Cheap reels

[Martin56]

I bought a reel for a Fiver & was worth it just for a spare.

I took the line off which must have been 20 Lb & used it for Backing on 2 better ones I have.

[TeddyBear]

Don't go cheap with reels it will end in tears. Even if they don't break, the line management will be awful and you will forever be picking away at greasy line wrapped round the spindle under the spool. Also at any sort of range a cheap reel will bend and flex and take all the feel out of fight

Rods are different, you can go fairly cheap and be ok, but I would never, personally, use anything other than an ST or DL Baitrunner

They are easily reliable enough to buy used in fair condition. Try the bigger more professional used tackle dealers on Ebay.. The 4000 size is easily strong enough to cover a vast range of fishing. I took a DL 4000 out deep sea fishing and it handled some medium size congers very well

[Peter Waller]

Cheap reels can be good, I recently bought a 5 1/2" Lewtham Leeds centre-pin for a mere £20.01. Used it yesterday, brilliant, already promoted it to my first choice reel when out on the river! 

[BoldBear]

Although it’s often true that most of them are not great reels; not all cheap reels are rubbish; there are a few that go against the grain; like the one I showed in my previous post, which has given many years of good service catching small Carp when I’ve been on holidays.

Not all cheap rods are rubbish either, like the float rod I bought for the wife at a tackle show a few years ago (see pic below).

The rod is a Mitchell Match Commercial Float Rod which I bought for the wife at a tackle show held at Thorpe Park for just £15 a few years ago it makes a great trotting rod which has handled some decent sized fish over the years, and which I now regularly use when I’m fishing at my holiday static catching small Carp on the float.

It’s still possible to find some good less expensive rods and reels if you know what you're looking for.

Keith

Edited January 16, 2022 by BoldBear

[Martin56]

I have 5 - Working men's Centrepins - 3 proper Grice & Young + 2 Leeds reels.

I'm also working on my older Brother to get Dad's wide Drum Speedia!! off him!!

[Blackbird]

On 1/15/2022 at 10:04 PM, Peter Waller said:

Cheap reels can be good, I recently bought a 5 1/2" Lewtham Leeds centre-pin for a mere £20.01. Used it yesterday, brilliant, already promoted it to my first choice reel when out on the river! 

Good stuff, although cheap, the reel is from a reputable maker.

[Whitty]

Just to add to this topic,it all depends what you call cheap,you can buy a korum reel for around 40 quid,for that you get a perfectly usable fixed spool reel,ok its not going to be as good as a two hundred notes plus one,but I for one am not prepared to justify that to the lady wife,the most ive spent on a fixed spool is around a hundred and twenty(if I remember correctly)but I honestly believe there isn't enough difference to warrant paying more than two hundred pounds for one reel when it is possible to buy two or more decent reels,leaving spares and spare spools aplenty...

[chrisjpainter]

I've just gone bought a cheap reel for my new Korum Glide float rod. Error - but an error even within its class! I went for a Shakespeare FLX and I'd never have bought it if I had felt it in a shop instead of online. The finish to the reel is nasty, sharp edges everywhere, poorly fitting bail arm and a cheap, uncomfortable handle where even the knobs were badly finished. The line lay was good and it felt smooth to wind, but in reverse, the handle makes a hideous grinding, so it's going back. It comes with two aluminium spools, but I'd rather have a cheap, plastic spare - or no spare spool altogether - and for the money to have gone into the components instead.

It was £50. But as you can pick up a Daiwa Ninja LT Match & Feeder for not much more right now, this FLX feels like a bad deal. Maybe I got a duff one, but I'm not going to bother to find out! It's not put me off looking at the cheaper end, it's just about finding the right one and making sure it's only going to be used within its remit. Unfortunately the remit for the FLX was to be back in the box and returned to sender!

[Peterjg]

I use Shimano mini bait runners, not exactly cheap but ok.  I also have a Cadence cs3 which is very light and does the job.  Also have a couple of very cheap reels from Llidl, the s3000, cheap but surprisingly good.