Best spinning reel

[yobuck]

I could never be a guide! I have no patience! Guys that really fish are different it's more like sharing information? Hand a rookie a piece of Floro and tell him to tie it to the braid with a Uni to Uni ..and watch the looks you get.

Yeah but don't forget if it was really hard to do, even the "PROS" couldn't do it. Lol
I just don't think spinning reels were designed with big fish especially the likes of very large Tuna in mind and especially when trolling.
Mind you I'm not saying it cant be done because I know it is.
But not without an experienced crew with a proper boat.
What's the point anyway?

 

[Onstep]

The best heavy duty spinning setups are either the Twinpower or Stella Shimano. Everything else either needs to modified to keep up or will fail well before either of these give up. This goes for Bluefin popper fishing to deep drop GTs.

 

[Capt RB]

The best heavy duty spinning setups are either the Twinpower or Stella Shimano. Everything else either needs to modified to keep up or will fail well before either of these give up. This goes for Bluefin popper fishing to deep drop GTs.

Most local to me are moving away from the Stella in the bluefin popping fishery and moving to the dogfight or VS.
This is the dogfight on a ghosthunter(broken in the pic). The angler was a HS student of a good friend I fish with. Most rec guys do at some point get stellas. However the best popping charters here are using the VS and dogfight. This was off Chatham Ma if you know Bluefin popping you'd know the name of the town

 

[Onstep]

Yep I know the area and the primary reason the charters are using that gear isn't the performance. It's the deal on the purchase up front. That's all good it's a biz and aren't getting rich out there.

 

[Capt RB]

Yep I know the area and the primary reason the charters are using that gear isn't the performance. It's the deal on the purchase up front. That's all good it's a biz and aren't getting rich out there.

Actually, it is. The reason why dogfights and Van Stahl are players is that they seem to last longer in this fishery. I've used all of the above and a few that are not mentioned. Some not yet available to the public. Stellas are a great pkg for a rec guy or a modest charter operation. Day in day out other options have merit for a reason. To qualify my opinion. I've been commercial fishing out of Chatham since 1974 and casting to bluefin since 1977. Many of the "new" crap you read about we were doing in the 70's and 80's. Since it was before google was born those methods were not widely known to the masses. Jigging was done differently with the equipment used but was alot less taxing on the angler back then.

 

[Muddyboots]

26Reload: Just sold a perfect C4 with American Classic machined aluminum spool that I had as an extra! I still have some left that have held up since I bought them new in 80's. Best steelhead reel I have used and have held up under every imaginable condition. I still have a C4X which has high speed retrieve for a thousand casts is great.

 

[Greyfox]

My Van Staal has see several years of rocks, sand, and salt...and continues to work flawlessly.

 

[Pmacc60]

I use Shimano C+14. It works perfectly for my needs. As I often hunting pike, this spinning reel does its job. Before I used Flugers but I do not remember a model. In my opinion, Shimano is much better. But when you are fishing pike it's better to think about pike lures as pikes are not so big fishes and any good reel will be a good option.

I have to agree, there is little negative to be said about Shimano reals these days. The C-14 is a quality product and so much better than any reels say in the past 15 years.

 

[Capt RB]

I have to agree, there is little negative to be said about Shimano reals these days. The C-14 is a quality product and so much better than any reels say in the past 15 years.

The biggest issue with Shimano reels is not the product but the support. I have an FA Stella I can no longer buy parts for readily. Shimano will upgrade a product and 5 years later will discontinue making parts for the older version. If you have an older repair shop they may have parts for you. Other than that you will now have like in my case a 1000 dollar paperweight. I have 2 80's that I can no longer service. These were the original beast masters not the new electrics of today. Penn still makes the parts for stuff I was handed down from my grandfather. VS was that way before zebco parent bought them but since the parts are still very similar you can cross-reference the newest to the older stuff seamlessly.
The only reason for the reply was yesterday the last Shimano I own/use broke on a nice striped bass for a client. Cost him at least a mid-forty-pound fish. That set up was used just for snagging bait and the bass ate the snagged bait. Had it been on one of the VS or Cabo's he would have had a better shot.

