Last week we've started talking about different types of spinning reels. At Adore Tackle we have you covered. Almost all (and certainly more coming our way) types of quality spinning/ threadline reels are available for purchase.

There are certain subtleties when it comes to these types of reels. So what makes a good spinning reel?

First of all, what type of fishing are you planning to do? Are you targeting flatties or perhaps some whiting or bream? Or are you going for salmon or tailor, even mulloway? Going after GTs or kings? What about tuna?

Want to fish from shore/ beach or from jetties or rocks? Using a boat? All of these will determine whether you need one reel or another.

Let's start with the obvious. You do not need a huge reel to go after whiting or mullet. You need a small(ish) reel, say in the 100-300 size (or 10-30 or 1000-3000). What you need to look at is if the spool is made from graphite/carbon or aluminium/other metal. The later will be more expensive but more durable as well. I would also look at the housing- if again carbon/plastic/metal or hybrid. Metal is heavier and more expensive. For smaller sizes though, I would go carbon or hybrid because weight is also important. After all, we are trying to keep our equipment as light as possible.

Another thing to look for is how easy you can adjust the drag/brake. Whether front drag or rear drag, you want to micro-adjust your reel when in fight so it gives you the better chance to winning the battle. When it comes to ball bearings people often say that more is better. I would have to state that the ball bearing quality is also very important. And when it comes to how many, I would think that a minimum of three (and if sealed/double sealed even better) is required in a good quality reel. Speed is a factor that will determine how specialized for a specific type of fishing your reel is. Generally speaking, a 4.0:1 to 5.3:1 is a normal gear ratio. Anything that goes in the 6.0:1 to higher is considered a high-speed reel (the number before the colon denotes the rotations the spool makes per one complete turn of the reel's handle. So, a 4.0:1 ratio means the spool revolves 4.0 times with each handle turn).

One last thing to look for when selecting a reel is the handle. If price is important, I would look at having a hard plastic/PTFE or a carbon handle. The bigger the fish and more complex the fight becomes the handle needs to be made of aluminium/other hardened metal to be able to withstand the crank power required and not to snap (that's what you would look in some bigger reels). For smaller ones, it doesn’t matter that much, really if you know what you’re doing. Accidents can happen though, and a hard plastic/carbon handle could snap if you drop the reel or step onto it, whilst the aluminium one will withstand the test of time.

For the budget-conscious fisherman targeting smaller fish, I would recommend not to get passed our excellent BALZER (Germany)Tactics Hype 3300RD or either CARSON (Italy) HERCULES FD30 or CARSON (Italy) DIABLO 30. Any of these will cost less than 50$ and with free shipping Australia wide, they are a real bargain.

For those wanting nothing but the best in this category, I would recommend to pay a closer look at our top-of-the-range DAM (Germany) QUICK RETRO 100 FD or other two exceptional reels: the outstanding HERON (Italy) Crack-1 reels CH1000 METAL BODY or the similar all-metal BALZER (Germany) Metallica ACE 1030. All of them are excellent choices.

Moving on from these (smaller) size reels. 

At Adore Tackle we call these next category “medium sized” spinning reels. These are the 400-500 (40-50 or 4000-5000) sizes. Such reel will usually allow you to put in some 100-150 m of 0.40 or 0.50mm. People often opt for lower diameter mono when filling these reels as they are used when “finesse” is not necessarily that importan, when we target more species than one (species that come in different sizes too), when we want to alternate artificial lures with some fresh/frozen baits. In other words, these ranges will pretty much get you “covered”. You can use them to catch anything, really from bream to tailor to salmon and medium-sized mulloway. When it comes to these reels, it is important to note that apart from all the other important features we have mentioned before, it becomes increasingly necessary to have a spool that allows for longer casts and improves line lay, if you plan to cast long distances (say more than 60-75 m). It also becomes important the shaft thickness and material built. 

These are the most universal reels out there, and if you really need to have just one you should get one in this range to cover all your fishing needs. I should also make a note that most reel handles in this range are made out of aluminium/other metals to withstand increased pressure when fighting an aggressive fish.

There are some very interesting offers on our website for those who want to buy a cheap reel that will last them more than one fishing trip. One would have to be TEBEN JET 500 4+1BB (comes with 5 ball bearings in size 500/5000) or the CARSON DIABLO 40 5+1 BB (6 ball bearings). Both are less than 50$, come with 2 years’ warranty and free next day shipping. That is really hard to beat!

If money’s not the issue, Adore Tackle offers some cracker deals on most our German Fishing reels in this range. Deals that won't break the bank either!

You don’t need to look further than something like BALZER (Germany) MK Adventure Spin 640FD or perhaps the hybrid state-of-the-art BALZER (Germany) MK Adventure Hybrid 8400FD or any of the two of our DAM (Germany reels): DAM QUICK DRAGGER 550 FD or DAM QUICK AMMO 450 FD.

…More next time