Jump to content
Welcome to the Reel Boating Forum.
From Trailer Boaters to Captains to Marine Industry Professionals, the Reel Boating Forum welcomes you to join in with other boaters and fishermen discussing topics including sportfishing, marine electronics, boating safety, boat engines and more.
Use our FREE boat classifieds to sell your boat or fishing gear.
Marine Industry Vendors are also welcome to register a username and freely post their products or services

Light Trolling/bottom Fishing Reels


Recommended Posts

So in a stroke of idiocy bought some boat rods for my spinning reels. Replaced them with spinning rods but now I've got 4 6' medium action rods that need reels.

I'd like to pair them with some lighter reels for light tackle trolling, drifting flounder and light bottom fishing. Budget maybe $50ish per reel or less. Figure on 20-30lb braid. Suggestions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So in a stroke of idiocy bought some boat rods for my spinning reels. Replaced them with spinning rods but now I've got 4 6' medium action rods that need reels.

I'd like to pair them with some lighter reels for light tackle trolling, drifting flounder and light bottom fishing. Budget maybe $50ish per reel or less. Figure on 20-30lb braid. Suggestions?

I would look on Ebay for used Penn 3/0's and 4/0's you should easily be able to find them in that price range and have great reels that will last you decades. The 4/0's might be a little heavy for what you are looking for 3/0's in my opinion would be perfect.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shimano TLD15's would be a nice choice for what you want, but for the $50 budget you'll have to try Ebay for those, too. They're about $99 new at River Marine (cheapest I've seen them).

If you're looking for a new reel at the $50 price point, you can get close ($55-60) with a Penn 209, Shimano Triton TR-100, Okuma Convector CV-30, or a Pflueger Contender 15 (listed in the order I would look at them)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For what it's worth, I have had good luck with Harlee Rod for inexpensive rods and reels. Actually I have purchased a lot of rods and reels through them. Good price, decent gear and real good service. I have nothing to do with these guys other than being a satisfied customer so I have nothing to loose or gain here.

If you are looking for cheap but good for the extra rods, that's my recommendation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fifty bucks ain't going to get you much unless you do ebay,as suggested. Daiwa had a bunch of smallish reels that were great. Sealine, Sealine X. maybe a shimano charter special or a tld 15. If you have a change of cash look at the Daiwa saltist I just bought my second one ,the 30. I love these little reels.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another vote for the tld 15, I just ordered one off of flea bay earlier today, $108 shipped.

I've used a variety of 3/0 and 4/0 senators both specials and standards over the years, mostly gotten used off of e-bay. While you can get the older reels in your price range, they generally need a re-build. I don't know about you, but I'd rather spend my time fishing than re-building older reels. When you factor in the cost of replacement parts, a new $100 reel beats the heck out of an older reel needing a rebuild.

I also have found that I like lever drag reels way more than star drags. With a star drag you are always guessing at your drag setting, and when you get excited can easily crank down the drag and then break your line. With the lever drag you set your strike drag on a scale, and thats it. I've also found that the drags on the tld's seem to be smoother than the senators.

I'd say unless you have to have 4 boat rods in addition to your spinning rods, just get two nice ~$100 reels and leave the other two rods in the garage, vs. setting up 4 rods with reels that might have issues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You are welcome to post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...



  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      14,185
    • Most Online
      1,975

    Newest Member
    BassHoles17
    Joined
×
×
  • Create New...