Hey there, for bass fishing, what size Spinning Reel would you tend to think is more versatile, a 200, 2000 , size or  250, 2500 size? I'm using braid so I'm not sure how critical diameter is.

I've got a 2500 and am going to buy another reel and wondering if I should get the same size or go a little  smaller?

There's no industry standard for reel sizes. Anything in that range should be equally suitable for all around use as a bass reel. 

They're all versatile for freshwater. 1000s for me!

Hold plenty of braid, never a concern for being

spooled, even use for striper fishing.

I use 3000 Shimanos and 2500 Daiwas (non LT if I was gonna get an LT reel it would be a 2000), as my reals all see inshore use at some point.

 

For pure bass fishing with braid a 1000 size will do fine if you don't need casting distance.

You may want to check if the gear ratio and/or drag disc size differs between sizes

 

 

oe

In the past, most would 2500 or 3000 size. These bigger reels handled mono line better. Now with braid most of these line issues are gone. I would still go with a 2000 size for bass. Usually a faster retrieve, possibly better drag and more power. I still like 2000 or 2500 best, but they will all work

Well first, it depends what rod I'm putting it on. If I am putting it on a medium or medium light rod that's going to be used for finesse fishing, I'm going with a 2000 size reel because it holds a decent amount of 10-15lb braid and 6 and 8 pound line, which are the lines I'd be likely to ever put on it and it's going to be lighter and not waste as much line (even if it's a cheap mono backing). I've seen several people even go as light as a 1500 for finesse, since they use 10-12lb braid, they can get away with it but I like the option to use straight mono or fluorocarbon.

 

On a medium rod that's being used for finesse but maybe crankbaits and weightless soft plastics, I might go with a 2500 size reel.

I use all 2000 sized reels and I think they are the bees knees.  If you were going multi species to include bigger fish like pike or stripes I would go 2500.  The only drawback to 2000 is they don't seem to offer faster speeds like the 2500.  You can get shallow spools the 2004 is great for pan fish, trout and very thin braid if you want to reduce cost.  Shallow spools are very popular over seas and as more people use braid I think the demand will go up.  Now if we could get some braid specific casting spools that would be nice.

I like a 1000-2000 for braid, 2000-3000 for mono, but how it balances with the rod(s) I use a spinning reel with is usually how I pair them up.