Reel failures?
- This topic has 10 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated Jul 31, 2006 at 10:40 pm by
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I was pondering my reel arsenal and the purchase of something for a 4wt. setup. I really appreciate decent reels and don’t have a problem paying for them. I fret over drags, bearings, materials etc…BUT, I have never had a reel malfunction on me. I own/did own everything from a Cabela’s prestige on up. Bauer, Sage, Old Florida, Pflueger, Lamson, Teton, S.A., Galvan, Ross, you name it and I have fished it(excluding super high end) and I have never had a single one fail. There are many I did not like-teton reels are horrible in my opinion, however, the two I had never actually failed. I have a $50.00 Pflueger Supreme that has an awesome drag and has been just fine on my 5wt. I guess I am trying to figure out why I want to spend $300.00 on a reel for a rod that will never see a fish that could even come close to actually testing a drag?
Who has had a reel outright blow up and stop working when fishing fresh water? What are your favorite bargain reels?
Steve I think the Orvis BBS is the best reel for the money bar none. They are light weight, dependable, extremely simple, very nice drag, and not to bad to look at either. A lifetime reel no doubt.
Bill, I didn’t buy two. The second one was a warranty replacement for the first. The 1st one was sent back because the spool to spindle tolerances were such that the spool would knock against the frame when reeling fast. The second one was not much better. Also, the Teton drag is dramatically effected by temperature change. The reels I had were used for steelhead fishing and that means cold weather. I would leave my warm car and have to constantly adjust the drag as the reel cooled to the outside temperature and then more as the day warmed. Get back in the car to move to a new spot, or stream and it would start over again. Just too much fiddling for me. I know that there are tons of people who love their Teton reels and that is great. Maybe I got a few samples of a bad production run. More likely I am too critical and picky. Take my comments and opinions to be worth what I was paid to offer them.
I have had it happen to some old redington junk, to be fair it had been used in saltwater too though.
Steve. I’ll give you my opinion. You can spend a ton of money on a reel the main purpose of which is to store line. My 4wt has a cheap diawa die cast reel. It’s an eight foot rod used mostly on Wisc, streams. I’ve caught sixteen inch browns on it and never felt the need for a fancy drag. For heavy steelhead fishing I use a Pflueger or Ross single action,because they are reliable. I’ve had multipliers explode under heavy use from steelhead or salmon.
I had a Bass Pro CV2 on my 8wt for a long time until I started doing a lot of heavy duty carp fishing with it.
Steve I’ve never had a reel fail either. And like you I own several different brands: Ross, Pflueger, Teton, Cabelas, Bass Pro, etc.
I agree with you that the Pflueger Supreme is a good reel for the money. Excellent drag as well.
My experience with Teton reels has been the exact opposite of yours though. My bread and butter rod is an 8.5 ft 5 wt for trout. My current favorite reel is a #6 Teton Tioga LA (large arbor). In my opinion its a great reel at any price. The drag does get thoroughly tested on the tailwater trout
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