Reels Over Rated Or Under Rated

[1nutinthewater]

Over rated- Chronacrh MGl- Maybe I got a lemon but after about 20 steel head it was rather geary- Sent it in twice and finally Shimano replaced the main and pinion. Upon return, fishing in cold weather the ar bearing slipped repeatedly- Tore it down and cleaned everything the factory had put inside and seems to be fine now.

Under rated Daiwa Tatula- I have used them heavily for 6 years for everything from trolling for kokanee to bobber fishing chinook salmon and have never had a single issue with any of them.

[DirtyD64]

Over rated - SS SV Feels like a plastic toy, has a very weak drag, and is over braked
Under rated - SV 103 - Its an og Zillion with lots of spool options. Smooth and powerful. I love them stock.

I agree with your assessment of the SS SV but it is pretty much hated and not recommend as a purchase. While it is not impressive is stock form I could make the argument that this makes the reel underrated. Its still the old Steez platform and it does come in a wide range of ratios. The stock metallic paint and black allen head frame screws give it slick look. If a guy has enough parts laying around then reel could be a good purchase given how cheap they can be had. You can pick one up for a little over $200 minty fresh with box, drop in a 103 or 1016 spool, 90m handle, a drag upgrade and you are good to go.

I gotta defend this one too. They're inexpensive and even if you use them bone stock they're still good reels IF you use them for close quarters mag finesse type stuff. Think short, ML rod and 15# braid. I added a zaion drag star and SLP 105 spool to mine, and yeah it's better now, but personally I was never disappointed in its performance.

Yeah same here. I am one of the few SS/SV fans, didn't like it stock, but I paid under $170 brand new from TW. I added my Steez A spool, Zaion drag star for looks, and used a Tatula HD handle I had extra to make a pretty good reel. I have never gotten the "hollow" feeling, pretty smooth and solid reel from my experience. The Magforce Z Steez A spool seems to work with the generally hated braking profile of the SS/SV and for me it has made an amazing reel for bombing 1/4 to 1/2 hard baits with 12lb FC Sniper. The drag is awful though, and I consider getting the 8 speed gears to upgrade to Carbontex eared style washers, but for now as a cranking rod the drag actually helps me to not over exert pressure on fish.

Another reel a user mentioned as underrated was the 1516 Zillion TWS; I agree with that fully. The 2 I own are solid as can be and serve great as general purpose reels. Once I added a DIY spool to one it became one of my favorites and offered extreme finesse ability with lighter braid.

[Tim Kelly]

The SS Sv was the first sv spooled reel I owned. I liked it well enough, but the pitiful drag made me sell it. I tried various upgrades for the drag but it was never any use. If I could have successfully modded it to decent levels I would still be using it now.

[Drew03cmc]

To me, Shimano DC reels are over rated. The $100 reels that have been flooding the market are under rated. Some of them things can really be transformed if you know what you are doing. (Fuego, SLX, Speed Spool.)

While I'm not sold on my LFS, I absolutely love my 3 Fuego CT; so much so that I am looking for a 6.3 to match my 2 8.1 and 1 7.3. They cast as well as anything I have used and appear to be durable as heck. I'm more of a Daiwa guy (2 OG TDX, 1 TDS and 3 Fuegos), so I have not tried the SLX, but am always looking for deals on Shimano 100B or 100D models.

I find that most of the top of the line reels are beyond the point of diminishing returns. Will I cast 2 yards further? Sure, but is it worth an extra bill and a half? DC seems like a gimmick to me. I'd rather educate my thumb and not have a chip controlling my cast control. It's a preference thing.

To the gentleman above who mentioned the Piscifun SAEX models, my son has 2 of them, one 6.5 and one 7.3. He loves them.

[Samuel_b]

Chronarch MGL. I was expecting big things but it felt and sounded loud when retrieving and I couldn’t see any casting improvement over my Scorpion 71

[hungry_cow]

The IS71 with the brass gears is a really fantastic reel that never got a ton of press. Also I think the PX type R was underrated as is exceptionally smooth and refined. Stick a CP-301 spool in it and its an all time great reel.

Other amazing reels that don't get as much press due more to price than anything else are the LIN 10 and Monoblock. If a solid reel with super tight tolerances with no wiggle or give anywhere are important these reels can't be beat.