Inshore low profile baitcaster need recommendations!

Hello everyone! Thank you for accepting my registration.

I'm currently looking for another low profile baitcaster reel in the range of $100-$120 and wanted some recommendations from people. I've spent the past couple weeks watching reviews on youtube but honestly 99% of the reviews are only unboxing reviews or taking the reel out once and using it reviews. I'd like to hear your reviews from long term use.

I want to hear from people who have used their reel for 6 months to a year and how it's holding up.

Questions I'd like answered:

What things do you like about the reel?
Are there any cons that you dislike?
How long have you been using it and how many days a week do you use it?
Can it cast light lures like 1/8 oz?

I'll be using this reel mostly for speckled trout fishing.

I fish with artificial lures so I'll be making hundreds of cast every day. (yes I fish every day!)

I know there are a ton of reels that are really good in this price range but it doesn't seem like people do reviews on reels that have had extensive use. That's what I'm looking for here.

Please read this entire post for giving feedback I'm not going to pay attention to any posts that only include the name of a reel.

Thanks for your time!

There's a lot of good choices, I've got quite a collection of reels that I've collected over time. All brands, lots of models.

1. There isn't one brand that doesn't need a quick wash and lube after a day on the water. The newer they are, the more they require it.

2. Your rod is more important than the reel choice for the size lure you're slinging.

That said, you'll never throw rocks at your shimano. I've got some quantum accurists that have held up really good, the most disappointing have been some Lews that just can't hold up.

I have to say that I'm extremely rough on gear and I've got 3 Lews (TLL, BB1 Pro, Tournament Pro) that are on years 3 and going on 4 in salt... Lew's, in the last 6-7 years, have been spending more time listening to anglers than other brands and have been putting money into higher quality components.


You might look at the Lews Speed Spool Inshore.. I know a lot of guides that have been using the Speed Spool series for a while for customers.

I've been using a medium rod for trout fishing for some time now. I normally throw 1/4 oz lures although I have thrown 1/8 oz also. I'm currently using a Kastking Royale Legend reel and surprisingly it's a really nice reel for the money. I fish every morning and sometimes evening too and been using this reel since right after Christmas. It's the only reel I'm using every day to catch speckled trout and I've caught I'd say close to 1000 trout or something on this reel in a month. Just today I caught over 50 this morning. I thought about just getting another one because I like it so much but I have $120 to spend and I don't need anymore rods and I'm good on lures, hooks, everything else so I figured why not just buy a higher dollar reel. Then I can use the kastking as a second reel or a backup. I was actually leaning more towards the Lews reels than any other. I keep hearing so much about them. What versions of their reels were you having bad luck with?

Lews was actually the brand I was leaning more towards. I keep hearing so many good things about them. I'm wondering what type of issues the guy above you here had. He is saying the lews aren't good.

I'll get the model number when I head back to Seadrift.
The internal components were not happy in the saltwater environment.
It started out really good, super smooth caster, and liked the drag on it a lot. I wash my reels every trip, and give them a quick oil and clean.
Your results might be different.

I would appreciate that. The speed spool is the one I keep hearing the best about for the money. Seems a lot of people using them for saltwater and doing great with them. It's possible you got a lemon one but who knows. I'm going to go to academy tomorrow and spend a few hours looking at all the reels getting them in my hand and maybe doing that along one of the reels will convince me into buying it. lol

Trust me, the lews isn't the only dog in the pen...
We use spinning reels for plastics, now those are just erratic. 4 Shimano sedonas all bought at the same time, all get the exact same care. 2 are still working great, one is a coffee grinder and one is a box of parts.
I've got some Okumas, about the same success ratio...half have been great, half are parts reels.

A crew of 4600 garcias, some are still exceptional, some are trotline weights.
The reel that actually surprised me was the quantum accurists, they have performed as well as the shimanos. Some of the other quantums not so much.

Good luck with your search.

