Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Expensive reels

I'm an old fisherman & purchased many Ambassador reels for $20 in the 60's. Latest Basspro catalog shows a number of reels for $500-800. I probably own over 30 assorted reels & never paid more than $100+ for any of them. I have fished hard with 100 trips/year for over 35 years & have 25 fish mounted so I have caught my share. Why does anyone need reels this expensive?

I would guess it may be worth it to guys who charter for a living. Equipment expense can add up cone tax time. But. Ive never used a 600 dollar reel so I can't tell you whether they are worth it or not. Most expensive reel I have cost around 150. But its a fly reel

I was on a trip to Padre Island last year with a passle of "Fire members, and a shark fisherman there with us had a rack of more than a dozen rods and reels. Many of those reels cost several thousand dollars each. Perhaps stxhunter could chip in here with better info, but that's my memory.

On my own rods, I don't think I paid $100 for any reel at any time. Most cost me about half that. I'm perfectly well served by them, though. Higher end reels might cast a bit better, have better drags or last decades longer - but do I really NEED those things? I don't think so.

I think its just like anything else.. Ammo used to be a few bucks a box.. now its $30+
Gas used be be 25 cents a gallon....now look at it 3.75+
If people continue to pay it, companies will keep the prices high... Our glorious economy at work!

I have many Ambassadors and I highly doubt that a $600 reel could outlast or out-fish any of my Abu's

Those $20 Garcia 5000 reels you bought in the 1960's cost $60 when I bought mine in the 1990's. The last two I bought were rebuilt used reels I paid $65 for. A new 6500 is about $120 now.

How good a reel you need depends on what you are fishing for and how often you use it.

It's difficult to find a good reel under $100. And I'm talking bass and cat fishing bait casting reels. I have no idea what type of reel would be needed for saltwater big fish. But I bet it would need to be well made to hold up.

A single shot H&R for $150 will do anything a $10,000 custom build will do also, but we all want that fancy custom rifle don't we? Many of those high end reels are large salt water reels that are just huge and the cost is also huge. The bass sized reels over $300 are very hard sells, $150-$200 is the common higher end bass reel.

I bet in 1960's dollars you paid more for your 5000 then they are selling for today, but they were also a much better reel. The new reels have IAR which is real nice but the rest of the reel is crap compared to the old ones.

Marketing will play on some peoples impulses. just look at the complete rampid stupidity in the bass fishing world. 25 dollar crankbaits 17 dollar jerkbaits, it takes a special kind of idiot to pay that. I have placed in many tournament where guys where fishing a luckycraft bait or something similar and I beat them useing a cheap strike king 4S or bill norman deep tiny n or. its insane.

The difference between a $200 Daiwa Zillion and a $500 Steez is like the difference between a Honda and a Lexus. A LOT of refinement, not worth it on my budget though. I did buy a saltwater rated Zillion though 'cause I fish out of a kayak and that abuses reels big time.

Step down to something like a Basspro Extreme $50 special and you may destroy two or three of them in a year of kayak fishing, doesn't sound so cheap at that point.

The difference between a $50 and a $100 reel is HUGE, the difference between a $100 and a $200 reel is not so great. As you get more expensive the quality and differences get smaller and smaller for your money. That's pretty much the same in just about everything you buy.

I repped Abu reels up until this past April so I will use their Revo line as an example. The Revo S is a nice reel for $120, the SX gives you magnetic cast control and a couple more bearings (that don't really make it any smoother or do anything other than make it sound better) for $165. Step up to the STX for around $200 and you get a couple more bearings (again that don't do anything) and an aluminum sideplate. Now go to the MGX and they give you a magnezium frame that makes it about 3/4 oz lighter for $350. Step all the way up to the MGXrteme and you get a magnezium frame and sideplate along with a carbon handle and some titanium parts in it that save about 1/2 oz over the MGX for $500! Virtually all of the parts on all of the reels are interchangible and they will all cast pretty much the same distance and have the same drags, actually the MGxtreme has a lower quality drag because it's lighter. And being magnezium it's less durable than the lower priced aluminum framed models but it is lighter.

It's no surprise that the SX outsells all the other ones combined as it gives you the best value for the dollar. If you want to have a super lightweight combo the MGxtreme is the way to go. Kind of like a Remington Mountain Rifle is a nice gun for about $700, if you want a lighter rifle go with a Kimber for about $1400 and if you want the ultimate go with a Rilfes Inc. rifle for several thousand dollars.

No it won't.

That must be good stuff you're smoking.

I'm saying it will kill a deer just as good. Will it be as accurate? Probably not. Will it have as good of a trigger? Probably not. But it will kill the deer just the same.

You could say the same thing about a rock.

I stick in the middle price range for bait casting bass fishing reels....they seem to hold up better than the cheaper stuff, and about as well as the refined and more expensive reels.

You can turn a cheap bait casting reel into worthless crap in a season of continued use. They work fine at first but quit earlier IME.

I spent good money on my halibut reel, a penn international 16vsx. I look at it the same way I look at a rifle, it is a tool to put food in the freezer. Would a cheaper reel do the same job? Probably, but I have no doubt the reel I bought will last me for the rest of my life.

Take one of your old Ambassadors out in your yard and pitch a 1/4 oz. jig or Sinko for ten minutes and let us know how you made out.When you pay $120 to $550 entry fee you need gear that will cast with little or no effort for 8-10 hrs.

All the fuss and $$$, grab a cane pole, hooks, and live bait

Give me an early 80's Ambasadeur 521 XLT Plus and I will do anything the latest $500 MGExtreme will.

Give someone a 1972 Volkswagon "Thing" and they can get to Seattle in it the same as I could get there in a new Corvette. I am happy that they are happy to drive such an automobile, it is just transportation. I guarantee I would enjoy the trip more and I didn't really need a Corvette to get there, but if that is what I want to drive, so what.

I have never looked at cars as merely transportation any different than I look at guns as tools, or fly rods and reels as just fishing gear. I love expensive stuff, but I can't afford all that I would like...

Going by your handle, I'll bet your ambassadeurs are all buffed and have ABEC 7 bearings in 'em too. That helps a bunch.

TaK, nope they're all pretty much bone stock but they are cleaned and lubed correctly (not the way they come from the factory) I've put different rated ABEC bearings in reels and never really noticed a difference.