Northwest Fishing Reports

I have a co-worker who is asking for a recommendation for a baitcasting reel for a gift for her father-in-law.
I don't fish baitcasters, and when I did it was above her price range.

Can someone throw me a recommendation for something under $80.00 ?
He would be fishing bass, trout, panfish.

At this point I still don't even know that he fishes baitcasters, but trying to be prepared.

I've heard the Abu Garcia Silver or black max reels are decent budget reels as well as the Lew's bait casters. No direct experience though.

My first baicaster was the shimano caius, great reel for $69.99! Still have mine to this day.

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Here's a link to the Cabelas Tournament ZX baitcaster. I bought one of these several years back and it's a fantastic reel. This is obviously the latest model but if it's anything like mine it's a very nice reel, especially for the price $63.99 online right now.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/fishing/ ... type%3DGNU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have 3 shimano curados in my boat and if I pick up the ZX I don't miss a beat. It's very smooth and works great.

I have a Pflueger Trion that I bought maybe 10 years ago for $80 new on Ebay. Its treated me well.

Price has gone down over the years. You can probably find some for about $35 new on Ebay. Be warned though that you may have a hard time finding service if you run into problems with the reel. But at $35 bucks, it may be worth the gamble.

Thanks folks..
This is for a coworker who wants to buy a rod/reel for her father. I still can't get her to tell me whether he fishes baitcasters or spinning reel, so we are stalled out on this end.
( I like when this person asks me "What is the best fishing rod you can buy?".... It's like saying who is the best guitar player in the world.

Abu garcia pro max