Starter reel recommendations

[falkners]

Many years ago when I first started fishing in the salt and there wasn't the assortment of reels out as there is now I used a Medalist with good success. It is a decent reel for about $30. You should probaly get the newer rim control model if possible. Just make sure you rinse them well as they are not really designed for the salt. I have landed blues up to 15 pounds on that reel. If you want to spend a bit more the Teton Tioga is a good reel. Get the large arbor model. This reel has taken some good sized albies and has a decent drag. If you are after albies go up 1 reel size for the line size youare using for some added backing capacity. I think the reel goes for around $150 bucks. When you get up to around $200 and beyond there's huge assrtment of good reels. You don't need to spend a ton of money on your first reel. All it does is hold your line for the most part. As you gain experience I am sure you will want to upgrade but don't go crazy at first..just get out there and fish!

[Chefskeez6]

Originally Posted by falkners

When you get up to around $200 and beyond there's huge assrtment of good reels. You don't need to spend a ton of money on your first reel. All it does is hold your line for the most part. As you gain experience I am sure you will want to upgrade but don't go crazy at first..just get out there and fish!

I agree 100% with this statement if we were talking about freshwater as many fish are stripped in and the reel really becomes nothing more than a line holder. For saltwater I disagree. Spend a little more on the reel to get a decent drag.

As previously stated the Orvis Mid Arbor is reasonably priced but you might end up wishing you bought the large arbor for line retrieve reasons (costs about $100 more than the mid arbor).

I just bought a TFO LA 375 but haven't really tested it out enough to give an honest opinion but so far it feels fairly decent.