what do you want to see in a reel

[Pete_G]

I'm not a big fan of surf reels with a lot of bearings. Bearings fail; coated, sealed, or whatever else they like to claim. That will probably boggle the minds of most reel companies since they're big on lots of bearings. I guess if it's truly sealed it's OK if it has a lot of bearings. I really couldn't care less about how smooth a reel is though. Simplicity and function were and are the hallmarks of most of the great surf reels. Even a VS is relatively simple inside.

An inexpensive yet quality reel is probably a tough nut to crack. The market is known to be small, the Z's wouldn't be being phased out if it wasn't.

On a side note but very related to this is how many products on the market, imo, are built by companies who assume the product is being built for people who fish maybe once a week tops. I just watch certain items falter and fail SO fast and repetetively sometimes. In testing, whoever is building this reel should assume someone is hitting the water hard a minimum of several times a week over a 8 or 9 month season.

No matter what they do, this reel will be compared to VS and Penn, so they probably need to think about how they build it with that in mind.

[Slipknot]

If it has a bail, be absolutely sure that it can not possibly close on a cast. Too many reels have the ability to snap shut on a hard cast and that is no way acceptable. Plugs are way to valueable to lose due to a faulty bail.
Bailess option would be nice also for the medium to larger sizes.


30 lb mono Mike? on a spinning reel? I think that's too heavy for a spinner, too much line twist. 25 max. 20 is usually fine. If you need heavier than 25 then use conventional.

Like the others say, has to be able to get wet and be fine to fish with.

I realize a reel for skishing with, needs to be like a van stall or a saltiga but for the most part for about 150 bucks I just need it to be able to take a wave or get splashed and still work. Prices should be from about 100 for small reels up to about 150-160 for larger size.

Need a Large roller bearing to be able to handle braid, and the roller bearing needs to be smooth as silk and free rolling so light lures retreived with light braid will not cause problems.

It needs to come with a spare spool.


Parts line line rollers and drag washers need to be available readily.

the stem needs to be very sturdy to handle alot of torque

drag must be smooth.