Almost Hate to Ask

$400 and under, what baitcaster are you buying?

Go! Prefer Daiwa or ABU.

Daiwa Tatula Elite 100

Are those the reels I can't backlash? Mind you, I can backlash ANYTHING!

Steeze on ebay. May have to shop a bit, but you'll find them.

I'm all in on Curados and those are in the high end for me.

Yessir...I can leave a couple at my place at Fork if you want to borrow them to try out.

Curados for me.

Metanium, just a hair over 4 bills but the Chronarch 150 are nice for $279.

Loving my Daiwa Tatula SV TW reels.

My highest end reels are Shimano Bantam MGL's. Pretty much make any $200 reel feel like junk.

Do $400 reels catch more fish?

Curado DC. Pocket the $150 change.

REVO MGX-I have a few of these and they have performed very well for me the last few years-pretty sturdy for being very light. I like the mgextreme REVO too but it’s over 400. I have generally been a Shimano guy and the new metanium looks really cool but the older I get every 0.5 oz wt less I like more.

All Curados here.

Nope, but just like having to drive a lot of miles in a car. A Pinto will get you there but an Escalade will make the ride more enjoyable.

I really like the quantum accurist. Now you have to open it up and adjust the breaking. But it casts a mile and is smooth for a price of $99.

I can backlash toilet paper, if I had some.

Right there with ya! Excellent reels.

For the win!
I have use Shimano for years and have several of the E's and 7 or 8 K's. However, I've been buying the Diawa's the last year and love them. The Tatula Sv is by far my favourite so far! It's my dedicated pitching and skipping reel and while it will backlash. I can skip baits way back under docks and cover and rarely backlash. Try one Chris! I think you'll love it!

The highest end reel I have is a Lew's hyper mag speed spool, and I have no complaints.

Metaniums here

Surprised to hear no Zillions

Daiwa Tatula SV for me.

I have a couple of Zillions and they are great reels but they perform no better than the Tatula so not worth the extra cost for me.

Yes. Cause they tend to last longer. Lol

Same here on Shimano. Never thought my Chronarchs would be put away, but they are now. I like the Diawas that much! For heavy duty I've got the Diawa Coastals too. They are just as excellent. I fish salt and fresh so that makes them even better. Highly recommend!!!

Another reel that made the cut for my deck is the Lews Tournament MB. Awesome reel at a good price. Really surprised me on how much I like it.

I am switching over to all lews from abu, have 4 of the revo premier and 2 revo winch, still use and like the reels a lot but the lews are some awesome reels.

so far all I have is 2 of the wide hvy duty.

https://www.lews.com/casting/superdutywide

Shimano Core is still my favorite

Ask SW Parts about the upkeep on Daiwa reels. If you’re like me and I’m 90% sure you are, you will just have your group of high end reels and send them in every year or two and boom.... brand new reel. The Steez was my go-to but getting Daiwa replacement parts is a [censored] shoot and they recommended I go with another brand so I’m getting the higher end Shimanos and love the things. I thought the Steez casted further than anything but that’s because I didn’t own the Antares. That new Metanium looks like the cat’s meow but I don’t own one yet. My old Chronarchs are still some of my best casting reels and infinitely adjustable.

I have a whole sack of Abu stuff that I’m really frustrated with. The two Rockets still have great indications because of the speed but my MGX falls apart before the year goes by and all of my SXs and STXs won’t cast across my living room. The Premiers are okay but nothing like the Shimano and Daiwa. As Doc said, weight is getting more important to me the older and more arthritic I get and Shimano isn’t going to win in that category. I have found a strong correlation between weight and durability though which I guess makes sense. Magnesium parts aren’t as strong so they come at a price. You can over engage the drag on your MGX and hurt its casting distance where the Antares has as much drag force as you can pull with your hand and minutely adjustable.

Someone asked if the more expensive reels catch more fish and I’d say that they so much less frustrating than the lesser Chinese stuff. My Bass Pro reels lasted a year and watching it decline each trip was a hassle. Such a confusing but fun quest!

Good luck Chris.

^^^^^THIS^^^^^

You haven’t found that the DC decreases your pitching / skipping distance? My buddy loved that little chip but it seemed like it braked too much and kept him from getting very far under docks. Now that’s just my assumption as I’ve never used one just seen them used.

