Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

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jvelth74
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Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by jvelth74 » Fri Jan 14, 2022 6:39 am

Hi,

A friend of mine from my workplace said that his has looked baitcasting fishing videos and hi likes to begin fishing :D Hi asked from me which baitcaster hi should buy. Price shall be under $170.

Hi currently don't fish, but hi has sometimes fished by borrowing rod and reel and hi has some own lures. I think hi will fish Perches and Pikes and maybe Zanders. Common lures, inline spinners and spoons, maybe some wobblers, I think hi will use lures lighter than 1 Oz (or 1 ½ Oz). I will suggest braided line for him, so line capacity is not issue. Too big it can be because Perch spinners are light.

I don't really know much of those reels, but we looked together that Daiwa Fuego CT 100 might be suitable. It seems Magforce-Z reel, but I think there's no sv Brake avalaible in this price? Another one might be very affortable Shakespeare Agility. Or some cheap Aliexpress reel.

What do you think?
Last edited by jvelth74 on Fri Jan 14, 2022 7:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by hoohoorjoo » 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=
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 LowRange » Fri Jan 14, 2022 7:36 am

Magforce Z is pretty idiot proof but there are also SV reels for that price. I payed that for my 17 Tatula SV off Amazon back in 2018. There is also the Fuego SV off Aliexpress for $110 and under.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by Preston » Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:18 am

Lighter than 1oz is still a broad range. My rough range is 3/8oz to 1.5oz any quality baitcaster will work(as long as its Diawa or Shimano :mrgreen: ). If he will be in the 3.5gram to <10gram range, a specific baitcaster would be preferred.

Recommendations

3/8oz+ and these baitcasters still throw light baits well
Tatula sv- Awesome awesome reels. Very controlled and throw light baits well.
Curado 150 MGL- Awesome reel, throws light baits well, not as controllable as the SV. My opinion

3.5gram to 10gram. If going down to that 3.5 mark, lighter line would be needed.
Curado 70 MGL- Can throw heavy baits fine if needed but will lack line capacity.
SLX MGL-Can throw heavy baits fine if needed but will lack line capacity.
Curado BFS. Light line required, minimal line capacity, not for baits over about 8grams.

Preston

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by Dan B » Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:26 am

Solely because you said "beginner", go on ebay and find brand new Daiwa Tatula SVs all day for $175-185.
You have a choice of all gear ratios, set it and forget it style brakes, and the SV system will help in almost all applications while getting started.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by Bronzeye » Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:49 am

Dan B wrote:
Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:26 am
because you said "beginner", go on ebay and find brand new Daiwa Tatula SV
I agree.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by jvelth74 » Fri Jan 14, 2022 9:03 am

Thanks for replies! A lot of good choises!

Yeas, I think castability of lighter than 3/8 Oz lures is not important in this point. (Because those are quickly needing a special light rod.) I just didn't know how 10 g converts to Oz's :) But I think 3/8 ... 1 (1.5) Oz is pretty much lure range covered.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by Preston » Fri Jan 14, 2022 9:12 am

Dan B wrote:
Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:26 am
Solely because you said "beginner", go on ebay and find brand new Daiwa Tatula SVs all day for $175-185.
You have a choice of all gear ratios, set it and forget it style brakes, and the SV system will help in almost all applications while getting started.
I agree with this too! I personally won't buy reels of ebay though. Been burned there. The tatula SV is so controlled and easy to use. The reel has a great quality feel for the price as well.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by LowRange » Fri Jan 14, 2022 9:24 am

The Fuego SV is a 17 Tatula SV in red without a twing.
Image

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by Dan B » Fri Jan 14, 2022 9:52 am

