I received a med lite casting rod. It’s rated 6 lb to 12 lb line. What would be a good reel to match up with this rod. L would like to keep it under $ 125  if possible. Thanks in advance for your help. 

You can put any size line on a baitcaster, it's when you start getting into light baits, less than 1/4 oz. that you want a reel with a light spool and fast start up.

Lite lures is what I’m thinking I’d use it for. Probably things in the 1/4 oz range maybe a little lighter but not much. 

I'm not sure of any finesse baitcasters at that price point of the top of my head, but my Revo MGX can't be beat when tossing light lures. It will toss weightless stuff with ease. I have no problem throwing extremely light stuff 40 yards or maybe even more. If you can find a reel similar to that, at your price point, I don't see you having any problem.

A spincast reel would do fine with it. It could double as your crappie combo. Or you could make it your topwater combo and use most any new BC reel.

 

How about this?

http://www.mrcrappie.com/products/Lews/mr-crappie-fishing-reels.php

Or this

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-crappie-maxx-mighty-lite-low-profile-baitcast-reel

Daiwa Fuego with 8 lb Big Game mono should make an excellent ML casting combo.

Tom

I like the Fuego.  You can probably also get into a Kastking with an upgraded spool for that much.  @Bluebasser86 probably has better info on what is available and what has worked.  There's a few others that have tricked them out as well.  A search for Kastking should pull up lots of threads.

I use 6 lb fluoro on my bait caster ned rod and 3/32 oz jig heads with a Curado 70 XG.  It works great but has a bit of trouble with 1/16 oz heads.

LOL. And check out that bait

 

Apparently you have not mastered the art of keeping at least one mismatched combo so you'll ALWAYS "need" a new rod or reel.

Lite lures is what I’m thinking I’d use it for. Probably things in the 1/4 oz range maybe a little lighter but not much. Thanks guys got some reels to look at. Love this site. I get some great information. 

Maybe the Shimano Casitas I’ve only tried 10lb monofilament on it once but it seemed to cast 1/4oz poppers pretty well on a Medium; might be even better on a ML

 H2O XPRESS TAC-40 ?

 

Daiwa SV TW, here is a member selling it for a very reasonable price.

 

 

 

Let's see:

Line test 6 to 12 = 18 divided by 2 so the best line test will be 9 pounds, rounded up to 10 or down to 8.

 

Bait size is 1/4 ounce which is low. What are the rod's parameters for baits? Be sure to stay within the rod's suggested bait size.

 

Check any reel you are interested in considering for the amount of line it can hold at 8 or 10 pound test.

 

Take rod with you to tackle shop and put some reels on the rod to see how they feel and if they are comfortable to your hand.

 

Get a reel that you can turn off the brakes.

 

Any good reel as mentioned above will work fine. You just have to adjust the spool tension, drag and brakes to get the best cast without a backlash.

 

It's Christmas time. Buy two!!!!!!

 

 

$125 will get you a very good condition Daiwa sv105 off of ebay. If you are gonna do light line then you might as well go all in. 

I have a KastKing Spartacus Plus with an upgraded Sea Knight Elf shallow spool in it spooled with 8lb test. It will cast one of my homemade 1/8oz micro jigs with a trailer very well. Find one on sale and you can get the whole thing for about half your target price. 

22 hours ago, the reel ess said:

A spincast reel would do fine with it. It could double as your crappie combo. Or you could make it your topwater combo and use most any new BC reel.

 

How about this?

http://www.mrcrappie.com/products/Lews/mr-crappie-fishing-reels.php

Or this

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-crappie-maxx-mighty-lite-low-profile-baitcast-reel

I'm surprised a modern day carbon frame reel weighs 7.7 oz.  A 6.3:1 ratio really couldn't be described as blazing fast today either. 

On 12/4/2018 at 2:51 PM, Catt said:

 H2O XPRESS TAC-40 ?

 

Did you get one? If so, what do you think of it?

Get yourself a Tatula CT which are discounted on EBay then order this from EBay RAY's studio BFS reel spool Honeycomb for 2016 Tatula CT/Tatula CT 105