put it the outstanding drag system on the Daiwa..... and plus it did "look" cooler and just felt a tad more balance on the rod.

OK... I had made up my mind and told him I wanted to buy the Daiwa. He went back in the stockroom and came back with an empty box, the manual and a spare reel.

He said he was sorry but the one I had tried out on my rod was the only one he had left. I was just a little hesitant, but I had just had it on my rod and it felt great... smooth as butter.

I must have looked a little disappointed and he immediately said to me "I can give you a 10% discount if you take the floor model."

SOLD AMERICAN!!!! Got the Daiwa for $179, I was real happy with that.

Asked the guy if they had any reel covers to fit this reel and they did not. So I figured I'd swing by Turner's on my way home.

They didn't have the reel covers either but let me tell you guys, I had never been there before and they had one heck of a serious sportfishing department.... heavy on the salt but a lot of bass stuff too.

Picked up two bags of Yamamoto Fat Boy Ikas and a spool of Maxima 5 lb. flourocarbon line. Got home and rigged up the rod with the 5 lb. Maxima for the dropshot.

I will be ready to attack the Lagoon with my new rig set up just the way I was dreaming it might be.

Thanks guys for all your help.... I really appreciate it very much and I am very glad I took the time to post this questions on the board.

While I was at the Lagoon on Saturday I took a pic of the butt end of the rod my friend made for me with the Quantum on it and one of the Fuji guides showing you how good this guys craftmanship is......

Good fishing to you guys, lateer

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brendanc · Post by **brendanc** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 3:23 pm

Nice choice Geo... I'm going to be switching over to Diawa for all my reels over the winter... that should be a nice chunk of change

Good luck with the new set up.

BC

BassFreak · Post by **BassFreak** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 5:38 pm

Good choice Geo, Enjoy the new rig.

Socal Bassman · Post by **Socal Bassman** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:13 pm

Nice choice Geo. I was just thinking about switching to Daiwa for spinning reels too. Can't abandon my Chronarchs just yet.

George Cawthorn · Post by **George Cawthorn** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:18 pm

Thanks Choy.... and Brendan and Daryl (I just can't get used to calling you Daryl, SoCal. LOL)!! I know I'm gonna love it.

Just got the word form my boss that it's OK with him if I take 1/2 day vacation on Thursday 10/4 to go fishing. So I'll be back in the trenches at the Lagoon for a sundowner from 3:00 PM til it gets dark on Thursday.

I'll try to get a pic of the new rod with the Diawa mounted on it. Hopefully I'll be able to get some pics of a few nice bass that I can catch with it too!!!

Thanks for the help and encouragement.... I greatly appreciate it. I am very excited about breaking in this new rig on Thursday.

Good fishing to you guys, later............ geobass