A good first conventional reel

[JasonGotaProblem]

I've been trying to expand my fishing horizons. I've spent the past few months playing with a baitcaster on and off, and can generally cast with low risk of ratnest most the time. So I'm looking to take it to the next level and get my first conventional. The question is which one...

I have no experience at all "thumbing the spool" for line lay, and I guess I'll have to find an instructional video or something on what the heck that even means. But logically as such I probably wanna look for something with a narrower spool as I hear they're a bit more forgiving.

I also probably wanna find something with enough drag to make it worthwhile. So logically above 20# with 30 or more being ideal.

Easy to work on... Self explanatory. I can work with my abu blackmax and my spinners with little trouble, and my understanding is conventionals are SIMPLER inside on average so that should be ok but still a consideration.

I'd prefer something with a mechanical AR. I'm not anti ARB, and both is great, but I like reliability.

2 speed: do I want/need 2 speed? I don't know please tell me. I seem to have done just fine with one speed spinners my whole life but I know offshore its a different game.

Cost/availability. I don't want to/can't afford to spend an arm and a leg on this. So I'd like to find something either initially affordable or common enough that I could find one used for a reasonable price. I have no strong brand preferences.

I'm looking at a penn fathom 2 star drag, maybe the FTHII15SD? Seems to check a lot of boxes but I'm iffy about modern penns.

Thoughts? Thanks!

[foakes]

Hard to beat a Penn Jigmaster for your first Conventional.

1:4, aluminum spool, HT-100 drags, easy spool switch out when fishing, tough and proven.

Here is a new USA one for $55.

This will get your feet wet without breaking the bank —- and will still be going when any of the new fancy shiny reels that cost many times more —- are in the landfill.

Best, Fred

[Breadfan]

I have the Fathom FTHII15SD but its a CS and not the SD, basically the same reel but with a knobbymag and better bearings, slightly higher capacity. The mag works good full on. I sold a custom rod to a customer and the same reel. He had never cast a convention or baitcaster and with the mags full on, he never even got a hint of a tangle. The SD you speak of has the dial for the mag which I prefer and I converted mine over to that, the knobby stuck in into my wrist on the retrieve. The mags themselves are the same. I only need to thumb the spool when it hits the water. Really, this reel is nothing like the mag less reels I learned on. It's almost too easy. Laying the line takes practice but if its distance you want, a levelwind just won't do.

[Breadfan]

Hard to beat a Penn Jigmaster for your first Conventional.

1:4, aluminum spool, HT-100 drags, easy spool switch out when fishing, tough and proven.

Here is a new USA one for $55.

This will get your feet wet without breaking the bank —- and will still be going when any of the new fancy shiny reels that cost many times more —- are in the landfill.

Best, Fred

That is a great price on a nice reel!

[Wompus Cat]

Hard to beat a Penn Jigmaster for your first Conventional.

1:4, aluminum spool, HT-100 drags, easy spool switch out when fishing, tough and proven.

Here is a new USA one for $55.

This will get your feet wet without breaking the bank —- and will still be going when any of the new fancy shiny reels that cost many times more —- are in the landfill.

Best, Fred

https://alantani.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=34725.0;attach=109429;image
Thats a REEL DEAL IF it is old stock but New Jiggys ae made now in JYNA.

[Jenx]

You can't go wrong with a Fathom. If you are looking for a narrow spool I would consider the 12, assuming it has enough line capacity for what you need. The 12 is the exact same reel as the 15 just narrower.

Both the size 12 and 15 come with magnetic breaks, and are extremely easy to cast. I would take the reel to a park, or out to the water, set the break dial to the half way mark (which is way more breaks than you need), and practice casting. Once you make a couple of consecutive casts without any backlash you can then start dialing back the breaks. Continue doing that until you find that happy middle ground between casting distance and backlash resistance.

[Jim Fujitani]

My $0.02.  If you really want to learn how to cast a conventional, and learn how to retrieve line, I would back Fred and go with a basic unaltered cheap Jigmaster or Squidder. 

Once you have educated your thumb on casting and retrieving, then you can expand your horizons on any conventional reel, narrowed, wide, magged, 2-speed, all the way to International level.  You can then pick up any conventional reel, mentally make a few adjustments, and cast.

[steelfish]

I also probably wanna find something with enough drag to make it worthwhile. So logically above 20# with 30 or more being ideal.

I assume you want a small/medium size conventional reel, not many reels on that size have a real-world usable drag on 30# or more (not binding handle in high drag), many reels on those size barely reach 20# which in deed is pretty high for normal fishing conditions, only high-end reels are compact and with high drag settings but are on the expensive side for many, average $500-$600 dlls, as: accurate, penn torque, okuma mak10, etc, etc

I'd prefer something with a mechanical AR. I'm not anti ARB, and both is great, but I like reliability.
2 speed: do I want/need 2 speed? I don't know please tell me. I seem to have done just fine with one speed spinners my whole life but I know offshore its a different game.

the rule of the thumb is two speed reel on small/medium sizes is not needed, but the low speed on a strong fish makes the fight 3x easier, but no need for lower gear if 70% of your fish are 20# or less.

