Group: Members
Posts: 239
Member No.: 11395
Joined: February 17, 2016
I went to a St Croix premier one piece about 8 years ago and would never buy a 2 piece rod again. If you don't need a two piece for travel the one piece is sweet. I used to be a Berkley and Abu Garcia rod guy but St Croix for me now. As for reels I use Pflueger now but have a 27 year old Shimano Curado from my Bob Izumi Fan boy days Lol! It still works flawless. I have also had some nice Daiwa reels over the years. My dad loved his Mitchells but that was years ago so likely just nostalgia.
Group: Members
Posts: 884
Member No.: 689
Joined: June 06, 2011
Have so many rod and reels I could open a tackle store. But bang for the buck the tatula xt rods (sail has them for around $103 now ) are amazing. I have caught and landed inadvertently muskies on the spinning ml without an issue. For reels the daiwa regal and even better the daiwa exceler lt (around $120) are amazing for that price point. With this combination you will be more than happy. I also have pflueger president reels and these are great in warm weather but in the cold they are not as smooth due to the grease used in them.
Group: Members
Posts: 953
Member No.: 3947
Joined: March 15, 2013
I have a few Shimano Stradic C4 reels that I purchased a few years ago, and I can't recommend them enough. If you have a bit of extra cash, investing in these reels will definitely pay off. I usually look for a solid drag system, a tight fit, and some sort of seal on the main shaft ., If you can find a model with shielded bearings, that's a bonus! I highly recommend checking out the Naci and Daiwa Fuego; they offer some pretty good features for a reel in the $100 price point.
As for rods, the St. Croix Premier rods are unbeatable for under $200. Aside from the guides and handles, their blanks are comparable to those found in some higher-end models, best bang for your buck as far as I'm concerned.
Group: Members
Posts: 3936
Member No.: 10648
Joined: January 17, 2016
QUOTE (Disco @ Jun 07, 2026 - 08:44 am)
I bought two KastKing reels. Both didn’t make it a year. The ones I got are junk. I did not buy the rods so I don’t know. One of their spinning reels YouTube guides I watch had KastKing as a sponsor for many years. He just dropped them because of quality issues. Check out his review of them on his page.
Personally I would consider Streamside. I own a bunch of their rods and they are awesome both in performance and price. I own one of their spinning reels and it’s working fine. It’s a budget quality reel IMO.
Ditto on Streamside. I only have one but love that rod.
Group: Members
Posts: 100
Member No.: 14639
Joined: October 21, 2017
not sure on your budget but one brand that has made a decent lineup of rods and reels for the canadian market is daiwa i recently purchased a low end reel and trout rod from them and was pleasantly surprised at the quality especially the reel. all in all i spent about $130
Like someone else mentioned a one piece rod is great to fish with very sensitive but travelling with them is a pain
Fishing Lake Simcoe
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