20 Best Long Cast Spinning Reel (2023 Updated)

recently lost my favorite Stradic 3000FJ and want to replace it so went to BP to check out the FL. What in the world is Shimano thinking? No reverse lever? Whoever made that decision must not fish. There are plenty of reasons to have a reverse lever so you don’t have to open the bail or loosen the drag to take line out.

Even worse, the angle of mounting arm that attaches to the rod is such that when you are holding it, it is very uncomfortable, almost as if it were intentionally designed to hurt you as it grinds against the bone of your finger that fits behind it.

Guess you have to have small hands and mine are not that out of the ordinary in size. The Vanford is the same way.

I’m absolutely shocked at the quality of this reel. Is it smooth when you reel it, yes. BUT the noise is ridiculous. It’s not quite when turning it slow, even worse when turning it fast. In no way am I paying this price for l noisy reel.

This is obviously why Shimano’s older model reels sell for what they do (even used ones), because these new ones are not worth the money. Even the new Shimano “Sustain FJ” is the same way. Just tried one out a couple days ago.

They really cheapened these up, throughout the last hand-full or years. My 1998 Shimano 2000 Sustain FA is quieter then this and just as smooth. Unreal!.

I do mostly inshore kayak fishing on the weekends. The last time I bought a brand new reel was more than 5 years ago. This time I was looking for something tough that will handle saltwater, something that I can pass on to my children.

After reading and watching a lot of videos, I decided to buy the Spinfisher 3500. Ordered online and anxiously awaited for the reel to arrive. Fill it up with some 15 lbs braid and off I went fishing.

Unfortunately maybe I got a lemon but it was Not quite what I was expecting. The reel feels heavy duty, very strong, very smooth the color combination is killer. Having said that, I felt a little bump every time I was reeling my lure back.

I don’t know how to describe it but it wasn’t smooth like my other reels. I felt something in the handle, like bump bump bump on every turn. I took the bail out everything looked normal put it back, adjust my drag all of that and still didn’t feel quite rite.

I don’t know, maybe my expectations were too high but mine had something that wasn’t normal, I’m not 100% convinced and not expecting this on a $100 plus dollars, brand new, out of the box reel. I have mixed feelings , would love to try another one to see if it feels the same way or if there was indeed an issue with mine.

I just got 2 new Conflict 2’s. A 2500 and 2000. My first Penn’s were 2 Battle 3’s and I was Hooked! So 95% of my fishing is in fresh water but I moved and live near the coast in SC. I had no salt water rigs.

What you will like if you do most of your fishing in fresh water but can go salt anytime. is where the Conflict shines. They are very lite weight and with paddle handles you will feel right at home fishing for Bass.

I have 2 Abu Garcia rigs and a Shimano Vanford for ultra lite fishing. What surprised me was how butter smooth the Conflicts are and could be argued the best feel and longer casting. Matched with the right rod and line the Conflict 2 delivers the best price vs quality of any out there.

It was just a plus for me needing salt water rigs. then find out I did not have to set them aside. just use them for fresh water and keep fishing. If I happen to catch a 12 to 15 pound large mouth bass.

I have the gear to land that fish.

Being born and raised in Philly, I was born a Penn Reels customer and own quite a few from International 50tw’s down to some tiny spinfishers. In recent years I’ve been skeptical since most of the products are no longer manufactured in the US, but after a few months bass fishing with my new Conflict II 2500 and hitting the flats with my new Slammer 260 I must admit that I am impressed.

No issues with either and living up to the legacy of their vintage counterparts. Although I would much rather see them produced and serviced on hunting Park ave. , I really can’t think of anything negative to say about this new generation to this point.

I have now had two of these reels in the 5000 size, the first one I had within less the 2 months of having it the handle snapped while reeling in a 20 pound bluecat. Took it back to cabelas and they gave me a whole new reel and new line which was awesome and less then a year later the same thing happened vary disappointed that a $200 reel broke twice in less then 2 years in the same exact way.

