I’m very puzzled. My experience doesn’t jive with popular opinion! This has been bugging me for years.[frown]
Ok, I’m going to make several controversial/unpopular statements. I don’t like Shimano!!! 
I have had the worm gear wear out on Symetri and other Shimano reels in less than a year fpr lots pf years!!! [frown] I have bought several for many years based on (advice).
My current preferences are The Phluger President and Okuma Ecpixor series and for less if not the same money. Why you ask,? Really simple, they last at least twice ( if not more) as long and seem to be everything I need in smoothness and drag control!!! I’m now going into my third year w/o any signs of wear out!!!
Now, I must admit, I do something unusual with my reels. I unscrew the crank cap and squirt some lt. wt. machine oil int the exposed crank bearing area and let it soak in, hopefully the gear area, every 3-5 trips. On occasion, one of my reels have become harder to crank, and when I oil it, my problem goes away, This doesn’t work on my Shimano reels. When I disassemble, the worm gear, (brass), is worn/shot,
Soooooooo -------------, give me heck folks and tell me where I’m, wrong/stupid!!!
You need grease on those gears, not oil. Oil dissolves the grease leaving them dry. Oil is OK on the bearings.
Shimano makes low end reals just like any other manufacturer. Get the higher end ones and you get better stuff. I haven’t found many decent spinning reels under $100.00. If you want them lightweight, add another 100.
Don’t agree at all..I’m not going to repeat what I said except I think the reels that I mentioned are far superior for the price based on, on the water use. Just my opinion.
I used Daiwa for years because I got a smokin’ deal on them (free). When that dried up, I went on the recommendation of a clerk at Sportsmans and bought a couple Presidents. That was five years ago and I’m still tickled with them. I hate the fact they are made in China, but you can’t argue the fact they are a quality product! And way less than a hunnerd bucks a copy.
Thanks for the feed back and of course your agreeing, I’m with you bud. 
I used Daiwa for years because I got a smokin’ deal on them (free). When that dried up, I went on the recommendation of a clerk at Sportsmans and bought a couple Presidents. That was five years ago and I’m still tickled with them. I hate the fact they are made in China, but you can’t argue the fact they are a quality product! And way less than a hunnerd bucks a copy.[/quote.] Pfleuger’s are nice and light, but quite poorly made IMO. I own a Supreme, and liked it the first couple months. Problem is the bail. The bail mechanism is made of soft plastic and wears a groove from the line near the roller.Then the line catches in it and is very annoying.. Also they can’t take a dunking. If you drop it under water while float tubing you about have to dry it out and re-grease it, otherwise, it gets very “sticky”. Never have any of these problems with my Quantums. I have freinds with high-end Stradics that never have these issues either.
All these complaints I have are from heavy jigging use. Jigging is the hardest thing on spinning reels. If you’re just casting out bait and letting it sit, any low-end reel will suffice.
First of all you are wrong and stupid! Just kidding. I own both shimano and pflueger and have always been a shimano guy, I have never had a problem with them and love my symmetry rear drag, very smooth and can take a beating, it’s went in the drink and no problems with it. I recently bought a president and so far it’s great. Very smooth and the second spool is a bonus. My wife was using it the other day cattin and she said it doesn’t even feel like you have anything on when reeling a5 pounder.(me the same way) so with that I think I will get another pflueger on the next reel I get.
i own shimano and had very good luck with them but i did have one with a bad gear in it i send it to shimano and they sent me a new reel i own pflueger, okuma,shimano all work good
Admittedly, I’m a Shimano guy. And I have never tried a Pflueger. I’m sure it’s a quality product. But I think your situation applies to just about anything else. Some people won’t touch a Chevy because they owned one for years and it always broke down, where someone else has owned one and never had a single problem. Some people live and swear by shooting Glock where some people would rather get punched than shoot a Springfield because they had one that always misfired, etc, etc. I don’t think you are wrong in any way. We just all have our personal preferences for gear. Some we have good and bad luck with. Others we just like for strange reasons (family always uses this, or just like the way it looks and feels, etc.) It’s a bummer you haven’t had a good experience with Shimano, but at least you found something that works well, that’s all that is important really. Based on how much good stuff I’ve heard about Pflueger on recent posts, I’m tempted to get one for my next reel [:)]
I picked up an Okuma this spring and have put about a dozen trips on it and everything has been good so far. I’ve fished Shimano for over twenty years and the quality on their lower end reels has went way down.
