New at this, need REEL advice! 2025

fragged 3d reply :

I started serious fishing about a month ago with my dad. He had me buy a little walamart ultralight to start out with, weeks later the bug bit me! When I decided to get serious I order what I have now but I'm looking to upgrade already but I need some input.

I have two setups now, a spinner and a baitcaster. Everyone I talked to said to play with the baitcaster and use the spinner because a baitcaster was harder to learn, I never use my spinner! The spinner is an Abu Garcia Cardinal 304 and the baitcaster is a Daiwa Exceler, they are both on St. Croix graphite rods 6' and 6' 6".

I really would like a nicer baitcaster but still being new at this and so many products I can't make an informed purchase, I got lucky the first time!! I am looking at the shimano core and calais and the Daiwa Steez. Any input is appreciated. Oh, it's Bass I'm after

Thanks,

Ryan

NewScreenNameAdvised reply :

It's sounds like you must have deep pockets 8-)

if you are just getting into it, I wouldn't dump all that money into a reel.

Get yourself a rod, reel, tackle, storage, etc. first.

roadwarrior reply :

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I am looking at the shimano core and calais and the Daiwa Steez.

Welcome aboard!

You will be very pleased with any of those reels. If you want to match it up with

a soft plastics/ jig rod, I recommend the G.Loomis GLX MBR844C. For more of an

"all-around" rod, take a look at the MBR843C.

This might help:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1196114229

8-)

Grey Wolf reply :

WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The bait monkey loves you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

skillet reply :

Lorduhmercy! You SURE should be happy with any of those!!! WELCOME to the forums...

As Ever,

skillet

Chad. reply :

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I started serious fishing about a month ago with my dad. He had me buy a little walamart ultralight to start out with, weeks later the bug bit me! When I decided to get serious I order what I have now but I'm looking to upgrade already but I need some input.
I have two setups now, a spinner and a baitcaster. Everyone I talked to said to play with the baitcaster and use the spinner because a baitcaster was harder to learn, I never use my spinner! The spinner is an Abu Garcia Cardinal 304 and the baitcaster is a Daiwa Exceler, they are both on St. Croix graphite rods 6' and 6' 6".

I really would like a nicer baitcaster but still being new at this and so many products I can't make an informed purchase, I got lucky the first time!! I am looking at the shimano core and calais and the Daiwa Steez. Any input is appreciated. Oh, it's Bass I'm after

Thanks,

Ryan

WOW you just started fishing and your in there already steez ain't the easiest to learn from i hear.

Stasher1 reply :

Why not use the Exceler for a year or so, then upgrade? IMHO, you need to spend some time with a "middle of the road" baitcaster to understand and truly appreciate the differences between it and a top-shelf baitcaster.

Grey Wolf reply :

Buy the best you can afford.

fragged 3d reply :

I already have rods, reels, bag, tackle and storage. I just love my baitcaster, now that I know which reel I liked between the spinner and the baitcaster I wanted to get a really good one. I am saving for a bass boat in the spring so this would be it for a while. I just don't want to get less of a reel if I'm paying over $400 for it.

I have read some reviews on all of those reels and most of the time the Core gets the highest but most favor the Steez. This makes it confusing to me!

Thanks,

Ryan

Chad. reply :

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I already have rods, reels, bag, tackle and storage. I just love my baitcaster, now that I know which reel I liked between the spinner and the baitcaster I wanted to get a really good one. I am saving for a bass boat in the spring so this would be it for a while. I just don't want to get less of a reel if I'm paying over $400 for it.
I have read some reviews on all of those reels and most of the time the Core gets the highest but most favor the Steez. This makes it confusing to me!

Thanks,

Ryan

get two nice combos instead of one high end one, trust me you are at a disadvantage fishing with one baitcaster. You need to cover techniques get a 200$ reel and a flipping stick then another 200$ reel and a 7' mh fast action to cover a lot of fishing.

