Daiwa Vs Shimano Spinning reels who's #1

[Kurt L]

I think I have had my fill of Shimano spinning reels, I just got to use my New Stradic FK 4000, I hand picked it because it was very smooth but after about 15 casts the dang Shimano worm gear knock started As soon as it sees any load I get Knock, Knock, knock on the up stroke and the same on the down stroke I have a lot of Stradic's but I think I'm done with them. I love my CI4+'s but...
I'm looking for options and the new Daiwa's feel very good but how do they hold up? I will need to add a couple comparable models this spring, I think the Stradic FK will be on E-bay by the end of the week.

Kurt

[aquaholik]

Damn I wonder if all those HG and XG gear ratio are the problems. I purposely buy the lowest gear Stradic FK straight from Japan and have fished 5-6 lbs of drag on it just to see if I can burn up the felt washers again after replacing the bushing with a bearing. No hint of gear wear at all and it's got hundreds of sheepshead, snappers, and about a dozen 30 lbs + black drum so far.

[poisonokie]

I've got a couple of Lexas that have seen a lot of time and some big fish and they're still going strong. I have one (a 3000) mounted to a 6'6" MHXF rod for skipping and I've pulled some nice fish out from under docks and laydowns and it handles em like a champ, even with the high gear ratio (6.2:1). Strong drag, no flex. You can feel the gears working more than when they were new, but I think that has more to do with the grease I used. Definitely no knocking. The only thing I did to them was upgrade the line roller and spool with bearings and that really made a difference. Haven't had any problems and expect them to last for a long, long time. I am a Daiwaholic, though, so don't take my word for it. Maybe someone unbiased will weigh in, but good luck finding them.

[Kurt L]

It's a shame that Shimano would put such effort into making the drive gears so smooth and then continuing to use a worm gear for the oscillation that knocks & clunks??? I was hoping with all the rage over the Hagane gears they would have addressed that, I skipped over the FJ series because I was so tired of all of the FI's I have had nocking, I sent several back for it and sold most of the others. Reels at the $200.00 price point should be better than that, None of my CI4+'s knock? It drives me NUTS!, hopefully I will get to look at Daiwa's this week maybe give a Cabelas Verano a try they are on sale right now!
I have been a Shimano die hard since the FG series because being in Alaska I could always get parts on line easy, but It's time to see what else is out there now, seems we keep getting less for more money with Shimano.

Kurt

[toddmc]

It's not a coincidence that you see a lot of guys on tour that don't have reel contracts fishing Daiwa 2500-3000 size reels. They just last and have very few issues. I'm going to the Eastern Sierras this week to fish and I take my almost 20 year-old SS700 and SS1300's. All three have been fished in the fresh and salt for almost two decades and landed thousands of big fish up to 23 pounds. Yes, they are precisely maintained, but the only thing that I have ever replaced is a broken bail spring. The other more recent Daiwa spinning reels that I own are just as reliable, but I don't own any low end reels. I can't speak for those because I don't work in a shop anymore.

[RMCatchNrelease]

I recently got my hands on an Exist and Stella at the same time. After years of Shimano spinners and believing the Stella was king. I came away far more impressed with the Daiwa.

The Daiwa was effortless to turn the handle. The handle and rotor also seemed to gather less momentum and was easier to stop on a dime. Fit and finish is tops on both, but again the Daiwa felt more refined. The drag knob on the Daiwa was is IMO cooler and felt more solid.

My next high end spinner will be Daiwa.

[slipperybob]

Who's number one, depends on which one failed on ya.

[Fishing4Fun]

I haven't had many issues with either. Only issue I have had is with a Sahara 2500 series reel binding up on me. Still binds even though it went to Shimano to have this issue corrected. It has never happened at the Saros/Stradic level or above. I would never buy a sub $100 Shimano spinning reel. For anything under $100 I would be a Phfleugar. At the $150 - 220 price point I would be a Stradic. At $300-400 I would buy a Certate, and at $500+ I would buy a Stella. So who is king? That would probably depend upon the price point from experience.

[lifeofRiley]

I got away from Daiwa spinning reels for only one reason but a big one. I've seen three different reels have the anti reverse consistently fail in cold weather conditions. If you ever want to fish in sub 40 degree weather I would go Shimano.

[JWY]

I owned 5 Daiwa spinning reels - all recent models: Last gen magsealed Caldia 2506H, last gen ('13) Certate 2506H, 13' Cetate 2510R, 13' Certate 2510PE-H and 15' Morethan 2510R - they all have had issues: pre-mature wear of the drive or pinion gear, noise oscillation after a handful of use, stripped thread on the drag knob, etc. They are lovely to use when new, but same or similar issues kept on occurring. For example, I sent my Certate 2510R back to Japan twice in a year - both time due to pre-mature wear of the gearings (developed clicking sound).

Here in Darwin, it is quite common for us to use a small spinning reel 2500 with 10-20lb braid for shallow water barramundi and other hard-running saltwater species (queenfish, blue salmon, golden snapper, etc.). I have not had much issue with my Stradic 4000, Rarenium 2500, Sustain2500, and Stella C3000HG, other than the roller bearings on the Stradic and Sustain (normal wear and tear) and I have caught a LOT more fish on the Stradic and Sustain. At least in my own experience, small sized Shimano spinning reels last longer than Daiwa's.

Daiwa's casting reels however, mmmmmwwwah, love them.

[Kurt L]

Wow now you guys have me nervous! I was going to order a Ballistic 3000 this week, the King Salmon will start showing up here in about two weeks and I know the knocking in the FK will drive me nuts but... I don't want to order a reel that will potentially give me another list of issues? King season is short for us about 6 weeks so I need to be on point! This reel is for my float rod, when the float goes down you never know what you are setting the hook into it could be a 5lb jack or it could be 60lb+ pig
What to do what to do?

Thanks, Kurt

[JWY]

Hey, you never know until you try. Those are just some of our opinions, in the end, if you love them, none of ours matters. I say go for it.

[FrankTheRabbit]

Wow now you guys have me nervous! I was going to order a Ballistic 3000 this week, the King Salmon will start showing up here in about two weeks and I know the knocking in the FK will drive me nuts but... I don't want to order a reel that will potentially give me another list of issues? King season is short for us about 6 weeks so I need to be on point! This reel is for my float rod, when the float goes down you never know what you are setting the hook into it could be a 5lb jack or it could be 60lb+ pig
What to do what to do?

Thanks, Kurt

I'd suggest a TwinPower 2011 and older. You can get them in a variety of spool sizes. For 60lb kings, you probably would want a 4000 size and a 5lb jack, a 3000 size would do.

[poisonokie]

Wow now you guys have me nervous! I was going to order a Ballistic 3000 this week, the King Salmon will start showing up here in about two weeks and I know the knocking in the FK will drive me nuts but... I don't want to order a reel that will potentially give me another list of issues? King season is short for us about 6 weeks so I need to be on point! This reel is for my float rod, when the float goes down you never know what you are setting the hook into it could be a 5lb jack or it could be 60lb+ pig
What to do what to do?

Thanks, Kurt

That Ballistic will handle anything you throw at it, hell. Just upgrade the line roller to a bearing and you're golden.

[Markanthony404]

If you go with Daiwa don't buy one any cheaper than a certate. I've had 2 ballistics, they are OK but don't hold up well to hard fishing. Now I own 2 certate's and and I couldn't be happier.