Northwest Fishing Reports

I was just wondering what good reels for salmon and steelhead there are for under 100 bucks? I'll probably need a bait aster and a spinning reel, so with my money from Xmas I'm going to get a couple reels for my salmon and steelhead rods! Thanks

Both types are going to be wide open and personal preference. Are you fishing from the bank or from a boat? For spinning its hard to beat a 30/40 series Pflueger President for $50-60 or a Pflueger Arbor for a bit more. As far as baitcasters go there are plenty of people that use heavy low profile bass reels for this all the way up to the smaller Penn stuff. If fishing from a boat, a baitcaster with a line counter comes in really handy. An Okuma Magda Pro line counter for $50 will work just fine or a Okuma Convector for a bit more. The Okuma reels are pretty common on charter boats which should tell you something.

http://www.fishusa.com/Okuma-Magda-Pro- ... QgodpkcARw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'd go with Shimano. The Sahara is a good reel, and the new curado is a cheap price point and will work for you.

for spinning get a mitchell 300xe for around $40 and a 9'9 berkely IM8 rod for $70 and you will have a great combo for both coho and steelhead either drift fishing or float fishing.
Bait casting reels are the Abu-Garcia black max and Shimano calcutta.

Are you determined to get both a baitcaster and a spinning reel? Although each has their benefits, many do fine on one or the other. It really comes down to preference. I like to have two rods, one set up for float fishing and one set up for drift/hardware, but both could utilize the same type of reel.
FWIW.

Baitcasters are older Ambassadors for me. For streams I use the 5000 c and larger rivers the 6000 c. I also have a shimano Sahara. Nice retrieve on it. Casting(spinning reel) for me is the Cardinal.

I'd go with a citica shimano... Its a great reel for steelheading and handles kings fine...

Well eamon thats like a $200 reel! So what im doing i found a great deal on a lamiglass salmon/steelhead rod at a store in bothell for $40 but it has a super old reel on it so i need a new baitcaster, and then my Okuma celilo has a crappy diawa d shock reel on it so i need a new spinning reel for salmon and steelhead!! Thanks for all the input guys ill check out all the suggestions and then after i get them i might post a picture of my setups!

Thanks,
Chandler

Also TroutSniper ill be fishing from the bank most of the time except when im fishin for humpies on the snoho witch i use my 6'6" for

What gear ratio do i want for my baitcaster?

ummmmmm. All about the c4 ambassedeur, the blue and gold one. best 100$ reel you can buy. if your upgrading go with the abu garcia revo toro, or the record series. all extremely solid reels but you will get more use out of the record and the toro. the record is 200$ and the toro is about 280$

FishingThePacNW wrote:What gear ratio do i want for my baitcaster?

It's like a car...do you want a quick car or a fast car. Think Top Fuel NHRA versus Bonneville salt flats in terms of acceleration. A 4:1 ratio will give you power to fight a huge king, but would be bad for spinner baits because the spool only turns 4 times for each crank of the handle (less effort to turn the handle but slow retrieve). A 7.1 ratio is great for fish that are going to chase a bait at high speed like barracuda or tuna as the spool turns 7 times per crank of the handle(more effort to turn the handle under load but a faster retrieve). That's why a lot of salt water reels for tuna/marlin (big fast fish) are 2 speed reels. Gear one will have a fast retrieve, and gear two will be a slower retrieve to fight the big fish once hooked. For river fish where you are float fishing or drifting retrieve speed is not important because the current is moving your bait and you would want a lower numerical ratio. The only exception is if the fish is hooked and coming on a run towards the boat and you are trying to keep the line from getting slack.

pretty good article here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltgu ... R9COZ77KT0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

FishingThePacNW wrote:What gear ratio do i want for my baitcaster?

