Ok - one of my levelwind baitcasters has finally come to a "too costly to repair" point. I am now looking to buy a reel for use primarily with plugs. I am pairing it with a Lami XRA 120 10' rod.

I am not new to baitcasters and fish nothing but baitcasters. I am asking those of you who fish the ditch and know reels to lend your opinions. The baitcasters that I have been using are primarily Abu's, with the exception of my 525 mag that I use for bouncing the bottom.

As you know there is one heck of a lot of equipment out there and I am trying to decide on one for myself. I hope that those who fish this type of reel will jump in with their comments.

Help !! :walk:

Do you want another levelwind? And are you going to use mono or braid?

If you want a level wind, you have a few choices if you're going to use braid. Abu 6500, Calcutta 400, Penn 965 or 975, Abu 7000, Calcutta 700 will all work. If you're going to use mono, the choices shrink---Abu 7000, and Calcutta 700 (which is a pretty unwieldly reel to stick on a 10' Arra). The Penn 975 is margainally big enough for 25# mono.

If you don't need a level wind, in adition to those, you have the Newell 200 series (220, 229 and 235 depending on what line capacity you feel you need), and the Daiwa Sealine-X series. Lots of folks feel the Penn Squidder is too slow for poppers these days, but for a lot of years it was everyone's go-to reel for the Canal.

i use a pair of shimano 400's, an "S" non levelwind and a "TE" which is levelwind. neither has ever given me any problems they are both very smooth reels. i prefer the TE it has more bearings and the levelwind allows me to be more focused on the lure rather than my thumb laying the line down evenly in the dark, and it's easier to tune to the weight of the lure and the wind etc. that's just me. while they are both very smooth, it is the smoother of pair. on a 12' rod the 700 would probably balance out ok. i don't think so on a 10'. that's a key for me, the balance. the TE's are the best conventionals that size that they make. good luck