My skin-flint ways finally came back to haunt me last night when my cheesy Walmart reel broke during a an all-day blitz. The whole point of buying cheesy reels is to carry spars, which, of course, I did not have on me....I need a better reel.

What would you recommend for a small, light-weight (10-20 pound) braid reel? Are there any of the long-spool jobs in smaller sizes?

A spheros 4000 or 5000 is good for a small spinning reel.

agreed

I love my stradic 5000's

Spheros for sure.

I love my stradic 5000's

Agreed. The Stadic line is a great value. I have a 2500 for freshwater and an 8000 for salt

I can recommend the Penn Slammer 260 and 360, I own both and they work great, nice braid-friendly line roller and smooth, strong drag. I use fireline on them and the 260 will hold 300 yds of 10#, the 360, 300 yds of 14# (which is in reality more like 27#).

The junker reel I bought from Walmart is the Shimano FX4000FB, but, of course, it died at a critical time. Arrrg. I would not mind getting a more upscale Shimano.

Can I safely assume that all the Shimanos's are designed for braid? None have the long-spool design...

Has anyone tried the Shimano® Saros F Spinning Reels? Looks pretty durable for a small reel:

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://image.basspro.com/images/images2/74500/74820.jpg&imgrefurl=http://reviews.basspro.com/2010/46267/reviews.htm&h=180&w=205&sz=15&hl=en&start=15&um=1&tbnid=BuXHtJ3qDmFR2M:&tbnh=92&tbnw=105&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dspheros%2B4000%2B%26svnum%3D10%26um%3 D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN

tica libra is a steal. I have used em for several years now and landed some decent fish in heavy current.

I like the Okuma VS 40. Very sturdy, great drag, all metal construction. I use it mainly for schoolies and weaks, but Ive caught bass up to twenty pounds on it no problem.

stradic , been using them for 5 years with no problems

Stradic and soon to try a Spheros myself.

Stradic 5000 gets my vote
but I am not familiar with the new model stradics.

daiwa basia super light, awesome with braid, its a bit steep though. :kewl:

Stradic 5000 would be my choice too.

Spheros is the best braid friendly reel on the market ( don't know how the newly re-configured ones are now that Shimano changed the whole line up around) sealed waterproof drag and little required maintenance.
And they are very light. All around you cannot go wrong with one. The Stradic drags are fussy, especially if you are fishing hard and catching fish that take drag often. They require a lot of cleaning of the washers with de-natured alcohol. It only takes minutes but it is a pain.

zeebaas. :laugha:

seriously. :angel:

zeebaas. :laugha:

seriously. :angel:

Outside the envelope for most of us cost wise, what would be your choice if budgeted say.......150.00?

Outside the envelope for most of us cost wise, what would be your choice if budgeted say.......150.00?

I would probably find a way to come up with another $50 for a Cabo. Or, I'd get the Spheros and a spare spool for it.

At $100 budget, the Spheros would be a no-brainer.

Agreed. Spheros 4000:kewl:.

A Spheros with a spare spool is still sub-$150.Bargain

I've used both the Cabo and the Boca.All you get with the Cabo is a few extra (useless) bearings,a fancy handle and spool with holes in it.The Boca is essentially the same reel minus $70.

1st choice-Spheros
2nd choice-Boca

All my spinners are Spheros

I would probably find a way to come up with another $50 for a Cabo. Or, I'd get the Spheros and a spare spool for it.

At $100 budget, the Spheros would be a no-brainer.

I love my Cabo but it hates braid for some reason.

My Quantum Boca 40 does fine on braid once I get the spool down to where it should be, not overfilled. Some of the issues are a result of the way I fish topwater and weightless jerkbaits always reeling against a slack line. Put on a swimmer or jig and the twist disappears. A light rinse after use and it's a good as new, I know a guy who only rinses when a wave splashes on his gear and it looks like H E L L.

I have a stratic 4000 and my son has a spheros 4000. I think the spheros is just as good and better value. The only downside for the spheros is a spare spool is over $40, half the price of a reel.

I have 10# Fireline on the Cabo 30 that I won as an OTW Striper Cup weekly last year. No problems so far. Sweet little reel and I'm serioulsy thinking of getting one of its bigger brothers.

i have both the cabo 40 and 60. verry nice reels. both work well with power pro