Thread: Pure Fishing customer care

I have recently had to deal with PFlueger. I purchased a President Press25 paid around $60.00 plus for the reel. I purchased from Crappie Cove in Maryville TN. while on vacation. This was in October 2022.
Keep in mind in this post, I have been cleaning and repairing all brands of reels since the early 70’s. Not much I can’t clean, repair or simply say it’s done. It’s according what the internals are made out of and are parts available.
Out of all the reels on my crappie poles this was by far my most expensive. Each year I go into my reels and give them a good cleaning torn down all the way and oiled and slightly greased. I keep all instructions and expanded views.
The PFlueger however I really babied keeping it covered from dust as by far it’s the smoothest reel I have owned which for me if casting gives me better feel.
So about three months ago all of a sudden it basically locked up. So I emailed and called with no response at first. So I went into the reel. Found two major problems. One the reel has a set of roller bearings with a plastic race. There was missing bearings which had fallen into the gear end causing the lock up and the antilock spring had come loose. I finally had to call Crappie Cove where I purchased it. They were more than willing to replace it but about that same day of calling them out of the blue PFlueger called.
So PFlueger told me to send it to them and they would replace it due to it being less than a year old. In the mean time Crappie Cove stayed in touch stating they would replace it as well. So PFlueger finally sends me a reel back and it’s a upgrade as well. Great right real customer service , “wrong”. As I got it out of the box I noticed it was scratched up and like it was sun bleached. After removing the spool I found lots of oil coated sand. And what made me dig into this new replacement when I reeled it, it was rough. So I call PFlueger back, come to find out they had not replaced mine with a new one but a so repaired reel. Again Crappie Cove intervened and offered a new reel, but I told Mrs. Misty I felt this was now something PFlueger needed to make right not Crappie Cove.
So after much debate and discussion and once they figured out I was someone knowledgeable about the working mechanisms of their reels. They PFlueger finally sent me a brand new reel but as you can see it was an ordeal. During this journey PFlueger did mess up, I found a reel that is just as smooth with same retrieve that I really like. It’s a Piscifun ViperX 500 and I will probably order one of their ViperX 1000 for more line capacity. So even though PFlueger made things right trying to pull the wool over someone’s eyes gave me a trust issue. So make your own call but there is just as good reels out there for less. I have some much cheaper reels not as smooth but definitely get abused much worse and have lasted a lot longer. The jury is still out on Piscifun but liking it so far.


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They wanted another 40$ for labor to install their free parts. I declined and wrote them off for future purchases. Anything moving forward will be Shimano Nasci. 7 trips for a 150$ reel plus another 60$ (20$ shipping plus 40$ labor) to make it work again was throwing good money after bad.

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I have used. just about every brand of UL reels over the past 40 years and Daiwa and Shimano are the only ones I have faith in. Lews UL reels are now being tested and seem to hold up very well and are smooth as silk. Time will tell. I have never much cared for Pfleuger reels. Too many problems.

When carrying a arsenal to fish with, have jig poles for specific situations, in my case - all need easy folding handles without unscrewing the retaining knob, We-Crappie Anglers as a whole need lots of reels. For a long time I would bid and buy baitcasters on Ebay. I would just clean them out, repair what needed repairing, and use those but stacking them tightly in a small boat (mostly 1 man rigs I fish in, bring a shoehorn if fishing 2 anglers) just can't be done. Spinning reels offer easier packing in the boat for me. I have Stradic reels that were abused in Saltwater for years, some over 20 years old and I have never taken them apart, had to replace bearings, even hose the reels off at the end of the day. Stradic reels cost, they may be over priced but they are not over rated. I wish Shimano would come out with a ARB reel under $75 with a push button folding handle. If you're a Coastal Angler you need Saltwater rated Gear.