The handle itself is a two part and held only together with tiny little screws and all the broke on both reels the same way. I will never be buying another penn they are definitely not what they used to be.

Been looking to buy a conventional or spinning reel for fishing a popper for these local tuna. After doing some reel shopping and getting some intel on the feel and price ranges, i decided on getting a penn battle.

I also checked couple online stores and when i checked Bass pro, i couldn’t believe they had the reel that I’ve been shopping for at a great sale price. I couldn’t get my credit card out fast enough to make the purchase.

The reel also came in sooner than was predicted. I can’t wait to try it out. Thank you Bass Pro Shop, another satisfied customer.

I bought this as a Christmas gift for my 14 years old son, who is in his fourth season on an Illinois Bassmaster Jr team. I’d say he’s an experienced fisherman. Last season he really got into cat fishing, and asked for the PENN Battle III 6000.

I have never fished with a reel this big and didn’t know what to expect from PENN Fishing. All I can say is, WOW! The first thing that stands out is the metal construction, and sleek look and feel. His reel has the round handle and feels amazing when reeling in.

It’s currently lined with 30lbs of monofilament tied to 30lbs of braided line. The reel does have a rubber ring to prevent braided line from slipping but he still used mono to be safe. Overall, I am very happy with the purchase and feel this reel will be used for many many years.

If I remember, I will provide an update after he uses it for a season.

After fishing the PENN Battle reels onboard each and every charter I’ve operated since the first models came out, I can tell you the Battle III is a powerhouse of a reel. I have almost every model designed and we Battle fish after fish, day after day in the harsh saltwater conditions and my Battle III reels keep on doing the job! One of my Battle III 2500’s even held up to a 45min drag screaming fight with an 80in sailfish.

Excellent reels at excellent prices. Capt. Jeff Cronk Fish’n4Life Charters North Carolina’s Crystal Coast.

Bought this reel from Amazon in August and have used it several times. Today while fishing with it, the screw that holds the bail on fell out during a cast. I was shore fishing and was able to pull the line in by hand.

The problem was that the screw and all of the other pieces fell into the grass. I found most of the pieces and was able to put it back together when i returned home and could look up the diagram online.

I checked all of the other screws on the reel and found some of them to be loose as well. I have been fishing for a lot of years and have never had this happen, even on cheaper reels. Buyers beware!.

I had ordered a rod/reel combo from another company. I received the rod (which is just what I wanted!) but no reel. The invoice said out of stock and the money refunded. (translation: tough luck). I saw this Pflueger President reel at the Guide, and decided to give it a try.

Got it in just a few days. I mounted it on the rod and it was a perfect balance. Taking it fishing a few days later, I could not believe the smoothness of operation and the ease at which the drag worked.

Lucky for me I DIDN’T get the original reel I wanted.

I’ve been a baitcaster my whole life. I’ve tried spinning setups a few times over the years but they never felt quite right for me and I’d end up returning them. In the last couple months, I got the bug to try it again with all the talk of finesse fishing, so I tried a few Lew’s and Shimano spinning reels in varying price points just because I was more familiar with the brands, but nothing felt quite right again and I came close to deciding AGAIN that spinning setups weren’t for me.

As a last ditch effort, I tried the Pflueger President based on the passionate recommendation of another angler. Most of my baitcasters are in the $200+ range, so I was worried I wasn’t spending enough, but I tentatively accepted his advice because he he was just so confident in this reel and had the same experience as I did with other reels.

This reel changed my mind and I am officially, and finally, a spinning rod guy. I love this reel. I’m not experienced enough with them yet to pretend I know the intricate differences between the other reels and this one, I just know this one felt better than the rest and it was much easier to get this reel to do what I wanted it to do.

