Spincasting reels

I've been doing a little bit of fishing lately. I had not fished since moving from Oklahoma and it is pretty fun getting back into it. We have a private lake here on campus that is stocked with bass, bluegill, and carp (I don't fish for the carp).* I use spinning reels and recently picked up a Pflueger Trion GX-7 that I paired with a Shakespear Ugly Stick Lite, medium action. I also have a Quantum/Ugly Stick ultra-light rig that I use a lot. I'm going to be taking some kids fishing quite a bit in the fall and want to purchase a couple of spincasting rigs - something like the Zebco 33. I want it to be inexpensive, I'm buying it for the kids. But I also want it to be nice enough that if I want to throw a worm in the water or go find some catfish that I could use it myself.

The Pflueger stuff is pretty new to me... I'd never heard of it before moving to Ohio. However, I'm very impressed with the spinning reel I've got. It's a lower-end reel, but I believe it's one of the best I've ever had, very high quality and smooth action. I've thought about the Pflueger 1810c. Has anyone had any experience with these? I've also thought about the Zebco 33 gold/platinum, but I just read some really bad reviews - breakage after only a few uses. Does anyone have a favorite spincasting reel?

*Some day when we do the annual orientation for new faculty and staff I hope to be the guy who does the "fishing Cedar Lake" part of the orientation.

Pflueger is one of the older names in fishing equipment. Good quality stuff. I don't remember how many Zebcos I've blown up but they continue to sell them.
I would look at some garage, estate or flea market sales to see what sort of loot you could pick up for a song. Part of the fun is taking them apart, lubing them all up and seeing if you can put the same number of parts back in them that came out.

I wish I had time to go to garage sales and such... but that would take me away from Orangepower....

Expense is relative to who is buying but I know I bought a Shimano reel for a friend to fish for Red Snapper and he said it was really nice. Bass Pro has these and other reels on sale/clearance quite frequently.

You need to employ a personal shopper.

Maybe if I took up a third job I could afford one (my second job will be paying for the tax increases coming Jan 1)...

Yeah, I've been checking the Bass Pro site nearly every day. They have a nice graphite rod for $17.99 and I picked up one of those. I figure it's better than anything I could get for $18 at Walmart.

I picked up the Pflueger 1810c on eBay for less than the Zebco 33 would have cost. I'm taking it out tomorrow morning. I'll post results.

well done. I'll look forward to your report.

My advice is if you are going to go store brand online stuff....go with Cabela's. Cabela's while they have grown haven't forgotten they are an outfitter and their store brand is usually really good stuff. Most time with a very little research you can determine who the manufacturer is of the Cabela's stuff. Bass Pro is outdoor Wal-Mart and I haven't bought anything with their brand that I've been happy with in years...I only shop there under duress now.

Phlueger is as good as any recreational angler needs.

Can you use the school's duplicating machine to make a copy of yourself to take care of the garage sales and other such tasks?

Yeah, but I can't figure out how to get it to not staple the two copies together, so I'm not sure what good it would do...

I ended up not getting the Bass Pro rod after all, and went with an inexpensive Berkley. It is a very nice little rig, I'm pretty happy with it.

I bought another Pflueger ultra-light spinning reel and Shakespear Ugly-stik ultra-light rod. There are a few trout streams not far from where I live and I'm hoping to try them out this fall (when's our open date?).

Baitcasters all the way.

I'm not enough of a fisherman to be anything but a snaggle-puss with a baitcasting reel.

How does a monkey learn to play the piano......practice.

The monkey has to want to learn the piano. For me it's not worth the trouble.

Any recommendations for a fly rod/reel combo?

You can learn a baitcasting reel. There are entirely too many people who use one for it to be that difficult.
It does require practice but can be done in the back yard with a dummy lure.

One can't cast far enough with a baitcasting reel. I prefer a spinning reel where one can be accurate, or cast for long distance to increase the amount of time a lure is in the fish zone when casting parallel to shore structures.

Are we talking about the same reels? Give me an example of a spinning reel you can cast further and more accurate than a bait casting reel.