I had a Pflueger Trion and the anti-reverse went out on me. I was angry to say the least. I only caught one decent sized catfish (27 lb) on it, and the anti-reverse burnt out. The clicker, drag, and thumb bar are all messed up. I'm looking into the Abu Garcia 6500-C3. Oh, I used 80 lb braid as backing and a 20 lb mono leader.

What would you all recommend for this student angler on a limited budget?

There are a lot of Ambassedeur reels on eBay that are pretty reasonable. I use the 6500 for muskie and catfish with no problems.

The Abu 6500 series reels would be a great choice. I would be sure to check Fishermans Factory Outlet for great prices with a full factory warranty before eBay.

Thanks guys. Yeah I'm looking on Ebay and FFO. Funny thing is I got my Trion from FFO, so I'm a little hesitant to buy from them again.

I love my Penn 209 levelwind.

How well does that reel handle 80lb braid? I think the reason my other reel failed was because it couldn't handle the strain of the braided line I had on there.

The Penn 209 is a winch! If you get your truck stuck you can use it to pull it out of the mud ( joking). You should have no problems with it.

Alright I'll keep that in mind. Thanks again man