 

[Pmacc60]

The biggest issue with Shimano reels is not the product but the support. I have an FA Stella I can no longer buy parts for readily. Shimano will upgrade a product and 5 years later will discontinue making parts for the older version. If you have an older repair shop they may have parts for you. Other than that you will now have like in my case a 1000 dollar paperweight. I have 2 80's that I can no longer service. These were the original beast masters not the new electrics of today. Penn still makes the parts for stuff I was handed down from my grandfather. VS was that way before zebco parent bought them but since the parts are still very similar you can cross-reference the newest to the older stuff seamlessly.
The only reason for the reply was yesterday the last Shimano I own/use broke on a nice striped bass for a client. Cost him at least a mid-forty-pound fish. That set up was used just for snagging bait and the bass ate the snagged bait. Had it been on one of the VS or Cabo's he would have had a better shot.

I would be upset as well, my grandson stepped on my Shimano sustain handle and broke it. The 3000FE closer to $300 real but I looked for a new handle and found none to be had. I did however find a site Ereplacementparts.com and ordered one from them. It just was delivered today I see. I will let you know if it works out. Some of the Penn parts for the SS reals are drying up as well.

 

[Springtom]

I have an older model Shimano Twin Power from probably the 90's that I bought on Ebay a few years ago for about $170. Last year I slayed 2 yellowfin tuna upwards to 50 pounds on it no problem. I was honestly a little worried about the drag, but it worked those fish easily. This is an 8000 series reel so not huge. I'm a big fan of top notch gear, even if its older and used. They are built to last. Now finding replacement parts will be tough, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Honestly just catching those 2 tuna paid for the reel and then some. I definitely suggest looking on Ebay/craigslist depending on your location for older top level pieces of kit.. just my 2 cents

Thom

 

[CTK]

I am boatless and require an enormous amount of spinning gear to keep my kids fishing on family beach trips. I have a fully disassembled Battle 2 in a Plastic tray box that I cannot figure out how to properly grease and put back together. Every Battle that I have owned has taken a dump on me. I have multiple Spinfisher reels that are hanging in there. I have finally figured out that it is sand and full submersions in saltwater that are wrecking my spinning reels. In particular, the fine "sugar" sand of the Northern FL Gulf Beaches. I have had recent luck with Diawa BG reels. I would buy nicer reels but fear that they would meet the same fate as moderately priced reels. One day I will have a saltwater boat. When this happens I will invest in high quality spinning reels. Until then I am convinced that there is no reasonable way to keep a kid, of any age, from getting sand in a reel. Kids also cannot help themselves from submerging a reel in saltwater, regardless of the fishing situation. Realize that this is a departure from the original post and a specialized application, but my point is that all moderately priced saltwater spinning reels are fallible. Not sure about the fancy ones as I have never had the courage to risk the purchase of any. If I am allowed to saltwater fish on my own, I almost always use a fly rod. My main saltwater fly reels are Tibor reels that I bought over 20 years ago. They never have let me down.

 

[CTK]

I have an older model Shimano Twin Power from probably the 90's that I bought on Ebay a few years ago for about $170. Last year I slayed 2 yellowfin tuna upwards to 50 pounds on it no problem. I was honestly a little worried about the drag, but it worked those fish easily. This is an 8000 series reel so not huge. I'm a big fan of top notch gear, even if its older and used. They are built to last. Now finding replacement parts will be tough, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Honestly just catching those 2 tuna paid for the reel and then some. I definitely suggest looking on Ebay/craigslist depending on your location for older top level pieces of kit.. just my 2 cents

Thom
[/QUOTE

I have always wanted to catch a yellowfin. Guessing they would destroy a 100.00 spinning reel. I have caught blackfin on fly and spinning gear up to about 25lbs.

 

[Pmacc60]

The biggest issue with Shimano reels is not the product but the support. I have an FA Stella I can no longer buy parts for readily. Shimano will upgrade a product and 5 years later will discontinue making parts for the older version. If you have an older repair shop they may have parts for you. Other than that you will now have like in my case a 1000 dollar paperweight. I have 2 80's that I can no longer service. These were the original beast masters not the new electrics of today. Penn still makes the parts for stuff I was handed down from my grandfather. VS was that way before zebco parent bought them but since the parts are still very similar you can cross-reference the newest to the older stuff seamlessly.
The only reason for the reply was yesterday the last Shimano I own/use broke on a nice striped bass for a client. Cost him at least a mid-forty-pound fish. That set up was used just for snagging bait and the bass ate the snagged bait. Had it been on one of the VS or Cabo's he would have had a better shot.

I received my replacement handle from eReplacementparts.com yesterday . This may help you find parts for your Stella. It did take 3 + weeks for it to arrive but it was the only source I could find who had the part. Hope this helps