Eric 26

As I’ve stated previously I’m no reel expert and have stated before I’m personally happy with my Piscifun products in which I’ve even shared the models along with my BPS products. I’m not into the whole bfs scene but I’m interested enough to just enjoy reading/watching about it and I’m familiar enough with the names you mentioned above which makes me feel you know more than you’re letting on. Lastly I personally feel @Bigbox99 has done an excellent job pointing out some of the better alternative products also and although I can’t speak for him I for one would have no problem reaching out via a PM to him. I will also add the Piscifun Alloy M reel had received some love but looks unavailable currently.

@Glenn It’s a shame it’s turning into such a thread as I for one do feel some of the Chinese manufactured reels are worth mentioning to those of us who would like to watch our budget while buying the best we can afford. I will also say thank you Glenn for having an open mind and not banning such discussions being had before they do turn ugly.

I’ll second this even though I only own 2 bait casting rods I really like mine especially my 7’-0” medium power rod. I also have a 6’-10” medium powered casting rod in the Lews Hank Parker series and I can say with 99.99% certainty they are the exact same rods with the difference being Wynn grips vs EVA foam on my HP rod which I believe they are now cork grips. Either way excellent rods for the money and the HP series are available at Walmart which practically every town has.

@little giant That’s cool to learn that Dream Tackle had Okuma’s blessing which I didn’t know about. Although I can’t speak for anyone else on here I found out about that reel in particular and also Kast King and Piscifun watching YT videos when I first decided to get back into fishing and was searching for some “budget” friendly reels and thankfully searching for a good “frog” reel recommendation led me to this site. Although I’m going to tread lightly here so as to not get the thread shut down @12poundbass & @FloridaFishinFool those are both excellent points being made and I find it extremely disappointing to know that is how many of those companies operate which is something I guess I don’t think about often enough and as mentioned especially when it comes to rods I’m becoming increasingly interested in purchasing rods from St. Croix for a variety of reasons. I will also add that thanks to this site but especially my friend @bulldog1935 & my Canadian friend @MiceNReets my eyes were opened to the ease and purchasing power of buying from Japan and in particular Ron for sharing his knowledge on Korean made fishing rods which for me at least I have yet to try out. Oh boy the monkey is really fired up now but after a big hard scape project in our backyard which I will share in another thread he’s going to have be put on hold for awhile 😉

Daiwa Tatula Ct TTUCT100XS for $99.00 and it says left hand retrieve only but the model numbers indicate a right hand retrieve. I received a pop up ad on my laptop for Scheels for this deal.

May I suggest searching up this thread 😉

I’m going to chime in with a few reels I know for sure are “alternative’s” to the OEM and a few I’m not sure of. First example are my Dream Tackle reels based on the Okuma Hakai, secondly would be my former BPS Carbonlite 2.0 casting reel which was definitely a dual braked white vs black Lews LFS, I also own a spinning version of this reel that is definitely a different colored Daiwa and a JM Platinum spinning reel that I was informed is a Fuego in disguise but I can’t verify that. Going back a few years I bought a new Cabela’s Arachnid that even says Daiwa on it and I’m pretty sure the Prodigy spinning reels were made by Daiwa also. All of the reels I’ve mentioned were/are cheaper than their name brand counterparts but as was pointed out by @Glenn I couldn’t tell you if there are any internal differences as I’m nowhere near the point of tearing down my reels as I don’t possess the mechanical skills such as @bulldog1935, @redmeansdistortion @Bigbox99 and many others on here possess but if you’re willing to search on YT I’m pretty sure there are comparison videos of name brand vs knock offs out there. I’ll also say that although I own reels by the big 3 companies I enjoy some of the knock off reels I own and have and will continue to suggest the Piscifun brand for a cheaper alternative to many of the big brands and in fact my Piscifun Saex Elite is nothing more than a dual braked different accent colored Ardent Elite and I know first hand that at least one part swaps between the two as I couldn’t get the part from Piscifun but Ardent sent it to me. Here’s a photo comparing my reels to the Hakai.

I contemplated writing this and I should know better but I’m going to throw my .02 cents in anyway, and it is there are a lot of really good deals from the overseas “OEM” manufacturers such as @Bigbox99 has pointed out and I can say I’ve taken advantage of them to getting a really good sale such as @redmeansdistortion has pointed out that I have and I’m hoping to again take advantage of also. Me personally I just like buying and trying everything from A-Z and I’m always looking for a great buy whether it’s a sale/closeout/good product at a great price or just an unknown name such as has been pointed out I’m willing to try it and I’ll definitely share my opinion if anyone interested.

Now that my kid is going to be going to school at GVSU I’m going to make it a point to swing through the Meijer when I’m up that way. That sale price combined with my son’s discount for working for Meijer would definitely make me buy one or better yet a Pro Max.

@Stylez78 Although I can’t speak as far as the Piscifun Carbon X’s salt water capabilities I can tell you I’ve had my 3 Piscifun Carbon X’s for years and absolutely love them. 2 maybe 3 🤔seasons ago I wound up catching one of my combos on a back cast and sent it completely submerged for about 10 minutes and as I’m not very good at tearing apart reels I did nothing but let it dry out and have used it with zero issues ever since. I will also add that although I’ve added 2 Shimano spinning reels (Stradic & Miravel) based on the recommendations of both my friend @bulldog1935 and many others on here along with a Daiwa B&G that I found at a deal that couldn’t be passed up I still have zero issues recommending the Carbon X as a budget option and there is always a 15% off code somewhere on the internet (my wife uses one such site for all Amazon purchases) but I’m not sure if the name is allowed on here although I’ll pm you if you want the site name. These are my 3 (2) 1000 size & (1) 2000 size.

