Reels and the cost your prepared to pay.

[108831]

After Simon's post on the 28th November,where his Daiwa TDX reel seized for no apparent reason i thought i would ask this question,the TDX retails at well over £200,i have a couple of mates who have them,i just cant really warrant spending that on a reel,i can certainly afford them,just justifying that sum of money on something that you can buy a more than usable reel under £100,i am using Daiwa Ninjas at the moment and am certainly having no issues,now im certainly not having a pop at anyone who spends such sums,its only money and your only here once,but i just wondered how you fellas felt?

 

[Aknib]

Fixed spool reels just don't excite me enough to throw big end money at them, I've had and sold on a TDX 2508 which cost me over two hundred quid but I'm otherwise happy to keep sub-one hundred knowing that the reels will last me and do everything I want.

I have several 'pins which have all cost me around or upwards of two hundred quid but I can look at those along with the use they get and see exactly why they're comparatively expensive.

Otherwise, baitrunners apart and which are also sub-one hundred quid reels, my fixed spool reels comprise of several Daiwa 2503A's which are around twenty years old and, as of last night, will now be accompanied by a 1980's Mitchell Match 440A.

 

[peterjg]

Why buy expensive reels, there is no need!?

Years ago a dear mate of mine died and left me his tackle in his will. Amongst the tackle was a pair of Diawa Infinity carp reels which cost somewhere in the region of £400 each. Then I was doing a lot of big carp fishing, yes they are good reels but the reels that I was using were perfectly usable and cost much less. I no longer carp fish but I won't sell them, I will pass them on to my son.

Although I am able to afford top price tackle there is no need. Currently I use 2 Shimano Baitfunners in 2500 and 2 4000 size and they do the job, each cost around £60. I also use a Match Ariel and a wide drum Ariel. For piking I use 2 ancient ABU Cardinal 66s.

Save your dough and join a couple of decent clubs instead.

 

[peter crabtree]

Ok. Hands up, I'm a tackle tart....

There, I said it....

 

[bullet]

The only fixed spools I have which cost over a hundred quid are for sea fishing, most cheaper stuff just doesn't stand up to saltwater for long, even if you look after it well.
One thing I have noticed with a couple of quality shimano reels i have is that they reel much more easily and smoothly under load compared to cheaper options, no big deal for most freshwater use, but can be particularly useful when retrieving heavy lures.

 

[markcw]

I bought a Daiwa 1650 auto bail (similar to Mitchell match) around 25 + years when they first came out, it cost £40 I think, it is still going strong, I paid £30 for a PI Inception reel in part of a job lot of tackle I bought, I checked and before it was discontinued, it was in the shops at around 160 i think, i would not have bought it at that price, I would say due to technology today that a reel in the lower price bracket is as good as an expensive reel from some years ago, i am using fixed spool as an example not centre pins.

 

[wetthrough]

Quite a lot but I'd jib at 200+ On the other hand if someone put one in my hand that felt better than the Stradic Ci4+s I have I might be tempted. It's as much about the feel as anything for me whether it's a rod or reel. I have a Daiwa 16TDM3012 but there's so much backlash in the handle it puts me off using it. It just feels badly engineered although it works well enough.

 

[silvers]

Of the c. 20 reels that I have for float fishing ... only three were bought new:
My first Mitchell 440a
First Abu 501
Okuma Sheffield.
All the others were second hand from classifieds, friends and eBay.

Feeder reels on the other hand ... i paid approx 100 each for my daiwa TDMs around ten years ago.
They replaced some cheaper okuma epic pro 30s that had become a bit “graunchy” with use.
I can’t seen myself buying anything more expensive than that.

 

[103841]

The “why buy expensive reels, there’s no need” argument is a futile one.

It’s like anything else in life, why buy an expensive rod, car, home, holiday, when cheaper ones will do. It’s a personal choice for each individual. If I was flush I’d buy a beautiful handmade centrepin for several hundreds of pounds but I’m not so I won’t.

If the argument was that cheaper reels just aren’t good enough to do the job that would be a different matter.

 

[nottskev]

Centrepins seem over-priced, but I understand the temptations. The only new one I bought - an Adcock Stanton - cost £120 in 2002. Since then I've bought a couple, but they were bargains, relative to what people are prepared to pay.. A Grey's Bewick, like new, for £80 and, a stroke of luck, an unused spare drum for £30. The other,a Fred crouch Truepin, cost £100 and represents the perfect impulse buy - no idea what I bought it for, and never used it yet.

For fs's, I'm fussy but I don't have expensive tastes. A bunch of 1990's Shimano Aeros, GT's |and GTM's do me. Nearly all eBay, averaging about £60. I treated myself to an up-to-date Stradic Ci4 for barbel last year but that was eBay too, and sub £100. I once lashed out more than £100 on a discounted Shimano Twinpower XTR - about £120. It's still here, but my least favourite. It has bearings in abundance - which make it a) heavy b) revolve if you only look at it.

Overall, I won't pay big prices for reels. Somehow the fancy spec's, for me, don't turn into feel in the hand or practical advantages. With rods, on the other hand......

 

[mikench]

I'm abstemious with buying fishing tackle generally.

