High end spinning reels, worth it?

[Mcjenson]

Just curious on what the overall consensus is on the ultra high end spinning reels. I use spinning rods a ton, and mostly have stratics right now, with a few vanfords and a few diawa / abu spinning reels in the mix. I'd say for sure my favorites are the stratics, just love the profile / drag performance and look of them.

I know it's a tough question, but curious if you find the step up to the stella / exist reels to be worth it? I'd also throw the exsence in as another option as well? I'm at the point now where I'm not buying a ton of rods / reels every year and like the buy nicer stuff. I dropshot a ton, so if I bought a stella / exist I'd throw it on my main dropshot rod that gets year round use. Just would hate to drop the money for a stella, and not really notice any difference between it and my stratics.

[Della123]

Think of it like a car, they all get you to the same place, some just do it better. I have a Stella and 2 Exist plus a couple stradics and they work fine but the high end reels are smoother and lighter. At the end of the day your not going catch or lose anymore fish with with either setups. You just need to rationalize spending the big bucks! And by the way, the new exist is awesome

[ManxFishing]

I have all Stradics
And I’m happy with those
hell I can remember as a kid being jealous of my cousins
Mitchell 300’s
but I would love to fish a Stella

[ECobb91]

The big difference is in the drag imo. A lot of times if you feel the fish pulsating line out it’s cause the drag is spotty. It should be a continuous release without much resistance or pulsing.

I’ve never had an issue using Pflueger presidents and some sub-$100 shimanos so I just stick with them. I can’t justify spending $200 on a reel but to each their own

[ThomasD]

The big difference is in the drag imo. A lot of times if you feel the fish pulsating line out it’s cause the drag is spotty. It should be a continuous release without much resistance or pulsing.

I’ve never had an issue using Pflueger presidents and some sub-$100 shimanos so I just stick with them. I can’t justify spending $200 on a reel but to each their own

$200, try $700

[heelamonster]

I think the nice thing about spinning reels today is that there's quality throughout all the price points, and it's easy to stay under the Stella or Exist price point and still find phenomenal value with expensive, but great reels such as the Exsence and Certate, among others. Absolutely nothing cheap about either of those, and I've never fished a Stella (because I'm scared I'll love it to much haha) but I've also never had that voice in the back of my head telling me I'm missing something while fishing my Exsence. I've bought all of mine used so they are out there, I'd suggest finding one used if you can, and if you don't love it or think it's worth the investment you can always sell it for what you've got in it easy enough. Agree with the drag being noticeably smoother, some better refinement in fit and finish, overall just a tighter tolerance and lighter reel. The price difference probably doesn't match the quality difference between say a Stradic and Stella (I don't think the Stella is 3x the reel the Stradic is, but it IS 3x the price). My experience is that there is a noticeable difference in the nicer gear, and I did not believe that when I got back into bass fishing but have proven myself wrong time and time again.

[22RangerZ520R]

I have two Stella FK 3000's paired with Conquest 902S's and I love them. I've previously owned Stradics, Sustains and Exsences.

There's a big difference in a Stradic vs Stella. Only you can decide if it's worth the money. If you fish with one, you'll want more...

Good luck

[Hammy19]

I have two Stella FK 3000's paired with Conquest 902S's and I love them. I've previously owned Stradics, Sustains and Exsences.

There's a big difference in a Stradic vs Stella. Only you can decide if it's worth the money. If you fish with one, you'll want more...

Good luck

The Stellas are poison!!!

[pabasshawk]

It's worth it to me. I have 2 Exists and an Exsence. Smooth as silk.

[Cbump]

Not worth It to me. Stradic is fine for what I do.

