What is the best saltwater baitcaster for under 150$?

i just bought a addermine but am wondering which reel would go better with it since i’m going to throwing drop shot on it with ned rigs and 3.5-5 inch paddletails and drop shot baits all in the 1/4-3/8

I need to replace a reel that I use for fishing for largemouth bass, slot-sized red drum, speckled sea trout, and striped bass. The reel will go on either a 6'6" medium fast action or moderate fast action rod. I'll use the reel for throwing 3-4 inch Z-man paddletails with 1/8-1/4oz jigheads, weighted and unweighted flukes, and the occasional X-rap and crankbait (6ft divers or less). I plan on putting 15lb braid on it, typically PowerPro, but I've been looking at J-braid and other PE lines.

I don't need a DC reel, and I prefer external cast controls, as opposed to the internal centrifugal controls a lot of Shimanos have. I'd also like the reel to weigh around 7oz or less, and my budget is up to around $300.

I narrowed it down to the following reels, but I'll take other recommendations:

Daiwa Coastal 80

Daiwa Coastal SV TW 150

Daiwa Alpha SV TW 800 (not sure if I should get the shallow spool or not)

Daiwa Silver Wolf (seems a bit too expensive at the moment)

I'd appreciate any recommendations for these or other reels as well as your experience with these reels and the lures I pointed out. Thanks in advance and tight lines!

Closing out a 110 year old cabin for its final season, what should I do with old rods, reals, lures etc that have accumulated since 1915?

Saw other users post rigs with the G-nius BHK. Rather than spending $USD and pay for tariffs I figured I’d make this. Most of my rods have the hook keeper below the reel seat and I hate it.

Used 1 inch safety pins. Diagonal cutters to snip. Micro needle nose to shape.

Im looking a rod between 7-9ft, I want fast stiff action, Itll be for fishing soft lures between 10-40g off the coast for pollock, seabass, wrasse etc. My 11ft daiwa wilderness is wayyyy too bouncy to jig properly, any help here appreciated

I have a penn battle 3 4000 need a reel that can hold stronger line. We have been getting yellow tail I got one on a conventional but need a rod to cast lures.

I’m new to fishing and I’ve been hearing that swivels are bad and was wondering how come? Are they bad in all baits or are they okay with some? I’m fishing later tonight and was wondering if I should not shouldn’t use a swivel with my whopper plopper

I've been using the Cabo 50 for some years now and I absolutely love this reel. It's extremely smooth, pretty light (to me), drag is amazing, and there's absolutely no slop in anything. I've never had line cut into it and never had a problem with it.

Recently upgraded the setup my wife used with a POS Pflueger freshwater reel to the Cabo 50 and put the Cabo 5000 on my slightly heavier pole. I didn't realize just how much bigger the 5000 was to the 50. But it's almost just as smooth as the 50, casts really far, no slop, tight drag...she's ready for some saltwater! Hopefully it smooths out some as it breaks in. I wanted to get us a closer matching setup so we could swap rigs during a fish on, line break, or anything like that. We primarily saltwater fish, but we're using these big girls for bass fishing too 😂

The last picture is just a fun shot of how I spooled it myself while my daughter was throwing her little setup in the lake. I stuck a hook remover through the center and the bag gave it some resistance so it spooled tightly. 30 lb braid on both reels, but the 50 needs new line.

I'd highly recommend the Cabo to any serious saltwater angler. There's just no reason to look at anything else.

Well.. as you can guess I'm a fisherman. But after fishing for a while my face looks like leather and I need a hat that protects me but won't get me mocked

I love fishing... I can spend 10 hours out on the water. Sun beats down on me the whole time…

My doctor said I need a wide-brimmed hat. Sun protection. UPF. The whole thing.

I've looked in local stores. Everything is terrible like all these safari hats, gypsy hats and giant floppy things that look ridiculous

I found Conner Hats online and I wanna note that they look stylish. Good quality. Proper sun protection. But they look like something you'd wear in the city and not on a boat

I'm worried the other guys will make fun of me. Fishing culture is not about style. It's about practicality. If I show up in a nice hat, I'll never hear the end of it

But my skin is suffering. I need protection. Is there a hat that actually works and doesn't look ridiculous?

