Best spincast reel for the money

[Spoonminnow]

I recently lost a Pflueger spincast reel overboard and though it has some nice features,
but it didn't cast 1/8 or 1/16 jigheads as well as I hoped.

Any opinions?

[deathb4disco]

For the newer reels, I've heard good things about the Zebco Omega and the Daiwa Goldcast but have never fished with either. Abu Garcia would be my third choice.

On the other hand, I still have some old Johnson Century reels. They're all 30-40 years old and better than 95% of the modern spincast reels. You can still buy the Century on ebay.

[Fatman]

dbd gotta agree with you on the Johnson Century!!!!!! I bought mine after seeing Virgil Ward on Championship fishing using one, and it still works GREAT!!!!

I bought my granddaughter a Zebco 22 outfit and that little sucker does cast good. Which surprised me cause the new 33's bite. Now the older ones I'd buy cause they were made good. the new ones the cone head seems to bind on the line.

[deathb4disco]

Yeah, I just barely remember Virgil's show, but I do remember he loved his Century and his Beetle Spin!

[Bronson]

Diawa GC80 You can get them from Bass Pro for about $52. Will handle big and small fish. Will sling a 1/16th oz. jig. I've also used it for tightlining. Will last and are low maintenance. Have over 20 on rods and reels and have 4 new back up reels stowed away still in their original boxes in case they ever quit making them.

Have tried the others but they don't get the job done like the Diawa GC80 (GC stands for gold cast)

Had a guy stop me at the dock and ask me about them when he saw every rod on deck had one on it. Said he had been looking and knew I must have thought a lot of it to have it on every reel. Great for crappie but about every year I catch a 4-5 lb. bass off a crappie jig. Make sure to use the little flipper swith on the side of the reel, it really helps when you have a big fish on. (I haven't tried it but have heard it doesn't work well with braided line)

[Lou]

Freshwater Fishing Reels: Baitcast, Spinning & More | Bass Pro Shops

I was looking into one of these too recently. The BPS salesman told me to get the Zebco 33. Looking over the reviews on line, I think he was right. I was thinking about getting the Diawa as some of my favorite bait casters are diawas, well let me repeate, some of them are. Anyway, I am certainly not slamming the Diawas, but from the reviews on line, it looks like the 33 is toe to toe with the Diawa for less money. That said, Bronson's endorsement is certainly a strong one...

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Diawa GC80 You can get them from Bass Pro for about $52. Will handle big and small fish. Will sling a 1/16th oz. jig. I've also used it for tightlining. Will last and are low maintenance. Have over 20 on rods and reels and have 4 new back up reels stowed away still in their original boxes in case they ever quit making them.

Have tried the others but they don't get the job done like the Diawa GC80 (GC stands for gold cast)

Had a guy stop me at the dock and ask me about them when he saw every rod on deck had one on it. Said he had been looking and knew I must have thought a lot of it to have it on every reel. Great for crappie but about every year I catch a 4-5 lb. bass off a crappie jig. Make sure to use the little flipper swith on the side of the reel, it really helps when you have a big fish on. (I haven't tried it but have heard it doesn't work well with braided line)

Thats what I was going to point out the braid thing. I tried 10/2powerpro with the goldcast and it didnt work well at all so returned it.

[gabowman]

Hmm...didnt know they made a decent spincast anymore.

[Seabrk]

Pfluger spinning reels are the best reel for the money, I would not buy a spin cast reel, line pick up method sucks.

[huntinslabs]

Hmm...didnt know they made a decent spincast anymore.

+1, I've got 2 daiwa GC's a zebco and a phleuger and the daiwas are horrible and the zebco barely better and the phleuger is barely a notch better. I would not recommend any of the ones I have.