I'm wanting to purchase a drop shot reel I seem to be stuck between the president and supreme. IMO it seems that the president has a smoother retrieve but the supreme has a better gear ratio for drop shot and is lighter by 0.8 oz's. I was wondering is it worth spending the extra $40 or should I go with the president.

The Supreme is a magnesium framed reel with a sealed drag, it is a better reel. That said, the President is the only graphite framed reel that I would recommend because it has stood the test of time, I swear every guy in our club has one that is 10 years old and still working well.

2 hours ago, smalljaw67 said:

The Supreme is a magnesium framed reel with a sealed drag, it is a better reel. That said, the President is the only graphite framed reel that I would recommend because it has stood the test of time, I swear every guy in our club has one that is 10 years old and still working well.

So your saying the president will last a long time

any decent reel will last a long time if you take care of it.

I have an old president and bought a supreme last year for dropshotting and finesse applications as well. Tbh I'm not sure if I'd get the supreme over the president if I was going to do it all over again. I have had an issue with the line getting pinched on edge of the line roller on my supreme. It might be a simple fix but I haven't really looked at it yet. Other than that I have no complaints so far, it is a nice reel. 

The Pflueger President is a tank.  Get it & use the extra $40 you saved to buy more lures.

You could split the difference and get the new president xt. Basically a lighter version of the president. But where I work, the president is the best selling reel in the store by far. A great reel for 60$

I can not comment on the Supreme since I have no experience with them. However I can share my experience with the President reels.  My wife and I own 7 of them. Some are over 10 years old and two are less than 2 years old. They are work horses. They get USED all of the time but I have never had to repair any of them. Last April we were fishing on Dale Hollow for big smallies. The big females had just come off the beds and were holding tight in grass beds located out on main lake in 10 to25 feet of water. They would not eat anything except Ned Rigs. We fished Ned rigs for about 40 hours in 7 days. I landed 15 smallies weighing over 5 pounds each.  The were caught using a G Loomis 6 foot light action rod. I lost count of the 3 to 5 pounders we caught.  The ultimate torture test was the 8 pound channel cat that ate her Ned Rig. She looked like Ike running from the back to the front decks. That Plueger President held up great during that battle. The drag worked nice and smooth and she did a perfect job of wearing that big cat out till I finally netted it. I could not get one bass to eat a jerkbait, rattle trap, paddle tail swimbait, or even a jig until the last two days.  So we used the spinning gear almost all of the time.

 

3 hours ago, MassYak85 said:

I have an old president and bought a supreme last year for dropshotting and finesse applications as well. Tbh I'm not sure if I'd get the supreme over the president if I was going to do it all over again. I have had an issue with the line getting pinched on edge of the line roller on my supreme. It might be a simple fix but I haven't really looked at it yet. Other than that I have no complaints so far, it is a nice reel. 

I agree cause I just dont see much advantage that a more expensive spinning reel gives me.

I have President, Daiwa Rg-AB, 2 Supreme XT's, and had/have a few Shimano Stradics. I bought the Stradics and XT's first then bought a President. The higher $$ reels dont get me more distance or more durability I had to return a couple Stradics for bail/rotor issues. The bail on the President is still solid while the bail on my Stradic became worn/loose.  I now cant justify (to myself) buying the Stradics or XT's again unless I find them for 50%+ off. Thats why when wanting another spinning reel I went with the $50 RG-AB to see how it stacks up to the Pres.

I bought a fluger president four years ago and it's still smooth as butter, just have to maintain it as with any reel it's a solid reel at its price point.

Shop around a bit and you can find a Supreme XT for about the same price as the Supreme if you're going to pay full price for it.

 

I have several Presidents, but I prefer something faster for a traditionally deep water presentation like drop shotting.