You usually get what you paid for so beware of some cheap reels.

[BoldBear]

Just a small warning as a lot of anglers will be getting new tackle over the christmas period:
Someone I know bought a pair of lineaeffe carp 60 freespool reels on eBay for £22 the pair ,and used them for piking and carping. They come with an extra spool so he filled the extra spool with 20lb red ice (Recommended) by silstar.
and took them to a fishing trip on the Isle of Wight for his favorite species (Bass) and came back with 2 broken reel handles.
So buyers beware especially if you intend to use them in conditions that may seriously test them.
These reels are not really man enough for use in the sea so are not really man enough for piking/carping in really weedy waters. his gave up under a modest tide reeling in 30lbs of weed which put a fair amount of strain on the handles, even though he used 'lift and then wind' tactics; so just beware if you are getting any for xmas especially if you intend to use them in similar conditions.
Its a shame as they looked like really good reels.

Hes now gone back to using his old mitchells and is going to get some Okumas for xmas.

[BillyLongPocketsShortArms]

Did that include the post and packaging ??

[Bungz]

I was away from fishing for ten years and when I came back to it this year I was amazed at how much cheap tackle is around.

I think you can get very decent rods now for not alot of money. Same with bite alarms.

Cheap reels are still a no no. I bought some low end shimano DL 10000 baitrunners this summer and have just got rid of them as they felt like coffee grinders under load. So even the big names are sticking their names on this sort of rubbish now.

[BillyLongPocketsShortArms]

Sorry for the last pun.. you say that your friend has gone back to Okumas ?? Now I've heard mixed reports on there range ?? The problem is as you have said, you do get what you pay for unless its been discounted or end of year stock.. even then you could be buying rubbish. Have we got a section on this forum on members gear ?? .

[northern eye]

Its a shame there is so much poor quality gear out there that manufacturers are passing off as heavy duty carp/pike/sea gear when it is just not up to the job. Unfortunately, alot of people get sucked in by the cheap price tag and then realise the reality afterwards, usualy in similar situations to your mate there. All of my gear is now decent, mid price ranged stuff...I dont have the money to get the best but I always think, paying the extra 10 or 20 quid will benefit me in the long run. I've tried the cheap stuff and it just is not worth wasting your money if its going to be used regularly - fare enough if it's dusted off every now and then for a quick pleasure session. Brings me to the point of cheap gear - I mentioned previously on this forum about the Daiwa SR1 being a decent 11m pole for the bargin price - well I retract that comment now and apologise to anyone who went and bought one on my advise. After just one summer season of use the thing is destroyed. No.4 section snapped fighting an average sized carp and both powerkits also snapped at the tip. The coating on the butt sections has bubbled up and started to flake off too. Yes, I've used it allot but considering I only bought it in February this year I am dissapointed to say the least. Thats from a reputable company like Daiwa - Thank god I didn't go cheaper and buy an Avanti!!

[Bungz]

I have been looking at s set of okuma powerliners but tbh I am unsure.

[MRG2000]

Even high price reels can have quality problems, i have a pair of Penn 515 mag 2's ,which to be honest are a fabulous piece of kit ,we fish a lot for rays from the shore,with the reels " on the ratchet" and out of gear. After 9 months the ratchet failed on one ,investigation brings to light the reason,the whole ratchet mechanism ,is made of plastic ,a bit poor for somthing that costs 150 quid.

[cheef87]

dunno about some of the other stuff im sure theres alot of crap around but dragoncarpdirects dead cheap and products are well worth there money imo

[poddy]

i bought 2 rods from dragon carp this year.
they were both avanti which has been mentioned in a previous post
as being cheap crappy kit.
well they were cheap infact as they were on a clearance sale but they are far from crappy or tacky. now i havent been out fishing for 50lb carp or anything close to that size but both rods have handled every test with ease and i can assure you that they have seen a lot of sessions and plenty of fish allready this year. the 12ft match waggler rod does pretty much what it says on the tin but i also decided to buy an 11ft barbel rod just for strength and peace of mind when going for larger fish. i can safely say it was a good choice. that rod could raise the titanic without snapping. much stronger than most high end carp rods and just £10 in the sale. so my point is cheap kit isnt always crappy kit. and expensive kit isnt always the best.

[BoldBear]

I haven't bought a reel at the lower end of the market for at least thirty or forty years so I can't comment on the cheaper reels but I have heard a lot of anglers praise OKUMAS and I do own an OKUMA Sheffield centrepin reel which without a doubt is a brilliant centrepin, so I have assumed that their fixed spool reels must have been of a similar quality and I have been going on the remarks of others most of whom have praised them.

Most of my modern fixed spool reels are Shimano's or Diawa's and I have had very few problems with them. even my older reels (Mitchels and Abu's) that I keep in an old drawer are still working fine after many years of being abused and I still occasionally use my old Abu closed face reel and my tiny Abu record Multiplier.

But nowerdays there seems to be a lot of 'tat' on the market mixed in with the better ones so a novice definately needs to do their homework before buying a reel today.