Hi, what would you all recommend as best distance reel for up to £150 each, cheers.

In reply to Post #1
What rods they going on?

In reply to Post #2
Wychwood D-201 13ft 3.5 tc.

In reply to Post #1
Penn affinity 2

In reply to Post #3
I would take a look at the fox FX range

In reply to Post #3
Daiwa emblem SCW 45

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzUtvcd8ycA&ab_channel=CARPologyTVCarpFishing

These have great reports and the look very very similar to the Affinity reels and Mitchell Avocast 8000 reel. The Penn and Mitchell reels are the same reels except a few extra bearings, titanium main shaft and drag material (not that you notice it, I've got both the Mitchells and Penn affinities).

You might even find some Okuma's in stock at a better price than the Penn's or Mitchells ATM as well.

I bought the Penn affinity 3 on the recommendation of this forum and they're outstanding reels. All metal, no cheap plastic.

As others have said, if they had a Shimano or Daiwa badge they'd cost a lot more.

In reply to Post #7
2nd the Emblem SCW 45. Cos nobody wants to sit looking at Penn reels

In reply to Post #10
Whys that? Cos everyone wants to sit there thinking I've just bought an inferior reel just because I'm a tackle sheep 😂

In reply to Post #11
Or I wish I could afford a proper Daiwa

In reply to Post #12
😂

In reply to Post #12
LOL. bahhhhhh

I guess you...

Nope... temptation has been controlled. If I lower myself to that level I'll be beaten by people with a lifetime of more experience of being... like that.


All the reels are good. I've found my Penn Affinities and Mitchell Avocast reels to perform very well with no issues at all, no need for servicing, great features (the likes of which Daiwa are now starting to copy) and of better value than certain name brands. Yes, I can afford the more expensive brands but find no need to spend more than i need to on equipment.

In reply to Post #10
🐑

Looks like you get a fair bit for your money with the Penn's, only thing is, as with many things made to a cheaper price point, they're well heavy. Don't know how long they'd last, suppose only time will tell with guys using them.

Look a bit Argos too.

In reply to Post #16
Look a bit argos? Think you should get yourself to specsavers...... I prefer the look of them to my 45scw's

In reply to Post #15
Baaa. But no, I don't sit by a stock pond with 3.5 Harrison's and Basias just to cast 60 yards I hardly even Carp fish, I fish the Tidal Trent which means tough conditions and I choose my gear for how it performs. The 45's are superb at cranking in 8oz leads against heavy flow and have proven themselves for me this season.

It's hard to buy poor kit these days anyway. I don't even know how many reels I've got, but I know none of them are crap (just the rear drag on Baitrunners that's a bit pants )

In reply to Post #18
Yeah they are decent, I have a set. But they aren't as good as the penns I had before. Having owned both its a more realistic comparison when you've actually used the things, as opposed to just going on how something looks.
And it's really not that hard to buy poor kit these days imo, there's still plenty of it about lol

In reply to Post #17
Yeah, Diawa's do look poop.. Prefer my Tech Mag XTC's to any Diawa, let alone some pone from Penn.

In reply to Post #20
Neither look poop, and both function well which is the important bit. Keep your daft shimano p3nis extensions, because that's all they are.

In reply to Post #21
Shill harder.

In reply to Post #20
Did you buy them off a forum user who won them in a raffle

In reply to Post #23
No, from a shop instead of someone getting something for free and profiteering from it 👍

In reply to Post #20
The newer mags are not a patch on the originals. Give me a daiwa reel any day over a shimano.

In reply to Post #24
Can't fault him

In reply to Post #25
Not that I've had the older ones, but the older ones are heavier and less refined. Time will tell. If these ones blow up or fall to bits I'll be the first to bunny on about it. All that aside, they're the bollox.