Less tangles, snappier functions, and better looks to top it all off. I mightsay something like, “the quality is great for the price,” but really its just great quality regardless of price. Maybe one day I’ll figure out why I’d need to spend more money on a “better” reel, but for now I can’t imagine that I’ll ever need anything better than this.

If you’ve had the same experience as I did with other brands, don’t give up before you try this reel. It changed my mind and I’m betting it will change yours too.

Got this reel a few weeks ago and following a lot of daily use it has been just average. Nothing special. It’s fairly smooth but not as smooth as others I’ve tried. The drag has a nice click to it, and it feels fairly solid in use.

But that’s about it. Unfortunately, two things affect my rating. One, the lack of reverse — I wish I had looked closer before buying it, as the lack of this feature simply makes it harder for me to use.

I would’ve picked a different reel simply to have reverse. The other is the bail arm doesn’t always close automatically when winding after a cast. This can be frustrating and can make you lose focus, resulting in missed hookups.

Overall, this Shimano is simply average. I think for the money I would’ve been better off with a Daiwa Regal or Exceler. Both seem to have better operation and are higher quality.

I bought this 6 days ago and I can say that it hasn’t let me down. I have had 3 shimano sedonas all in 4000 reel size and I just bought a 5000 size. This reel series is amazing for anglers who want something that can withstand a fight from a huge fish and still have a light weight rod and reel combo that you can carry around all day without carrying around something huge and bulky.

This reel I bought is paired up with a St. Croix Triumph 7 foot medium heavy rod. This setup is a champion and gets it done every fish I have caught so far.

This has less drag than the 4000 but carries more line so its a trade off. Paired this with a 12ft raider surf rod and worked very well off the beach for salmon this year 2022. It was good fun being on light gear setup and hooking up the salmon with this and 20lb braid.

Smoother than the cheaper reels but not as smooth as you would expect, it was a good upgrade and bigger reel for the intended purpose.

I’ve had this reel for about 3 and a half months now, and it was working perfectly fine with 30lb Power Pro braided line for a while, until I finally switched the line out due to a lot of tension and my line snapping.

I’ve properly cleaned the reel, but now the reel does not want to spool any line correctly, and is spooling line onto it with it becoming uneven at the very beginning of starting. The reel does about 5-6 rotations of line on the bottom, but only 2-3 revolutions around the top.

I have tried 4 different lines, backing them with 15lb mono, then adding 20-30lb braid on top of it, and still have these problems. Took it to a local shop to have them line it as well with their machines and they still ran into the problem.

They had it lined correctly once, but as I used the reel, it reverted back to doing the same issues and began putting knots into my line. And my drag is sticking and practically won’t let any line out when I loosen it all the way and started creating too much tension on the line when I have a fish on, making it snap almost instantly.

I am active duty military and fish whenever I have free time, and never have had any problems in all my life fishing other than with this reel. It is the second one I have bought within the 3 and a half months, and both have had problems and I had trashed the other one.

I love this new reel. Smooth operation, well balanced and great value for the money. I’ve used it for fresh water stripers (just to try it out) and I’m looking forward to taking it to the beach sometime this month.

I loaded it with 100 yards 20 pound Fluorocarbon (as backing) and 150 yards of 15 pound braid and the reel handles it really well.

I have been fishing Penn Slammer reels for years and have been pleased with the performance and durability of them. Many years ago I decided to purchase and use only Penn reels. Almost all of my fishing is done in salt water.

I share my gear with my sons and grandson. I had the need to purchase more reels, so naturally I went with the Slammer III series. There was a change in design that requires the spool to be shimmed for proper line lay on the Slammer III series.

I find this to be an annoying inconvenience especially since my reels get cleaned externally after every use. The shims sometimes come off with the spool and get misplaced. This is not the case with the older model Slammers.

I understand that the newer version Slammers have stronger drag systems and are sealed to prevent water from entering etc. , but I don’t understand why I should have to shim a reel that is considered to be a high quality reel.

Other than that, I am pleased with the Slammer III.