I have a couple of the shimano sienna reels and they are excellent reels for so cheap but I can't stand spinning reels for casting lures. It's too much trouble having to flip a bell every time I cast. Not to mention I can't make an accurate cast with a spin reel like I can with a baitcaster. I can put it within inches of my target with a baitcaster I'm lucky to get within feet with a spin cast reel. They have great uses but to me lure chunking isn't one of them.

I'm going to check out those quantums reels if they sell them at academy when I go. Thanks for that info. They sound damn good the way you put it. I already know any reel in saltwater isn't really going to do that great. I just want a really good reel that will last me about two years and then I can buy something else. I don't mind buying a new reel once every couple years I just don't want something that will break in 1 year.

i haven't purchased a new reel in over 20 yrs. i shop the classifieds on these sites for high end used shimanos. i don't even know how many i have. i keep 2 cu200 curados, 3 cu200 sf's and 3 chronarch sf's on rods and fishable at all times, but i've got at least a dozen other reels ready and packed away. some of theses reels are over 15yrs old. i just keep replacing bearings and drag washers. i've never paid over $125 for a reel. some i picked up for $50. just food for thought.

I'm with smooth.
I don't think I've got a reel newer than four years old, most older. Take decent care of them and they'll last a long time. Or they'll crater pretty quickly and to the heap they go. It's the reels choice, I take equal care of all of them, if they want to quit early, that's their choice.

I've done the same thing most of my life. I've been fishing with the 90s and 2000 model abu garcia reels since I was a little kid. I'm just tired of all the old technology I want something new and different. After using this new kastking reel I'll never go back to one of the old type reels. These new type reels are ridiculous smooth, super high drag systems, and cast like crazy. I make regular casts 50-60 yards with 1/4 oz lure. There isn't an old reel I've ever come across that can do that with ease.

Edit: I've never spend over $60 on a reel myself. This will be the first time I do so. That's why I'm doing so much research on it. lol

Shimano Casitas, I highly recommend i’m 15 and it casts with ease and the internals are rated for saltwater.

That's the exact reel I've decided to go with and I am getting lucky and found it online for only $85 so I'm ordering it within the next hour or so. You just can't really go wrong with a shimano. The other choice was the Daiwa Tatula I seen them at academy for $99.99 which is a good deal. It felt the best out of any reel I looked at there. Sadly they didn't have the Shimano Casitas so I wasn't able to get it in my hands but I already know shimano is an awesome product so since I found it $20 cheaper online I'm going to go with that one.

Hey Pat have you tried out the Shimano Casitas reels? Do you think it compares to your Quantum Accurist. I couldn't find those at Academy I didn't see anything but spin cast reels from Quantum at Academy.

Nope. Sorry.

I'm just catching up with this thread, and i noticed that you have already decided on a reel, but for future reference here's my take on the Lew's Inshore as opposed to others.

The Inshore reels have 3 drain holes built in to them in the event you dunk them in the water (Not an issue if you only fish out of a boat) wade fishing the surf, they are going to get saltwater in them at some point, another feature that i really like, they have also have a small trap door at the bottom of the main drive gear that you can remove with 1 small Phillips screw for additional flushing and lubricating.

I have two of them, probably caught well over 200 fish on each of them last year, and never had an issue. We shall see what this year brings.

For spinning reels I like the Penn spinfisher 5. For bait caster I like shimano curados. Just like anything in the world care and maintenence goes a long way. Ardent reel cleaning kits are nice for the amateur. It can become sort of an obsession, cleaning them reels.

Spinning reels suck. If you wanna catch some specks be sure to get a S H I M A N O reel... shimano shimano if you get an abu it might rust up. A bit of advice I learned if you got a fishin reel it's probably made by shimano or Abu garcia or diawa all them Bass Pro Shops in xtreme pro PSXPS whatever all that stuff is made by diawa its junk too. Shimano is useually good for salt water when others go to [censored]

Try the H2O Mettle's to start with. $60-$70 You will be surprised at these reels.
10 SS ball bearing, easy to clean. I have a few of them and have no complaints and I
spool up 20# mainline too.