Alex Ball

Not saying that it's and end all. It was just the first one I had that held that light of a line. I service everything out of the box. First brand new baitcaster I bought (a VERY EXPENSIVE Lew's Reel) Failed in a week of light use. No issues on return, but it's why I defend the lesser known brands: We can't all afford Shimanos. Now, My main rigs are both over $300 each so I get the differences between my Revo SX and my Kastking Royale GT, but I still fish my cheaper stuff far more. Did my first tournament last week and all my rigs were name brand. Finished 74th out of 95 guys and girls. Happy with that, might be my only boat tourney. Very intense. In that environment, you gotta have the good stuff. BTW, my MDC is still kicking. No issues at all. Not trying to be aggressive but dang. I just said I liked that it held 4lb test, J. It may be odd, but it caught my eye. Again, I represent the entry level fishermen, not the high enders. At your level, I imagine you must have to be very discerning about your choices. I have the budget for the high end but I also like to see what's out there. Note: J. Francho, you are undoubtedly one of the stars and wisemen on this site. Not trying to kick up dust. Your views on this subject are revelatory for someone like me who is trying to figure it all out. I also had no Idea about BFS until 2 weeks ago!!! LOL. Guess I'll be getting excited about 2lb test now.....LOL

Thanks Glenn. Didn't see that one til you suggested it. Problem solved. We don't expect to do very well but both of us are newer. I'm very new and the main angler has ambitions.... I plan on being the calming force for him. Told he gets a bit ahead of himself. Needs someone easygoing to balance it. That's me! The fact that I have a friend who is a Magnate in the tackle buisiness and another who wins multiple club tourneys a year speaking very highly doesn't hurt my chances either. I love the tackle stuff man. Especially the prospect of a quick, Nascar type reel change or fix on the water. Gets me going.

Just got a ride on a bass boat as the 2 man/ tackle man for tournaments. Very new to the competitive side of fishing. Any advice on setups, tackle and anything else would be more than welcome.

Just started cranking myself. I have an Abu Orra Winch 5.4.1 $100 reel and an Abu Vendetta Winch Rod that cost $75. Many other options out there but I LOVE my Winch. I'd budget 300 bucks. Spend 200 on the setup and 100 on the tackle and CB's. It's what I did. No regrets. Got everything I wanted and didn't destroy my bank account.

Well I just bought a shimano and a daiwa for 100 bucks so they can leave me be. LOL. Sending the Procaster from Daiwa to RetroBassin on YT. NGL, The Bantam Curado 200 is mean as a pitbull who missed breakfast. Absolutely get why this is considered a GOAT candidate for baitcasters. Feel like I bought a Bentley for pennies on the dollar. Oh no doubt. Half of what I've learned has been because of this site, and I've been on for 2 weeks!

Just wanted to say how much I love these forums. Feel like I finally found my happy place with fishing and the mechanics of reels. To top it off, now I have people to talk to about and learn from on this stuff. Working on reels pulled me out of a black hole of depression. Thanks for being here. I needed this.

Saw that video. Same reel I have. Not rated for saltwater according to my manual. I also do service any reel I have before it ever sees a rod, new or not. I will acknowledge that given I can work on/upgrade it myself and I may have gotten a better unit than average, my experience is probably not average. Don't get me wrong, the moment I can get a Lew's Tournament or Revo Ike SHS or even a Daiwa CA-80 for a sub 100 option, it becomes a backup. I wanted to know what 8.1.1 was like so I got this and a Valiant Eagle. Like the MDC, traded the VE and a rod today for the CU-200. Unbelievable reel so far. No lol. Even I won't go near those clunkers. Or fishdrops or angryfish.

Never said main gear. But the Idle gear IS Plastic. Cruxis was the first and some of the bottom SLX models I believe. Please understand that the point I was trying to make is that even the mighty Shimano will take some shortcuts, so blasting a lesser known brand for the having a similar/same setup and then defending a known brand for it is nonsensical to me. BTW, just bought a CU-200 today 6.3 gear ratio and OH....MY....GOD!!! I don't have the requsite experience to define a perfect reel but... This has to be close. I'm blown away by it in every possible way. I'm not knocking Shimano. Quite the opposite, if they are using cheaper materials without incident at the 75-100 range,why is it bad if someone newer and lesser known does it for 1/2 that if it works?

Excellent points. I have an '83-84 Kunnan light rod and it's a monster. Actually better than my Shimano from the same era. Taiwan is ace on production.

