What is the best freshwater reel for a 7 foot spinning rod? I am going for large mouth bass. 

 

 

1 minute ago, sculpinman said:

What is the best freshwater reel for a 7 foot spinning rod? I am going for large mouth bass. 

 

 

You're gonna get about 2 million answers to that open-ended question

 

Some defining questions to help us help you

1) What techniques are you going to fish with this?

2) What's your budget

3) Are you preferential to any brands.

Cranks, worm to hook, and general jigs. 

$150 or less.

Nope.

I would say any 2500-3000 size

 

My picks in order of preference

Pflueger Supreme or Supreme XT

Diawa Fuego LT

Shimano NASCI

Lews Custom Pro Speed Spin

 

 

14 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

I would say any 2500-3000 size

 

My picks in order of preference

Pflueger Supreme or Supreme XT

Diawa Fuego LT

Shimano NASCI

Lews Custom Pro Speed Spin

 

 

Is size 100 good? What size would be more appropriate and professional?  

1 minute ago, sculpinman said:

Is size 100 good? What size would be more appropriate and professional?  

100/1000 size is more for finesse techniques.

For what your looking to do - a 200/2000 is as small as I'd go.

 

One note about Pflueger if your considering that - their sizes don't 'match up'

20 is a 500

25 is a 1000

30 is a 2500

35 is a 3000

DAIWA EXIST LT

Or

SHIMANO STELLA FJ

 

In either 2500 or 3000

 

These are the best, the good news is you have a plethora of choices that are still good, just not great.

 

The Daiwa Certate or Shimano Exsence A come to mind as a cheaper alternative, they are close to the top of the food chain, lesser reels below these obviously get the job done, plenty of people use less expensive gear with no complaints.

 

Just noticed the $150 or less budget not posted in the OP, in that case look for a Tatula LT on sale.

For $150, I would raise the ante by $30, go to Asian Portal or Digitaka and buy a Shimano Stradic 2000 or 2500 with free courier express shipping.  

 

Edit to add that Stradic is the lowest-price reel that copies Stella mechanism, gearing and A/R clutch, so that the parts interchange.  

 

Shimano Nasci wouldn't make my list (no main bearing or even bushing).  

I would take low end Daiwa over any low end Shimano, 

and I'll rate Tica Libra SX1500 as the best $100 reel you can buy.  

 

4 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

Shimano Stradic 2000 or 2500

 

X2. But once, cry once. That reel, if taken care of will last you a very long time. Solid build, smooth drag, and excellent line management.

I’m planning on getting the Daiwa Feugo 2500. It is good for most techniques right? Is ten pound braid good?

Constraints:

    (1) best reel

    (2) <= $150

We refer to this in math as an overdetermined system.  The solution is the empty set.

44 minutes ago, sculpinman said:

I’m planning on getting the Daiwa Feugo 2500. It is good for most techniques right? Is ten points do braid good?

 

If you plan to fish braid, it's  smarter to go for a smaller/shallower spool.  

240 yds 8-lb is pretty big capacity.  

Big diameter spools are nice to mono/fluoro, but braid capacity can be so big you end up with poor line lay.  Same spool will lay mono perfectly.  

 

You can always look later in Japan for a Daiwa shallow braid spool that fits the reel.  

Spare spools can be handy with spinning reels.  

 

 

Smaller shallow spools are the way to go. I’d say smaller, lighter reels are, too.

(Deleted)

18 hours ago, evo2s197 said:

DAIWA EXIST LT

Or

SHIMANO STELLA FJ

 

In either 2500 or 3000

 

These are the best, the good news is you have a plethora of choices that are still good, just not great.

 

The Daiwa Certate or Shimano Exsence A come to mind as a cheaper alternative, they are close to the top of the food chain, lesser reels below these obviously get the job done, plenty of people use less expensive gear with no complaints.

 

Just noticed the $150 or less budget not posted in the OP, in that case look for a Tatula LT on sale.

Is the DAIWA EXIST LT good for braid?

18 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

For $150, I would raise the ante by $30, go to Asian Portal or Digitaka and buy a Shimano Stradic 2000 or 2500 with free courier express shipping.  

 

Edit to add that Stradic is the lowest-price reel that copies Stella mechanism, gearing and A/R clutch, so that the parts interchange.  

 

Shimano Nasci wouldn't make my list (no main bearing or even bushing).  

I would take low end Daiwa over any low end Shimano, 

and I'll rate Tica Libra SX1500 as the best $100 reel you can buy.  

 

I saw your amazon review 

4 minutes ago, sculpinman said:

Is the DAIWA EXIST LT good for braid?

I saw your amazon review 

I use braid on all my Exist reels, so yes.

19 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

For $150, I would raise the ante by $30, go to Asian Portal or Digitaka and buy a Shimano Stradic 2000 or 2500 with free courier express shipping.  

 

Edit to add that Stradic is the lowest-price reel that copies Stella mechanism, gearing and A/R clutch, so that the parts interchange.  

 

Shimano Nasci wouldn't make my list (no main bearing or even bushing).  

I would take low end Daiwa over any low end Shimano, 

and I'll rate Tica Libra SX1500 as the best $100 reel you can buy.  

 

I would go with suggestion as well.  The Stradic is the best bang for the buck.  If you can save $150, be patient and save up the extra bucks for this reel.  

 

41 minutes ago, FishTank said:

 

I would go with suggestion as well.  The Stradic is the best bang for the buck.  If you can save $150, be patient and save up the extra bucks for this reel.  

 

Stradic FL Or FLG?