Thinking of switching to daiwa or shimano?

Which reel do y'all recommend? I want to stay under 250 bucks per reel. Also has anyone handled the Powell diesel rods yet? What about daiwa rods?

shimano bass rods, revo and diawa reels

The Daiwa Exceler and Laguna reels are damn nice for the money. The Advantage HSTA is in that price range too. I just ordered a bunch of the Excelers and Lagunas and I like them a lot.

At under 250 per reel, used Zillions or Chronarch 100D's would be how I'd do it. Much better reels than what they have new that retails for what you could afford.

If you don't mine used reels the Shimano Curado E7 is a very good reel and for the money you are looking to spend you can pick up several on the reels for sale board. I bought 10 Shimano reels off the board in the last 2 years from E7's, FI's and Core's and they were better then what the seller posted.

Myself,
I find it hard to stick to just one maker of reel or rod.
There's not one that carries all that I need, when it comes to mechanic specifics in reels, and action/power specifics in rods.

I own St Croix, Dobyns, Falcon & Shimano rods
& Pflueger, Shimano & Daiwa reels

http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/glasses.gif

I agree, no manufucterer has it cornered.

I'm kind of an upper-mid level reel snob and my preferred list goes something like this:

Curado 101D/Chronarch 51mg/Curado 51E for light plastics and weightless plastics

Daiwa Zillions (SHLA, HLA, Type R) for general duty.

Revo Premier 2010 for general duty with a lightweight reel.

Curado 301E/D for my favorite high capacity/high power type reel.

I throw too many moving baits to care too much about rods. Most of my rods are the best 150ish rods that I could find on sale for killer bargains. I do like the shimano crucials, BPS carbonlites, Falcon Bucoo and Shimano Cumaras though.

Shimano. Period. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/thumbsup2.gif

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by taylor5877 &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">At under 250 per reel, used Zillions or Chronarch 100D's would be how I'd do it. Much better reels than what they have new that retails for what you could afford. </td></tr></table>

This pretty true.

Shimano is a great choice. The only "issue" you may have with Daiwa is that they really start to show what they are made of, from the Zillion on up...which can get pricey. My arsenal, right now, on the casting side, is about 2/3 Shimano and 1/3 Daiwa. IMO, retail price speaking, in that $200 and under, Shimano is the way to go. In the $300-$550 range, Daiwa really shines...mixed in with the Core, Calais, and Calcutta (DC).

I would avoid the Powell Diesel rods.

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by xranger77 &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">I would avoid the Powell Diesel rods.</td></tr></table>
Any reason in particular. The only downside I can see to them is no warranty but there only $70. Do you have any experience with them if so what did you think of them.