I love this reel and purchased a 6500 for the heavy drag option which works great, but there is a major design flaw in the bail arm, the bail arms are not strong enough to accommodate a tight drag setting and they become beveled out at the bail screw after only a few large fish fights resulting in a sloppy bail that wont close properly or lay line on the spool correctly and I am constantly replacing the arms.

If there was one major update that was needed for the new IV version its the bail arm material. Please guys come up with a solution for this, I cannot be the only person who experiences this problem as its a constant and recurring issue.

This is my favorite reel and have no desire to fish anything else but it needs bail arms that can handle the max 40lb of drag.

I have purchased many Penn reels and the reel life has gone in the crapper. I still have some old Conflict and Spinfishers that are working but all of the new reels have purchased in the last year are awful.

Especially the latest one a Penn Slammer 3. I used it for one weekend and now it is loud and when the handle is turned it grinds. Again, this was used for one weekend from a boat and was never dunked or even sprayed with saltwater.

I always wash and dry all of my reels at the end of each day. It’s not like these are an inexpensive investment.

I have fished this reel hard for a season and have only two complaints. the knob on the reel handle wore out, not surprising considering my usage cycle. its mentioned that the spinfisher5 is highly water resistant, and to a point it is.

the reel will let you know its wet inside at which time you should take it to your reel guy, the worm gear spool oscillation didn’t look like fun to me. I throw metal jigs in the surf with this reel on a 10’6″ fast action 70/30 split rated 10-20 line 3/4 to 2 oz.

although the reel is somewhat heavy it balances well with my optimized rod butt length on this setup. I would’ve bought another one to use while my reel guy had it last week but due to lack of availability i got a conflict 2 LC instead.

The spinfisher is a much more durable piece of gear.

I got the 500 size reel. It has been a solid ultralight reel for catching Crappie and small Largemouth Bass. Drag system works great, but there is not as much control as I would wish. The handle and bail will continue to move in the 12 o’clock position when let go.

This thing runs circles around every budget combo reel I’ve used though.

I bought the 1000 size to pair with a 6′ medium light rod and I love the combo. Nice and light, casts smoothly (using gliss line) and reels in very smoothly. No problems with the handle as one of the other reviewers noted.

I have more expensive reels, but I often grab this one since it’s nice and light. I’m usually fishing for walleye for reference.

This is my second and last Shimano reel. I reluctantly purchased this reel for crappie fishing. About every third cast the bail will clise while casting. This is very frustrating and it destroys the soft plastic jigs that I am using.

Going to return this reel tomorrow and never look back.

After reading Alan Hawks review of this series of reels I was wanting to get one. They were hard to come by until May/June 2021. Still cannot find locally to test so took a leap of faith. AH was right, this reel is awesome and he rated it higher than Stella SW due to performance and price point.

You can buy a 6k, a 10k and a 25k and still be spending less than a Stella. I have caught some nice fish with mine. My heart was broken when I leaned it up against a fence and it fell and hit some rocks and scratched the paint and got sandy.

I cleaned it up and it is still super smooth but has some scars. I saw that they had a 20% off on the 8k so just ordered one today. To live bait offshore on the kayak in S. Florida most of the guides recommend an 8 or 10k size.

Will see if the extra ounces of the 8k leave me less satisfied than I am with the 6k. Buy it if you love Shimano spinning reels like I do. The 6k is paired with a Grappler from Shimano and it is a good rod.

Not sure what I will pair the 8k with but something with a sensitive tip so I can see if the live bait is covered in grass or getting nervous around predators. Tight lines!.

Overall best reel on the market and part of my setups. I have 3. It’s reputation, performance, durability and value says everything you need to know. With the respective braid line you like to use… I don’t think you can spend $300.

00 any better. I dunk this, I reel underwater I do everything I do with my Van Staal. Still going. The VS is a tank and takes a beating. The Saragossa although not built like a VS. it’s just as good.