Cost/availability. I don't want to/can't afford to spend an arm and a leg on this. So I'd like to find something either initially affordable or common enough that I could find one used for a reasonable price. I have no strong brand preferences.
I'm looking at a penn fathom 2 star drag, maybe the FTHII15SD? Seems to check a lot of boxes but I'm iffy about modern penns.

arm & leg = expensive = subjective ($300 might be cheap for many and $150 can be expensive for 80% of my friends)

whats your budget for a first conventional reel?

for 1st conventional reel I will recommend a Star Drag reel.
one of my 1st convetional reels for fishing on a boat was a Penn jigmaster 505 and 501, same as the jigmaster 500 that Fred (FOakes) showed you but narrower, they 3x easier to wind and lay than the 500 which is wider. sold them
them moved and got me a Saltist 20H, its smaller than the jigmaster 505 and cast much better, easier to palm and sits pretty low on the rod and cast a mile many guys still use it for surf fishing with 14ft rods from the shore.
similar reels to the saltist are penn 525, penn 535, penn fathom 15 SD, penn fathom 12 SD

another 1st reel is the penn 320gti, pretty strong, pretty light and has a line winder, pretty easy to service, has the same drag washer as the mighty penn 113h.

[pjstevko]

What is the reels intended use?

(I'm kinda shocked no one else has asked that yet, unless I missed it somewhere....)

[JasonGotaProblem]

Great info so far thanks all. Being how i am, I've already started looking at some of the modded jigmasters on the 'bay, leaning toward a 506 (narrow with ball bearings).

The intended use is likely for a boat rod to do some bottom fishing and/or vertical jigging, though I'll likely also do some surf casting with it, because I do surf casting with most things.

Any thoughts on the FTHII8XNSD? It appears narrower still than the size 12 (as the name would suggest, supported by ratio of line caps).

Price is ideally around $200, though I'm always happy to spend less on used.

[Maxed Out]

 The biggest issue I have is availability of parts for any given reel. So many reels come and go and parts become unobtainable. I prefer to stick with reels that have a good track record and easy to find parts for

 -Ted

[Jenx]

Any thoughts on the FTHII8XNSD? It appears narrower still than the size 12 (as the name would suggest, supported by ratio of line caps).

Price is ideally around $200, though I'm always happy to spend less on used.

Keep in mind the 8xn doesn't come with any brakes. It's primarily meant for jigging.

[thrasher]

I was gonna respond with a 506HS but I see you already thought of it.

I bought an aluminum spool from Rancan I think, sorry if it is something else. Went to ebay and bought side plates that came with gears and beauty rings, used a 49 for the stand and spacers. I kept it simple but you already know there's a lot of options to upgrade

[day0ne]

Several things.  "Thumbing the spool" usually doesn't have anything to do with line lay. It instead refers to using your thumb on the side of the spool rather than on the line, to control your cast. Line lay is simple and with practice becomes automatic. Just use your thumb on the line just ahead of the reel, to move it back and forth, causing the line to lay properly. It becomes so automatic that I have trouble using a level wind because my thumb often moves differently from the level wind.

As far as wanting or needing 20-30 pounds of drag, I have to ask "Why"? Your drag needs to be matched to the line you are using (and maybe the fish). 20 pounds of drag is for 80 pound line and above usually. A FTHII15SD wouldn't hold much 80lb. More importantly, you need a smooth drag with as little startup as possible. You need to match your reel to the type of fishing you will be doing. For many years I used Ambassadeur 7000's and TLD15's offshore with no problems. Landed fish over 50 pounds. In fact, if you like lever drags, a TLD15 is a good starter reel 22 pounds of drag at full (15 at strike) and has been around for a long time, is easy to work on, parts readily available, plenty of used ones, and is only about $160 new,

[jurelometer]

While it is entirely possible to make a well casting lever drag, as a rule they are not designed that way.  Even worse with a two speed.  If you are loooking for a larger conventional  reel that you can cast, you are probably looking at a star drag without a levelwind.

Dimension-wise, a narrower reel is preferred for drop jigging, as you don't have to be as diligent on line lay.  For casting, you need the sweet spot between having too much inertia (flywheel effect) from a tall/narrow spool, and too much crosswise line travel from a short/wide spool.  If you look at all the better distance casting reels out there, the spool width to diameter ration is something in the ballpark of 1.25 to 1.

Reels with some sort of cast control are handy, but not mandatory. That is what the thumb is for, and you will need to learn thumbing anyways for all the times when the cast control is set too light.


If you are looking at the Jigmaster,  the 500/501 gearing is much stronger than the 505/506.  Penn took some design liberties to get to a higher gear ratio for the 505/506  that makes winding under load less capable.  Neither series are particularly strong when it comes to drag and especially winding under load.  Both are capable enough as long as you are willing to fish lighter drags. 

Personally, I would look at the Daiwa SLnnSH series or successor SL-SHA, or the Shimano TLD Star (If it is the right size).  More capable than stock or hot-rodded Jigmasters.  I like to carry as few outfits as possible, and I use these for both casting and vertical jigging on the same trip.

 They are also other/newer models from all of the big brands that are all mostly similar, but tend to come with one-way bearings.  There is often a range from entry level to premium.  The premium models usually have same or similar guts, but have machined Al frames and sideplates, which is not really necessary for the load that the rest of the reel can manage, and is more corrosion prone than "graphite" frames and sideplates.  If you go for an aluminum reel, a reel foot that is screwed into place is preferable to a permanently riveted stainless foot that subjects the aluminum to galvanic corrosion that that cannot be completely addressed during maintenance.  Internally, star drags  without levelwinds are remarkably similar.  It is the design screwups as opposed to the innovations that differentiates one from the other. I would shy away from the boutique brand "premium" star drags for this reason. 

For vertical jigging, the aficionados want a lightweight, narrow, lever drag reel with zero handle backplay.  IMHO, lightweight is useful for more vigorous jigging, the rest is optional.   You can jig more easily with a casting reel than you can cast with a jigging reel.
 
-J