In reply to Post #26
Come on braders, let's not pick that scab. It got well messy last tme and caused some really bad feeling...like I was the antichrist or summink 👍

In reply to Post #28
you still purchased the wrong reels anyway

In reply to Post #29
I know, should'a got Penn's all along

In reply to Post #30
Slight price difference tbf,I used to only buy Shimano but since I had the xtc techs then the xtb mags oh then got the latest power aero's.I would not buy another Shimano reel.I still have an older spod reel which has been abused and is still ok

In reply to Post #31
I like Shimano and to be fair, never had a problem with them. The only one that isn't that great for waterproofness is the spod reel. Mine got waterlogged in the summer after one of the nutty storms we had. Still got water coming out of it now.

I like my dinky Diawa 2600 reels for my smaller rods, other than that, Diawa can go swivel.

Back on topic: it's good to see the likes of Penn livening up the big pit reel market. Obviously theres quite a few different brands out there like Fox (chuckles to himself) etc. Penn does have heritage, and by the looks of these 7000 and 8000 offerings, there's some trick bits going on inside like a titanium main shaft, although what grade that shaft is? Also, giving them a good kicking by dragging huge weedbeds in on the daily, how long will those internals last, same goes for the bearings?

.

In reply to Post #32
I'd say hauling in cats would give them a far better work out, and they do that admirably

In reply to Post #32
In dick swing contest Braders new reels trump those common tec's by miles.

In reply to Post #33
That's good to hear 👍

It wouldn't be a surprise to me at all it they just keep going and going like say an old ss3000 with the advances of modern gearings and design. Like I said a while back, only time will tell on that front. I'd be really interested to see how these priced reels stack up in years to come, same goes for what I've just bought, ha, might end up folding them all, mashing all the gears to a pulp and end up buying 3 x Penn's...

In reply to Post #34
They are a thing of beauty

In reply to Post #35
Exactly, and like you said earlier they have pedigree in the big game world so they do know a thing or 2 about making solid reels. It wouldn't surprise me if they crept up in price over the next year or 2 aswell..

In reply to Post #36
What are they?

In reply to Post #38
Dick Walkers 5000T's

https://www.wish.com/product/5f17dcee5819ae04bf6c1e49?hide_login_modal=true&from_ad=goog_shopping&_display_country_code=GB&_force_currency_code=GBP&pid=googleadwords_int&c=%7BcampaignId%7D&ad_cid=5f17dcee5819ae04bf6c1e49&ad_cc=GB&ad_curr=GBP&ad_price=30.00&campaign_id=6493229882&exclude_install=true&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2uH-BRCCARIsAEeef3nU1k0ypj3e-po8UkxKp5UV14_EYadKKcer75phwZvGxLdt23dpigkaAmo5EALw_wcB&share=web

Here they are.

In reply to Post #38
Daiwa basia 20 scw qd

In reply to Post #41
Braders, what an earth have you bought. Those things are like transformers... coffee grinders in disguise

Bit heavy ain't they?

In reply to Post #42
They will still be on my rods in two years,your **** component Shimano's will be in the bin

In reply to Post #43
I'm going to bookmark this page. I know you'll be grizzling sometime soon when they start making weird noises

In reply to Post #44
My castizms are still as smooth as the day I bought them.Lets see how long until your spool clickers go silent and you take your rods out and your bail arms are bent.Keep an eye on your line clips too they seems to break easily too

In reply to Post #45
Think those titanium bail arms should be ok, well, they're titanium after all and not too much flex, clips? Nah, they'll be okay, clicker? Hmm, maybe....

On the other hand, keep those Diawa's away from any dirt, water, or pits, better still, keep at home in their boxes well away from any harm seeing how fragile they are 👍

In reply to Post #46
They will be just fine

I've had the Affinity 7000 coming on 5 years now. Fish a weedy 150 acre lake, fish abroad no problems yet. Don't know if I should have but haven't lubricated or cleaned in any way and they are good as gold. Can't see this changing for another 5 to be honest.

