What spinning reels do Lew's pro staffers really use ?

[Markymarc]

They cannot seriously use those 100$ reels when nice other brands are available ?

Even the Bass Pro spinning reels are nicer ...

[rando]

Why wouldn't they? They do the work and they get them for free. Some upper end Lews reels are actually really nice. My friend has one of their $200 range reel for cranking and it is actually performing amazingly. Casts like a dream and remains super smooth after almost a year of deep cranking and no service.

[skunked]

Your friend uses a spinning reel for deep cranking? Wow!

[rando]

I was talking about lews in general, but no not a spinning reel.

[Drakestar]

The $130 "highend" Lews spinnig reel doesn't look great for sure. But if you get paid to fish, you can certainly endure the hassle of fishing a rather cheap spinning reel - it's your job, after all. As long as the drag on that spinning reel is smooth enough to allow finesse applications, and doesn't lose you too many fish, using that reel will lose you less income (via price money) than you make via the sponsorship.

Dunno... I usually tell my friends that the reason I fish high-end equipment is to make the fishing more fun. If I catch 4 fish per hour I might have a good day. But that means of the 60 casts I make per hour, 56 of them didn't produce a fish. That's where the joy of using awesome equipment comes in and makes fishing fun regardless of whether I catch or not.

If you fish for a living, you don't expect to have fun on those casts. You're literally working, and which sponsored equipment you're okay with using is based on a calculation of how many fewer fish you catch because of that worse/less sensitive equipment (and how much money that might cost you) vs the amount of sponsorship money you make by using that equipment in the first place. In the end, every angler fishing Lews will come out ahead, otherwise they'd leaving money on the table.

[Heddonfrog]

In last weeks BPT event in Sturgeon Bay Wi, Jeff Sprague who is a Lew’s Pro was throwing his drop shot on a GLX DSR with what appeared to be a Shimano Exsence reel but not 100% on the reel. Definitely a GLX DSR though and not a Lew’s spinning reel

[TravisNY]

Paul Mueller has been doing ok with his this week out of Clayton NY.

[russ57]

IMHO all lews reels are mediocre compared to a Curado or Stradic.

[zalan]

It is free for them, why not use them? You do not really need anything special in a spinning reel. Yes, you can spend money to buy better reels, but they would not catch more fish on them.

[Kurt L]

I couldn't fish with a geary feeling reel like the Lew's spinning reels I have felt, it would drive me nuts! I know I would not detect a certain number of light strikes without a very smooth reel. Maybe some of the newer reels are smoother? I'd love to see them Daiwa or Shimano smooth, having another option would be sweet.

Kurt

[zalan]

Maybe some of the newer reels are smoother?

I do not know the Lew's reels as they are not popular here in EU and I never saw them. I personally use spinning reels from Aliexpress and even though they are cheap, they are smooth. If they have a noise, you need to service it and it will stay smooth. They lack coatings what high end reels have, so they are not buttery smooth, but they smooth enough that you should have no problem detecting any bite.