[First Catch]

Iam looking to buy another reel for pier fishing. I'd use this as a heavier setup like for kings or possibly even a shark or two. Just wondering if anybody knew of any reels other than the standard "pier reels" that most people have for a much better price.

 

[JOHNJOHN205]

can you cast a conventional reel very well?

 

[First Catch]

I've honestly never really tried to cast them a lot.

 

[bwendel07]

Then that answer is definately No.

Anyone who has knows what I am talking about

 

[true-king]

you can get a penn ss, it'll work for the price

 

[nb&twil]

penn 700's and 704's are great for pier fishing. you can usually find them at a fair price. especially with the option of braid for backing, you can pack plenty of line on them. i mackerel fish with my 700 and LOVE it.

 

[skipperq1]

At the risk of raising a ruckus with everyone, I would recommend one of the new "Made in China" Penn 850SSM spinning reels. I have about ten Mitchell 302s, 402s, and 386 reels and a buncholder Penns reels including706Z's,8500SS's, 6500SS 's and some smaller Penns for bait and Spanish, and the new850SSM is smoother than any of the old stuff. Only used it for one month this year, so I have noexperience onreliabliity, but it is as smooth as silk!

 

[konz]

Don't feel bad Skip........I use my 750ssm religiously! I've caught a few 5' sharks on it and a bunch of 4 footers.

 

[mack_attack2]

yeah people are just scared away from the whole "made in china" idea but shimanos are made over in one of them asian countries too

 

[jack 'em]

Amitchell 302 is the bestpier reel for the price...they can be modified to a manual pickup if you want it to....all of mine are.

look on Ebay; usually you can find one for a good price.

 

[biggamefishr]

mack_attack2 (12/17/2007)yeah people are just scared away from the whole "made in china" idea but shimanos are made over in one of them asian countries too

i'm not scared of made in china stuff....hell they have nuclear weapons, space shuttles, and are probably as technologically advanced as we are.....however their quality control just isn't as high.

but thats not the reason i refuse to buy anything made over seas.......i just prefer to support american companies that make their products in america, supporting the american work force.

 

[konz]

Nothing wrong with that.

 

[ratzila]

konz (12/19/2007)Nothing wrong with that.

Will you still be saying that when you lose that 70lb cobe due to a failing pos reel?:banghead

It would be more like ^&^(*&(*&)()_(*# :doh

 

[First Catch]

Thanks for all the info. Still not sure what I'm going to get, but at least now I have more of an idea.

 

[konz]

ratzila (12/19/2007)

konz (12/19/2007)Nothing wrong with that.

Will you still be saying that when you lose that 70lb cobe due to a failing pos reel?:banghead

It would be more like ^&^(*&(*&)()_(*# :doh

Well honestly man, I've caught quite a bunch of sharks in that range on my pos penn 750. I don't know squat about cobia, maybe they are tougher fighters but so far in the 2 years I've owned the reel nothing has gone wrong (knock on wood). I use it religiously for bull reds and shark. I've caught everything from southern kingfish (lol) to 5' bull sharks. Maybe it will fail one day, and maybe it will be on a monster fish.......but I can say that about any reel. Oh and yes I would be pissed.....may even cry into my beer!

When I said nothing wrong with that, I meant there is nothing wrong with buying american made products........i've just always associated penn with american made....kinda tuff getting used to them not being us made any more

 

[Cubs Fan]

OKUMA! Most bang for the buck!

 

[Ryan]

Mitchell 302 and Penn 706 are most common and you can get mitchell 302's on ebay for like 30$

they make good pier reels for kings and what not!!

 

[Bryan Bennett]

Another good series of reels that no one has mentioned is the Shimano Spheros, with the optimal sizes for pier fishing probably being the 12000 or the 14000. I've used the 14000 for a couple of years now, rigged with Spectra, for throwing poppers at yellowfin tuna. I have not experienced a failure yet with this reel, and we've caught some fish approaching 100 pounds on it. I do not see why it wouldn't work for big fish off of piers. Expect to pay about $130 for one, which is pretty reasonable in today's market. As someone mentioned, the SSm's by Penn's are good, too, even though they are made in China. The Chinese factories are light years ahead of where they were just a few years ago. Hard to find a current model Made In USA reel anymore.

As for me? I use the trusty Penn 706Z's. Got three of them on different action rods for different applications. They just work if you practice with them. I fished the GS pier since 1986 with them and have caught a bunch of quality fish...they're just made for pier fishing, in my estimation.

Good luck with your choice...

 

[Ryan]

yep i agree with you

penn 706 strickly for pier fishing!!!

 

[John B.]

all you need is a reel that you can have up to 15lbs of drag on, and holds 250 yards of 20lb test, .... with that you should be able to catch anything up to a 150lb + tarpon.