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whats the best baitcaster under $100?


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Do yourself a favor and get one with a solid metal frame. A lot of baitcasters in this price range are essentially the same as the $125 model except without the lightweight components or without one or the other type of braking system. Buy one with a solid metal frame and you should get years of trouble free operation. You can tell the difference by looking at the reel foot.

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On 1/17/2016 at 11:56 PM, DaleGribble said:

I use a pflueger supreme $99 as one of my backups. It seems very nice for the price. Good drag and casts a variety of weights very easily. 

I personally feel Pflueger is under-rated.  I still have one Trion purchased used.  (Gave one to a deserving young man who was thrilled with it.)  Not pretty.  Not the lightest.  Mine is mounted on a 6'10" HF and spooled with 17# mono.  Casting machine with this set-up.  Love my Patriarch XTs.  Definitely wouldn't hesitate to buy another Pflueger.

 

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On 1/17/2016 at 1:24 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

The H2O Mettle from Academy on sale is tough to beat. I have a few and the most a paid for any was $40. They've been bulletproof so far with the oldest one over 3 years old. 

Someday I will get lucky and catch the H2O on sale, and pick one up.  Preferably at the $25 price some have been lucky enough to buy one at.  Hate paying full price.

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On 1/16/2016 at 9:31 PM, Adam Kain said:

whats the best baitcaster under $100?

A $200 reel that one of our members is selling in the Flea Market.

 

:winter-146:

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3 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

A $200 reel that one of our members is selling in the Flea Market.

Great advice!!  I have seen some great deals in the Flea Market on barely used reels. Probably the most bang for your buck going this route

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If you can pick up the Johnny Morris Signature Series reel from BPS for under $100, that is one hell of a smooth reel; it's a little bigger than the PQ and the Revo SX's, but it fits my palm nicely, and is a great looking / feeling reel.  I like the Pro Qualifier, as well - pretty smooth, tough, has the DBS (although I set mine at two and forget it), and is a wench.  As I posted in a different area - I forget which one because they keep moving my posts all over the place - I dunked a BPS PQ in April, fished it out last month, and it works just fine.  

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I would personally save another 30 dollars. 130 dollars is the price range that I call make or break, anything over you can make it work for years fairly well, and reliably. Anything under that is going to break, it's going to get pretty bad boat rush if you have it stored improperly during hot months, or have it laying in a boat during the hot days with sun.

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Hey guys,

So I have 5+ years of fishing experience with a long hiatus due to going to school in the city. However, I'm finally going to be able to get back into fishing in the spring - ice is still frozen at most places near Chicago. So, all that experience for the most part is with a spinning reel casting out crankbaits when I was younger, but I've made the decision to purchase a casting setup to try it out. To get back in the swing of things, I'm probably going to be fishing a lot of basic rigs - mostly bottom dragging stuff. Any suggestions, besides the one mentioned already? I found this Lew's Laser MG on sale. Is this comparable to the Speed Spool that was posted on page 1 of the thread, etc? Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks. By the way, price range is under $100 for the reel.

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If memory serves me right, it usually goes for about $70 during the sales. It went down to $50 one time, but not sure if that was during spring sale or end of the year sale. 

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On Tuesday, January 26, 2016 at 7:00 PM, SenkoGuru said:

Daiwa Tatula can be bought for $94 and it is the best reel made under $100.

No doubt the Tatula has positive fans - conversely it has just as many negative fans due to the "T" wing level wind .

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm sure most people don't even notice the Daiwa Laguna on any display shelf, but for $60 it can not be beat. I oiled mine up and was smooth as butter. I will say after about a year of grueling use on it, you can really hear the gears grind when your fighting a fish, but was not hesitant to buy another. With the fact that this reel is only $60, you can get a fish-able setup to catch all kinds of fish for about 140 bucks! ( do not recommend the Laguna rod, as mine broke before I could even use it ).I use many mid priced range reels ( Revo SX and Revo STX are a few examples) and can honestly say it preforms right up there with them. If you ever see one on sale pick it up ( I found and bought one for 30 bucks at Gander Mountain! ).  Like I said, they retail at 60 dollars, so go ahead, do yourself a favor and pick one up! This was the very first baitcast reel I have ever owned and think this would be a great addition to any arsenal! 

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You can find a Daiwa Laguna black casting reel right now for $30 brand new and that is a good reel and reviews are always positive and that is paying $60....The Silver max, Pro Max reels can be found for under $30 as well, usually reconditioned and they are a good deal, I would also strongly consider the Pflueger Trion and right now you can buy a Lews Speed Spool brand new the lazer for $49 on ebay...

I have high end reels and lower end reels, and sometimes I can't tell the difference, I just like bringing less expensive stuff when I am off land, or kayak, or someone is borrowing....I have been amazed at how much of a beating the Silver Max can take and still hold up, same with Daiwa Laguna which I  would have figured are not good.

Someone mentioned the Mettle from Academy and I plan on buying several when they go on sale since I have never heard a bad thing about them and they have awesome specs for the money...

If I can spend $50 or less on a reel, that is important to me as I can now buy a better rod, and better line....and maybe some tungsten weights which are super expensive and that is what makes bargain hunting so fun...You can find reels like the Okuma Serrano brand new on Ebay and win the auction for $50 and that is a legit $200 reel that is saltwater ready...I have 3 of them and Okuma honors the 3 years even if you fall and break a piece...Customer service is unreal, one guy online is stuck with them and they are not popular since they are green and marketed toward saltwater but it is just like the Komodo which is awesome....

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