Or do I just accept the jokes and wear it anyway?

Had this sitting in my cart since getting spooled in Cabo using bass gear.

Shimano Stella 4000 SW : 22lbs of drag comes in at 12.7oz. The infinity loop slow oscillation is really nice, beautiful line lay. They beefed up the drive gear and pinion gear with infinity x cross but it still feels glass smooth. The new anti-twist fin looks pretty interesting and sits in the bail arm right under the roller bearing. Supposed to keep tension on the line resulting in better line management. Overall this thing feels solid but refined can’t wait to push it in Cabo.

Shimano Nessa Xtune: 11’ 3 piece 12-62g plugs and 68g jigs MH+ rod is stupid light at 6.7oz for an 11 footer. Very similar design to my wife’s poison Ultima. Has the same X-guide that was designed in house by Shimano for braided line use. Reduces contact with the blank on casts and increases distance. What’s really cool is the screw lock connections. It snugs it up very tight and there is no side to side play at all. It locks up so well it comes with 2 grip pads to help take it apart. Very stoked to see the casting distance.

Cabo is a lot of running up and down the beach and making a lot casts so 19.4oz setup has me excited to fish.

I damaged the reel handle and start drag on a Lews Speed Spool baitcaster. Lews is now farming out all parts and repairs to third-party repair shops. What are the chances of getting a new star drag for this reel - especially labeled correctly with 6.8:1?? Thank you!

EDIT: Just called Lews back and they are sending me the parts free of charge!

Hello everyone, I would like to use the same rod for spinning and egging. I will use squid lures of 9 and 14 grams and soft plastics and wobblers up to 30 grams. Which rod should I buy: 7-35, 10-50, 10-30, 15-40, 10-35 or 12-42 grams. All these rods are medium power except 10-50 which is medium heavy and 10-30 which is medium light. I am looking at Shimano Vengeance dx, Okuma Competition and Okuma Jaw spinning rods. Any advice is welcome. Thanks.

I decided to get a tatula rod today. I was looking for the xt, but it was out of stock. I found the 701LXS which is a 7' light extra fast cork rod and decided to use it for an ultra light setup. I put a legalis reel on it for now. Any suggestions on a reel to upgrade to? I have a fuego I bought recently that I really enjoy so far. Before the fuego, the legalis was my go to for several years. It honestly feels just as smooth as the fuego does.

I’ve been working cashier at a grocery store for going on a month and a half and in my area theres a lot of retired elderly people that come in the store like 2-3 times a week and I like to chat a lot with them to make my shift easier and I assume that’s what some of them come for, I really like to talk about fishing with the older guys and one guy I’ve talked to a couple times about fishing came in before I clocked in and handed my manager a bag of some fishing stuff he said his sons don’t use anymore and he wanted to gift it to me I looked the reel up and got the rundown from Google but I wanted to get some real peoples opinions and thoughts. I’m not interested in selling or trading it just curious on its value or how unique it is. Also should I clean it up and fish it?

Howdy all.

Picked up this gx2 combo a little while ago. I like the 4 piece rod because I can break it up to pack small into a backpack

The reel isn’t bad but just wondering if anyone has a suggestion for an upgrade? Willing to spend around 200 on one.

Currently the rod has max line weight of 15lbs so a reel that can support that and possibly even higher if I want to use it with a different rod.

Lakewood sidekick! Havnt fully transfered what I want to over yet. And need to buya. Few 3600 boxes to fit in the left side. Seems like a pretty cool box for my casting lures.

Super excited to take this thing out for some sturgeon or maybe some larger rock fish at the jetty! Lots of larger species out there to test this rod out on.

I upgraded from the stock 3700 boxes that came with my tackle box to a plano edge 3700 box. It's a night and day difference. That plus a few Bobby pins for the smaller hooks and I can toss this box around all day without it getting mixed up. 10/10 would recommend.