What Brand of Reel are you using now:

[Bigfish171]

Baitcasters: 2 Calcutta 150's & a Diawa Coastal.

Spinning: 2500 Stradics & a couple of Spheros.

Plus a bunch of stuff that sees only occasional use, if any.

[GILs_GONE_WILD]

Assuming you mean spinning reels, I clicked Shimano because I have three of those, 1 Diawa and a couple other off brands. Oh and 1 old Zebco XR11 spinning reel.

I have 3 Zebco 33's and an ultralight. And a couple of others I'd have to look at to see what they are. I think they are Johnson Crappie reels.

Fly fishing ... I have 2 TFO's, 1 Redington, 2 Cabela's, 1 Crystal River, 1 Pfleuger Medalist, 1 AFR 1810 (whatever) that is and 1 J.C. Higgins (on the J.C. Higgins rod on my den wall for decoration). .

[Mako]

maybe Hand Reels...now there would be a Challenge

hand reel and a topwater I gotta try this one day.

I still remember my college days back in the late 70's fishing for reds and trout in the Indian River with my hand reel.

[Monkey]

Hatch fly reels

[fishnfinatic]

There's likely nothing wrong with your reel...it probably just needs more routine maintenance. Heck, the most expensive reels Shimano builds require fairly continual maintenance if you want them to perform optimally. That's just the nature of salt water exposure.

I know how to maintain my reels...I have only had it for about 6 mos.

[TerryW]

Because I don't use just one brand, I could have selected several options on both the rod and the reel threads. If you had asked which one do I PREFER, now that would have gotten a succint response from me.

Therefore, this poll is off a bit...... But you knew that.

[Dirty Dave]

An old beer can spooled with 20 feet of line.

[tbray]

Lately i have been using my paddle/potatoe.....urrrrr..potato gun with the night glow tracers....


shimano stradics 2k and 4k series (just starting to have grinding issues after three years...)

I have heard nothing but good things about okumas....but for overall performance i would have to stick with the bud "heavy" and mono. Cheap maintenance

[Dirty Dave]

....but for overall performance i would have to stick with the bud "heavy" and mono. Cheap maintenance

And for the mere price of a 12 pack, you can have a dozen quality outfits. Mix and match the brands, use tall-boys for those situations where you need larger line capacity, even give some away as gifts. Just the thing for those hard to buy for friends and reletives at Christmas time.

[Redfisher]

Shimano, Diawa and Penn

but I wish Diawa and Penn were made by Shimano

[wadefisher616]

Give me a "20" size Quantum Cabo! Please!

Yes, please! I have been waiting too long for that reel.

[BBabcock]

Like all of you I have way to much equiptment. Below is a full inventory. The set up that gets the most playing time is the Shimano Calcuta 250 TE DC matched to a Airrus Ultra XL. For anyone pitching top water up to the mangroves this is a dream combo. The control is outstanding. I am able to pitch baits all day long and feel confident that I won't spend much time in the trees. If I see movement in the distance the Digital Control on the real allows amazing distance and acuracy. At first I was very reluctant and couldn't find a dealer to demo the reel. I found several great reviews and finally made the jump. I matched it up with the Airrus Ultra XL 6'8". If you haven't seen these rods, the reel seat is wound into the blank and there is no grip above the reel. It gives you incredible feel and alows the reel to sit lower on the rod for better handling. Shimano just introduced the Calais DC with a 7:1 retrieve, This should be added to the list soon and will be matched with the same Airrus rod.

Bait Casters-

Shimano Calcuta 250 TE DC / Airrus Ultra XL
Shimano Conquest 300 TE (Japan Version) / Airrus Ultra XL
Shimano Calcuta 200B / Airrus Ultra XL

Spinning-

Shimano Stratic 2000 / St Croix Primier
Shimano Stratic 4000 / St Croix Legend
Shimano Stratic 4000 / St Croix TideMaster
Fin Nor Micro / St Croix Primier
Fin Nor AHAB 8 / St Croix TideMaster
Fin Nor Ahab 12 / Custom Pier Rod (Pan Handle Style)

Fly-

9' 8wt
Fork Outfitters
G-Loomis Reel

9' 8wt
Fenwick
Sientific Angler Reel

[Blindmullet]

I was a Penn guy for the longest time, but got tired of wobbley reels and anti-reverse parts orders. I switched to Okuma this year and I have had NO problems. I have a Penn 5500 that has a new bearing and all the anti-reverse stuff.... $50 OBO? I want to get another Okuma Epixor....30series

[John]

I used to be all Shimano Stradic, until the upgrade they amde a couple of years back, now I'm all about Diawa, and in particular Diawa Advantage, smoother and more durable than the shimano by far.

[reel fun]

i used to use shimano spheros exclusively..2 3000's , 1 4000 and 1 5000, and a Diawa BG30 for offhsore but i picked up a new diawa Exceler 3000 and I really like it, its smooth, no wobble and the drag is very smooth..the reel is also very light...i have heard some rumors of the bail springs being shotty in those but we'll see...Josh

[Erick]

This would have been my guess on the breakdown in Reels:

Shimano (near or slightly greater than 50%)
Okuma
Penn
Daiwa
Quantum
etc

So this was a little surprising as Shimano did not have nearly the market share I thought and Quantum was higher than I expected.

I own reels from several manufacturers although I have sold most everything but my Quantums. I was Penn for years, upgraded to Stradics from Shimano. And I really like my Quantums better than anything I have owned in the past. Especially the Catalyst Inshore series. I seem to be more partial to those rather than the Cabo's or Boca's. Look for that 20 Cabo later this year.

Thanks again for sharing and giving me that information.