Such an idiot
 

Last sppringr I bought a Pfleuger President 20 to go with my new ultra light trout rod. It worked great at first, then started having issues with the handle coming loose (AKA the storage position). Being used to Shimano reels, I'd tighten the nut on the housing opposite the reel and that would only make it hard to crank and it would loosen again after a few minutes of casting.

Finally I got so fed up that this winter I transferred the reel to my ice jigging rod, because at least that doesn't have to be cranked as much and the handle wasn't as much of an issue.

So yesterday I'm looking for a new reel for the UL rod. The President 30 has a $10 rebate and actually is a slightly better size fit for my rod. I'm thinking that this is supposed to be a good reel and maybe I got a lemon, so I bought it. I get it home and I'm having problems with the handle again, just as with the other one. I'm thinking that maybe this is just a POS reel and I'm about getting ready to give up and I start reeling the thing fast in frustration. And the handle starts to tighten. Apparently, the Pfleuger has a completely different mechanism to tighten than handle than Shimano and other brand reels I've used. You don't tighten the nut, you turn the handle forward to tighten.

I guess I have to dig out the ice fishing equipment and get that 20 so I can put on on my old Fenwick UL and retire the 30 year old Shimano on it.

Anybody else have a piece of equipment that they just couldn't figure out at first?

Re: Such an idiot
 

Not to that extent, but I service my own reels and friend's stuff and sometimes run into weird mechanisms and such. I have few pflueger presidents love them. I don't need bells and whistles in my spinners.

Re: Such an idiot
 

I'm pretty basic with spinners myself.All I look for is a smooth drag. I have a few cheap Shimanos that have served me well. The funny thing about the President was that there were no instructions. It was the first reel I ever owned where tightening the nut on the opposite side of the housing didn't tighten the handle. I assumed that was standard, so I resorted to what I know.
I almost threw the President 20 in the trash. Now that I know, I will fish it out of the ice gear. I think it will work nicely on my old Fenwick. But my ice fishing equipment is deep in the storage compartment.

Re: Such an idiot
 

Question for ya Brian: if you used a shimano for 30 yrs, what led you to try a different brand? I know nothing about the pflueger brand...I'm just curious.

Re: Such an idiot
 

I have about a dozen pflueger reels and love them all. Great value and awesome drags. Echoing Chris's comment I don't need the Cadillac just something dependable

Re: Such an idiot
 

Since my first rods with the venerated Garcia Mitchell 300 were stolen out of our boat in the early 80's, I've been all Shimano with my freshwater spinning gear (I do have two surf rods with Okunka reels). I now have 12 freshwater spinning rods with 11 Shimanos and one Pfleuger (it will be 10 and 2 once I get the other out of storage).

I really like the Shimano reels with the Quickfire trigger, so all of my Shimanos have that. Shimano only makes 2 models these days with the Quickfire, the Spirex and the cheapie Syncopate. I have five Spirexes and like them a lot, but they have a bulky double (bait casting) style handle.

When I needed a new reel for my new UL rod I ruled out the Spirex because I thought the double handle would be awkward on a UL outfit and add unnecessary weight. So I was left without a good choice with a Quickfire (the Syncopate is OK for the money but I wanted something a bit better). Now that I was going for a reel without the the Quickfire, I just figured I'd try something different. I had heard a lot of good things about the President, so went with that.

Re: Such an idiot
 

I'm a shimano whore lol, but I've heard good things about the president too. I know a few members of this board use them pretty religiously...and they also invest their hard earned money in shimano products as well. While I haven't had the urge to experiment with the pfluegers, it's good to gain perspective on transitioning and expanding the product spectrum. Thanks for the detailed feedback.

Re: Such an idiot
 

I used to be an all shimano guy (Sahara and higher models), but i recently bought a 1000 class pflueger triton and a 2500 class pflueger president.

Compared to the shimanos, the pfluegers feel like they are filled with sand. I will never make the mistake of buying a Pflueger again.

Re: Such an idiot
 

The lower price range pfluegers are great compared to other brands. You may actually have sand in there hahaha. There's really only one brand that I'll never buy again, quantum. Had a mid range set up for it, reel turned like crap under just a little strain, brought it back. Replacement, the rod snapped in half on a 12" bass 10 yards out. Took it back and said give me something else and stop selling that overpriced garbage.

Re: Such an idiot
 

I have a few spirex's, they are good reels for the money and I actually like the paddle handles on them, Ive only had 2 need repair after many hybrid battles at night. I only run shimano reels, and you can find quickfires on the japanese and UK model reels on ebay, I have quite a few of them. If you do any live bait fishing the rear fighting drags are great for livelining, they have a loud clicker and u just swing the drag to strike and set the hook. Okuma makes some nice reels, I got a pair of small freshwater baitrunners late last year Im gonna put thru the paces this year