Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

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LowRange
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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by LowRange » Sun Jan 16, 2022 12:38 pm

hoohoorjoo wrote:
Fri Jan 14, 2022 7:26 am
The Kingdom Speedshot.....I have and like this reel. It comes with 2 spools, one deep and one BFS spool. I have used mine extensively with no issues. It has been a quality reel for me. It is lightweight and well-constructed. I think this it will serve him well.
https://m.aliexpress.com/item/100500299 ... fcc&gclid=
That's a Haibo Smart. I have had one for a few years. The centrifugal brakes like to fall off the shallow spool but it is otherwise a decent reel.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by hoohoorjoo » Sun Jan 16, 2022 6:46 pm

LowRange wrote:
Sun Jan 16, 2022 12:38 pm
hoohoorjoo wrote:
Fri Jan 14, 2022 7:26 am
The Kingdom Speedshot.....I have and like this reel. It comes with 2 spools, one deep and one BFS spool. I have used mine extensively with no issues. It has been a quality reel for me. It is lightweight and well-constructed. I think this it will serve him well.
https://m.aliexpress.com/item/100500299 ... fcc&gclid=
That's a Haibo Smart. I have had one for a few years. The centrifugal brakes like to fall off the shallow spool but it is otherwise a decent reel.
Correct, it's the same reel as the Haibo Smart, as well as the Ardent reel variants. I havent had any problems with the flying arm brakes on either spool on my reel, but I heard one other person who did have that problem. Overall, it's an excellent reel. I used mine yesterday for a couple hours.
Try not to let your mind wander. It is much too small to be outside unsupervised.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by doomtrprz71 » Sun Jan 16, 2022 7:34 pm

My vote would be for an original Zillion, I've bought several for $125 and unless you need sv for light lures that's hard to beat for the money.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by jvelth74 » Sun Jan 16, 2022 11:09 pm

doomtrprz71 wrote:
Sun Jan 16, 2022 7:34 pm
My vote would be for an original Zillion, I've bought several for $125 and unless you need sv for light lures that's hard to beat for the money.
Actually good advise! I have one Original Zillion and sv tw Zillion. Those are under $170 budget as used in Ebay. :) Great reels. Original one is a little restricted for mono line capacity and line guide is a little slow for thin braid but those are only cons with these reels.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by LowRange » Mon Jan 17, 2022 6:44 am

jvelth74 wrote:
Sun Jan 16, 2022 11:09 pm
doomtrprz71 wrote:
Sun Jan 16, 2022 7:34 pm
My vote would be for an original Zillion, I've bought several for $125 and unless you need sv for light lures that's hard to beat for the money.
Actually good advise! I have one Original Zillion and sv tw Zillion. Those are under $170 budget as used in Ebay. :) Great reels. Original one is a little restricted for mono line capacity and line guide is a little slow for thin braid but those are only cons with these reels.
The original Zillions have more line capacity than any other Zillion save the Zillion HD. It has a deep 36mm spool with Curado 200k line capacity.

I actually took the line off my Catalina TW spool which is supposed to be a high cap wide 36mm spool and it didnt even fill up my Fuego CT spool all the way. There was a tiny gap on the Fuego spool and it was full to the rim on the Catalina TW spool. Interestingly the Fuego CT is only rated at 14/100 and the Zillion TWS is rated at 14/120 yet appearance to be visually identical on capacity to the Catalina TW spool which does not hold 14/120.

I can also easily spool some Daiwa reels that supposedly hold 90 yards of 16# mono which equates to a 65# braid when I am casting some frogs with 65# braid. I'm not making 90 yard casts. Often when I cast all the line off the bait only lands 50-60 yards away. Yes there is some dispensed line that floats down as part of the arch of the bait as it traveled through the air but even then it does not add up.

For these reasons I do not trust rated line capacities or line diameters. Its never added up for me.

Image
Last edited by LowRange on Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:02 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by jvelth74 » Mon Jan 17, 2022 6:58 am

I have OG HLC Zillion with deep spool.
https://japantackle.com/reel-archives/c ... n-hlc.html
I spooled 0.35 mm mono to it and it didn't take too much line. And for pike less than 0.35 mm is too thin mono for pike. So in my opinion it doesn't has enough capacity for pike, if using mono. But in my opinion original Zillion with semi strong braid is good reel for pike.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by LowRange » Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:12 am

jvelth74 wrote:
Mon Jan 17, 2022 6:58 am
I have OG HLC Zillion with deep spool.
https://japantackle.com/reel-archives/c ... n-hlc.html
I spooled 0.35 mm mono to it and it didn't take too much line. And for pike less than 0.35 mm is too thin mono for pike. So in my opinion it doesn't has enough capacity for pike, if using mono. But in my opinion original Zillion with semi strong braid is good reel for pike.
I have that same spool. It's a fast one. It does have a bit more capacity than your standard 34mm spool found on the Zillion SVs, Tatula CT/100, Steez ect. I think it is best with a 40 to 50# US rated braid. I use 50# braid with mine throwing 11/16 oz frogs and its does very well but does get close to spooling on most casts with a good casting frogs bass fishing. If I was going to use small diameter braid I targeting other species on long casts I would have to do a high speed level wind conversion or maybe go with the Tatula Zillions and use the wide but shallow Catalina TW spool. It's not as fast as the HLC but it's in the ballpark.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by LowRange » Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:22 am

