Just wondering what some of you forum guys/gals thought would be the best closed face reel for sand bass etc... Wife cant seem to grasp the baicasters just yet without the dreaded birds nest every time. We do quite a bit of casting lures for sand bass. Do some night fishing as well drowning minnows. Any thoughts or opinions would be helpful. Thank you.

Daiwa makes a pretty good one. It's a Gold, Goldcast, or some such. My experience has been that the more money spent the better with spincast reels. Even then, you're not getting much. I'd try to teach the wife to use an open-face spin reel. Much more versatile and trouble free.

I'm gonna' get poo-poo'ed here, but for what you described I'd go with a Zebco 33 for pure trouble free fishing pleasure.

edited to add: Years ago I had a friend with a bar/bait shop at the coast. Every now and then, when the right crowd was there at closing time, he'd call for a "character contest." Under the bar was a trashcan full of "character" combos. Snoopy, Sponge Bob, Little Mermaid, etc. We'd pass the hat, winner take all. Some very nice fish came to the dock over the years on those little "toy" rods. Just because it's not fancy or expensive doesn't mean it won't work.

Thanks for the response. Slow Drifter, I have heard those 33's were some pretty tough reels. Its just hard to imagine them getting in a nice sand bass or something larger very easily or quickly. Might have to consider it though. If nothing else, I can give it to the grandson to use. Uncle_bagster, I was considering the daiwa silvercast series . The gold series seem to be rather expensive. You get what you pay for sometimes though.

A Zebco 33 is more like a winch than a reel. It will crank in anything the line on it will hold. Best of luck to you, sir!

Here's your huckleberry --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTdckiXXr8c

Zebco Z03

Yeah, the higher end Zebcos is what I would go with.

I dont have any experience with Daiwa , but I own several of the Zebco omega reels...great reels and would recommend them...dont worry about big fish on them...they can handle whatever white bass you hook....I have personally landed a 5.5 pound large mouth bass on a small crank bait and a 5 foot ugly stick with a zebco omega...this rod/reel lets me cast into places I could never reach with a bait cast reel. My grandson has landed many sandies using a similar setup...if you look at the zebco 33 ...I would get the platinmum model ..grandson used this and it has held up very well...Line twist can be a problem on these type reels so use of a swivel on the line helps eliminate some of those issues..

The Zebco Omega and Omega Pro. They have oscillating spools. I dont think you need the extra features of the Pro model for sand bass. My brother bought some for his kids a couple of years ago and he is very happy with them. If he is unhappy with a reel, he tends to throw it into the lake. I bought one for my son as a Christmas gift. We tried it out yesterday morning. We didn't catch any fish but he was casting further than ever. I tried it too and was impressed for a spin casting setup. It also comes with a spare spool so if you get spooled by a gar or carp, you can change out the spool quickly.

Thanks for all the responses. I decided to go with the bass pro shop brand with the oscillating spool. Just could not go with the Zebco Omega pro because of the price. Bass pro price was around 75.00. Their brand was on sale for 24.95. It seems like a pretty well made reel with some good reviews. Time will tell though.

I still like my Shakespeare Ugly Cast, and my Pflueger Underspin 1810...for spincast reels, they work great...for me!

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Ha, my Pflueger Underspin handle is messing up, first time today. I need to take it apart and see what I can find.

Addendum: I've never taken a reel apart.

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I have 2 of those ugly casts. For their price, I've been pretty happy with the fishing I've gotten from them so far.

You just can't beat a Zebco. A 33 will handle most any bass out there if you aren't in tree tops, Good for catfish up to 10 to 15 lbs. For casting crank-baits a 33 works well but for sand bass I like the 22. I keep one in my boat for folks that aren't casting reel or spinning reel friendly and it is great for throwing roadrunners and grubs for white bass. A kid that I took last week managed a 20" striped bass with no problems. It is on a 6' lite action rod and is great fun for white bass.

Zebco Omega Professional Spincast Z03 Reel
These are about $70 and are excellent. My wife uses these, she puts Trilene XL 12 pound on hers, and it's amazing.
We fish Fork only, and she whips them big basses butts. 5 Stars..