What's your all time favorite reel ?

[Phinaddict]

We are always talking about fixing reels, upgrading reels and sharing real reel knowledge.
So how about a little  personal perspective; what's your all time favorite reel?

Picking just one can be hard...."so choose wisely grasshoppers".

My own pick is...is... hmmm. man, it is hard to pick just one.
Avet EXW 4/02 ; great machine work, (made in USA), nice drags, great free spool. My close second is a Shimano Trinidad 16narrow with clicker upgrade and  Carbontex; because it is a nice all around reel.

And you?

[broadway]

     Good question.  You guessed it... for me it's the USA made Penn Senator 4/0, due to:  1) it's simplicity to maintain and repair, 2) It's timeless look (imho), 3) it's upgrade-ability, 4) suits pretty much every species I fish for, 5) with a change of the spool I can troll wire (brass), cast with the aluminum, or even fish braid line with the NEW tiburon frames, 6) reliability, 7) price, and parts are readily available (thanks to MysticParts).  If anyone was surprised by my answer... you're not visiting this site enough  
Dom


"Edited as per Moderators to correct Scott's Bait & Tackle over to their new store name Mystic Reel Parts / www.mysticparts.com"

[Roger]

My favorite right now is the 113HN. Dual AR dogs, plenty of drag and line capacity for anything I'm fishing for in the GOM.

[wallacewt]

so many goodens,mines a KANGAREEL,2nd choice a congareel

[Russ57]

I'm going to vote for the first series shimano baitrunners.  They changed what you could do with a spinning reel.  They were all graphite and the drag had an inner knob and an outside wing nut type knob with strike and full detents.  It functioned like a lever drag and made it very easy to set and have a range of repetable drag settings on the fly.  They were ahead of their time and very rugged.

I don't know the real truth but a guy who claims to be with accurate said it was his Japanese reel engineers finest creation and was priced much lower than actual cost in order to make inroads.

[Irish Jigger]

Mine's a 50 year old burgundy Penn 112H which I had shipped from the US way back when they were first made. This great little reel along with a backup spare has landed me anything likely to be caught in Ireland over all those years. A well engineered reel, easy to repair and spares readily available. Ah the good old days!

A couple of years ago I decided to move with the times and bought  a Trinidad TN16 as the Penn's were not braid friendly.
However last year the  TN16 ARB bearing and anti reverse pawl gave trouble on a fishing trip so the old 112H saved the day for me. Great reels which were marked "Made with pride in the USA"    Makes you think doesn't it?

[callelk]

For what I fish for, the Penn 1/0 sized reels work the best.  The Squidder is my #1 go to followed by the 110 and the 501.  Granted I have a couple of Baja's and for a medium sized reel, they cannot be beat.   

I always carry a 146 side plate with a reel-deal multiplier as well because you never know

My travel schedule requires that I pack small and light so when I go to Northern or Southern Cal, Alaska, etc, I carry two custom 3-piece rods and at least two 1/0 reels with spare spools.  The 146 and 501's have a one-screw take-down and the 501 spool fits the 110 Senator...............

Needless to say, I am always looking out for good deals on spools.....

[franky]

For my kind of fishing, I gott say that I love my newells and penns.  Like most of you said, they are easy to service and the parts are readily available.  They both cast very well, but the newell is a little lighter and easier to cast.  They both have the traditional and reliable springs and dogs.

The newell is a little easier to service as well...no loose parts.

The only downside of the newell is the parts are not made as well as the penns, diawas, and shimanos, etc.  I wish newell would change their molds and make their parts a little more tighter on the tolerences.   

They are not the quietest, smoothest or best looking reels, but oohhh so reliable....

[alantani]

i still love the old garcia mitchell 300's!  had one when i was a kid.  wish i knew then what i know now!

[callelk]

i still love the old garcia mitchell 300's!  had one when i was a kid.  wish i knew then what i know now!

Yeah, funny you should mention that.  After I hit "post" I looked underneath my desk and low and behold, there they were, two Mitchell 300's, each with a "metal" spare spool cases that I plan on cleaning this weekend (the reels that is).  300's, 308's, 306's  and of course the skirted  and "Pro" models.  Great reels that were (are) easy to maintain and get fish......

Allan if you looking for one I am sure I can send one to you, no charge of course.  I am sure the other 150 or so won't miss one of its brethren. 

[Norcal Pescador]

What a question to make you think! I like my Daiwa 350H [strong, well-built and easy to work on], the 113H and 114H [proven tough-guys], and Newell 220 [functional and casts like a dream] a lot.

But my all-time favorite, made in U.S.A., multi-tasker: the Penn 500L Jigmaster [time-tested and proven] with s/s gear sleeve and Newell 5:1 gears!!

Rob

[broadway]

Wow.. No really high end reels were mentioned except the trinidad, and for the most part they're all American made  .  It seems we all agree that reliability is #1.  Alan, you went with a French reel manufacturer
Dom

[alantani]

hey, i was 9 years old!  i still remember that bass that i lost.  i reared back as soon as i saw him explode on that topwater plug and the line snapped!  so much for my square knot!  he jumped one more time trying to shake that plug out of his jaw and that was the last i saw of either.  i remember it like it was yesterday!

[Phinaddict]

Funny you went with the Mitchell 300; when I started this post, I thought long and hard about going the nostalgia route as well. Matter of fact, I do go with the 300, but when I went to post it, I had timed out.
So, I had a beer and went with the more modern stuff. Like you Alan, and many of us, the ole 300 is what we cut our teeth on...ah the memories of the family cabin at Nacimiento Lake in the 60's; takes me back to a more simple time.

[broadway]

Phin and Alan,

     You're showing your age  By the way, Good choice... that reel changed the future of reels.
Dom