Holiday gift suggestions for fishing reels

We started talking about the two basic building blocks for fishing, the rod and the reel.

Last week, I came up with a couple solid recommendations for affordable rods that would make great Christmas gifts for aficionados of fishing. Today, I’ll offer a couple of suggestions for reels.

First you need to decide which type of fishing reel your giftee is going to use. The basic types are spinning reels, which are closed-face, and bait casting reels, which are really open-faced as well, but they aren’t referred to in that manner.

You also have fly reels for fly fishing, and those are for another discussion on another day. Spinning reels are closed face reels. These reels are good for teaching kids how to fish. Most anglers who take their fishing seriously will not fish with a closed-face spinning reel.

Aside from simply asking what kind of reel someone would like to receive, the easiest thing to do is look at their reel rack and see what kind of reels they use most often. If you find a mixture of baitcasting and spinning reels, you’re on your own and you’ll have to ask what they want.

I’ve bought and used an awful lot of different fishing reels in my lifetime. I’ve had reels that broke at the most inopportune times. Why is It that a fishing reel always goes belly up when you have a really nice fish on the end of your line? I remember every bad experience I’ve had with reels and refuse to try a brand a second time after I’ve been burned once.

The price range on fishing reels is unbelievably wide. You can find cheap reels for $15 hanging from the pegs at super grocery stores and hardware emporiums. I say leave these cheapies for the children and buy legitimate reels from tackles stores.

I’m not rich by any means and I am in no way an elitist. The thought of spending between $500 and $1,000 on a rod or reel makes me break out in a sweat. I’ve never been able to do it, and I am sure I never will.

My budget for rods is between $75-150. If I need to buy a reel, I’d probably budget between $100-200 per reel. When I pick up a reel, it has to spin smoothly and retrieve evenly. Manufacturers went on an advertising binge a few years ago proclaiming how many bearings their reels have in the guts of the reel. These bearing counts meant absolutely nothing, as a ten-ball bearing reel didn’t necessarily out-perform a three-ball bearing reel.

The best bargain in fishing reels is the Icon Skeet Reese Baitcasting reel made by KastKing. This beauty retails for $99.99. Skeet Reese is a great bass fisherman and a good friend, and I’ll use anything Skeet endorses. I have actually been using the Icon for a while now and I couldn’t be more satisfied. It fishes like a reel that costs twice the price.

The drawback is KastKing has a weak distribution network right now, and you’ll need to place an order with Amazon if you are interested in getting an Icon. Of course, they can still get it to you by the big day.

Daiwa is my go-to brand for spinning reels. The oldest reel I own and still use regularly is a Daiwa model that is over 10 years old. That really says something, doesn’t it? The $199.99 Tatula spinning reel is as good as it can possibly get when it comes to spinning reels. I’ve fished with reels costing double its price but I don’t see any upgrade in quality. To me, the Daiwa Tatula is the benchmark when it comes to spinning reels.

Now hurry up and get that shopping finished before the bait shops run out of rods and reels.