I still think the Aliexpress Fuego SV is the reel to get. When he wants to upgrade to something more free casting he can get a Magforce Z reel or branch out to the Shimano offerings. Also if he ever wants to go the BFS route for perch he can spool swap the Fuego SV.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by jvelth74 » Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:30 am

It's my bombarda+fly reel. I cast 60 and 80 g bombardas with it. It's spooled 0.20 mm Trabucco Super Cast. I think it's 24 lbs line and long 0.50 mm ( I think it's 60 lbs) shock leader. Fantastic reel for that purpose:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA5bRF_K0Oo&t=45s

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by jvelth74 » Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:45 am

LowRange wrote:
Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:22 am
I still think the Aliexpress Fuego SV is the reel to get. When he wants to upgrade to something more free casting he can get a Magforce Z reel or branch out to the Shimano offerings. Also if he ever wants to go the BFS route for perch he can spool swap the Fuego SV.
Yes. I think in some evening I should to drink beer with him and talk what hi really want's. (Especially we Finnish men can't stay in same place with each other if there's no beer or if it's not fishing trip :) )

But in budget mind maybe the best is Kingdom reel + Kingdom rod, then there's pike and perch setups already. And if hi trashes that reel by fishing, then it's good time to buy better equipment.

I think Fuego sv is better reel than Kindom, and therefore good choose. Is there same spool sizes in Fuego sv and Fuego ct?
A little too heavy Fuego sv is for true finesse fishing. I tried to use mine sv tw Zillion it ...can be used, but... it was heavy.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by LowRange » Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:51 am

jvelth74 wrote:
Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:45 am
LowRange wrote:
Mon Jan 17, 2022 7:22 am
I still think the Aliexpress Fuego SV is the reel to get. When he wants to upgrade to something more free casting he can get a Magforce Z reel or branch out to the Shimano offerings. Also if he ever wants to go the BFS route for perch he can spool swap the Fuego SV.
Yes. I think in some evening I should to drink beer with him and talk what hi really want's. (Especially we Finnish men can't stay in same place with each other if there's no beer or if it's not fishing trip :) )

But in budget mind maybe the best is Kingdom reel + Kingdom rod, then there's pike and perch setups already. And if hi fishes that reel to trash, then it's good time to buy better equipment.

I think Fuego sv is better reel than Kindom, and therefore good choose. Is there same spool sizes in Fuego sv and Fuego ct?
A little too heavy Fuego sv is for true finesse fishing. I tried to use mine sv tw Zillion it ...can be used, but... it was heavy.
Fuego SV and 17 Tatula SV share the spool dimensions. Any DIY spool for the 17-19 Tatula SV 33 mm will work.

I have had that Kingdom reel since 2016 as my Haibo Smart 50. Its definitely not beginner friendly. The centrifugal brakes are wonky on it. In addition to falling off they sometimes act up and one will temporarily deactivate and you're back lashing then stop and be fine.

viewtopic.php?f=47&t=70280

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by jvelth74 » Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:15 am

OK...I thought that Kingdom reel like that, in Pike fishing, set enough centrifugal brake and then adjust by magnetic brake. In case of Perch fishing, if there's enough power in magnetic brake, then use only that. If not enough, then apply centrifugal brake until there's enough braking power.

But if it's so, (Kingdom reel is not good for beginners,) then it sounds that Fuego sv is the best alternative.

But if BFS appears important way to go, then in my opinion Aliexpress Black Knight 2 is hard to beat. (My buddy bought 2 of them for some reason I don't know but that's not important.) Hi seems using Black Knight's more often than Scorpion BFS, which I don't understand. Good caster are those Black Knights, I shortly tried those.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by LowRange » Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:34 am

The Haibo Smart casts well as long as the baits are aerodynamic and have some weight to them. The magnets are very weak and don't work well with baits that catch the wind. The Haibo and Fuego SV are polar opposites. The Haibo Smart is very free casting but you need to know how to thumb the spool and react to the bait slowing with thumb pressure. It's a fast and free spool and can be unpredictable at times. The Fuego SV is going to be a slower spool that feels choked off in pure distance but very difficult to screw up.
Last edited by LowRange on Mon Jan 17, 2022 9:09 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by jvelth74 » Mon Jan 17, 2022 8:55 am

Yes ... Messing with sv brake needs to be dial down and dial down and dial down, but then in some point there's no brake at all :) It's not distance casting brake, but still casting distance with it is OK.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by zalan » Mon Jan 17, 2022 9:13 am

People used to buy spare magnets for the Haibo and installed extra magnets to make it work better. It is an ok reel, but you can do much better for 170 USD.

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