[Mcjenson]

I think the nice thing about spinning reels today is that there's quality throughout all the price points, and it's easy to stay under the Stella or Exist price point and still find phenomenal value with expensive, but great reels such as the Exsence and Certate, among others. Absolutely nothing cheap about either of those, and I've never fished a Stella (because I'm scared I'll love it to much haha) but I've also never had that voice in the back of my head telling me I'm missing something while fishing my Exsence. I've bought all of mine used so they are out there, I'd suggest finding one used if you can, and if you don't love it or think it's worth the investment you can always sell it for what you've got in it easy enough. Agree with the drag being noticeably smoother, some better refinement in fit and finish, overall just a tighter tolerance and lighter reel. The price difference probably doesn't match the quality difference between say a Stradic and Stella (I don't think the Stella is 3x the reel the Stradic is, but it IS 3x the price). My experience is that there is a noticeable difference in the nicer gear, and I did not believe that when I got back into bass fishing but have proven myself wrong time and time again.

I agree that it probably isn’t going to be 3x the reel of a stratic, just hoping it is actually a noticeable difference. I’ve bought rods at pretty much all the price points now, and I’m not sure I’d recommend an xtasy or nrx to someone as a “value” pick, but I absolutely notice the difference between them and a 300 dollar rod to not feel completely stupid buying one to use on a technique I use a ton.

I’ve been working a bunch of overtime, only live once, I think I’m going to splurge and get one for my xtasy drop shot rod. Hoping it doesn’t make me want to toss my stratics out lol.

[ttranger]

You can buy a really good spinning reel for less than $150, and I really don't think a $400+ reel is worth it unless you are saltwater fishing for species that put a lot of stress on the reel and really burn a lot of drag. Yes, there are incremental differences just like there are if you spend $2,500 on a bolt-action rifle as opposed to $500 but the end results will be the same. Most ultra high-end products are purchased for pride of ownership, not better performance.

[JJohnSind]

I had been settled into Stradic CI4+s’, but they have been discontinued for Vanfords. I tried the Daiwa Ballistic MQ’s (built on the same gear system as the Exists) and I like these better than the Stradic’s. I like these so much, I’d consider the Exists if they are 3x better - that’s the price difference. Time will tell regarding longevity. That’s what I noticed that the more expensive reels do - they stay smoother longer, in addition to having better drags and lighter weight.

[Rangerdeepv]

I have all Stradics and Vanfords of various sizes. These reels replaced all the Quantum Energy's and are the only spinning reels I will buy. Would I like to play with a Stella.........absolutely. Do I need a Stella............not for 800 bucks. I had to buy a couple of the Nasci's a couple years ago and the difference between the Stradics/Vanfords was/is not acceptable to me thus they are now on a brother's and brother-in-law's fishing rods.

[bassfisher444]

The expensive ones I have used certainly aren't worth $100-200 more than a Pflueger President.

[Real L]

I have and have used all the Shimano spinning reels mentionned and I feel that, for techniques where there is a lot of long distance casting, the Stella really shines. I use mine for fishing very light hair and marabout jigs for smallmouth in real clear water and I works better at that then the others mentionned. I have a shallow spool model that cast light line a long distance. The braking system is really good also. I don't use it for dropshotting because I prefer a lighter reel like the Vanford and distance is not that important.

[ifishinxs]

The thing to keep in mind is this. The high end reel is not going to catch more fish. The high end reels and rods for that matter make fishing more enjoyable. Its just fun to have an NRX in your hand with a Stella etc. These combos are so light, sensitive and smooth it’s very hard to beat. Once you have one of these set ups it really hard to fish with anything else. I started with one NRX and Chronarch combo and now I have five. I have a JDM Metanium on order now. Its like smoking crack!

[City17Banner]

The thing to keep in mind is this. The high end reel is not going to catch more fish. The high end reels and rods for that matter make fishing more enjoyable. Its just fun to have an NRX in your hand with a Stella etc. These combos are so light, sensitive and smooth it’s very hard to beat. Once you have one of these set ups it really hard to fish with anything else. I started with one NRX and Chronarch combo and now I have five. I have a JDM Metanium on order now. Its like smoking crack!

