Best spinning reel for saltwater shore angling?

[saflyfish]

WHat sub R2000 med spinning reel is good for throwing spoons/plugs?
Durability is obviously very important to withstand the salt.

[DavePE]

Hi Saflyfish,

I would think your best best in that price range would be a good second hand Shimano Spheros. New they retail around R2,500 so maybe you could find one on special for close to R2k? The Spheros is the cheapest saltwater approved Shimano reel. Don't have too much experience on the other brands so can't comment on other manufactures. I currently use a Shimano Stradic which isn't sealed so every time it gets wet I take it apart and service it which becomes a real headache...

[CLS]

Hi Saflyfish,

I would think your best best in that price range would be a good second hand Shimano Spheros. New they retail around R2,500 so maybe you could find one on special for close to R2k? The Spheros is the cheapest saltwater approved Shimano reel. Don't have too much experience on the other brands so can't comment on other manufactures. I currently use a Shimano Stradic which isn't sealed so every time it gets wet I take it apart and service it which becomes a real headache...

The new Stradic are sealed and perfect, think they close to 3 k though.

[saflyfish]

I have the old white stradic.Wasnt aware the new one is sealed.

[Timothy Scriven]

Cheapish and durable, go and get the AK47 of the fishing reels.
Diawa BG60

It's no Stella, but it wont hurt the bank and is strong enough to pull a boy scout off his girlfriend 

[Cam Mundy]

Cheapish and durable, go and get the AK47 of the fishing reels.
Diawa BG60

It's no Stella, but it wont hurt the bank and is strong enough to pull a boy scout off his girlfriend

The BG 60 is a mono reel it hasn't got the line lay for braid.

[REEFMAN]

I have the old white stradic.Wasnt aware the new one is sealed.

Nothing wrong with that reel... why do you want to change it? The Stradic 5000 is the goto reel for light tackle spinning.

[Cam Mundy]

I have the old white stradic.Wasnt aware the new one is sealed.

Nothing wrong with that reel... why do you want to change it? The Stradic 5000 is the goto reel for light tackle spinning.

Whats an old white Stradic? I still fish my grey and gold beauties

[Vandit]

Hi Saflyfish,

I would think your best best in that price range would be a good second hand Shimano Spheros. New they retail around R2,500 so maybe you could find one on special for close to R2k? The Spheros is the cheapest saltwater approved Shimano reel. Don't have too much experience on the other brands so can't comment on other manufactures. I currently use a Shimano Stradic which isn't sealed so every time it gets wet I take it apart and service it which becomes a real headache...

The new Stradic are sealed and perfect, think they close to 3 k though.

Not too sure about this, the reel is definitely not sealed.  They may have changed to sealed bearings or something although I doubt it.  The body isn't machined with faces and slots for seals like proper SW reels.  These are actually quite robust and will take the daily splash but once it is completely submerged it should be retired for proper rebuild.


On the other hand, the materials these are constructed of should technically not corrode in saltwater - that is on their own.  The different metals in there may however cause an electrolytic reaction.


So if you like swimming, rather opt for a second hand SW reel as DavePE suggested.

[Cam Mundy]

Guys keep in mind that the only spinning reels that are truly sealed and waterproof are the Zeebass and Vanstaal range of reels which are designed for skishing and wading. Everything Shimano, Dawia, Penn etc makes will fail if submerged repeatedly and for long periods of time.
That said any decent quality spinner will be fine for shore based fishing and will quite happily stand up to getting the odd splash or even being submerged briefly provided you look after it and monitor areas that are known to collect salt such as the rear body bumper on Shimano's.   

[REEFMAN]

Guys keep in mind that the only spinning reels that are truly sealed and waterproof are the Zeebass and Vanstaal range of reels which are designed for skishing and wading. Everything Shimano, Dawia, Penn etc makes will fail if submerged repeatedly and for long periods of time.
That said any decent quality spinner will be fine for shore based fishing and will quite happily stand up to getting the odd splash or even being submerged briefly provided you look after it and monitor areas that are known to collect salt such as the rear body bumper on Shimano's.   

  Good post.
VS, Zeebass and the Penn Torques the only really waterproof reels I know.
Even the new Saragosa SW's are not waterproof at all. Guys waded with them at the Gus Kohlner tournament recently - several reels suffered catastrophic failure! Enigma posted pics somewhere of these reels...
The White Stradic is the FJ version. Great reel, just not intended for submerging. If you do, it will need maintenance, as will all reels that are submerged.

[Vandit]

Guys keep in mind that the only spinning reels that are truly sealed and waterproof are the Zeebass and Vanstaal range of reels which are designed for skishing and wading. Everything Shimano, Dawia, Penn etc makes will fail if submerged repeatedly and for long periods of time.
That said any decent quality spinner will be fine for shore based fishing and will quite happily stand up to getting the odd splash or even being submerged briefly provided you look after it and monitor areas that are known to collect salt such as the rear body bumper on Shimano's.   

Agreed, if you take care of them any reel will do.  I have actually found that the "sealed" reels last longer not because they keep the SW out, cause as you mentioned they can't, but because they keep the only true instantaneous reel destroyer out - SAND...


I had a Sustain which I swam with occasionally and it worked flawlessly with frequent maintenance.  Got beaten by one breaker on the beach and the sand in the whitewash instantly killed it.  Literally felt like a coffee grinder after that.

[hotrodding]

hi ...


A really under-rated reel is the shimano symetre ... really packs a punch way above its weight class....
Personally have caught a  few snoek, garrick, kingies and kob on this reel and never really had any issue after countless hours of spinning...
Even though I have the new sustain and the likes in my arsenal...I still find myself going to this reel..