 

[silvers]

The “why buy expensive reels, there’s no need” argument is a futile one.

It’s like anything else in life, why buy an expensive rod, car, home, holiday, when cheaper ones will do. It’s a personal choice for each individual. If I was flush I’d buy a beautiful handmade centrepin for several hundreds of pounds but I’m not so I won’t.

If the argument was that cheaper reels just aren’t good enough to do the job that would be a different matter.

I once bought a couple of cheap reels from Dragon Carp to replace an original aero match that I’d mangled by using it for feeder fishing. The line lay was appalling ... even though they felt usable otherwise.
Having said that I have low standards as I’m a Mitchell match user still

 

[Mark Wintle]

For floatfishing my reels of choice are the Mitchell Match 440A for rivers and 840 for stillwater. I've only ever bought 4 440s new, the first two long retired and rid of, the next two just about surviving. I've been given two Matches, bought three at Romsey Tackle Fair (two good 'uns, one just a parts reel, for for £11, £12 and £15), and got three 440As and the 840 as part of a deal for £20 that also included a 300 and 410 and a pile of spools.
I still have various Shimano Stradics in 1000, 2500 and 4000 for legering plus several 'pins, though only use a Rapidex for close in on still water when I don't want to use a pole.

 

[steve2]

I have paid out a lot for Centrepins but never felt the need to pay out on FS reels. My baitcasting multipliers were also expensive.
A good FS reel can be bought relatively cheap and will still last years. I can't think of any that I have worn out before passing them on.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

When it comes to reels the old adage of you get what you pay for has never been more true.

We all have our favourites, mine being Shimano Stradic for almost everything except my Big Pit reels which are Diawa 5500's, and those were prohibitively expensive but will last a lifetime.

 

[S-Kippy]

Assuming cost isnt an issue then I can see some benefit in top range gear IF its going to get a lot of stick. In terms of f/s reels if you are fishing 2-3-4 times a week or match fishing then those reels are going to get a lot of hammer. Then I can see (maybe) why you'd fork out for a top of the range reel.

Mine just dont used enough to justify the cost....and I'd never,ever pay £200+ for any reel...let alone a fixed spool. Mine are typically £50-60 jobs bar the pins. I've not worn one out yet,nor has one seized on me.

Its a bit like modern cars....scrag end junk brands excepted nobody makes a bad reel nowadays.

 

[sam vimes]

I generally find that the £150+ (RRP) fixed spool reels are a cut above their cheaper relations. However, I'm not particularly keen to pay the asking prices. I'm lucky that I have the time and inclination to watch the tackle market like a hawk. I much prefer to buy top end stuff at bargain prices. I have £200+ fixed spool reels, but don't recall ever paying more than £120. £120 is probably about my limit.

Simons TDX repair made me wince. The repair cost seemed rather excessive to me, but such is the way of the world. I doubt I'd have gone along with it. I think I'd rather have spent £30 less and got a new one of these.

 

[rayner]

I have trouble justifying paying over the top for tackle in general. A couple of reels I have had that wore out were Okuma, free spool jobs that began to clunk on the retrieve. Also Carp direct reels that sort of fell apart, I didn't mind too much they were cheap efforts.
I'm now using Shimano bait runners, the only reason I use bait runner type reels is for when fish are landed. I flick the bait runner to take pressure off the rod tip. I think they were around fifty quid each.

 

[Neil Maidment]

I've rarely bought any reel at or near the quoted RRP.

I have a pair of Shimano ST4000 Bait Runners picked up at a boot sale for £40. That was many years ago, had them serviced once and usually give them a clean once a year. They come out for the away days to the bigger rivers typically for barbel. Built to last and still going strong.

Those reels used to be the ones I used for all my FS fishing, typically waggler work, but in amongst the gear I inherited was a pair of Preston Innovations PRX Pro 400's. Those have become my reels of choice for that lighter work.

I do have a number of centrepins including those I inherited. These reels are the ones I use for virtually all my fishing on local venues. The only ones I paid anywhere near full price for were a Okuma Sheffield when they first came on the scene and a particularly good old Match Ariel. I also have a Swallow MKII which did cost a fair price but that was a leaving gift from my last employer almost 5 years ago.

Two of the 'pins I inherited are my favourites. A Shakespeare Centenary Ariel, which is a superb trotting reel, and a MKIV Speedia Deluxe Triple Check, which is my go to reel for barbel.

More recently I've bought three centrepins, all J W Young models in pristine condition, all of which were spectacular bargains.

Another absolute bargain was a job lot of assorted Trudex, Rapidex, Seldex and "Ariel" reels plus bits & pieces acquired for less than the cost of the drive to collect them. Ended up with some very nice working examples and a box of spares!

If I had the money and really wanted to treat myself with something that was special to me, I would probably investigate the option to "create" a bespoke one off centrepin!

 

[peter crabtree]

I bought 4 TDX reels 10 years ago, 2 3012 and 2 2508 which cost me nearly a grand. As I usually fish 2 matches and often 2-3 other days per week they have had a lot of use. Well worth the money in my opinion.
The one that seized was sent to Daiwa via my local shop where I originally bought them. The £105 repair bill included postage both ways and VAT.
The reel is like new, in fact I’m using it as I speak...