What is the best crankbait spinning reel in the price range of $50-$100. I have a very limited budget.  I am putting it on a Berkley Lightning rod shock. And what should be an ideal Line recovery rate on the reel?

Shimano Sahara.  $80 thru *** w/free shipping.

X2

[movedhere] General Bass Fishing Forum [move by] Glenn.

sahara

I have a Sahara. Great little reel. Just as smooth as the day I bought it.

i like the pflueger arbor 7430, nice long casts and at 25 ipt its about perfect for cranks on a spinning rig. also a pretty smooth reel with a terrific drag.

sahara is nice as well, but if you go past the 1000 size your ipt is super high (2500 is 35", 1000 is 28")

like in baitcasters, i like a slower ipt in spinning reels for cranks.

i like the pflueger arbor 7430, nice long casts and at 25 ipt its about perfect for cranks on a spinning rig. also a pretty smooth reel with a terrific drag.

sahara is nice as well, but if you go past the 1000 size your ipt is super high (2500 is 35", 1000 is 28")

like in baitcasters, i like a slower ipt in spinning reels for cranks.

I like a faster IPT. I just like a faster IPT on all my reels in general, due to the fact that I fish plastics and jigs 90% of the time.

Two summers ago I used a Shimano spinning reel that I bought for $12 at Tackle Express. I was still a "young" (new) fisherman. I caught two six pounders, six fives, and two dozen + fish in the 2-4 pound range, mostly on stick baits. I found that a lot of the time the fish would pick up the bait and swim straight towards me. With the slower speed reel, I couldn't catch up to them. When I bought a Sahara, that all changed.

As much as I love fishing with great gear, the $12 reel took a beating and held up great. Now that I have much nicer gear, I would never fish with a reel that "crappy" again, but at the time it served me very well.

If you all think the Sahara is nice, you'll be blown away by the Daiwa Exceler for essentially the same price.

You can get the Symetre for $99, it is a very nice and smooth reel and can really hold up to some serious abuse.  My son hasn't killed his yet and its been 2 years.lol

SJ

If you all think the Sahara is nice, you'll be blown away by the Daiwa Exceler for essentially the same price.

I have a Sahara but I would have to go with the Exceler as well.

Another vote for the Sahara have 2 of them and love em' to death!

If you all think the Sahara is nice, you'll be blown away by the Daiwa Exceler for essentially the same price.

I have a Sahara but I would have to go with the Exceler as well.

I have both and would go with the Exceler hands down.

If you all think the Sahara is nice, you'll be blown away by the Daiwa Exceler for essentially the same price.

any key differences?

But is the exceler a baitcaster or Spinning, I have only spinning rods.

I havent come close to mastering a baitcaster yet. i rat nest every other cast and i get frustrate and put it away. lol

But is the exceler a baitcaster or Spinning,

Both, there 's 2 spinning and 3 baitcasters models of the Exceler.

The Sahara is a very good reel, the Exceler is a very nice reel. I 'm a mostly Shimano guy but for spinning reels Daiwa over Shimano without thinking it too much.

In the 50 to $100 price range,

I'd go hands-down with a "Shimano Symetre".

Roger

There is no definitive answer, boils down to personal opinion, mine is Floog Supreme in that price range.  Light, plenty of line capacity, versatile in fresh and salt, have personally caught many fish over 20# and still going strong, hard to beat that for a 100 bucks( I paid less).

Another vote for the Sahara... tough to beat that workhorse of a reel. I use 2 of them pretty often and have never had a problem.

for 100 bones , you could pick up a saros off fleabay.

I have 7 Sahara 2500FD's in the boat; they are a great reel.  I can't see much of a performance difference in upgrading one or two steps in the Shimano line.

Great info guys, Sahara and the exceler is what i will probably buy.  Any info on the Bass pro spinning reels( Pro qualifier,Extreme)?

for 100 bones , you could pick up a saros off fleabay.

That's what I would recommend, too. The Saros is a very nice reel and significantly better than the Sahara, IMO.  There's one on there from Ohya.com for $105 shipped.

hands down the $99 pflueger supreme with magnesium frame blows away the competition.it is far lighter and smoother imho than any of those reels mentioned.

I'm glad I read this.  I was in the market for some new spinning reels, but don't use spinning much so I didn't want to spend a fortune.  I was at gander mountain and just as I was walking out the door I saw a sale flier that the exceller on sale for 39.99 today only so I bought a couple and I really like them.  Can't wait to get out on the water.