I was hoping you guys would give me some of your opinions. I am wanting to buy a new reel around the $150 price range. I have been looking at the Daiwa's and like many of the features they have. I have been using my Ambassador Garcia 5 Star Reel for about 10 years now and finally wore it out. What brand and/or reel would you go with in my price range?

Take a look at the Ardent c-400 they are 169.99 made in the USA andyou just can't beat the way they cast.They also have a 3 year warrenty along with great customer service and are very backlash forgiving. Lake Fork Tackle has them or go to www.ardentoutdoors.com for a full list of dealers.

Is picking up a nice used Shimano off eBay something you would consider? I recently put together a nice finess system (shimano sustain 2500d on a crucial rod). Reel came from eBay - new in the box and rod came from Basspro on sale. Whole thing cost me $250.

I am starting to shop for a Chronarch on Ebay and they can be had in the price range that you describe.

You do have to be careful on eBay, as there are stolen products and the sort. I make a real effort not to buy anything that overtly appears that could even possibly be stolen. If it has all the paperwork/box ect. it is probabaly OK - unless stolen from a store. Also look at the sellers feedback.

I have nothing against using Ebay just hate that I cannot pick it up and mess with it. I would feel much better if the item were brand new and in the box. Which I know can be found. I might get on there and see what I can find.

Joe I will take a look at that Ardent also. I have a Cabelas about 5 miles from me that carries them.

I worked the show there the other week and they had both the c400 and the XS1000. I have 5 of the 400s and my wife can even throw them. The only other baitcaster I could ever teach her to cast was the shimano scorpion. She tried my ardent and decided she liked it much better.

Daiwa HSTA or Shimano Curado 200

Not tons have posted but I am a little surprised how spread the opinions are. Guess I should not be surprised by that. I got a feeling whatever I buy will seem amazing since I have been using the same reel for 10 years. Just by looking and reading I can see there have been tons of improvements.

Daiwa HSTA

Quantum Accurist PT is around $120-130 and has a $30 rebate through end of May. The latest issue of Bassmaster has an article about reels in your price range. That can give you some ideas too.

Daiwa HSTA or a Revo SX would be my 2 choices.

Browning Medallion (can get 2 of these for about $165 total) or the OM2000 Ocean Master.

Go with any of the Abu Garcia line. Revo's or the Max line fall in your price range. And you already know that Abu's will last.

$ 50 rebate good for a few more weeks

diawa advantage hsta

Well I ended up going with the Daiwa Tierra 153H. I don't know what it was but I looked around for about a hour picking them up and looking at the features etc. I kept going back to this one. I like the smoothness of the drag adjustment etc. Plus it was only a $119 which gave me a good reason to buy some new line and other lures. Now if I don't catch anything I can blame it on the new reel:)