Slightly different question - nearly the same answer
I just answered a post just above this one with nearly the same answer I'm copying below, but I will add this:
A/ I prefer Abu round baitcasters for all my fluking - Bay, Inshore or in the deep - for the money they are usually the best buy in their class. I also lean heavily on my Abu's for bass casting, though I find my new Curado 300 is more and more becoming my "go to" for even this applcation. What a terrific and powerful little reel that one is.
B/ I just traded in my pair of Tekota 500 reels (as terrific as they were) for a pair AVET MXJs, specfically for bunker swimming and chunking - I think that for the money they are by far the best of the current generation of reels for these purposes.
I will say this however, despite some on this site's contention that I overly shill for Shimano, I will ALWAYS give them first shot at any new reel I might be interested in and here's why:
1/ That company spends like heck in the product development part of tackle manufacturing - they don't always hit the target 100%, but they do try very hard. That research costs good money and they need to recoup it in the price of their products - thus they will almost never be the least expensive option, but usually will be the best engineered. Some of their stuff is a bit "out there" price-wise, but you really can't question the engineered-in quality of any of it.
Yes, their new Lucanus jigs are a bit pricey (imo) and derivative of other earlier lures out there (as are about 90% of EVERY other type of lure available to us) and their Torsa vertical jiggers are really too expensive (again, imo of course), but their "regular guy" stuff? Well priced for what you get, I would say.
2/ Many here know that I work on reels for members of this site gratis - for the cost of the parts only. Its not something I talk up, because God knows I've got a full enough plate just doing my own thing. But if there's a problem with a reel and there's some reason not to ship it out, it frequently comes to me for last-chance service. Think of me as a resource of last resort. And now the "secret" is out, I suppose. Oh well.
Here's where it ties into what we've got under discussion here - I don't usually do all the many brands of reels out there - I tend to shy away from older Penn conventional reels for example.. But one thing's for sure, if it is a Shimano product, I stand a better than good chance of getting the proper part(s) the first time and making that reel whole again with a week or two.
If I need a part for a Shimano reel, all I need do is bring up the Shimano site, look up the reel and download the appropriate .pdf file. Then a quick call to Shimano directly, and the part is on its way. Try that with Daiwa, Okuma or any of the other players. Good luck even finding the proper schematic.
Even Abu - as great as they are about parts - doesn't have a huge reserve of older reel schematics on their site - which forces me to look at third-party sources for parts schematics - with spotty results - at best. Or make a phone call to Abu in Spirit Lake, Iowa and wade thru a 30 minute conversation with CS searching for the appropriate part.
3/ If its a small part or two that's required to get a reel up and running, then Shimano usually insists on sending them out no charge, inclusive of the shipping. How the heck can you beat that?
So for me its a no brainer - Shimano comes first in any new reel evaluation, then all the other brands get in line - regardless of reel type.
best, Lep
This post edited by Leprechaun 08:42 PM 03/09/2008
