Hi all!,

 

My nephew asked me for a "freshwater fishing reel" for Christmas. I'm not a big fisherman myself so I'm not really sure what to look for in a reel. What are some do's and dont's when buying a reel?

 

I'm currently leaning towards this reel. Is Shimano a reputable brand for reels?  Any recommendations?

 

Thanks!

Shimano, Daiwa, Abu Garcia, Penn, Pflueger, Pinnacle all make quality reels in the $50 range. The model shown has a rear drag which work fine but are a bear to work on. IMO the biggest bang-for-the-buck in spinning reel in this price range is the Pflueger President.

This spring I bought a Pflueger President which I've been very pleased with.

What kind of rod does he have already? what does he fish with? How old is your nephew? Has he ever tried a spinning reel?

 

 

I think the biggest don't in buying a reel is choosing the correct size for the application you're using it for, that will depend on what you target and what size line you use.

I recently bought a similar Shimano, though I bought the Syncopate in a 1000 size as a temporary reel until I get a better one at the holidays....with the intent of passing it down to my 11 yr old son if/when he's ready for an upgrade to his spincast Zebco.  I really like it compared to the cheap Quantum I broke and replaced on my rod with this Syncopate...but as Tomustang posted, you would probably need to ascertain some target fish, line preference, rod specs and such to narrow down even the size for that Shimano you like.

Personally I wouldn't worry about repair on a sub $50 reel, but if one is a Pure Fishing product would be my choice.  Any of the name brands in this price range are going to be decent performers, picking one over another is just personal preference.  As mentioned size is relative to rod and line.