If you hadn't seen, in my Dobyn's Rod thread, I recently took my original fishing gear out and used it and realized I liked the feel of the all-metal Penn Battle II.  The smoothness, the size of the handle knob and the sturdiness of the all-metal construction.  The Okuma I have is a great reel, but comparatively the only benefit it has over the Penn is it's extremely light-weight.  My Battle II 4000 is nearly 13oz while the Okuma Inspira ISX-30b is 7.4.   A significant weight-savings.

 

What I ask of you fine folks is a suggestion for a similar all-metal body reel or something that feels as rock-solid.  Amazon has a 2500 size Battle II for $64 (which is a darn good price when my 4000 cost me close to $100) - https://www.amazon.com/Penn-Battle-2500-Spinning-Fishing/dp/B00LDYJ5X0/ref=pd_sim_200_2?_encoding=UTF8&refRID=DSAMQMJXR3D5SHSTQ8AR&th=1

 

I would like to keep things around $100 and have no real preference on brand - but something that can bridge the solid feel/light weight gap is what I'm looking for.  Thank you for your help!

My wife and I use primarily Pflueger spinning reels.  With that budget you could use a Pflueger President, a President XT or a Supreme. She fishes mostly Presidents and 1 Supreme. I really like her Supreme.  I fish a few Presidents myself.  Keep in mind these are not super light reels but should be light compared to you big battle. We use 30 and 35 sized reels. I am certain a 30 would work well for you.  By the way several of our Presidents are over 10 years old with heavy use and just ordinary maintenance. Never had to repair one. Several of our reels are less than 2 years old, so I have confidence in them.

As for having a durable solid reel in your hand. I will tell you about a catfish she caught last year. We were fishing Dale Hollow just after the big females left the beds. The were hunkered down in grass on big flats about 20 to 30 feet deep.  They would not eat anything. We ended up fishing Ned rigs which is all they would eat. That meant we were catching 3 to 8 pound smallies and largies on G Loomis 6 foot light action rods.  On one of the last days we were there I was moving the boat coming around a the corner on a bluff wall. The front depth finder lit up with tons of fish laying on the bottom out under the boat. At that moment my wife began a long battle with a 8 pound catfish.  She looked like Ike running from the front to the rear deck of the boat. I was too busy laughing, she still thought she had a world record smallie.  That President 35 held up perfectly, but never chase BIG cats on a 6 foot light action rod. It is sorta like taking a pen knife to a gun fight.LOL 

Daiwa bg

6 minutes ago, EvanT123 said:

Daiwa bg

Bough one as a birthday gift for a brother-in-law.  He is loving it so far.

 

OP my only Penn is an old 430SS.  Doesn't see much use anymore as I seldom use a spinning rod, but it was my best reel back when I bought it (around 45 years ago, but I quit fishing for 23 years).  Don't figure to ever sell it.  I will say that Penn spinning reels seldom ever get mentioned.  Very seldom.  I imagine that wouldn't be true if this was a saltwater fishing forum.  A fellow co-worker...now retired...that loves fishing saltwater is very proud of his Penn reels.