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Posts: 300
| My niece LOVES to musky fish, and is ready for a baitcaster. Just looking for a little advice for my brother to lead him in the right direction. She was using one of our Toro's last August, but those are out of his price range. Any thoughts or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Eric |
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Posts: 750
Location: Minneapolis, MN | What's the price range? On the low end you'd probably be looking at an Abu C3/C4 or a Shimano Cardif. |
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Posts: 300
| I'm not sure top end limit, but I'm sure it will be less than $150. |
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Posts: 427
| I would look at a lexa 300. The are fairly small and I have heard good things about them. They are also in that price range on eBay. |
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Posts: 1084
Location: Aurora | x2 on the Lexa 300!
Assuming she has small hands, I would think that any bass reel with a decent capacity would fit the bill until she graduates to hurling baits 3 ounces or more. Should be able to find something purty affordable if you watch the super store sales or online. |
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Posts: 750
Location: Minneapolis, MN | I guess that should have been my other question, are you looking new or used? If used then there would be several more options. As mentioned the Lexa 300 could be a possibility, you could also look at probably a 400 B. |
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Posts: 246
Location: Grand Marais, MN | I'd look for a used toro or curado 300 on ebay. she's prolly going to want a smaller more comfortable reel as a younger person, avoid something heavy and uncomfortable. |
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Posts: 300
| New or used would fit the bill. Most of the stuff she casts is bucktails and the 6" hellhound. Occasionally she will throw a top raider etc, but smaller bucktails 80% of the time. Thanks for the replies, I will look into it and lead them in the right direction |
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Posts: 267
| Perhaps an Abu Record 50 - smaller diameter round real that will handle the baits you mentioned well and is quite frankly hard to backlash if set correctly. |
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Posts: 2894
Location: Yahara River Chain | All good suggestions, but I would also get a reel that has the handle on the same side as her spinning reel. That will make it easy on the kid. |
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Posts: 422
| I am in the same boat right now with my nine year old. I just purchased a youth rod from TI at the Milw show and I took her and the rod over to the Pure Fishing booth to see what reel would be a nice fit for her. I haven't purchased the reel yet, but found the Abu Garcia Orra series of reels fit her and balanced on the rod nicely. The Orra reels are low profile and there is an SX and Winch version. The Winch has a 5.4:1 ratio with a little more line capacity. I was leaning more towards the Winch version, but I also PM'd Pikemaster and it was his opinion that the Winch would be the better option at the 5.4:1 ratio as a youth reel for throwing the smaller stuff. It seems to be made well and for $100.00 your getting a lot. |
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Posts: 633
Location: S.W. WI | Shimano Cardiff 300 or Curado 300 depending on $$$.
Small hand friendly reels.
-Jon |
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Posts: 300
| Thanks guys! Looks like I have some research to do! The reel/reels are going on the TI youth rods my brother got last year at the Wausau expo. |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | How old is your niece? She would probably need a different reel if she was 8 than if she was 15.
My wife can't comfortably palm a 400 size round reel so I'd avoid that. She uses a 250 size Okuma Red Isis (discontinued, I'd opt for the 250 Okuma Isis now. I have them in 400 size and they are great for the price) and has no complaints with that. I'd look for a smaller size round reel in the 250-300 size or one of the low profile reels out there: Lexa 300, Toro 50, Curado 300.
If she's very young and small, probably a bass size reel and youth rod like the TI youth version, or a flipping stick for bass, and smaller baits. |
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Posts: 300
| She just turned 12. My wife and I got to spend time with her in August while on vacation. I drove the boat, and my wife taught her to use a baitcaster with our Toro 50. It took her 15-20mins, but she got pretty good. |
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Baitcaster for kids