Thread: Pfueger President

Some of the less expensive Pflueger reels are junk ,but that is so with pretty much all of the less expensive reels .
the higher end Pflueger i have is sweet as is the Shimano ....of the 2 though a cheap Shimano will out last a cheap Pflueger from what i see on the use it daily program .
my 2 cents

What Ketchn said!

Originally Posted by Ketchn

Some of the less expensive Pflueger reels are junk ,but that is so with pretty much all of the less expensive reels .
the higher end Pflueger i have is sweet as is the Shimano ....of the 2 though a cheap Shimano will out last a cheap Pflueger from what i see on the use it daily program .
my 2 cents

I have to agree. I used ultralight reels for over 30 years fishing for rainbow trout in streams and have tried most every brand out there. Of the base models I used, only Shimano and Daiwa held up to the constant casting. Never cared for the Pfluegers, but never owned a President. Bail springs were the first things to go.

I have some Pflueger President underpins. Bestest underpin I have. Dual pick up matters.

Competition in the fishing reel business is fierce to say the least. Sub-standard reels with quality issues and down time just don't survive. The Presidents are survivors due to their endurance and performance (and low cost). I don't see the new ones having any issues, but only one of the 6 I currently have is of the "new breed". Will let you know if I change my mind.

I bought my buddy a new Pflueger President for the rod he won and It almost completely locked up. He sent it for repair work and still had a hard time cranking it some. There was a catching point each turn of the handle. Sent it back again and although slightly still there it's much better but wasn't like it should be. He is using it now but it's just not what I expect and have with mine. I love mine and have no problems at all with them.

I had bought a Pflueger President XT on clearance a while back and it had the same slight catch in each turn but I returned it for refund instead of having to mess with repair. We are thinking there might be some current quality issues maybe???

I bought a new “20” size in the spring and happy that I didn’t have any quality issues. Both mine are ones that come in a box and not the blister pack.
Bob

When I fished 5 days a week.....365 a year......I tried every model of Pflueger UL spinning reel on the market at the time....to include a couple of Patriarch reels. None of them held up. It takes a very good reel to hold up to 10 hour days on the water making several thousand casts a day....for 5 days straight...then start over after the weekend. The Pfluegers wore out real quick. It was the same with the Shimano's until I hit the Stradic line. It took that kind of beating for 3 years. The only other US markt reel I used that could take that kind of use was the Daiwa SS 700....wound up giving it to my son as I really did not like the fact it was not instant anti-reverse. It is still going strong today. If you are a cast and retrieve fisherman....fishing only a couple of times a week the lower end reels will last a long time. But when you are hitting it everyday for the whole day the problems will show up. I used the Stradic until 2012 when I started buying Japanese made reels. While I never had an issue with the Stradic in full disclosure Shimano made sure I never had an issue...LOL. I would send the reel to Shimano USA for servicing. More often than not they would send me back a brand new Stradic at no cost to me...they tend to do this for a lot of folks.

Regards