I love it when the companys bottom line gets in the way of quality.
i to love my okuma trio i have used it for years without a single problem as for shimano they went over seas to become more profitable not to raise there quality.
if it does not wear out they dont make any money if you dont have to buy a new one.
yes okuma is made in japan but i feel the japanese are more quality based than outhers,yes i still like shimano but its not my first choice i still love my old mitchell 300 i got in 1969 or so its been so long i cant really remember
I to am not a SH_ _ Shimano fan for the price from high to mid priced you can beat them I like the Daiwas and Quantums in spin and bait casters…
I also am a firm believer in put your money in the rod and not the reel…
BG1, I’m not familiar with the Supreme model, but my Presidents have been in the river, out in the rain and snow. I use them in the summer and winter and they both still perform flawlessly. I have never had the problems you describe. As far as poorly made, I can’t agree with that either. Maybe it’s just a difference in the models. I dunno.
I guess it’s time for a little story. I posted about this a while ago, now the rest of the story. [sly] Left the rod and reel on top of the ruck, eventually found em, went fishing and the reel was frozen/inoperable.
Well, went home, noticed the spool/shaft bent, bent it by hand and it’s been working fine ever since.
This was 3yr. old Pflueger President.
Obviously, it had been run over. Petty tough, huh?[;)]
Well it sounds like every one likes the president and has had mostly all positive experiences with it including me, so I was wondering what the higher end pflueger reels are like and/or whats another good model.
The Pfleuger Supreme is supposedly a step above the President. It has a couple more bearings or something. (perhaps those 2 bearings are what stiffen up when dunked?). Pfleuger now has a pretty purple one called the Patriarch. It’s $200.00. I would deffinately get the Shimano Stradic Ci4 or the new Quantum EXO way before I would spend the same $ on a plastic Pfleuger.
I used to use Shamono reels but I switched over to Diawa reels about 8 years ago. I( have had nothing be good things to say about them. From the cheep to the mid priced reels, they have been trouble free and work well when fishing for Wiper.
I troll with them and the drags have held up very well.
I think you’re right on!! I owned nothing but Shimano Stradics for years. Started having major problems with the reels back spinning. Especially in cold weather.Tried a couple Okuma’s. They seem heavy. Bought a wave reel. It’s O.K. This year I got two new Presidents and so far I love them. They are on Cabela’s split grip rods. Starting to second guess my Loomis rods also. Starting to think that more expensive doesn’t really mean better.
I have 2 Presidents, 2 President XTs, 1 Templar, 1 Asaro, 2 Arbors, 1 Medalist, 1 Trion and a Medalist fly reel. I obviously like Pfluegers. I have had the same problem with getting them wet, but other than that, they’re pretty great. I really like their Arbor reel lately. I’ve been using a lot of soft jerkbaits and swimbaits lately, so I’ve been using braid, and that reel handles it better than any other reel I’ve used. I’ve also been throwing spinnerbaits a lot, and I can launch them a mile with that reel.
I am nearly an anti-shimano guy after all my experience (unless they are the ci4 or higher). 3 years ago I went out and bought the major baitcasters - Curado, Premier, zillion, pro tour. No pflueger…why you ask? No left handed reels! The Daiwa is superior in my opinion…mainly due to braking system.
I also have owned most of the spinning reels. At the end of the day I prefer the Quantum protour and Pflueger Patriarch.
The Supreme is a good feeling reel and is light (I have/had 2 of them currently that I still own but do not use) but they do not hold up to a lot of use or fishing smaller spinning reels for good sized bass that pull hard. I have had 4 of them and both of my smaller ones (25-30 series) reels have not held up well but my 40 series has been good.