Let us not get into a spitting contest about brands let's discuss mainly specs. What do you prefer in a reel. What size, reel capacity and clicker or no clicker.

Boat or Bank

The more I fish w/ the Abu 5500's I like them. However, they don't have clickers.

The 6500 (for me) is the best overall reel. Great name and reliabilty, good gear ratio, holds pleny of line, has clickers which I prefer using, even when the reel is not engaged (clickers help for night fishing.)

My .02

6500 or 7000 are hard to beat

Zebco 33 hands down!!!! Lol But it's hard to beat the Abu 5 and 6000 series reels with or without Clickers.

i like spinning reels........50(000)-60(00)-70(00) size.....best ones are med duty saltwater reels like Cabelas Salt Strikers and Penns and Pflueger President XT or such......majority are carbon/grapite body but some guys will only use metal body as they are stronger......of course more bearings generally means better smoother reel but not always.........I plan to switch over to Cabelas Salt Strikers one reel at a time......

I can put clickers on for ya.

I like Salt Striker 65's. They have a bait runner which is basically a clicker on a spinning reel. My bait casters are in the 5500 to 6500 range. Two of the BC reels pictured are the PAT 50's which are the same size as my 6500's. Loudest clicker I've ever used.

10-14 ounces. Line capacity from the boat isnt a huge issue, 100+ yards of your chosen line. I prefer lower gear ratios because they make reeling heavier weights easier all day and won't wear out the gears as fast. Clicker is prefernece. Power handles are nice, again for reeling in baits over and over.

Reeling in the weights and bait 10,000 times takes more of a toll on the reel than catching any catfish......this ain't bluewater capt.

Good drag if chasing bigger fish, one that will do 10+ lbs if using line over 20.