I was looking at a website and an ad for a fishing reel from a company I have never heard of popped up. The link took me to E-bay. I started scrolling and there were DOZENS of off-the-wall companies selling fishing reels. Since everything is made "overseas", how can you tell if any of this stuff is worth the money?

Sougayilang - Miageto
Truscend - Shamjina
Lixada - Simhoa
Piscifun - Harayoa
ProFISHiency - Doorslay
Forart - Zide
Menolana - Antpower
Adopshy - Entsport
YIJU - Fishdrops
Yuewan - YOOUS
TOOYFUL - Colcolo
Almencia - Aokid
Cadence - PLUSINNO
REAWOW - RUNCL

Roll the dice and order one. Then you will know.

The ONLY one Ive heard of is “piscifun”, and they are garbage.

Profishiency is either owned by David Dudley or he’s heavily sponsored by them, they also have rods in Walmart. Some of the reels sound like reels found on AliExpress or Alibaba, Chinese imports.


This is from Alibaba. Some of the reels from both sides look pretty nice, I just can’t bring myself to order one.

For decades, I have been buying almost all of my fishing equipment from eBay (both used and new). I have taken a chance on cheap reels over the years with various results. Many were junk, while others have been jewels. I purchased these freedom fly reels over a decade ago for $0.99 on eBay and I am still using them as my freshwater reels today. The drags are excellent. You can always search and see if there are reviews on the reels you are considering, but if they are cheap enough you may just want to give one a try. You can always turn around and resell them if you don’t like them.

Despite Steez' review, I find the Piscifun reels to be a good deal. I have three Phantom baitcasters and they are quiet, cast a long way, have centrifugal and magnetic braking, and they cost me between $50 and $70 each, mailed. My Shimano Chronarch hasn't been fishing in over a year. It sounds like a 12 volt winch. The Piscifuns come in about two days, and I've ordered parts from China that take about a month to get. If Shimano didn't spend millions on tournaments and sponsoring pro fishermen, they could sell theirs for under $100. My opinion. IslandJim

I have a picsifun reel I am very pleased with too. Not sure which model it is but can check if anyone is interested. I love it but can't speak to the durability since its new and it one of about 20 I use in the boat. Of more interest to me is finding lures. I think I found Jackhammers and Vision 110s. Not sure until I do some more testing if it ever cools off. How does 5 Vision 110s for $31 total sound?

Can't comment on any of those cheap reels since I'm a tackle snob.

I know a couple of guys who bought Piscifun Sword fly reels a few years ago. Last I heard both were still quite satisfied with them. One uses his on a 3 weight in the salt and after many slot reds was raving about it. Don’t know if theirs were anomalies or not. I don’t own any Piscifun products myself.

bassnman: The Jackhammer and Vision lures you mentioned: $16.99 and $24.99? I assume you're searching for Chinese knockoffs, and rightfully so. I could buy a fish dinner for less. I've always heard that lures are designed to catch fishermen! Being an inshore fisherman, I can buy a pint of nice, live shrimp for $10, and catch lots of fish. And, if I get a break-off, it's only a hook or a jig. Catch 'em up! I recently caught a 32 inch Redfish on one of my cheap, Chinese reels! IslandJim

I've heard of Sougayilang and Piscifun..........never used either but have a friend who swears by the Sougayilang bait casters for catfishing.I'll just stick to team Daiwa..........never owned one I haven't gotten my moneys worth and then some.Last year I added some Penn Squall II's to my catfish line up.........only time will tell if they were a value ($120 ish) or not.

I ordered a Sougayilang reel, will give it a shot.

I have a unique perspective on this topic. I lived in Asia for 11 years and I can tell you the only name brand you would recognize is Shimano. 95 percent of reels are from companies you've never heard of. Lucky for me I didn't know any better when I started fishing. Went with a middle of the pack baitcaster budget wise. Came to find out it is a brand called Banax, which is the Shimano of Korea. I'm still using those today nearly 3 years later even back in the States having access to name brands.

Point is take the chance. Might find that it doesn't have to be a brand used by stateside professionals to be worthwhile.

Due to unsuccessful wrist surgery, I'm switching to left handed reels. I bought a cheap reel from SOOLF just to start getting coordinated. I was blown away by the quality. I bought the last six they had on Amazon for $25 each. I tried others to fill out my arsenal and settled on the one below for $32.50.

Sougayilang Baitcasting Fishing Reel, 11+1 Shielded Bearings, 18LB Carbon Fibre Drag, 7.0:1 Baitcsters,Magnetic Brake System Fishing Reel

Note you can buy them off Amazon and usually return for free if you don't like them.

I take a lot of kids, friends and guest on the boat and avoid high dollars set ups for them to use, I run 12 ugly stick and Sougayilang reels or 12 Rhino tip rods and Sougayilang reels.....Ain't had a reel failure.

Have 4 kastking back ups that are great.

The setups cost between $50 - $75.....driven by cost..when you have 4 people slinging poles, dropping them on the deck, dropping them in the water, stepping on them....you don't feel bad as long as fish are being caught....

Been using them since COVID forced some purchases back in 2019/2020