Branuss04 reply :

Quote

Quote
I already have rods, reels, bag, tackle and storage. I just love my baitcaster, now that I know which reel I liked between the spinner and the baitcaster I wanted to get a really good one. I am saving for a bass boat in the spring so this would be it for a while. I just don't want to get less of a reel if I'm paying over $400 for it.
I have read some reviews on all of those reels and most of the time the Core gets the highest but most favor the Steez. This makes it confusing to me!

Thanks,

Ryan

get two nice combos instead of one high end one, trust me you are at a disadvantage fishing with one baitcaster. You need to cover techniques get a 200$ reel and a flipping stick then another 200$ reel and a 7' mh fast action to cover a lot of fishing.

Gotta agree, if your getting serious into bass fishing, it is much better to have a couple mid/high combos rather than 1 high combo. You definately want to cover the different techniques by having a some combo's. Good luck

LAO162 reply :

Wow, it sounds as though you already have sufficient equipment. With new reel models coming out (from Shimano), why not wait a bit for user reviews and think about what features are important to you.

Even if you can afford "the best," make sure you get what is "best for you." Cheers!

fragged 3d reply :

Quote

Quote
I already have rods, reels, bag, tackle and storage. I just love my baitcaster, now that I know which reel I liked between the spinner and the baitcaster I wanted to get a really good one. I am saving for a bass boat in the spring so this would be it for a while. I just don't want to get less of a reel if I'm paying over $400 for it.
I have read some reviews on all of those reels and most of the time the Core gets the highest but most favor the Steez. This makes it confusing to me!

Thanks,

Ryan

get two nice combos instead of one high end one, trust me you are at a disadvantage fishing with one baitcaster. You need to cover techniques get a 200$ reel and a flipping stick then another 200$ reel and a 7' mh fast action to cover a lot of fishing.

Could you give me some guidance as what to look for?

I like the Steez but as a poster above said some of the reels are not out yet, I want to wait on the high speed steez. Maybe I will splurge a little and get two high ends for combos, you never know about me 8-)

Last night was the first night I have caught anything bigger than small blue gill, croppy or sunfish. I caught 4 largemouth bass at about 2lbs a piece. I was hoked before but I gotta say, there is something awesome about catching a bass and having it fight and jump 2ft out of the water. Wow, this just keeps getting better!

Chad. reply :

Quote

Quote

Quote
I already have rods, reels, bag, tackle and storage. I just love my baitcaster, now that I know which reel I liked between the spinner and the baitcaster I wanted to get a really good one. I am saving for a bass boat in the spring so this would be it for a while. I just don't want to get less of a reel if I'm paying over $400 for it.
I have read some reviews on all of those reels and most of the time the Core gets the highest but most favor the Steez. This makes it confusing to me!

Thanks,

Ryan

get two nice combos instead of one high end one, trust me you are at a disadvantage fishing with one baitcaster. You need to cover techniques get a 200$ reel and a flipping stick then another 200$ reel and a 7' mh fast action to cover a lot of fishing.

Could you give me some guidance as what to look for?

I like the Steez but as a poster above said some of the reels are not out yet, I want to wait on the high speed steez. Maybe I will splurge a little and get two high ends for combos, you never know about me 8-)

Last night was the first night I have caught anything bigger than small blue gill, croppy or sunfish. I caught 4 largemouth bass at about 2lbs a piece. I was hoked before but I gotta say, there is something awesome about catching a bass and having it fight and jump 2ft out of the water. Wow, this just keeps getting better!

Honestly instead of 2 high end combos get 4 really nice combos you'll thank me later an nice reel for not a great deal of money is the team daiwa advantage hsta around 130 on ebay. Get a couple of those for you're power gear spinnerbaits, flipping and pitching jigs etc. Then you can get say... 2 curado e coming out I'm a daiwa fanboi, but these look nice. 2 curados to cover other techniques ex 5:0:1 for cranking and the 300 for swimbaiting.

