What to Look for in a Great Saltwater Spinning Reel

Go shopping for a saltwater spinning reel, and you’ll find there are about a million and one options. The price range – and the quality range – is huge, and choosing the one that’s best for your needs can be an overwhelming task. So, just what should you be looking for? These general guidelines will help.

Price – This is, of course, one of the first things most of us look for in a reel. The range for saltwater spinning reels goes from around $50 to over $500. Most of us will buy what we can afford, but truth be told, it’s very difficult to get a quality reel below the $100 mark. If you’re looking for something you’ll only use a few times a year you may be able to get by with less, but as a general rule of thumb most decent reels will run you between $120 and $220. And if you want traits like uber-light weight combined with uber-strong strength, you’ll be spending more.

Ball Bearings – Many people use the number of ball-bearings as a mark of quality. This isn’t always the case and you shouldn’t judge a reel by bearing count alone. However, if you’re looking at a reel and it doesn’t have at least four, it should raise a red flag and you should do more research before laying out your hard-earned cash. Even more important is the quality of the bearings. Plenty of cheap reels advertise that they have five or six ball-bearings, but fail to mention that they’re cheap ball-bearings that will corrode and fail sooner rather than later.

Drag Output – Max drag output has improved by leaps and bounds in recent years, and many high-end reels can put out a shocking amount of pressure. Just remember that as a minimum, you need a reel to be able to put out half the breaking strength of the line you plan on using. If you’re going to spool up with 20-pound test, for example, you’ll generally want to set the drag at around seven pounds. When a fish strips a ton of line (thus reducing spool diameter and effectivey increasing the drag output) it will need to be able to handle at least 10 pounds of drag or you’ll be in trouble.

Corrosion Resistance – This is a top concern, but one that’s very diffiult to judge until you’ve been using a reel for a few seasons. There’s no way to predict how well a reel will hold up over the long run, however, this is a case where sticking with proven name brands and buying higher in the lineup should give you some level of confidence.

The bottom line? One of the best indications of future performance is past performance. Using the above guidelines and sticking with a brand you trust, you shouldn’t be disappointed.