In reply to Post #5

In reply to Post #23

my bad sorry

In reply to Post #46
I would not purchase shimanos because they change there products to frequently and they stop supporting them after 5 years. Hardly seems as worth while investment to me further more they offer nothing more than a gold emblem which id rather use over any shimmy day and night.

In reply to Post #41
Nice mate. You pay retail of you manage to find a deal on them?

In reply to Post #46
Ever owned them or you going off the nonsense youve read

In reply to Post #53
I found a deal on them

In reply to Post #54
What Basia's? No, never owned them. I did have a set of the old 5000T's which I thought were kak, made like an old Russian T34 tank.

A guy who worked in a tackle shop had a set of the top end Basia's and swore blind he'd never get another set. A guy on the place I fish has a set and they sound f..ked. Funnily enough no-one on the place I fish has Diawa, fair amount of Shimano's though.

I'm non too keen on the blingy look of the higher end Diawa's, think they look hideous - what's going on with the 'longness?' They remind me very much so of a woman smothered in fake tan, bright lipstick, whitened teeth, slagtags dripping in jewellery; if you're into that thing I suppose, I'm more into the muted look + function combined.

Not overly keen on the Basia however you can still get parts for them and probably will in ten years time.

Wait a year of shimano once realised and get them half price, bin them a couple of years later.

Where do you fish Dagenham chase.

In reply to Post #57
"Where do you fish"

Never you mind.

I did hear that the RM bucket acts like a sieve.

The reason I asked the original question was that I didn't know if the hate came from price, branding, shoddy goods. So I take it, much like people have me mentioned, RM is made in chy-na?

In reply to Post #59
I've used the same 4 Sportsmatics for 20 years - for normal stuff and at Chanty - never let me down.

If I was ever to get a new set I reckon I would get Penns - never seen anyone have a bad word there.

In reply to Post #60
What I was trying to get across to IP was that all these expensive reels might just be one big scamolla in a sense and it's just very slight differences giving companies like Shimano a reason to charge crazy money.

Like I was saying, I'd be very interested to see how these reels pan out in years to come.

In reply to Post #61
You don't need to "get that across" to me chap, I 100% believe these expensive reels are just a big scamola as you call it, and completely ott for carp fishing. Tbh I thought you were saying the penns were crap because they are cheap compared to techs etc. Hence calling techs, basias etc penis extensions. A couple of years back I was considering the z45 basia and when I had a look while at the big one I just could not see where the price tag came from, and after looking round at a few more reels I bought my set of penns because I realised that there wasn't anywhere like the increase in quality as there was the price with "high end" reels. If people want to spend their hard earned on them, fair play to them and good luck, but let's be honest they don't warrant the price when compared to cheaper reels. Do the £750+ basia do anything 10times better than a £75 Emcast? Of course they don't. The drag may be a bit better, the line lay a bit better, they may look a little nicer, but are they 10times better? Plus that's a lot of money for something which is off the shelf and available to all to buy. I could understand if reels where like rods where you had customs made from scratch by hand.

In reply to Post #62
I would not have paid the 750 for my new reels either but then again I can get the latest shimano mgs for nearly half that and still would not buy them

In reply to Post #63
Fair enough Tony. I won't pay more than about £180 for a reel anymore after learning my lesson with those poxy entohs, they just don't warrant it imo. BTW, what happened for you to dislike shimano so much? I'm sure I remember you saying how great your techs were a couple of years back

Back in the summer I wanted some big pit reels. I am very happy with my medium LC bait runners for 80% of my fishing but on one water I need more range to reach the fish on occasion. I didn't want to spend thousands but also didn't set a budget just went to try a few reels out. I looked at Shimano Ultegra, some Basias, Affinity (ii and iii) plus a few others from Fox etc.

