Line Counter Reels

Can I get some thoughts on, the best line counter reels for your money?? Thinking of dipseys and downriggers. Thanks for the help!

Daiwa Sealines all the way. I have Tekota's on my braid dipsy set-ups using the drag as a speed indicator on turns and they seem to lose less fish (because of the smooth drag) than others I have used. They are also very light for the abuse they take. All my buddies fight over reeling in fish on them. At the $100.00 price point though it is impossible to beat Sealines. I have Garcia 7000 C3's for rigger reels and love these too. The bait clickers are the weak point on those. I also have 3 Penn 330 Gt's and although they are heavy they convey absolute strength. I will not ever again purchase an Okuma for any of my fishing needs. I bought 3 of the Catalina's when they came out and had complete and utter failure on each and every one. I replaced them with 2 Tekota's and love them! Only gonna burn me once. Okuma hater for life. I know the Convectors are popular and seem to do the job. Just not on my boat. Jimmy

I am on about year 5 with the Magda Pro 30dx and there holding up just fine. I had one dud out of about 8 of them and that one had a crappy drag right out of the box. Actually that was a 45 but there essesntially the exact same reel. I used my gear for about 20 x 4 hour trips each year.

I like the Okuma Magda Pro 30.Got a real good deal on ebay last winter on combos.No problems so far on Michigan with big fish,also have some 20s for Bago that work fine for eyes.

45s just hold more line. If your talking dipseys and downriggers you dont need a 45. You would need a 45 for leadcore over about 7 colors or copper from 150 to 300.

My vote for the best linecounter for the money is for the Diawa SG-47LC. I have at least 2 dozen of them between my salmon, muskie, and walleye rods. I also have (or have had) several other types, some better, some not so much. I have SG-47's that are over 20 years old that do double duty between walleyes and salmon that are still working like new and have never even been opened up for cleaning and oil.

Is the magda pro 45 any better? It says it is heavy duty, but not sure if it has drag and clicker like the 30 does. Otherwise can parts be upgraded, is it worth it? I tried to get the convector 30 from waldomart, but they are sold out, and I tried contacting them to see if more are coming but it's like trying to get info from the government! " we will let you know when they arrive", been 2 1/2 months already and still no call or email.

Just checked the price of Okuma Convector 30-D line counters. Walmart has them for under $64 each WOW! Even I a Daiwa guy would buy the 30Ds for that price!

Trolling reels are just like anything you buy these days in that you get what you pay for usually. I have been a Daiwa SG47LC(A) guy since the first reels came out better than 20 years ago. I have 8 SG47LC(A) reels and in all the years of service I had one break a gear. The drags on the SG47LC and SG47LCA are good smooth and strong. The line counters can be sticky on a few of my reels but over all they function great. I would consider the Daiwa SG47LC(A) the standard for medium priced line counter reels, sure there are better but you can do a lot worse too. The retrieve ratio is 4.2:1 which is middle of the pack. They make great dipsy reels for their repeatability. I like them on my riggers as well for staggering my baits behind the ball. When you get a large fish on that takes some line it’s sure nice to know how far away the fish is and how much line remains on the spool. This really helps when the person reeling the fish in isn’t very experienced, I ask them to read the line counter to give me an idea how much time I have to get the other rods cleared to land the fish. Usually the SG47LCA’s sell for about $100. Used SG47LCs on eBay fetch $60 to $80 with shipping. Good Luck SS

I like the Shimano Tekota. They are pricey but they are reels for a lifetime. Drag washers are easily replaced over time. Rock solid trolling reels.

YOu shouldn't damage the reels by casting them. I was on LacSuel in Canada onetime and forgot to take my casting reels from the cabin, only had jigging rods and planer board rods with linecounters on them. We went in a back bay to catch some northerns and used the linecounter rods and did just fine although casts were not as far due to the resistance of the linecounter. We had a great time seeing who could cast the farthest!

I didn't want to start a new thread for this because it not really about great lakes fishing, but this is the best place to ask. In about a week I'm going to Wisc. Dells on a family vacation and plan on doing some flathead catfishing. I have some line counter reels that are set up for braided dipseys, that I'd like to use for the flatheads. Can I use these to cast my giant catfish bait out there or will I damage the line counter. Thanks JJ

Okuma Convectors.

I use 2 DM II and their still working but they are not even in the same conversation as a Convector. The extra $50 you mentioned is comparing the DM Gold's to the Convectors which is as fair of a comparison you can get with these two lines. The original question was the best LC for the money. The answer is Okuma Convector period. There's better reels and there's worse reels. But they cost more or less respectively.

I would have to agree that the okuma convectors are the best reel for the money. Yes there are some less expensive models that do work, but I have some of the cheaper reels and they definately wear out faster than the okumas. I have burned 2 already this year that are 3 years old. They just stopped reeling in if there is ANY pressure on the line. Also had one literally fall apart in my hands when reeling in a fish. Save a couple more bucks and get the okumas, you will be happier in the long run. The new diawas are super nice, but at close to $200.00 each they better be super nice. My $.02 Mrrrrrrrr

Only about $50 smoker. I would imagine the okuma is much better. but I got 8 depthmaster II reels at $35 a piece. They work great. 2 plus years now and none of them has broke or given me any grief. Used them for soaking suckers too. great.