The best thing about fishing is that it's open to everyone regardless of ability, financial status, and fishing situation (shore, kayak, boat, etc.) and we can all enjoy it to the extent we want to devote our time and resources to do so from fishing trip to fishing trip. I believe that ifishinxs has hit on the gist of this topic, which is that the high-end JDM gear makes fishing both more enjoyable and easier for me.

As I have aged, I find that the difference between a $200 reel and a $600 reel is that the gears and drags are smoother on the high-end reel, and ultimately for me, it's simply more enjoyable to use the high-end JDM gear than other fishing tackle. There's a level of refinement in the JDM gear that we rarely are exposed to and as I get older that level of refinement has helped with my ability to continue to fish at the level of capability that I desire.

Having said that, a reel is still a reel, and a rod is still a rod, until you need to detect a "soft" bite from a trophy smallmouth bass on rocky structure in 20ft of water using a 3/4oz football jig. This was the situation we faced this morning fishing on a local flowage near my lake cabin, and for that situation, it's reassuring to have the sensitivity of my Evergreen Kaleido Inspirare Rapid Gunner RSR with the extra-fast taper and more than sufficient power to set the hook on a big smallmouth bass while the 20 Calcutta Conquest 100 DC reel makes presenting this heavy football jig a simple and enjoyable process. Could a less expensive rod and reel do the same job, perhaps, but my fishing buddy was using an older Megabass Phase 3 Destroyer F4.5-73XS Beast Hunts spinning rod with a 15 Exist 3012 spinning reel and he missed those bites.

Ultimately, only the specific angler can define what they want out of their fishing tackle, but for me I expect that everything has to work correctly and to its best capabilities to help fish for and potentially catch trophy smallmouth bass.

Please have a great day!

[bassfisher444]

The best thing about fishing is that it's open to everyone regardless of ability, financial status, and fishing situation (shore, kayak, boat, etc.) and we can all enjoy it to the extent we want to devote our time and resources to do so from fishing trip to fishing trip. I believe that ifishinxs has hit on the gist of this topic, which is that the high-end JDM gear makes fishing both more enjoyable and easier for me.

As I have aged, I find that the difference between a $200 reel and a $600 reel is that the gears and drags are smoother on the high-end reel, and ultimately for me, it's simply more enjoyable to use the high-end JDM gear than other fishing tackle. There's a level of refinement in the JDM gear that we rarely are exposed to and as I get older that level of refinement has helped with my ability to continue to fish at the level of capability that I desire.

Having said that, a reel is still a reel, and a rod is still a rod, until you need to detect a "soft" bite from a trophy smallmouth bass on rocky structure in 20ft of water using a 3/4oz football jig. This was the situation we faced this morning fishing on a local flowage near my lake cabin, and for that situation, it's reassuring to have the sensitivity of my Evergreen Kaleido Inspirare Rapid Gunner RSR with the extra-fast taper and more than sufficient power to set the hook on a big smallmouth bass while the 20 Calcutta Conquest 100 DC reel makes presenting this heavy football jig a simple and enjoyable process. Could a less expensive rod and reel do the same job, perhaps, but my fishing buddy was using an older Megabass Phase 3 Destroyer F4.5-73XS Beast Hunts spinning rod with a 15 Exist 3012 spinning reel and he missed those bites.

Ultimately, only the specific angler can define what they want out of their fishing tackle, but for me I expect that everything has to work correctly and to its best capabilities to help fish for and potentially catch trophy smallmouth bass.

Please have a great day!

Why would you be fishing a 3/4 oz football jig with a spinning reel?

[Mcjenson]

Why would you be fishing a 3/4 oz football jig with a spinning reel?

Lots of northern guys use spinning gear almost exclusively. Part of it is when you are fishing deep, it’s hard to beat the true vertical drop of a spinning reel. I’m sure the other part is guys are just more comfortable with a spinning reel. Outside of chuck and wind techniques and pitching and flipping, I’m more likely to use a spinning rod.