Stradic question

Post by **sundown** » May 8th, 2005, 11:00 pm

Its getting time for me to replace two spinning reels I use inshore...I've been looking at Stradic ....My fishing buddy has a 4000 FH which is nice....
In looking at advertisements, I see the 4000 listed with a suffix on the number of FH, MgFA,FG, LS...I know a bunch of you use this reel..
would you enlighten me on the differences and your recommendations....

Post by **Tom Keels** » May 9th, 2005, 6:45 am

Mg and MgFA have the Magnesium frame and you do not want those for saltwater. FG's are the ones I have for saltwater. But mine are 4 years old. The newest models are the FH ones.

Littoral · Post by **Littoral** » May 9th, 2005, 10:23 am

I studied this a whole lot and I haven't found any reason to choose the Stradic over the Spheros. I have (and LOVE!) the Symetre but the Spheros has, as I recall, a sealed drag.
For the same (~$70) the new Okuma Inspira looks great for the money and is used by a lot of guides elsewhere.
http://www.tackletour.com/reviewokumat2005preview.html
Let us know what you do and update the results.

pennfish · Post by **pennfish** » May 9th, 2005, 1:20 pm

I've had stradic 4000's since 1997 and love them and still use them . Like litt. did, I researched and bought the Symetre wich is nothing but a stradic of old and love them too also less money. Good luck.

georgiasportsman · Post by **georgiasportsman** » May 13th, 2005, 9:27 am

I have a Stradic 2000FG that I have used since 2001. I use it for bass fishing and fishing the flats. I have been very pleased. My nephew just got a Shimano Sahara. It is smoother than my Stradic and very impressive at $59. My only concern is if it will have the longevity in performance of the Stradic. Shimano makes excellent reels!

Littoral · Post by **Littoral** » May 13th, 2005, 10:34 am

Spheros.

georgiasportsman · Post by **georgiasportsman** » June 1st, 2005, 10:55 pm

Littoral is there a saltwater and freshwater Spheros? The saltwater versions I have seen are $125+. Does anyone use Penn spinning reels for inshore?

Littoral · Post by **Littoral** » June 3rd, 2005, 11:20 am

Bass Pro has the Spheros 3000 for $80.00. That's a perfect inshore size. I also think the new Okuma Inspira would be an excellent reel for $90.00. I use a Symetre and it's a mighty fine reel. A spheros is the same thing with (yes) a sealed drag.

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog. ... rchResults

Penn? I still use my old metal one & I'm glad they are making metal ss ones again. My experience is that they are not precision enough to handle 6lb braid so I use mono on them. That's a problem because I love using braid.

georgiasportsman · Post by **georgiasportsman** » June 3rd, 2005, 2:46 pm

Thanks Littoral. I think I have found my Father's Day gift.

Post by **Redfin** » June 3rd, 2005, 3:27 pm

The 2500 size.. just got one, great red fish reel.

Post by **sundown** » June 3rd, 2005, 5:10 pm

I appreciate the input to this post...After reading the comments and checking out all the Shimano's mentioned, I ordered a Spheros 4000 and a new 7' Falcon coastal series rod for it...They came in yesterday.

I put the reel on the rod and lined it and took it out in the yard to throw a few times...This is as smooth as any reel I ever had my hands on....especially liked the way it layered the line on the spool and the drag is like silk..

Figure next weekend I'm gonna come down to St Marks and give it a workout...If it performs like I think it will I'll order another outfit just like it....

Only thing that concerned me is how close the bail is to the rod handle.....the widest extremity of the bail comes within 1/8" of my first finger when I turn it..however, if it hit your finger, it wouldn't hurt..just going to take some getting used to.The Penn 440's I've used for years have over 1/2" clearance of my finger...all in all, I think I'm going to really enjoy using the Spheros....

Okuma was mentioned in some of the comments....I had never looked at them but the store here in Albany I got the Spheros from had several sizes in stock....From what I could see, they seem like a real nice, well built reel also...

georgiasportsman · Post by **georgiasportsman** » June 4th, 2005, 12:34 am

Sundown, what store are you referring to. How much?

Post by **Cranfield** » June 4th, 2005, 5:32 am

Shimano make exceedingly good reels.

Post by **noleflyfisher** » June 4th, 2005, 4:06 pm

Cranfield wrote:Shimano make exceedingly good reels.

Agreed!

Post by **Atticus** » June 8th, 2005, 2:11 pm

sundown wrote:After reading the comments and checking out all the Shimano's mentioned, I ordered a Spheros 4000...

LOL - I bought one of those reels yesterday at BPS Orlando

Its going to me my new reel on my Cajun Thunder rod. I broke my CT reel (Fin Nor ML 4500) again so the Spheros should get a workout and I will post a report.

It is a sealed drag btw. The guy at BPS said that a lot of guides use them and that they are great for wading or yakking because of the sealed drag.