Still can't. Went with SO-JANG. LOL. Good reel, the MDC. 1000 casts and smooth as new. I always service my reels, new or used when I get them. With these it's a must. Go look at the 1* reviews. Almost exclusively, the knock is that it squeals and/or then freezes after about 200 casts or so. I believe this to be because of 2 things. 1. People buying their 1st baitcaster - Many reviews state this and I think it's a good bet lack of knowledge on the equipment plays a part. It's not a spinning reel, so maintenance is much more paramount. A new user won't know to service it new unless they look it up even though it tells you to do so in the manual. 2. Abuse - I saw that review where on collapsed on the guy on the water. Nobody ever points out the stress he put it under. Those weren't normal conditions for testing. He broke one to see how much it could take and for views (It's the selling point of the video). Nobody does that to a reel on purpose. Not an accurate test. Saw another guy put 25lb FC and a mag swimbait on it. Wrong rod too. Of course it failed. Not for nothing, but Shimanos are mostly plastic gearing now at the bottom end and I guarantee you, they would fail similarly if tested the same way. So would just about anything. Also, they didn't test a "good" Sougayilang reel, just the cheapest they could get. Ever try an Abu Silvermax? Not great. Everybody has duds. I put it up against everything I had and It's the 4th best reel I own from a test standpoint. Cheapest too. Other 3 are my ABU Orra winch and sx and the Promax3. Abu for life' but the Revo Ike SHS is an offseason buy for me. This is my alternative for now. Bout to buy a Daiwa or Lew's in the 8's but this will stay in rotation. Good reel. Don't sleep on em.

Just got one monday. MDC model 8.1 gear ratio 18lbs drag 9+1bb and a 30" retrieve. That's pretty good specs and it'll hold 4lb test! Tested it hard today as a topwater setup. Excellent so far. Not perfect, but at 40 dollars what do you expect? I'll be honest, I was not expecting much and I have been very pleased so far. 1000 casts in a week and no issues at all. I'd say overlooked. I have a Kastking Valiant eagle too, and the MDC slaughters it. 80-100 dollar reel IMO for what you get. IMPORTANT!- You must,must,must, service it before you throw it. If you do that, it's a really great value.

Yes Super High Speed. Sorry my background is music and everything is abbreviated. Anything in the 8's under 150 is my goal. Duckett and Enigma are out.The Shimanos in my range have a braking system that is not well received. No Abu's I like there. Lew's, Daiwa and Quantum are the leading options. I feel like I missed somebody. This will be my first non entry level buy. I wanna get it right.

Yup. Looking at it.

No problems with my MDC so far. Good reel. Test it hard tomorrow. We'll see... As far as quality vs. the name goes, here's my view based on my last job. I was a pro musician for almost 20 years, I'm 37 and fishing is my new focus. There are similarities worth mentioning as far as equipment goes. 1. "You get what you pay for."- In the music industry, there was always a belief that the big name guitars were better because of the name on it. It meant quality and durability. Roughly 10 years ago, a company named AXL came out with exact copies of the top tier Gibsons and Fenders. How? They were all made by Samick at the time and AXL would get b-stock wood and wiring (the sexy stuff), and a-stock pickups and tuners(the heart of a guitar). Had two of em. I'll never forget turning laughter into stunned silence when guys realized my AXL WAS their gibson or tele!!! 10 years later with Harley Benton and Firefly(former AXL guys) leading the way, Gibson will quietly die off because they lost the patent lawsuits.Fender won't because they stayed in house on production at the top level. Can't produce mediocre and price it as special, you will get caught in a pro environment. I'm not saying this is the case with baitcasters, but maybe Kastking and Sougayilang are the beginning. Abu hit a slump for a while and it was the REVO series that brought em back. They almost went into a major spiral from what I understand. If you rely solely on the price tag or name, you probably miss a hidden gem. 2. "proof is in the performance"- All I have to say here is Caleb Kuphall. Piscifun was at best, a lesser known Kastking 2 months ago, and now the Phantom and the Alloy are flying off the shelf. Why? Kuphall won the Elite event at Guntersville. Actually "won" is misleading, he massacred the field by almost 15 pounds. You got to ask: "If this is a cheap brand, how come Caleb never really used but 2 reel types and both are 'low end'?" Answer- They aren't. As Newapti5 said, Kastking is a good brand operating below their ability and stepping up. Piscifun just kicked the door in. All it takes is proof you can see. Their products have been good for a bit now and people are starting to notice. Now they have to prove it long term. Time will tell, but as of now, there is reason to believe that 2=3 years from now, Sougayilang might just be competing and winning sometimes at the 50-75 dollar range. If you work on them and upgrade in areas, they way overperform their price point.Imagine what happens if they sign somebody who wins a big event? To me this is proof of performance. I don't care if it says Lew's or Lixada on the reel as long as it does what I need. Just my thoughts based on what I believe is a similar business and model as one I was in. Love this site. Good brain food.