I haven't bought anything other than the Tatula line in the past 3 years. Can't go wrong with them in my opinion. Great prices too.

I have Bass Pro Proqualifier reels that have been fished hard for five years with nothing more than an occasional cleaning and lube. And I am not regular about that. Of course my thought process is I had rather have many rigs at a lesser cost per rig. I hate stopping to re-tie. So my use when I am on the water is usually spread amongst several reels.

That’s not to say that I am not interested in nicer reels. But currently am in the mode of upgrading my rods.

It is interesting to hear that SW parts has issues getting parts for Diawa. With that little tidbit and based on previous experience if I was going to start dumping change on expensive reels it would have to be Shimano I suppose. Amazing how they have managed to be the gold standard in quality reels for literally decades.

For those who have a problem with back lashes.. A resounding YES.
Have you never got in a feeding frenzy and caught several while your partner was digging out a backlash or vice versa.
High end Diawa and Lews for me.
IMO regular maintenance goes a long way In West Texas.. With the availability of parts I figure those High end reels will out last me.

I have reels abounding!! They are like golf clubs, always get the latest and greatest, and then go back to something you've had for ten years. Same with rods, although I have finally settled on Kistler. Reels, I have everything from Steez to bass pro, I LOVE'EM ALL!!! They will all catch fish, DUH!

CURADO'S

H2O Mettle..... LEGIT

Tatula SV TWS, $199 and the best reels I have owned. Trade in old reel at BassPro and get a $30 discount.

shimano slx dc. Not supposed to be able to backlash these due to the digital control but I can backlash them. Less than $200.

I agree with the Curado's also. Sweet reels!

Another issue with Daiwa is that you can’t hardly find one without the “T Wing” System. If you learned to fish by keeping your finger on the line to feel the more subtle bites, it’s almost impossible not to spool all of your line over on one side of the reel. If you don’t palm your reels and keep a finger on your line it’s a non-issue but I can’t say that’s a habit I want to break. Obviously I’m in the minority as most of their models have now adopted that.

I’d be interested to see what people thought about those newer brands like Favorite, etc.

Daiwa Fuego.

I have curado and really like it, recently bought two H2O's from academy for $40 apeice, love them, plenty good enough for me

Legit backlash king

I would load up on the new Metanium's If I had money to burn like that. They are the best reel out right now IMO

As stated above, the Daiwa Fuego is a great reel, but with no t-wing. I know some guides on Fork that use them.

2012 Exsence DC with the Big Bait braking setting

Johnny Morris Platinum . According to my reel cleaner they are as good as all the Shimanos I own. But then I don't have $400 Shimanos.

I could not even imagine spending 400 dollars for a reel.

You're okay. You didn't ask for the "best" bait caster.

shopping on ebay

lews hyper mag gets my pick. they are lw and very smooth. I like them for braid and 20 lb floro over any t wing daiwa etc.

I’ve become a Daiwa guy over the last 3 years. I haven’t used any of their high-end models but love every Tatula model I’ve used.

Like Doc Bean said about the T-Wing system, I’ve always been a guy with his finger under the line, holding it up. Now I have the line under my finger, pressing the line down. It took a little but, but it’s second nature now and everything spools correctly on each cast.

Nope. Not a single one. Most of my stuff is enthusiast level and as a result, I have caught "ZERO" more fish than I would have with a Johnny Morris SPecial reel. Once again proving, it ain't the arrow, it's the Indian.

You adjust it to break it? Why do that if it's working? I bet you meant you adjust the braking mechanism?

Same issue with Lew’s I’ve found is getting parts. They are worthless and have been sold 2 or 3 times and no support.

Now about those Abu’s you can’t get dialed in...when you give up on them send me a message and we will gladly take them off your hands if priced right.

And Fouz, the Revo S the white reel is by far and away the best value and casts awesome.

Add some EVA foam grips and run it till breaks.

Throw away and get another. Screw waiting 3-4 months on a new one and paying $3-4 hundy on a fancy reel.

I think what I’m reading here is it is all perspective. Everyone wipes their [censored] different, yet gets the same results.

Any of the Concept reels will run circles around the rest

Daiwa over abu for the most part but there are a couple abus I like

sounds to me like after all this there is still no definitive answer and he should buy an Abu, Lews, and Daiwa high end reels and see which one he likes.

Shimano

only use Japanese made shimano reels, proven over decades.