Home Forums Fishing Freshwater Spinning reel for panfishing...

Getting ready to buy a new bluegill, crappie, white bass, ect. rod and reel. I've pretty much decided on one of the St. Croix Panfish Series rods. The rod will be 6' - 7' and ultra or light weight action. I'd like to pair that up with a decent reel sized to balance out the rod. Probably gonna keep the cost of the reel around $100 give or take a little. Been awhile since I've bought a spinning reel and there are a bunch on the market. Appreciate any suggestions...

You might also look at a Crappie Series Ugly Stik. The 7' medium light is a superb rod and a bargain at about $40.

I'm a huge fan of Lews and Okuma spinning reels. Very smooth action, easy casting, and (again) a bargain.

I like 6# NanoFil with a ten foot section of 6# fluorcarbon on mine. The longer-than-usual leader lets me set up a sliding float if I choose.

(I fill most of the spool with eight-pound mono, with only about 50 yards of Nanofil on top. I get three "reloads" of Nanofil from a factory 150-yard spool that way. Six if I take the time to reverse the line when it's time to respool.)

If you want to spend less try the Shimano Sienna 1000. It's not as smooth as a Shimano Symetre or other higher end reels but it's smooth enough. I've got reels costing a lot more but my two Shimano Siennas, a 2500 and a 1000 at around $30 each have worked well for me for a few years. I've been using the 2500 for everything from light saltwater to freshwater bass fishing and the 1000 for small stream trout, reservoir crappie and bluegills. No maintenance, no problems.

Shimano Sedona in 750 or 1000....about $70 good stuff!

Pflueger President in the #25 size.

This..^^^^^^

X3, was a shimano guy, but the plahflugger is da best, the tikka of fishing reels.

^^^This^^^

You will throw your old Shimano in the trash after trying one of these Pfluegers! I've got 6 of them now in various sizes. Best $50 bucks I've ever spent on a fishing reel!!!

Thanks for the recommendations. I'll definitely check them out. Gonna be making a trip to the big city where they have both a Bass Pro and a Cabelas next week. Should be able to get my hands on some reels and get a feel for them then.

Since I'm both old and old school, I rather like the old Mitchell 308s and 310ULs, have them on Berkley Trout Dough rods in 6'6" and 7'0" for panfish and little trout.

I enjoy Pflueger and Shimano. The P - use the 20 or 25 (my Fave all around) size, with Trilene XL 4 or 6, or P-Line CX (Single X) in 6 lb, in Shimano, I would use a 500, 750, or 1000 whatever your preference. Try handling the rod before buying and also mounting the reel to check for balance. I use 4.5 - 6ft for most panfish like Bream, the longer rods throw light jigs farther, all else equal. Enjoy!

I actually prefer the smallest President the 6920 but the 6925 is sweet too.

Something the size/weight of 260Rem's Mitchell 310. That's a small reel, in fact it looks like those used for ice fishing. You won't need much line capacity nor a really strong drag and a lightweight reel will balance well with any ultralight rod and let you feel light jigs and bites. White bass will be fun on ultralight tackle. Get a reel smaller than the 8 ounce reels I prefer for walleye.

260, I too am old and old school and I love my 308s ( a couple of them I bought while in high school in the early '70s) and I have a 310 on a 24" jigging rod for ice fishing but for someone looking for a brand new ultralite reel the Presidents are very nice and a lot smoother than decades old 308s. In fact I'm thinking about buying 2-3 and giving my 308s a break this year.

What you guys really need, is a Mitchell 260 sized reel

Update: I had a Cabela's gift card and while I had to take the wife to the big city to the doctor yesterday, afterward we found the local Cabela's store. I looked and fingered a bunch of rods and reels and finally came away with a St. Croix 6' 9" Ultralight with a Fast Action coupled with a Pflueger President XT 20 reel. Rod feels plenty sensitive, has a strong backbone for its weight and action, balances great in my hands. The little Pflueger is smooth, looks good and balances perfectly on the rod. Think it's gonna be a panfish killer!

Great choice! enjoy!

Sounds like some panfish pics are in order.

Sure hope so! My struggle is to get time to go right now. I know guys are catching them, I just have to find the time.

I like the Pflueger Trion reel in size 20 and the Shimano Sienna in 500. Those are the reels on got on my ice fishing and ultralight open water rods. They both have nice drag, smooth reeling, and solid reels. Good luck!

I have used the 6'9" ul. I got the 7' lite. I like the 1000s and the 25s, the 20s have too many coils for distance casting. I put a daiwa 2000 fuego on mine but if I'm using 6 lb line but go with a 1000 shimano or 25 president limited if using 2 or 4 lb.

The 7' Lite or a Med/Lite of about the same length will be next. I'll pair it with the President Limited 25 series reel.

Fenwick makes a nice medium light. The walleye jigging rods have a soft tip and throw light lures very well. I cast 1/24 oz jigs on mine, and 1/16 oz cast super easy. Rated for 4-10lb line and 1/16-5/8oz lures. Shorter than what you mentioned at 6'6" but it's a gem.

Tag...sounds intriguing, always looking for something that zings lightweight rapalas and jigs far.

I use it for 1/8 oz hair jigs for smallmouth in the winter too. I loose less fish than on a medium.

I went through more shimano's that I care to admit. Very nice reels but bail springs go really fast even on the mid range units. I switched to Pflueger President 6930 series reels and never looked back. Great smooth running reel that is tough and priced well. I use them normally 150 plus days per year both open water and through the ice.

ya i love my old 3xx's. i bought a box of reels off a hunting site a few years ago for 25 bucks and there were 3 or 4 beat up 300's and 2 308's. rebuilt one of the 308's and put it on a cheapo little rod with some trilene. works nice but deserves a better rod and line.

that president 25 looks nice too and cheap. might have to pick one of those up for a "truck rod".

Im done with shimano too. I have 3 1000s and only one works good after a short period of time. The saros is flawless but the symetre and stradic are toast. I am pleased with the pflueger 25 president, even more pleased with the supreme 30 series ( not crazy about the coil throwing little reels ). Also the daiwa 2000 fuego is really nice. I've had the pfluegers over 3 years and the fuego a little over a year. Daiwa drag is butter smooth. In my opinion the supreme and the fuego are the two best bang for your buck reels on the market at 100 bucks. The line wraps on The spool better on the daiwa and supreme better than the president. The 25 president has a habit of the line digging into it's self and screwing your cast up after you catch a larger fish that takes drag.