I'm leaning to the G or the Enigma reels Ippon or Torch. The Orra Winch was my Aha! reel. Got an OrraSX in 6.4 and I'm looking for the 7.1. Best value at the range ever maybe. Several BME anglers still use the Orra Winch. It' awesome. My brother has the G in a 6.8. He loves it. He's a lefty so can't use it myself lol.

I was looking at these. Which one do you have specifically? I'm a specs guy. Down to Lew's Super Duty, Daiwa Fuego or CA80, Duckett Paradigm and Enigma Ippon or Torch. Thoughts?

Neat looking specs. Saltwater Japanese reel. Not what I need. Cool reel though.

What about the Abu Roxani? Know anything about it?

Frogging Flipping and bladed baits. Really dig the CA80 by Daiwa looks like a good option. Also looking at the Lew's KVD reel.

Wow... that's a monster! Thanks. That'll be my Frog/Blade reel. Pairing it with the Vendetta. On Ebay for 140 now.

Looking for recommendations on baitcasters in the 8 ratio under $150 dollars. Thanks. I prefer Abu but I'm open to all suggestions. 150 is the max I will spend on this, so no Revo Rockets for me. LOL.

Thanks. I've been out several times this year and I'm catching fish, just feel like I could be more organized. My favs are definitely the Orras and Max's. Good stuff. Abu is easy to learn on. But..... Chris Zaldain is my favorite!!!!! LOL. Yeah not ready for A rigs or mag stuff yet. I definitely prefer my Fenwick and Lew's Rods and My Abu's in general. Might get a Lew's soon. Do they have any thing in the 8's under 150?

I just got into fishing this year as a way to get through losing both my grandparents at Christmas. I have all the equipment I need, but I need a little help with setup Ideas. I'm not looking to upgrade because I'm just a novice. Most of this stuff came from a store that closed and the owners just gave it to me. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Also, please don't tell me I need a Shimano/Daiwa/Lew's reel, I know they are good, but I'm happy with what I have. Just looking for Ideas, maybe a list of setups. Here's my list of Rods and Reels. I have every test of FC, Braid, and Mono, so I'm covered I think. Tons of lures and sp. Thanks so much. Reels LPBC 541-Abu Orra Winch 641-Abu BMax3 Abu Gen Ike Abu Orra SX Pflueger Intensity 711-Abu Pmax3 731-Pflueger Monarch 811-Sougayaling MDC SR 511-Abu MaxX 40 521-Quantum Optix 581-Abu MaxSTX 30 Abu Max Stx 30 621-Lews Mach 2 300A RBC 381-Abu 1972 Ambassadeur 5000 631-Abu 6500 CL Rocket Rods Casting 60-Quantum Tour Edition 8-17 1/4-3/4 MF 66-Abu Bmax 8-15 1/4-5/8 MMF Abu Pmax 8-15 1/4-5/8 MMF Abu GenIke 8-15 1/4-5/8 MMF Fenwick Eagle GT 10-25 1/4-1 1/4 MHMF 68-Shimano Sellus W/J 10-20 1/4-1 MHXF 70-Lew's Laser HS 10-20 1/4-1 1/4 MHF Pflueger Monarch 10-20 1/4-3/4 MHF 72-Lew's TP1X Speed Stick 1/4-1 MHF 73-Abu Vendetta 14-30 3/8-1 1/2 HF Spinning 66-Abu Vengeance 10-14 1/4-3/4 MHF Abu MaxSTX 6-12 1/4-5/8 MMF 70-Lew's Mach 2 T/G MF

Right. Just looked at the boxes. Got two that day and got the gear ratios mixed up. Got a Pro Max 3 in 711 and the Smax with the flippin switch. 2 for 1 deal. The Smax collapsed. Te PMax is a friggin monster in it's range. I'd know, I'm a low budget gear freak. Thanks for the spot. Don't want to get it wrong. Point is, avoid the SMax. Got an Abu Orra Winch and a Fenwick Eagle GT MH MF as a replacement. Lovin it. Crankmania.

I bought a silvermax 7:1:1 because my bmax worked well and wanted a new gr. It just.... collapsed internally. Took it back to the Mom and pop i bought it from. The owner is a friend and I occasionally do some reel repairs there for his clients. Took it apart and we both gasped. The entire reel mechanism is plastic! Took apart the cheapest reel i had and it had far better components. The owner immediately went and took all the rest off the shelf. Garbage. Promax3 is far better. Don't let the Daiwa/Shimano fanboys tell you any different. You could literally put a shimano/daiwa sticker on a Sougayaling reel and they'd swear it was the GOAT reel in it's range. Right after using one with the Sougayaling label they said was crap. Bmax and Promax are THE budget reels IMO.