In the end I picked up 3 Crosscast 45 reels for just over £300 all in. Yes they are (bloody) cheap, yes they are plasticy (if you like to fondle them) BUT they work. Cast loads further than my baitrunners (no surprise), not too heavy (my baitrunners are Ci4) and having now played a few fish on them (they are not for show) they get a big tick from me.

I am not expecting them to last 15 years but at this price I don't care. I am not a full time fisherman, done about 7 nights this year and that's a good year for me.

Don't worry about what others have, get what suits you

I bought a set of the new Emblems to replace my set of old Emblems which must have been over 15 years old. The manual bail arm took a bit of getting used to, as did not having about 1/2 turn of backlash! They are also silent instead of sounding like a coffee grinder and they have added several yards to my casting distances.

Do I think they will last me 15 years like the old ones, no I don't. Having said that, after a year of hard use they are looking remarkably good and they've needed nothing more that a quick clean now and again. I'd happily recommend a set to anyone, they do exactly what they say on the tin for me....

In reply to Post #56
Didnt think so

In reply to Post #64
Remember that disagreement we had on the over chat where i said fanboys of one brand slate the other brands without having used them? Read post 20 and 46. Prime example of what i meant

In reply to Post #55
Glad to hear it mate, thats a lot of monies at rrp

In reply to Post #68
Vaguely yes

In reply to Post #64
I wished I had never sold my 12000xtc,they were the last Shimano reel I liked.I then had the black mgs and did not like them at all and the new power aero felt terrible,just don't think Shimano are any good anymore

In reply to Post #62
The reason I bought the reels I have is just to make my rod (Treb Lites - not the lightest rod) and reel combo a touch lighter to make using the combo easier to live with. I did have Ci4 Ultegra 14000 XTB's before that were marvelous reels.

Unfortunately, so it seems, you end up having to pay a shedload to get light reels, and that's what it boils down to, save a few exotic materials like zyklon b that the high end Diawa's sport or carbon mixes and titanium that the Mags have. Are these fancy reels worth the extra money? I cannot say that as it's really what suits your personal needs best is the reel for you.

If there was a Cardinal 55 big pit reel, I'd never use anything else, even though it's old tech, would be heavy, but I actually love those old 55's of mine. I'll probably get buried with um...55's ❤️

In reply to Post #71
Why didn't you like the new Mags, no tinsel going on with them like your new reels?

The reason I got rid of my old XTB Ultegra's was because of the shiny s-hit that had on them. Loving the blackness of the new Tech's, lully. No more stoopid shiny, blingy s-hit bugging the f.ck out of me.

In reply to Post #73
It wasn't the latest mgs I had it was the black xtb,I would not buy the new tech mgs even at the price I can get them for the black mgs put me off and so did a well known shop when I asked about them.Its each to their own,im sure you will love your new reels as I will mine

In reply to Post #74
Irrelevant debate.. In the great scheme of things both of your reels are ****

In reply to Post #74
Could have given me the heads up where you can get them chepo, like cheers 👌

In reply to Post #75
They will handle silt pigs no problem,not like I'm going be fishing for hard fighting sal****er species not sure why the filter kicked in for salt water

In reply to Post #75
Noj, is it true van staal are being made in the far east now only I've read a few claiming this and a few issues.

In reply to Post #78
Could easily be the case mate, part of pure fishing I believe.
I know there was a cheaper range and then the vs models, be a shame if they went downhill.
Starting to prefer a fly reel or pin to fixed spools but meow

In reply to Post #79
Very nice but the rough comment would worry me spending that money, would definitely be a visit to the retailer for a play before purchase.

In reply to Post #77
Write it as two words and you'll be fine. I didn't cos I'm a t wat too.

In reply to Post #81
Oh yeah I see that works well,you w anker

In reply to Post #82
HO! HO! HO!

In reply to Post #83
Hello 🎅

In reply to Post #80
I'm not sure there would even be anywhere that stocked them here.
Ffs I'd forgotten I wanted 3 of these

In reply to Post #85
Uttings would probably get them.