Or go with 2 mid-high end baitcasters of your choice and one nice one metanium mg or mg7 comes to mind cheaper and equivilant to the core, even smoother because of added handle bearings. Or a 50th anniversary zillion. Be sure you pick a good rod not any uglystick, but a lot of people spend more on the rod then reel. I like how those zillion rods are looking, look for midrange rods ex powell, dobyns, shimano crucial, g loomis imx carrot sticks, st croix avid's. I have experience with crucials carrots avids and ledgend elites I like the crucials for the dollars.

fragged 3d reply :

I like the looks of the Daiwa stuff and I love the smoothness of my exceler now. I think I would like to stick with Daiwa!

I guess the best thing for me is to learn what specs I need for what technique and then choose based on my research. Could you help me with techniques and what speeds and specs you need for each in a reel? I don't know what each technique means either.

Right now all I mainly do is fish at the local reservoir, 4" Senko's are a bass's best friend here! So I mainly use 4" senko or 4" berkley spiral tails. A friend that is really knowledgable says top water season is about to come also. So I guess if I had to buy two combos right now it would be for worms and topwater fishing. We just got a little john boat to get us through till spring, took it out the other night and I have to say it's different.

I cannot for the life of me cast my baitcaster when I'm sitting down or when there are weeds behind me, spools up everytime :-/

hoosierfisherman reply :

Hmmmm - very similar to my present situation. Loving the fishing, looking for a boat, considering trying a baitcaster.....

fragged 3d reply :

I have been looking a lot into rods lately. I know everyone seems to favor g.loomis but I cannot see paying that much at this time. I love my st. croix rods I have now and I have a guy that will custom any of their blanks for me. Is there something wrong with St. Croix? What kind of rod should I be getting? I don't know the different techniques yet so I am still in the dark. I caught a 2-3lb. bass today on my spinning reel and I will admit, I hated it. The fight was horrid and aweful, I missed my baitcaster today, it needed re-spooled and I was lazy!

shorefisher reply :

Your troll-fu is weak little one.

fragged 3d reply :

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Your troll-fu is weak little one.

I'm confused???? I am trying to learn something here not troll,omg!

shorefisher reply :

Well in that case I would have to recommend the Shimano Calais DC or Calcutta TE DC reels, they will make it easy to learn. Paired with a nice Megabass White Python or like RW said a G Loomis MBR844C it would be an adequate setup for a beginner. If you're going to do it, why not do it right the first time?

fragged 3d reply :

I pulled the trigger thursday and made some purchases. I actually found a high speed steez, first one I have seen for sale. I bought the high speed steez, daiwa sol, e21 rod and a daiwa zillion rod. I have a guy that makes me rods and he is working on a set of st. croix's for those reels but I had to try other things ;D

Chad. reply :

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I pulled the trigger thursday and made some purchases. I actually found a high speed steez, first one I have seen for sale. I bought the high speed steez, daiwa sol, e21 rod and a daiwa zillion rod. I have a guy that makes me rods and he is working on a set of st. croix's for those reels but I had to try other things ;D

bait monkey loves you, what do you plan on using those for? What techniques?

fragged 3d reply :

I am going to stop buying gear for a while and learn the techniques and how to use them. I need to learn what rods go with what actions and what bait to use. I have a lot to learn and I think I have a great start in terms of gear.

I got all that stuff today and I was fortunate to have enough time to put the SOL on the Carrot to try out. I went to the reservoir and casted for about 45mins, I didn't catch anything but I did notice the day and night difference in between the SOL and the Exceler. I also noticed I could feel more with the Carrot than I could with my low end St. Croix rod.

Tommorrow is play time with the Steez on the Zillion, I can't wait!

Cory N reply :

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WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The bait monkey loves owns you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

life is good

Grey Wolf reply :

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Your troll-fu is weak little one.

I'm confused???? I am trying to learn something here not troll,omg!

Not only confused but no sence of humor either.

Al Wolbach reply :

I have often said, I would have saved a small fortune if I had purchased high end equipment to start with instead of working my way up. That being said, buy the best you can afford now........Al

fragged 3d reply :

I went fishing this morning with the Steez and all I can say is WOW. I noticed a difference right away and I didn't backlash not once. Awesome reel, if I would have know I wouldn't have bought all the low line reels I have and gotten a reg steez and the high speed. This stuff just keeps getting better!

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