It's been 4-5 years since I bought my last spinning reels. Havn't kept up on top choices. What reel/s would you reccomend for overall quality and maintaining smoothness over several years? Need to stay under $80 each. thanks.

Shimano Symetre 2500FJ which lists for $100, but you might be able

to find it a little cheaper.

8-)

Shimano Symetre 2500.

Hands down best bang for the buck and I also like the 4000 size too.

Ditto...can't go wrong with a Shimano..

Shimano Symetre 2500.

Love Shimano also but give these a look:

Daiwa Regal XiA and Exceler. I have 2 Regals and love them.

Agree Shimano would be my choice

Pflueger President 60 bucks, It is a work horse and smooth and you do not have to pay more than that

I have a symmetre as well and really like it. However, I would also look at cabelas tournament zx spinning reel made by Diawa as well asl the Pflueger president. My suggestion to you would be go to cabelas or bass pro or local tackle shop and play around with the ones you like.

The Symetre is a great spinning reel, but don't overlook the Sahara as well. Not as costly and performs equally well, in my opinion.

Sold all my older style shimanos for the Daiwa Excelers.  Love that real for the money.  Now that shimano has revamped I may try some of those again.

Pflueger President 60 bucks, It is a work horse and smooth and you do not have to pay more than that

For SHO

Love my sahara!

Brand new model for 80 bucks!

For under a $100 I'd take a long look at the pflueger supreme, read Dicks had them on clearance for $69., I have 2 and they perform as well as my stradic fi. which has been collecting dust lately.  I have had presidents and the only knock is I don't care for a rosewood handle and I prefer a lighter reel, but they are real workhorses and cannot beat customer service.

The Sahara and Symetre are both great reels & you can find them for under $80/100 respectively if you shop around. Pflueger President is a great reel for the $$$. Best deal I've found lately is a Abu Garcia 702LX at Reeds for 79.99 - normally 109.99. All aluminum body/rotor, extremely overbuilt inside.

Flooger Medalist, I think discontinued though.

                       -gk

another vote for symetre

Flooger Medalist, I think discontinued though

Still made, it's the saltwater version of the president.

I think the Sahara is a pretty good reel and have one myself I just purchased thru a in store deal at cabelas. I also have the Daiwa Regal as well and its served me well thru the last year. CHeck out the clearance on last years Quantum models the Catalyst and Energy. The new Supreme XT is really really nice as well and got a chance to play with it at BPS.

shop around for a deal on the Supreme.

Otherwise the President.

Ignore the fan club. Pflueger makes excellent reels.

Last Year the Symetre was $79.99, and now they raised it by $20. It's a bummer, but if you can spare the extra bucks they are a sweet reel. I have two, and will look for deals for 2 more in the near future.

Last Year the Symetre was $79.99, and now they raised it by $20. It's a bummer, but if you can spare the extra bucks they are a sweet reel. I have two, and will look for deals for 2 more in the near future.

The reel has been significantly upgraded:

http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/index/products/reels/spinning/Symetre_FI.html

8-)

I have quite a few spinning set ups, and here are my 4 favorite reels in order:

1) Symetre (previous I series):  Light weight, very smooth drag, and don't have any complaints with it.  

2) BPS Pro Qualifier (current model):  This reel is much better than the older model I tried.  No line twist problems, casts well, and smooth drag.  At $50 (on sale) it's my favorite dollar for dollar.  I would only wish for just a little more line capacity.

3) President (current model):  Similar drag performance to PQ.  A little more line capacity is a plus in some applications.  I find it a little more likely to result in line twist, but not often.

4) Sahara (previous B series):  Drag is smooth, but takes just a slight noticable spike at start up.  Equal to President as far as likelyhood of line twist, and smoothness of retrieve, but President feels just a little more solid.

That's just my observations.

I have a Shimano tx 120 from 1989 that I still use.  They are built well.  Recently I picked up a Stradic 2500FI and love it.

Ignore the fan club. Pflueger makes excellent reels.

Pflueger does make good stuff too.  That tx 120 was mounted on a Pflueger 3600 rod from 1982.