Thread: High quality ultralight spinning reels

Originally Posted by livemusic

I appreciate you chiming in here on this thread.

Do you also have an Abu Garcia Theta? If you do, are you able to ascertain any noticeable difference between it and those two? Those are fine reels. I am just wondering if I could tell any difference, as the Theta... I'm wondering what could a reel do better than this? Other than the Theta has a retrieve speed of 5.2:1. I am also not sure I could tell the difference between 4.8:1 and 5.2:1. I just don't know.

(The only 'high end' ultralight reel I have at this time is the Theta. And it's not super high end, it's kind of lower high end. But it's very nice.)

I do not have the Theta, so I cannot compare. I have an admittedly very flawed preconceived notion that Shimano and Daiwa make the best reels, so I stick with them. But this might change. I have no doubt the Theta is one of the finest reels – I can hardly imagine it being anything but at $260. My experience with Abu Japan has been nothing but excellent so far.

I completely agree with Don that high quality is what you say it is. Again, I'm not in the business of trying to convince anyone what is better or worse – the only sure way is to find out for oneself. To me, Luvias Airity LT is as smooth as Certate LT – and that's SMOOTH. It is not better than the Certate, it is just lighter and comes in smaller sizes. The Vanquish has a lower start-up inertia than the Airity, but I wonder how noticeable it would be to others. Alphahawk mentioned a Japanese angler who'd rated the Airity at 6-7 while giving the Vanquish a 10 in start-up inertia – I wouldn't say there was that much of a difference, but I'm no expert. I will say that my Soare Ci4+ C2000SSPG has as low or maybe even lower start-up inertia than my Vanquish, but it is not as smooth when winding and feels a bit "geary".

I think the retrieve ratio will only be important to those who like very slow presentations. Most of my reels have the highest gear available. Ballistic FW 1000S-P and Luvias FC LT2000S have come up in this discussion – they seem to be great reels, with the Ballistic FW having some of the lowest start-up inertia among LT reels, according to many aji anglers from Japan. Lack of Magseal in FW models is likely the reason. Only Steez Type I and Presso Limited seem to beat the Ballistic FW in that department, again according to the same sources. I do not have the Ballistic FW, the Steez, or the Presso, but I do have the Luvias LT. But I certainly would like to try them all.