i have a sahara 1000 that i use for the light stuff, its defiantly been a good reel for me this year. but i recently picked up a diawa excelcer 1500(old one) and that is one sweet reel for about 50 bux. all aluminum, 2 crbb and a free spool.

I happen to have both of these reels and would recommend the Stradic if you have the $$$ and the Sahara if you're on a tighter budget. They're both enjoyable to fish with, but I'm not sure how many fish I've landed with the Stradic that I would have lost with the Sahara. My guess is zero.

Love the Stradic but not sure if it's worth the extra money. In my opinion all you "need" for a solid spinning rig is a $70-100 class reel with a good reputation, which the Sahara certainly fits into. Baitcasters are another story and I'd definitely recommend spending what you can with those, but spinning reels... not so much.

I've used a sedona,  symetre,  and a stradic over the years.  Didn't actually use a sahara,  but everything aroud it.  That being said,  I think the symetre gets the "bang for buck award".  $ aside,  the stradic is better.  The sedona has loosened up on me quite a bit in a short time,  but was a good reel for me at $59.  I'm itching to pull the trigger on a CI4.