Unless you go with the previously mentioned Abu Garcia Ambas. C4 which is a 6:3:1 (which is a great real for the $), I'd highly recommend going with 7:1 gear ratio when it comes to Salmon and Steelhead or the highest ratio that is offered. Not only forkeeping up with a fish that is running at you, it also helps on faster retrieves at the end of you float, which leads to more time with your gear in the water where you want it to be. The baitcaster I'm currently using is an old 5:? ratio and it feels like it takes a month of Sunday's to retrieve my gear at the end of the float.
From experience, I'll warn that the Ambassadeur does not have a magnetic break, so if you're not experienced at baitcasting, this can be very frustrating in regards to learning to cast and more importantly tossing lighter gear or casting into the wind, so I'd highly recommend you get something with a magnetic break that will be more forgiving unless you really want to take the time and have the patience to educate your thumb.

Ok, i think for starters im going to go with the Black max because it is cheap and from reviews i hear its good! I have the silver max on my bass combo and i love it! Ok now what kind of line should i get? On my dads baitcaster salmon/steelhead rod i have 20lb braid on it, ill be all the fish that come into the rivers! Im thinking 15lb braid? smaller bigger? Thanks for all the info!

The abu c4s are killer reels. Holds plenty of line, solid drag, good gear ratio. It may not spin 7 times per crank but its plenty fast. And is probably the best bait caster you can buy without the big bucks.
I bought a abu cardnial spinning reel, for 50 dollars or so. I've had it for 4 years now. It almost the only reel i use for rivers or lakes right now (and for the last 4 years) I've cleaned the drag maybe 5 times max (both spools) and the thing still kicks salmon arse! I would recommend looking at these reels.
My other favorite spinner is a okuma ignite, ive had it for 7 or so years and its still a great real. It was also a 50 dollar reel.
If you want good braid, power pro. Simple as that. Power pro. I have 30lb on my real, mostly because i didnt want to go buy lighter braid when i had perfectly good 30 sitting around. Same size as 8lb, holds knots good, doesnt break if you have a leader.

Kockmandoo wrote:ummmmmm. All about the c4 ambassedeur, the blue and gold one. best 100$ reel you can buy. if your upgrading go with the abu garcia revo toro, or the record series. all extremely solid reels but you will get more use out of the record and the toro. the record is 200$ and the toro is about 280$

+1

This is my favorite baitcaster. It casts like a dream, and the drag is pretty smooth. Awesome reel. I've use it for casting on the shore on the salt or the river for coho and steelhead. I have the 5601, so it's a left hand retrieve.

FishingThePacNW wrote:Ok, i think for starters im going to go with the Black max because it is cheap and from reviews i hear its good! I have the silver max on my bass combo and i love it! Ok now what kind of line should i get? On my dads baitcaster salmon/steelhead rod i have 20lb braid on it, ill be all the fish that come into the rivers! Im thinking 15lb braid? smaller bigger? Thanks for all the info!

for braid go with 30lb as it has the diameter of like 8lb test or something or 12-15lb is good too for steelhead, either ande, izor, stren, maxima, p line are all good choices. Leader material use 6-12lb test. I like my black max a lot, great low profile coho reel and can't wait to play a steelhead on it, might want to check cabelas too, they might have a sale on a cabelas rod and black max reel for like $60 too. And for the price, mitchell 300 reels are hard to beat, great for kings, steelhead and coho. just do not get an Okuma reel, I went through 5-6 of them this fall on salmon so don't let the price fool you.

Also recommend 30 lb PowerPro. Marries well to a 6-10 lb mono leader. No experience with other test of braid, so can't speak on it. I have that on my baitcaster and run 12 lb mono on my spinning reel.

i run 40lb braid for kings/silvers and 25lb braid for everything else. I have both PowerPro and Suffix 832 and like 'em both and basically buy whatever happens to be cheaper when I buy a new spool. Maxima is the way to go if you want to use mono. I always use fluoro leader too. Seaguar GrandMax 01X for kings/silvers and 2x for everything else. Bill Herzog turned me on to the Grandmax and it's the best thing since sliced bread, except its a bit pricey but totally worth it.

http://seaguar.com/products/grand-max.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ok guys i had my dads side of the family christmas early and got 45 bucks! so i went to Three Rivers Marine and told the guy what i was looking for and he brought me a Phlueger President and its retail is like 50 or 60 bucks and he gave it to me for 45 and he put on 30lb high vis yellow power pro braid on it! Sweet! i cant wait to go slay some steelies!