Reels

Regular price €69.90 -15% Price €59.42
Ceymar A spinning reels offer superior performance, with a multi-disc, oiled felt drag system, Okuma's Flite shaft system for smoother casts, and...
Regular price €469.95 -10% Price €422.96
An iconic blend of performance and power, the CoreSolid series of spinning reels represent Shimano's continued pursuit to provide anglers with...
Regular price €329.95 -15% Price €280.46
Roller capacity 235m/0.30mm. Transmission 5.8:1. Weight 330g. Twist 75cm. Brake capacity 10kg
Price €39.91
Nytro NTR MK2 reels are available in three sizes, 3000, 4000 and 5000. These reels feature a medium-shallow aluminium spool making ideal for...

Spinning reels

The simplest reels are direct-drive reels, i.e. reels without a momentary brake, which have a direct connection between the teeth and the reel handle. These reels are called reels without a torque brake and they do not have the +1 marking on the bearing quantity.They can be bearingless with one bearing, sometimes with two bearings and without the +1 marking because they do not have a needle bearing, which is the torque brake. They are currently still available in the cheapest coil category and cost between a few and a dozen euros. The downside of such coils is that there is a very sharp contact between the knob and the main pair of teeth, and at the same time a very high stickiness of the knob, and the rotor doesn't stop instantly when it stops turning, but rather turns back a good centimetre.

Much more advanced reels are anti-reverse - i.e. with a needle bearing which causes an instantaneous brake. This is a bearing in the centre of the rotor, which is not made up of pellets but of round elongated cones (atados). It is therefore called a needle bearing. Thanks to this and the special lubricant, which is correctly lubricated, the rotor and thus the reel arm only rotate forwards and can only move a millimetre or a couple of millimetres when stopped, or, in the case of quality reels, not at all.

Probably more than one fisherman has noticed that, especially in the cold season, this function sometimes starts to deteriorate or sometimes disappears. This is due to poor or poorly applied lubricant, or over time the lubricant has been washed out or hardened. In this case, it is enough to correctly lubricate the needle bearing with liquid grease and everything will be fine.

Another important accessory for spinning reels is the drum brake. This brake is called a friction brake. It used to be very fashionable to make it at the bottom of the reel and such reels were called reels with a rear brake, but recently such brakes are being abandoned en masse, because of the lower efficiency and weaker force of such a brake and the higher overall weight of the reel. The front brake is much more powerful, more accurate and weighs less. Reels with rear brakes are still used by the old generation of float and bottom fishermen.

The front reel mechanics usually consist of a number of friction discs (drag washers) arranged coaxially on the reel shaft or, in some cases, on the drive shaft. Usually there is a screw mechanism which applies perpendicular pressure to the washers, resulting in friction, the more the discs are pressed, the greater the resistance. Brake discs are usually made of materials such as felt, Teflon, carbon fibre or other reinforced plastics and usually have metal (usually steel) washers between them. This brake is designed to hold the fish, with a much weaker reel than would be used if the reel had no brake. And for predators such as salmon and catfish, a brake that is not only accurate and gentle but also powerful is needed. For salmon, a drag of around 10kg is preferable, as they are caught with similar braided lines that can hold that much, and for catfish, even more is desirable. For other predators in our waters, a powerful drag is not really needed and fishermen are unnecessarily frightened of reels with a shallow drum that have a drag of only 3 or 4 kg. For example, a Shimano 2500 reel has a drag of 9kg, while the 2500S (shallow drum) has a drag of only 4kg. This is not really a disadvantage, because the 4 kg is more precise and softer and interacts better with a thinner reel. Why do you need a powerful brake if you can put a maximum thickness on that shallow drum that realistically holds 4kg? This is something that fishermen often don't think about, and unnecessarily so. When catching pike, sturgeon or salmon, the reel brake is kept at a maximum of 1 or 2kg and no pike requires much brake force, regardless of size. There are of course some exceptions to this, such as predator fishing with large elastics 18+ cm long. When fishing with large soft baits and large treble hooks, and at the same time powerful rods, a powerful undercut is required and the reel brake should be tightened more strongly, and the undercut should be released sharply.

As you know, the line is wound on the reel by means of a rotating rotor, which is turned with the help of a pair of toothed knobs, and when the line is wound over the whole height of the reel, the reel has to go up and down. The order in which the drum rises determines the order - or rather the quality - of the winding. Poorly, inaccurately twisted line causes a lot of problems, both for casting and for the line's flopping. This is where the legendary and best reel manufacturer Shimano has made the biggest breakthrough. It developed and patented the worm shaft, which wraps the line crosswise, preventing the line strands from unraveling one after another.

Equally important to the quality of the reel is the body of the reel, or rather the material of the body. The worst and heaviest hull is made of plastic, slightly better is made of a composite of plastic and graphite. The hulls of today's lightweight reels are already made of high carbon hulls and are a very good choice when looking for a lightweight reel for light spinning. Shimano reels are made of a special CI4+ material and are very light and strong enough. However, the more powerful and reliable reels are made of aluminium body and the most luxurious ones are made of magnesium. And why do you need the case to be strong, it is just the case, not the teeth? This is often the question fishermen ask themselves. But there is one key point, a softer hull moves a little, and so do the supporting parts inside, and of course more wear. The other problem is that the weak hull's bearings and the places where the other internal mechanisms rest become more bulky. This also leads to more rapid wear and tear on those parts. So, the body of the reel is like the spine of a human being, and when it starts to wear out, it causes problems in the other joints.

The material of the reel rotor should also be considered. A lightweight rotor is good for the overall weight of the reel, but it is not always the best option. A lightweight rotor is a good choice when fishing with light lures or when it is not difficult to pull the lure. For example, when trolling when only the free line is collected. When fishing with a jig or a heavier bait, it is better to choose a heavier rotor, which will have more inertia and will add force when turning the knob. For example, a Shimano Stradic with an aluminium rotor is better for jigging than a Shimano Vanford, which has a light rotor.

Another characteristic that determines the quality of the reel is the knob attachment mechanism. A knob that screws directly into the axle (screw in) is a better option than a knob with a plug on the other side. The former results in less play (looseness) and less wear.

So who makes the best quality spinning reels? Without a doubt it is the Japanese company Shimano. In terms of reel longevity, nobody has come close to the reels it produces, and it even seems to be getting closer. It is getting closer because its main competitor, Daiwa, has chosen a different path and produces reels that last for about the lifetime of that reel, that is, until the release of an updated model. Whereas Daiwa refreshes its models every 2-4 years, Shimano does it every 5-6 years, and certain models are kept unrefurbished for 10 years.

Here you can buy reels online and in person at a good price, cheaper than most competitors. Often there are promotions and sales. And don't forget that quality fishing also depends on quality fishing tackle.

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