Spincasting reels

[Donald Kern]

Most all of my fishing is done with spinning tackle. Often I get to take others- grandkids, friends etc, who really don't like using the spinning tackle. If any members use spincasting gear what reels do you favor for 4-6 lb line  (light to UL rod). Just want to get a few to have for when the situation arises.  

[John Sheehan]

I have an old late 80's or early 90's I guess Country mile .Try this link and research it : http://www.berkley-fishing.com/products/rods-and-combos/combos/john...

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

John is probably right, Don. I dont have any experience with the new Johnson line, but if John likes them, well... you wont get a better recommendation. I AM familiar with the old style Johnsons, to include the The Country Mile, The Crappie Pro and others of that ilk. They are some of my favorite spincasters, although OOP for several decades. If you can find them on the used market for a good price get them. 

I also like the Zebco 606 from the 70's and 80's. It is an all metal beauty and nearly bomb proof. I'Il buy any one I can find.

Among today's offerings, I like the Abu Garcia's but they are at the top of the price range.

At a notch down, you'll find the Rhino spincasters. They are strong, although maybe a tad large.

Shakespeare makes a range of light and ultra light push button reels that have served well over the last season. I've been using both top mount and underspin versions. Like most of today's stuff they are a bit plastic-y, but so far they've held up.

Finally you get to what is probably the most successful of all, Zebco's Model 33. I dont think it is possible to go wrong with one of these. Seriously.

At tomorrows dawning, were just one modern spincast reel made available, I would want it to be that one.

[Walt Foreman]

This is just my personal experience, but I've reached the point with spincast reels that I won't have anything to do with them due to poor quality across the board.  I've used spinning reels for light tackle fishing since I was in junior high, but my grandfather fished with spincast all his life, and my mom did until this year...About twenty-five years ago I bought my grandfather one of the Diawa Goldcast, which is their best spincast reel and was generally regarded at the time as the best spincast reel available; that reel performed great with nary a hitch for the rest of his fishing career, roughly ten years.  But a year ago I bought another Goldcast for my mom, to go on an 8' custom spincast rod I made for her on a fiberglass fly rod blank.  The first one I bought had a malfunctioning drag - the adjustment wheel was broken, right out of the box, and wouldn't adjust at all.  I took it back to Bass Pro, and they sent it back to the factory, and (several) weeks later the replacement reel finally arrived.  The drag adjustment wheel worked, but that's the only positive thing I can say about the reel: the drag performed so poorly every time we fished that I got fed up and converted my mom to spinning tackle.  Before the Goldcast fiasco, I had bought her a rod-and-reel combo two or three years ago, before I got back into making custom rods, off the shelf; the reel was a Pfleuger, and supposedly one of the better spincast reels out there.  About the third time she used it, the whole reel came apart - as in, the body just fell apart - as she was bringing in a fish.

It took a couple trips for her to adjust to spinning tackle, but she's already casting as far or further on average than she did with spincasting tackle, and she never has drag problems when bringing in a fish (and never has a reel fall apart at the seams).  The drag was constantly slipping every time she tried to bring in a fish with the Goldcast; I would check it to make sure it was tight enough, and it would be right for 6-lb. test, but then when she was bringing in a fish it was like the drag was loosened all the way - she would try to reel and the drag would slip, and after a couple fish the line would be so badly twisted that she would end up with a bird's nest and I'd have to cut off a bunch of line and spool up some new.  I couldn't believe the drag would be that bad on a  $60 reel; I thought maybe I was doing something wrong, even though I knew better.  Then the first time I had her use a spinning reel she was able to bring in fish no problem and I knew it was the reel.

And that's the spincast reel that had the best drag, by far, of any reel I tried out at Bass Pro.  Zebco's new "premium" spincast reel, the Z-something that costs upwards of $70, had a stuttering, catching drag that's just screaming broken line on any fish big enough to actually take line.  

I think spincast reels, like many products these days, are just made with much lower quality standards than they used to be.  They were never comparable to spinning or baitcasting reels in quality; but now they're just junk.  Just my $.02, but I would just tell your fishing guests that you care too much about their fishing success to let them fish with a reel that will likely cost them a big fish if they hook one.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I agree in the main, Walt. The ones I mentioned above are proven in use, by me. I have tried others, mind you - and have concluded much as you. 

If I wanted a solid spincast reel to go on a new rod tomorrow, I would reach for one of my used Johnson's, or get a Zebco 33. I'd prefer a 606 over even these, but I don't like to fish with mine because they certainly don't make them like THAT any more.

For all intents, I have now gone over to the Darkside - spinning reels. Every rod in my ready bag mounts one. I didn't plan that way, either, it developed.

