What reel should you get for your ultralight setup? I have been asked about ultralight spinning reels several times so I figured it was time to sit down and talk about what I look for. It isn’t all that complicated, but I do think it is important to discuss because your reel choice can make a significant impact on your casting distance and comfort on the water.
***A FEW OF MY FAVORITE REELS***
Daiwa Procyon LT 1000: https://discounttackle.com/collections/spinning-reels/products/daiwa-procyon-lt-spinning-reels?aff=6
Shimano Sedona 1000: https://discounttackle.com/collections/spinning-reels/products/shimano-sedona-fi-spinning-reels?variant=12849078403127&aff=6
Daiwa Legalis LT 1000 or 2000: https://discounttackle.com/collections/spinning-reels/products/daiwa-legalis-lt-spinning-reels-2021-models?aff=6
The three main things to consider when it comes to picking out an ultralight spinning reel are line capacity, spool diameter, and reel weight. Yes, a smooth drag is obviously important too, but that is a bit more subjective in nature. I didn’t want to go down the rabbit hole of brands so I would personally recommend using a brand which you trust and like the feel of. For me, that is Daiwa and Shimano. The other companies also make fine products but I simply have my personal preferences.
***WATCH THESE PLAYLISTS TOO***
Ultralight Fishing Rod Reviews: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYoBbwPfrs5Z30hunnLjNwkkuC-Ljs78X
Ultralight Fishing Line Reviews: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYoBbwPfrs5aCcLsLbABkvV2YOByN5kPS
Mule Fishing: https://www.mulefishing.com/
***I created Mule Fishing because I wasn’t pleased with the ultralight gear on the market. The products I offer are all focused on light line multispecies fishing.
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Line lay,casting distance,manageability,shallow spool spinning reels make too much sense,who needs 100 yards of line for ultralight fishing,I know I don't,even when a bigger fish comes calling it's really not needed,but it's all down to preference,people all have their own opinion
KastKing is NOT an American company. They are very deceptive about this. Kastking is a Chinese company with a "front" in the United States. The parent company is EPOSEIDON which is based in SHENZHEN, CHINA. Piscifun is also a Chinese company. They both try to pass themselves off as American companies but they are owned by shady Chinese conglomerates.
I was on a local river today , casting my 7' rod with 6 lb trilene xl and 1/16 th oz jig and i couldnt get more then 25 yards on a cast if that, a Shimano spinning reel ,puzzled everybody says should cast light jigs much farther, beats me ? I want to stick to light jigs but sure would like to get more distance. Like your channel. thanks
I have a JDM Shimano 2000 bio master and a 1000 Stradic the bio master is a lot smaller, shimano and diawa sell shallow spool models here in Australia but only in the higher price ranges because of our bream tournaments. I have a shallow spool diawa Cretate 2506H. Diawa sizes also vary a lot between different models in their range my BG3000 is bigger than my TDblack 4000
Recently got my ul reel which is the Shimano Nasci 1000 fc. So far i love it..the smoothness and the silent drive feature is awesome 👍 Though it has a small line capacity for a 6lb braid than other ul reel but it's ok ,it packs a couple of great features for a $100 👍👍👍
As far as reel to rod balancing, I use a 9ft custom ultralight for saltwater.
The builder put some lead in the butt of the rod to help and I put a 2500 diawa saltist on it, it’s not completely balanced but it certainly could be if I wanted it to.
To help sort out the balancing for rods it’s kinda spotty, if you’re picking out a rod, try to see if you can mount your reel on it before buying it.
If your selected a reel and it’s not quite balancing you can buy aftermarket butt caps that fit over the existing butt and add weight there, throw some lead and epoxy in the butt, or buy weights that kind of wrap around the butt section of the rod that you can take off and adjust the positioning of.
For reels with more line capacity than what you need, back fill with mono!
I get my 4lb mono from Walmart, the zebco line, doesn’t matter what brand you go for really though, now I can afford (and should for saltwater) to put full braid on my reels but for those that can’t, just fill the reel with cheap mono, until you get to the braid line cap you need!
So the daiwa laguna 1000 Hass all the key points you want!! Shallow spool like the jdm reel still bigger diameter but on the heavier side. I use it on my 6'1 daiwa procyon like the one I got for you. Retail is around $34.99
Have you tried the Daiwa Fuego 1000 and 2500? Also Have you tried daiwa crossfire 1000, 2000, and 2500? By far the best real on a market hold a lot of line capacity for a small reel and a spool diameter makes you cast way further than any other real. Best bang for your bucks type of reel
Always providing great information. I now have a few 500 reels I will change to 1000 after all the little line “pigtails” forming. Thanks again Ethan appreciate your content.
I've never considered spool diameter. Something to consider. It is nice to hear someone say that all makers are about the same.
It WOULD be nice if spool arbor size and overall spool diameter was given by the reel manufacturers. Remove all the crap about bearings that you tell me about and give me something useful! 🙂 If I was better at math, I'm guessing there's probably a way to determine arbor size by looking at line capacity and line retrieved per handle turn, etc. But…I'm not that smart.
I love your channel :)))) And I always ask myself why you say "this rod is tip heavy", and not triyng it with heavy reel. I see now you finally realized it. In my country spool size or reel size does not matter so much, we buy the rod that we like, and then balance it with reel. Some buy cheaper reel, wich is heavy, so that the rod is balaned with smaller size reel, if the reel is expensive it is tipicaly lighter and the rod is balanced with bigger size. And one more thing, if you have deep spool you always can put cheap or old mono or flouro under the main braided line, that way you can use less braid in verry deep spool. If you want to fill the spool perfect, than you start reeling the braid first, then knot it at the end with mono, finish reeling to the proper edge of the spool, then you move the braid and the mono together to the secont spool, then again to the third spool, and finally reel it again to the reel you want to use, and that way you have perfectly reeled to the edge braid with mono underline. Mono underline also help if the braid is sliding on the spool. And we use our braid two time. reel it, when it is crap, then we switch, crapy side go under, good side go on top.