Just a different reel. This Gosa depending what size you get is great for any saltwater fishing the everyday man or woman does.

I just opened the box and (1) put the reel on and gave her a spin hoping to watch the handle smoothly rotate for a long time. not. It seems as if there is no grease inside. I can feel friction as I rotate the handle.

(2) after flipping the bail and then turning the handle the handle rotates but the bail will not even engage. My first piece of crap from Shimano. The last Shimano I purchased is a Tiagra 50/Wide it is awesome.

I’m going to give Okuma a try now.

I have one of these badass little reels filled up with 30lb powerpro. I use this reel every time I visit Florida for all of my inshore fishing needs. Snappers, snook, small tarpon, bonefish, redfish, making bait, spanish mackerel etc.

On the west coast I exclusively use it to throw light surface lures like waxwings and stickbaits to schoolie yellowtails and calico bass. I did one local half day trip out of Long Beach last year and landed 4 15-20 lb yellowtail on it.

The deckies were casting heavy irons and each got one but just couldn’t get the distance or accuracy to present to the breezing fish that I was able to with the light spinning gear. I had a sea lion grab one yellow by the tail and i fought him for it for about 15 minutes.

I got the fish back from him after another sea lion came up and bit the fishes face, they proceeded to fight each other as I cranked that yellow in across the surface as fast as I could. A couple holes in the head and a couple in the tail with the meat perfectly intact.

This little reel stood up to a 500+lb sea lion and didn’t skip a beat! Couldn’t ask for more, I disassembled the whole reel afterwards and I couldn’t see any wear marks on any of the gears or anything like that.

Put it back together and its still operating at 100%.

We fish in Alaska, one of the best places for testing durability endurance in power of any fishing reel. 6000 and 8000 are my favorite versatile fishing reels. Most of the time we use the same setup with 100 lb braided line.

130 lb spinning jigging Penn rod. Just changing lure and presentation allowed us to use for: jigging for monster halibut, cod and rockfish. Also we use it for trolling for Kings or silver salmon. It is much faster to drop fishing lure 5, 7 or 9 oz to 200 ft of water then conventional open face real.

Indirectly your lure action and presentation is 50% faster. Coolest thing about jigging for rockfish in Alaska, sometime School of king or silver w will show up and you can just cast, Target them directly around your boat just below surface.

Enjoy fishing it is great fishing reel.

I switched to Penn after using another brand for over 30 years. What attracted me to Penn was the website (excellent product information) and the value for the money Penn reels deliver. My first Penn was the Fierce III liveliner, I quickly followed up with the Battle II for my other rods.

I fish only freshwater, great lakes salmonid species and used the Battle II on my rods for pier fishing with spoons. The Battle II has performed extremely well for me, the HT-100 drag system is extremely smooth and more than capable of handling the quick long runs of salmonid species.

The reel is well made with an all metal construction and is very durable with a smooth retrieve when casting my favorite spoons. The line capacity rings are a great feature, when I first spooled the reel with line I over filled the spool not understanding how the capacity rings worked.

I had as a result a few tangles occur when I cast, once I realized my error and removed the excess line filling the spool to only the last ring, I have had no issues with casting this reel. The 4000 model has plenty of capacity for 10 lb line (over 200 yards) which I require when pier fishing for salmonids.

In summary a high performance reel for a very reasonable price.

TraduireAfficher dans la langue originaleI bought a 3000 over 3 years ago and shortly after that bought a 2500. I’ve caught everything under the sun on them from dinky croakers in the surf to 25” stripers with plenty of 20+ inch trout and upper slot redfish in between.

The biggest thing I like about this reel is the durability. I’ve owned several shimanos in the same price range and none of them have lasted me as long as these bgs. The drag adjustment is up there with reels 200$ above its class.

I’ve dunked it in saltwater on a few occasions and just made sure to take the spool off when rinsing it off and had no issues. All around great reel. 2500 pairs well with my fenwick hmg medium light and 3000 does great on my fenwick hmg medium.

