Who here likes Lews reels?

southernson1989 · Oct 22, 2017

Yesterday was my birthday and my fiance thinks I need a another reel (im a lucky man). So I'm getting another speed spool lfs. This one in 7.5:1 instead of 6.8:1. I love my lews. Best baitcaster I've ever used. Which lews do y'all have? Any memorable moments with em? I caught my new Pb two weeks ago with mine. A modest 5.26 lbs that I slid down the bank into the water getting half soaked releasing. Didn't cuss or get mad. Just said "worth it".

crankie · Oct 22, 2017

Was a die hard Shimano user. Now, all my baitcasting reels are Lew's. Spinning reels are still Shimano though.

rospaw · Oct 23, 2017

My first REAL reel that i paid for was a BB1Ng. 99.99 at DD hunts Bass pro around 1980ish. I still have that reel/box and a few other lews bait. That same year i purchased a lews spinning speed spin 2 with a med action PISTOL style lews spinning rod. Man did i walk some banks with both those rods. Still have them 30yr plus later but don't get used.
Was a diehard Diawa Whiskers spinning reel extra tall spool guy in the late 80's. I was like the pro's, had to have 8 rods on the boat ready and usually only use one for spot fishing lanier.
Then switched to Shimano in the 90's and have stayed with them for fresh water.

M77 Ruger · Oct 23, 2017

I love lews reels. It’s about all I use anymore

TroyBoy30 · Oct 23, 2017

All of my bait casters are lews. I started out with the team lite and have now moved up to all custom pro speed spools. They are awesome reels.

Scout'nStripers · Oct 23, 2017

I use a bunch of them and have for years. I have 3 mach and mach 2 Speed Spools and my wife has 3 left handed Lew's speed spool reels also and I also have 4-5 speed spins, plus various rods.

I've put them to the test with a lot of stripers and bass over the years. The bearings in my speed spools last 2-3 years under normal to heavy use. The speed spins start falling apart at 1-2 years of normal use. I think the baitcasters are great, the spinning reels are a little less dependable over the long haul.

I will say this, I have owned a Pflueger Presidential spinning rig for about 5 years now. I use it on every trip for my topwater popper. It has worked circles around the Lew's spinning rigs. I went to BP on Saturday and bought another presidential.

I have a sack of various spinning reels in my shop that have broken down and the Lew's and Pflueger are definitely the best I've used.

i_fish · Oct 23, 2017

Same here......love Lew's baitcasters & Shimano Spinning reels. Been using that combo for 20 years.

TroyBoy30 · Oct 23, 2017

Yea all of my spinning reels are Shimano ci4+, not lews

Coenen · Oct 23, 2017

Scout'nStripers said:
I've put them to the test with a lot of stripers and bass over the years. The bearings in my speed spools last 2-3 years under normal to heavy use. The speed spins start falling apart at 1-2 years of normal use. I think the baitcasters are great, the spinning reels are a little less dependable over the long haul.

My experience as well. I grabbed a 200 size High Speed, Speed Spin a bit more than a year ago. Really liked it for trout(the line pick up was great for fast flowing current) and bass, even caught a few stripers with it. It started getting a little funky after the first year. Was thinking about getting another, but that model is discontinued, and reviews on a lot of the current spinning reels are spotty.

I've got a couple of older, lower end, Shimano spinning reels, they feel nice, but the line lay is AWFUL. Both of them lay an "hourglass" when I try to spool them.

I just picked up a new Daiwa BG 2500, so far I'm very impressed. I think I'm going to grab another in the 2000 size to replace my Lew's. I could see myself switching over to them completely.

Darkhorse · Oct 25, 2017

I have a Tournament MB speed spool that gets high marks from me. I use it on a MH rod to throw weightless plastics with 20 lb braid. It has never given me any problems.
I also have a Revo 3 SX and in the beginning the fit wasn't quite as good as the Lew's, specifically where the thumbbar slides against the frame, too much contact. I also think the materials are not quite up to the Lew's as I've had to into the Revo and replace the worm gear and pawl. However now that the reel is fully broken it it works great and it is my main crankbait reel.
What does the Revo have to do with the Lew's?
Well, for kicks I compared the schematics between the 2 reels and except for the secondary braking system these 2 reels are exactly the same. Like they were both bought from the same vendor but badged differently.
Now for 2017 it gets even more interesting. The Revo 4 SX now has the same braking systems as the Lew's and where the rated drag was 20 pounds it is now 25.
The Lew's had a 14 pound drag rating, now it is 20 pounds.
Looking more like the same reel all the time. But I would still buy the Lew's over the Abu.

CamoClad · Oct 25, 2017

I am a Lew’s fan, been using a few models for a few years now and they have held up really well. I have both baitcast and spinning reels and use them for all species. Decent equipment for the price point.

Eugene Stinson · Oct 25, 2017

Lukikus2 · Oct 25, 2017

Send me one and I'll let you know. Just like some Ray Bans. Every time I would buy either it seemed some body liked them better than me. So I quit buying them. Still have all my ABU's though. :bounce:

fish hawk · Oct 26, 2017

Junk for heavy and hard use,but fine for the weekend warrior.

StriperrHunterr · Oct 26, 2017

I'm 50/50 on mine that I just got. I like the smoothness and low profile but it's far more difficult to cast than my older circle framed Abu. I'm reserving total judgment on it because I'm not certain I have it dialed in correctly, but I did completely negate the magnetic braking system so that I could focus on getting the spool speed adjustment knob set like my Abu and see if I can get to like it from that standpoint. It is a $50 Walmart Speed Spool so maybe it's my fault for buying an inexpensive reel and expecting it to perform, but I have bought other reels, granted they're spinning reels and they don't have the adjustments that casting reels have, in the same price point and ended up with some real gems. I'm hoping it's just a matter of beating the learning curve and getting used to it because I love the pickup on it and the profile as mentioned before.

TroyBoy30 · Oct 26, 2017

StripeRR HunteRR said:
It is a $50 Walmart Speed Spool

theres your problem

StriperrHunterr · Oct 26, 2017

TroyBoy30 said:
theres your problem

Yeah, I'm factoring that into my judgment as I know you get what you pay for. But $50 for something that's, so far, nigh on unusable is absurd. Sure, if I buy a $200 spinning reel that thing will be the bees knees, but a $50 one will still work quite well. Why the same doesn't seem to hold true for casting reels is beyond me. For $50 I wouldn't expect it to be as smooth as the higher end ones but I do expect it to cast a lure that's in its rated weight, using a rod that's weighted the same, an acceptable distance. I know I'm not going to be able to compete with KVD and throw a country mile, but getting a lure out far enough to work it properly doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

Again I'm not giving up on it fully yet, because it is so new and casting reels are not my usual combo of choice, but there will soon come a day where I do stop trying to put liptick on the pig.

WaltL1 · Oct 26, 2017

I bought the Tournament Speed Spool baitcaster ($150) and the MachII SpeedSpin spinning reel ($70 I think it was) about 8 months ago. Although bought for bass fishing, I just put both to the test on redfish in the Chandeleur Islands and they both performed like a champ.
No complaints so far, we'll see what happens long term.

Lanier Jim · Oct 26, 2017

I use the Okuma RTX 30S and Pflueger President spinning reels...just good dependable reels with great drag systems.

Lew's baitcasters....I have 7 of them with no problems at all. For the money - the Laser reel is pretty good for a mid priced reel. I have two of them with no problems in a few years now.

GaSwimnJig · Oct 26, 2017

Diawa and Shimano make the best reels hands down. Much better components.

Who here likes Lews reels?

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