Howdy from the new guy,? about us reels

[T-roy 120]

Love the site, Ive been fishin since I was little, gills mostly till I started bass fishing. I used to bass fish 200 days a year. Got a bit burnt out. Went back to fun fishing again aftre buying a 5' u.l. Started crappie fishin about 4 years ago and man was that a mistake im an addict now, but still fish for bass when the notion hits me. Always make a few trips to the river for red eyes and sunfish every year also.
Enjoy the forum that focuses on my favorite fish. Now for the ?. Has anybody tried the us reel spinning reels? They show a smaller version called a 180 on there site but all I can find in cabelas is the 230&240 models. I know that the big spools cause less line twist and cast better than small u.l. reels. I have a old cardinal 3 on a 5'6" u.l. that you can tell casts better than the same rod with smaller reel, Especialy with light lures. Good to be here looking forward to learning more and passing on what I learn on the water and for my crappie catching forum friends.

[wwwUncle]

My brother and I each have a 230 and like it. Ours are mounted on medium rods with 10 pound braid for bass etc. The 230's will handle 2 pound mono and 6 pound braid at the low side, but we have no intention of using them for crappie etc as we want the casting distance for fishing bigger stuff from shore. And, they definitely cast further given the same setup (line, rod, and lure), but not fantastically so depending on the lure (some lures just don't cast far).

[radtexan]

Welcome to the site T-roy.Be careful its addictive!!!!!

[S.S.Tupperware]

I know one big 10 pound plus redfish, and the reel is never the same...

[Barnacle Bill]

Welcome aboard! What part of the world are you from?

[T-roy 120]

East Tn. Grainger county about 45 miniutes east of Knoxville.

[FishnLine]

Can't help with the reels T-roy, but welcome aboard.

[deathb4disco]

The US reel has come up a lot over at:

www.riversmallies.com

I think the general consensus was that it's not that great.

Shimano and Daiwa make great reels. Get one of those.

[GRIZZ]

Silly me, I once thought that they were made in the US, I can't imagine why, maybe its because of the name??? So, for a time I was interested in them because they reminded me of my favorite all time reel, the original made by Lew Childers - Speed spin reels, but after a tip from the president of Ardent Reels, I discovered they were made in China. I also discovered they were not that great of a reel. I was disappointed, beside it really ticked me off they they were deceiving the US public by selling a reel called U.S.Reel that was made in China. Pitooy on them. If your still interested in them I don't see any of their outlets selling the 180 yet. The site says "Coming in January 2008", so I guess you'll have to wait.

There are plenty of excellent reels out there who's companies don't practice deceitful tactics to dupe their customers. I suggest looking at the Quantum kinetic and above models, and shimano symetre and above models, and if you want a really nice spinning reel at a low cost take a look at the daiwa regal XIa. If your interested in a entirely US made reel take a look at Ardent reels, thought the reel they are currently displaying on thier website will be replaced this next week with an updated model, so I suggest waiting till I get my test model and write a review on it that I'll be posting here. http://www.ardentreels.com/

[shipahoy41]

T-Roy,

Welcome to the site from Alabama. This is the best on the net. Cherokee Lake , Watts Bar, and Douglas Lake have all been great producers of slab crappies in your area. Catch a few, but save the rest for others like me!