Although I can’t speak about their rods I will say I “tried” a lower end reel and couldn’t get rid of it fast enough, but I cannot recommend their Carbon X spinning reels enough and still have and really like a baitcaster I purchased from them many years ago. My point is as you’re trying to stay in a tight budget I say go for it and I probably shouldn’t have said “NO” to the Kast King rods either as again I’m extremely impressed with my Speed Demon rod. If their rods and especially the Torrent rods which I believe have been around quite awhile are 1/2 as good as the Carbon X reels I for one think you’ll be very pleased.

@Bazoo Reading this thread made me break out my combo which I’m hoping I can use this upcoming week.

@Red Beard Listen to this man’s advice.

@Red Beard Ok so a quick search on the Daiwa website shows they have the Aird X in 7’-0” medium heavy fast action in 2 piece @$59.99. Go back to either store and ask them to order it for you, I did this with a Lews rod from Dicks sporting goods when they didn’t have the rod in stock and I’m sure either store you mentioned will be able to do the same or just go to Tackle Warehouse and order it from them.

Oh my god I just laughed out loud 😂🤣

Another great example and a highly recommended rod and as a bonus if you’re into color matching your combos like me it would look great as a combination 👍🏻

@Red Beard NO!! And just for clarification I own both a low end casting reel of theirs and a Speed Demon rod, I will say I love the rod which is definitely out of your price range and although I enjoyed the budget reel for what it is I’m planning on trading it in next spring if BPS does their normal trade-in promotion during the spring classic sale. So for under $60.00 it’s going to be a bit tougher but without knowing where you are geographically I’m only going to stick with BPS and Wal-Mart for rods for now. As far as all purpose I personally like a med/medium heavy moderate fast rod and I have a few. I’ll start with 2 from BPS, the first is a BPS Graphite series rod @$39.99 although I don’t own one I’ll explain my choice in a minute. The second one is a Fish Eagle casting rod which again I don’t personally own but have handled both in store and really feel they’re nice rods for the money and BPS has a very generous return policy as long as you keep the receipt. My second recommendation is from Wal-Mart and it’s a Lews Hank Parker rod in 6’-10” medium power which I do own and although a few inches shorter it’s a really good all around rod in my personal opinion. I could keep going as I’m all about “budget” rods or getting a great deal but I feel I’ve gone a bit far with my word salad already 😉

🤔…..I noticed you said right now. Signed your friend,

If you don’t want to sell it at home see if your local police department has a seller’s section in there parking lot such as mine does. Other municipalities in my area have a dedicated room in their police station’s for transactions such as this which are loaded with 360 degree cameras.

Although I know this isn’t a fishing item I feel it’s a deal worth sharing. I have 2 pairs currently with 1 being this exact pair and my first pair was purchased in 2020 and resoled in 2023 before I finally split the leather in the toe area and had to retire them just this past month all while being on my feet 5 days a week for up to 60 hours in pretty bad conditions including but not limited to a ton of water, mud and lime dust although I will admit I bought a 2nd pair while having my original pair resoled and swapped them back and forth about every other week which helped the longevity.

Years ago I had the pleasure of working on the then brand new to Norhern Illinois BPS in Gurnee Illinois. I’ll never forget beating up endless planks of 1x4’s-1x14’s with everything from a planer that my boss smashed the blade on with a hammer to lengths of varying sized chains and various other tools to give them a “worn” in look that had to be approved by an actual BPS higher up team member. I have one much closer to me currently in Bolingbrook and I really enjoy shopping there and my retirement plan involves working their on a part time level for the above mentioned discount.

I will start by saying although I’m not currently in the market for a kayak but hoping to be next season I’m really enjoying reading this portion of the site and have learned a lot about what to look for and the philosophy of “buying once crying once” as the saying goes. With that said the above mentioned company popped up on my computer and it lead me to a you tube video with what I’m assuming is the owner of the company, I’m curious if any of you seasoned kayakers know anything about them and if so what your thoughts and or opinions on them are.

@FloridaFishinFool I’m the one who posted the Lagunitas Hazicus Maximus and it’s definitely worth trying if available in your neck of the woods. Also much like yourself with rum and Jack Daniel’s and @TOXIC with slo gin I can’t smell Southern Comfort to this day due to what is probably an embarrassment to admit but I will anyway as a cautionary tale. When I was 16 I got so drunk on it I don’t remember being dropped/helped off the back of one of my older neighbor/friends motorcycles and then proceeded to say hello to both my father who was in the garage at the time with a neighbor and scared the 💩out of said friend before saying hello to my mother and 10 of the neighborhood ladies as it was Friday night club for them before passing out only to be woken up early the next morning by my rather calm mother who made me eat a big pancake breakfast before going to my sophomore high school football game in which my coach was my former Catechism class teacher and very good church family friend of my parents and my sister to this day who then proceeded to make me play both sides of the ball game until I wound up losing my breakfast right there in the huddle. Although it was many years ago I still remember it and darn near lost my dinner one night while out with my then girlfriend and now wife along with her parents when my FIL ordered a Southern Comfort Manhattan🤢