Reel Parts

[senkoboy]

I don't go out and buy new reels every few years. I have been tearing down, cleaning and repairing my own reels for years, but parts availability sometimes is a problem. I'm still fishing with some Abu 3600 reels that are 25 years old.

I will never buy another H2O, Academy reel, can't find parts.

What about 13 fishing?, or some of the $100 Abu or Lews reels, Will parts be available when I need them a few years down the road or is everything disposable 5 years out?

Thanks

[LowRange]

I wouldn't count on it. If it's not a Daiwa or Shimano then its some OEM reel with someone else's name on it as a 3rd party between you and the company that actually makes the reel. That means you have to go through the company with the name on the outside to go to the company that actually manufactures the reel to get ahold of parts. At any time the company with the name on the outside can go belly up or the OEM can stop supporting the reel. With Daiwas I have been able to track down parts and manuals with ease for reels approaching 20 years old. There is also a large knowledge base on the reels to point me in the right direction if I have any questions.

[OkieBud]

BPS reels you can get parts for

[DrewFlu33]

Most BPS reels have a Lews twin. For example, though it may have changed with the most recent models, for the longest time the BPS Pro Qualifier and Lews LFS were exactly the same reel aside from frame material (I think the Pro Qualifer was aluminum while the LFS was magnesium...could be misremembering). I don't know about Academy reels, but if I had to bet I'd put my money on them being another Doyo product. The other brands you mention are definitely Doyo reels, so parts can be found accordingly. As for the H2O reels, it can't hurt to look through the Lews, Abu, Pflueger lineups to see if you can find a twin and search for parts that way.

Past that, I agree with the above that Shimano and Daiwa are probably the only companies where you can reliably expect to find parts.

[senkoboy]

Thanks everyone.

[JJohnSind]

I feel reels are throw always these days. I’ve had great luck with parts from Mike’s Reel Repair, but as much as some parts costs, I’d just as soon just get a new reel. I guess it depends on what broke or needs replacing (ie. spare spinning spools are too expensive, imo).

[FALCONflyer200]

I have 10 year old tourney pro lews that I got parts for last year. They still work like the day I bought them. Im not so sure the newer models are gonna hold up so well on the tourney pros tho. They are my favorite reels.

[Jeff Hahn]

I have no problem getting parts for my Lew's reels. On the other hand, I sold all of my Shimano reels because I could no longer get parts.