I’ve swapped with a friends Penn battle which fits in the same class and price range I preferred the bg and he was regretting his brand new purchase of the battle.

TraduireAfficher dans la langue originaleI got this reel before Daiwa stops making them in preference to their BG-MQ. I know there are pros to the MQ series but I am old school and like to be able to service my own reel.

This reel is fully serviceable when it needs being cleaned and re-lubed. I also like this reel over Shimanos that have a bearing in their line roller. I’ll take a bushing that can be easily cleaned and lubed over a bearing that fails with the slightest bit of sand which is ever-present on the beach.

I was spooled twice fishing for speckled trout when a cow-nosed ray decided to get foul hooked. Drag, bail, and reel are amazing even after pulling off over 200 yards each time. Love Daiwas!.

TraduireAfficher dans la langue originaleThe reel is decent as long as it does not go near saltwater. I used it twice on the gulf, a few times before that in freshwater. It never submerged. Yet, it rusted on the inside.

The plastic piece that keep the anti-reserve broke even before it rusted. Not sure how it happened. While I was using it in freshwater, it held up well. a bit heavy though. But saltwater killed it. This is not a salt water reel, there are absolutely no seal whatsoever.

I bought the 6500 H S Penn spinning reel 3 years ago. Smooth strong drag , hi speed for popping ,surface lure , and spoon fishing. Excellent water sealing features. Have had no issues with the reel. I service it myself, and would like to recommend that you put a bearing at the back of the pinion gear that goes into the housing as well as have 4 screws on the cover plate to stabilize the main drive gear , which by doing both will secure and stop any wear and tear and play and back lash on the gears under load.

To date I have not replaced any bearings or gears. Fish that been caught are lots of big cob , Garrick and shad. Biggest cob over 12 kgs , Garrick 6 – 8 kgs , shad 3- 9 kgs.

j’ai utilisé ce moulinet pour pécher a diego suarez, j’ai capturé plusieurs carrangue gt jusqu’a 50 kg !! le moulinet est tres bien, distance de lancé,enroulement,frein puissant, fluidité. légèrement plus lourd que ces concurrents mais beaucoup moin chère.

il est parfait pour le popper !! apres 8 jours de peche le moulinet semble neuf.

Je cherche a pêcher un gros silure et avec un moulinet comme ça j aurai un grand plaisir a travailler en toute tranquillité –

très abordable . qualité optimum je recommande ….

I liked the 2000 series for sucker fishing. I used this reel with 4lb test to reel in great lakes tributary suckers weighing in from 2-5lbs. The reel was instant on the drag, not jerky, but smooth. Several fish had runs through current, and functioned perfectly.

Like a reel costing much more. If in 6 months this reel works well, I’ll give it another star.

I’ve owned the 2000 size for 18 months now and use it for light sea fishing – float and lure work. The reel is undeniably Shimano despite its budget price tag, offering smooth retrieve and reliable function of all key parts: drag, bail, handle.

It won’t win any beauty contests in its plain, unpainted carbon garb, but if you’re tackling fish on the sub 10lb bracket like bass, pollack, codling and mackerel, you won’t regret your choice or feel you haven’t had value for the small amount of cash you’ve splashed.

I have fancy reels too but it saddens me to scrape them on rocks, so often the FX will be handed the “stuntman” role and will invariably fill in admirably!.

Excellent quality,and built like a tank. I don’t know why others are having issues,but I’ve a couple of the FX 2500 as well as a couple of the FX 4000 reels,and zero issues. Everything is built rock solid,lays line precisionly,and the drag is buttery smooth.

I fish ALOT,and target bowfin, largemouth and gar. and these reels do everything they need to. They work just as great as my Shimano Sahara’s,and cost 1/4 the price. Actually,I prefer using these more than my Sahara reels.

And for $20 at Wally world. it’s a no brainer!.