I bass fish from the bank and a canoe all the time (until I got stationed in Germany) and I really like the Pflueger President XT. It is extremely smooth, extremely light and extremely tough. They come with a spare spool and sealed carbon fiber drag. The ones I use (size 25, 30, 35) have been dunked in the water, sand and mud. They've been beat up a little bit, but after cleaning they still work like new. I have a few bass rigs with these spinning reels. They are 6'6" M, 7' M, 7'6" ML. The 6'6" is paired with a 30 size reel and the other two are paired with a 35 size each. They retail for $80.00, but I got all mine on ebay and amazon for between $65.00-$50.00. Hope this helps!

shamano, pfluger, quantum for fresh water
abu garcia & penn for salt

Shimano stradic c14 or shimano sustain, I've caught plenty of huge fish off them and they are smooth as butter!

I almost pulled the trigger on that Stradic C14, love the look of it, black on red. Played w/ it at BPS, like AntBankz said, "like butter." Only one spool w/ it though.

Shimano Stradic, if you play the drag, they can all handle a ten pounder. After the fish, a cheap reel can end up a piece of junk.

Well I went to Bass pro tonight. Sigh.......
I went up there with a $100 allowance to spend on a reel. I wasn't going to go over NO MATTER WHAT!!!
Well I didn't go over.

Well....I didn't come home with a reel either.

I told the guy at the counter I wanted to stay around $100. He brought a $79 Shimano reel to me first. Not bad.... Then he brought a $99 Shimano reel to me...HHMmmmm....Pretty nice I really liked it. I was about to pull the trigger on that one when he laid another box on the counter.
He said "Here, just for kicks,try try this one"

At this point I knew it was the reel for $199(Shimano Stradic 3000F). I knew I had set my limit at $100. I knew not to pick it up. I knew I should have put my hand up and turned my head away.
But I couldn't.......
I picked it up and it was so light it put a smile on my face. I turned the handle and it was smoother then a babies behind.
I knew at that point I had just messed up.

I walked around the store for about a hour not wanting to settle. Then I just went home.

I'm seriously thinking the Stradic is the reel for me.
*sigh*
poor and depressed again...........

IMO you dont have to break the bank when buying a decent spinning reel. the more ball barings the better. everything should be smooth and tight too. make sure the handle is comfie on your thumb and pointer finger, the bell should hold close to 75 yards of 15 pound big game or 100+ yrds of 20lbs braid. if you keep it clean & keep it lubed, it should last you at least a few yrs. if you dont spend a fortune, its no big deal when you loose or break them and they are easy to replace if they start falling apart after a long season of punishment.

even the best break down eventually. just keep em lubed. Heard some negative things about WD but its convieniant for me cause i always keep a can in my truck. the fish dont seem to mind the sent either. hope this helps.

im hard on my reels but spray em down with WD and reel butter and light weight grease or Vaseline when they get dry. i look to spend $40 on a reel or rod n reel combo sometimes is the best way to go even if you give the rod to someone and just keep the reel.

Stradics are awesome, own 3.

IMO, I just use the reels that come with the rods. Don't make sense to me to buy high end rods/reels unless I'm making a living from catching fish like the Professional Anglers.

The optix 40 is a nice reel for only 19.99! you could get 4 and still be under the limit I use paintball oil to lube mine up and it works great! I've had my "cheap" reels for over 2years now and they are still going strong.......I also have the Daiwa sweepfire and they too are good reels

I have primarily used Shimano and Daiwa spinning reels for freshwater; Shimano and Penn spinning reels for saltwater. I have experimented with some other brands, such as Abu Garcia, but found them less sturdy than the Shimano/Daiwa/Penn reels. I was with a guide in Florida a few years ago that used Shimano and Penn, but he was phasing out his Penn reels and going exclusively with Shimano.

Regarding bearings, I'm not sure that more is better. More bearings add to the weight of the reel and another guide I know believes that once you get past 5-6 bearings the performance difference is slim relative to the weight gain.

I've always had cheap spinning reels. But after catching a few bass over 6 pounds the gears just seem to fade away.
This time I'm going to wait and get a good quality reel. One that I can really work bigger bass that will hold up to the punishment.

That $99 Shimano Symetre is a nice reel. I've fished with a $60 Spirex and a $600 Stella on the same trip and really didn't think that $600 reel was so super.

i use quantum. hardly ever birdnested. ive had an expensive pfluegar and thats all i get . birdsnest

I've been using an uglystick combo with a cheap real that I got on sale in walmart for $10. I've been using it as my main rod for about 2-3 years now. Expensive isn't always better