PursuitFishing wrote:
Fri Jan 14, 2022 9:12 am
Dan B wrote:
Fri Jan 14, 2022 8:26 am
Solely because you said "beginner", go on ebay and find brand new Daiwa Tatula SVs all day for $175-185.
You have a choice of all gear ratios, set it and forget it style brakes, and the SV system will help in almost all applications while getting started.
I agree with this too! I personally won't buy reels of ebay though. Been burned there. The tatula SV is so controlled and easy to use. The reel has a great quality feel for the price as well.
I buy almost everything via JDM Ebay sellers and you just have to do the research on the seller before hand. Obviously buying from a dude with 20k stars vs 12 is a big difference. I have bought multiple Antares A/DC, Met DCs, Bantams, Chronarchs, Steez As, etc... for years and have never had an issue and usually get everything from overseas within a week (some of them even 3 days). The trick is if the price looks too good to be true it probably is, but stick with guys with a good track record and you will never get burned.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by Dan B » Fri Jan 14, 2022 9:59 am

jvelth74 wrote:
Fri Jan 14, 2022 9:03 am
Thanks for replies! A lot of good choises!

Yeas, I think castability of lighter than 3/8 Oz lures is not important in this point. (Because those are quickly needing a special light rod.) I just didn't know how 10 g converts to Oz's :) But I think 3/8 ... 1 (1.5) Oz is pretty much lure range covered.
If you really want to treat, I got something for you... I have a Chronarch MGL 7:1 w/ all the bushings pulled/replaced with hedgehog handle bearings and the spool had BOCA spool bearings. I'll ship TYD for $175 with the box and all the bearing upgrades. Will also have the option whether you want the 90mm or 95mm handle on it. Has been lightly used but zero boat rash and well taken care of... it's the backup to the other two I use all the time with the exact same bearing setups. I haven't posted it or anything and can text you pics if you want, but just figured it would give you another option... I have too many reels as it is, lol.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by LowRange » Fri Jan 14, 2022 11:38 am

He is not in the US.

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by jvelth74 » Fri Jan 14, 2022 12:21 pm

Yes, only expensive products are worth to send to here Finland...

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by LuS » Sat Jan 15, 2022 6:58 am

You can easily get a slightly used SLX DC for the price (target $130-$140), might struggle a bit under 4 grams though. Have thrown 4 gram spinnerbaits no problem with it and being a dc, it’s hard to mess up.USDM model is a 150 size spool so fairly versatile for anything smaller than large swimbaits. It’s also a package with great ergonomics, toss in a drag upgrade to carbontex to really have it compete with higher end reels.
Luca :)

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Re: Best baitcaster under $170 for beginner

Post by jvelth74 » Sun Jan 16, 2022 11:32 am

Looked that Kingdom Speedshot. I think I suggest him to buy it, because Aliexpress reels that I have tried has been worth of those cost and actually much more worth, because those are cheap. I also believe that Kindom Speedshot will serve him a long time. A lot of bearings and reel seems well manufactured, maybe it's also serviceable. Nice colours and good looking reel (It actually doesn't look cheap). 2 Spools is very good, deep spool for pike and Zander and shallow spool for perch and trouts. I guess this is not real BFS reel but I think 6 g will be manageable to cast with that shallow spool, after learning to cast of course.

Actually hi needs rod also, and that under $170 was budget for reel, but then hi didn't recognize that old spinning rods doesn't work as should.

What do you think this double tip:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003 ... 1627WvuBmk
Kingdom Kingpro 2.4m M/MH?

I would suggest that 8' rod because then hi can cast same distances than his father with his spinning gear, so casting distances are good after learning to cast. And with that rod hi still is at $170 price tag. :)

And then hi would have 2 spools and 2 differnet rod tips = 2 sets :)

Tatula sv and ct are reels that I can suggest to him if hi don't want that Kingdom reel. Probably sv is better, but I have to talk with him what hi sets prioritize. (I think Tatula sv performs similar than Zillion sv, which I have and Tatula ct performs similar than my Tatula ct Typr-r).

I think SLX DC performs similar than Curado DC, which my brother bought for seatrout. Hi said that it exels with 20+ g spoons but in his opinion 10 g it doesn't cast far. I haven't tested that reel.

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