As for Don's request, I would recommend the Zebco 33 at this point. I bought one for my SIL at Christmas, for right @ $19 at Wal Mart.

[wag]

  

    Over the years my kids used the  Diawa Goldcast ( size 80 )  with no problems.  I have four (4) of them that are in good condition.  Had them for about 20 years and haven't been used in the last 12 years.  Will sell you all  four (4)  for  $60 + shipping  if  you're  interested.       

[Jason Preslar]

The newer zebco33's aren't worth the plastic their wrapped in. I bought several that didn't last and operate hardly at all after a short period of time.

[carl hendrix]

hi buddy; my favorite all around test line is 8 pound ; never anything heavierand some of those uni spin reels are fun to use!  my spinning reels are; shimano and quantum. love those  but you also get what you pay for; as with anything

[Donald Kern]

I do have a couple of the Zebco 33 classics but they are really designed to use 10lb + line. And everyone is right about the drags- suck. Just seeing if there's something smaller out there. The few reels I have seen, I totally agree with Walts assesment - just junk.  I try to steer the diehard spincasters toward using my Shimanos but some are dead set againt using the spinning tackle. 

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

What you could do, Don, is spool the 33 Classic's (the ones I meant) with 6 lb test and go to it.

A larger point here is that you want to get your family and friends into the fun, without a lot of fuss. Most of us want the best, sure. But you gotta ask yourself if a $50 Abu Garcia is need to do that.

I'Il make a complete reversal, here (at least for purposes of this discussion) - go get some 202's, some cheap rods and turn 'em loose! LOL

[Walt Foreman]

David, I have to respectfully disagree.  Keeping it simple and inexpensive doesn't have to mean undependable junk.  A Shimano Sienna can be bought at Wal-mart for $26, and the FX series is only $15; and both reels are light years better quality and more reliable than any spincast reel made.  I think probably most of the people on this board have at some point in their fishing careers witnessed a beginner fishing with cheapo spincast gear and getting frustrated because the gear was malfunctioning or performing poorly in some way; I know I've personally seen this dozens of times.  I think a lot of anglers get in their heads the one detail that a spincast reel is quicker to learn how to cast with because of the ease of the pushbutton, and forget all the other things about these reels, from inferior drags to bad pick-up pins to sticking spools to sticking push-buttons to coffee-grinder retrieves etc., that complicate and lessen rather than simplify and improve the overall fishing experience.

Learning how to cast a spinning reel is exponentially easier than learning how, for instance, to ice-skate, or swim, or ride a bicycle; yet all of the latter activities are ones that have been mastered by millions upon millions of people who would learn a spinning reel within a few casts if that's what they were given, and think nothing of it.  What do you say to a kid or girlfriend or buddy who's never fished before, when they've been fishing ten minutes and are still unsure what they think of it, and the spincast reel you've got them using falls apart, or jams up and won't reel, or suddenly won't cast because the pick-up has stopped working?  To me, giving a novice angler a spincast reel, these days, is akin to giving a first-time ice-skater skates with divots and serrations all along the edges of the blades.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Probably nothing to do, then, but start em on spinning gear. It could be a lot worse. ;-)

I came up with cranky old spincasters. I don't have a problem with them, in principle  - it's better than not fishing. A whizz, a whiff of ozone and away we go.

I suppose my standards are too low....

My solution to something that works badly is to improve it. I am an inveterate repairer; I made a better spring for a reel yesterday, in fact. I don't have any reels that don't work as intended, for this reason.  Even the last new one I got was stripped. cleaned and re-lubed before it went into service. If nothing else, I want to know how it works.

I have noticed a tendency to too much plastic in the modern spin-cast reel. Of the ones that meet your budget of around $20, I still think the metal cased Zebco 33 is your best bet. The Rhino is another pretty good one. Both may be a tad large-ish, but not prohibitively so. I noted that the Daiwa's are still out there, as are the Abu's. 

But along with you, I must agree that when real money is going to be spent, I'd rather it be on a spinning reel. Might as well go there, straight away.

[Doug Palone]

I have a buddy who HATES spinning reels and with finding a good spin cast reel he finally found one he liked and with a lot of use went and bought more just in case they re-designed them it's the Plueger Cetina. Comes in spin cast or a trigger cast model.  I've seen pictures of pike up to 20 lbs that he's caught on this reel. 

The old Johnson Century reel is excellent although I don't use mine anymore.  Zebco 33's up through the Classic Model, 606's and 808's older models are good.  The new 33's well I don't know who designed them but they bite!!  The buddy above brought it over and had me look at it - it seems to bind up on casting and just isn't smooth like the old ones.  I did find that the angle of the spin cone and top cover were different and I think this is where the problem was.