The Bass Pro Labor Day sale paper came today. I see the Pro Qualifier for $79.97. I own several of these reels and have been more than happy with them. That's about the best price your gonna see. The Johnny Morris CarbonLite rods are on sale also.

$129 - Best reel for the money - 5.8oz and casts a mile - Academy's H2O Xpress Mystic casting reel. Got rid of my Revos and my Lew's and only use this awesome reel for three years now. They used to put it on sale for $89, but haven't since 2014.

Thanks for the responses. Ordered him a couple Lews LFS for about $74 each, have a couple Curado I models at $115 in hand and may pick up a couple BPS Pro Qualifers at the $80 Labor Day price and let him pick what he likes. Would be interesting for a head to head casting competition by my friend just returning to bass fishing trying out these three to see which performs best by a less experienced caster.

Brad - the thing I would be concerned about on that new Lews model is is does not say it has a one piece METAL frame. One thing I can tell you from experience is that a reel with one piece metal frame will last a lot longer than those that do not.

I bought one of these reels and it casts very well. Two more on order that should arrive today. These reels are selling for $90 more through other online vendors, and at least $20 more on Amazon when they're available.

Check out the new Abu Orra. Far improved from last years model. Light weight and smooth, casts small cranks a mile. Reg. $99 and Cabelas has them marked down to $79 as of today when I purchased my second one.

BPS

Easy answer, here. Shimano Citica. Same inside exactly as Curado. Best reel for the money. Just bought one last week for $130.

I bought a couple of these to try out and they really are nice reels.

I have a couple of the Lews $100 reels. I don't use them very often but they function great when I do. Like I said though, I don't use them often. Maybe 2 or 3 times a year at most.