Reels
The best spinning reels under $100
Under a hundred dollars is where spinning reels stop being a compromise. Here is what the money actually buys.
By Sawyer V. · Last updated · How we pick
The short answer
Under $100 is the price band where a spinning reel stops being a limitation and starts being a choice. What you give up against a $200 reel is refinement — a smoother drag start-up, a more rigid body, less weight. What you do not give up is the ability to catch anything that swims in freshwater.
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Quick picks
| # | Product | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | No photo Best overall under $100 Pflueger President Spinning Reel (30X) 8.8 oz, 145 yd of 6 lb, 25.3 in per turn, ten stainless bearings plus a roller. | The one to buy if you buy one | |
| 2 | No photo Most line for the money Daiwa BG Spinning Reel (BG2500) 210 yd of 6 lb and 33.2 in per turn, on a Hard Bodyz frame with a waterproof carbon drag. | Anything that might run | |
| 3 | No photo Lightest Abu Garcia Max SX Spinning Reel (2500) 8.0 oz at the 2500 with 27 in per turn — and a published size ladder from 6.1 to 9.1 oz. | A second setup on a light rod |
What a hundred dollars buys, and what it does not
The genuinely useful things — a sealed or partly sealed drag, an aluminum braid-ready spool, a bearing in the line roller, sensible weight for the capacity — are all present in this band. Every reel here has them.
What more money buys above this band is refinement rather than capability: a smoother drag start-up, a more rigid frame, a lower weight for the same capacity, and better sealing. Those are real improvements. None of them catch a fish that this tier would have lost.
The three specs to compare in this band
| Reel | Weight | Capacity | In. per turn | Bearings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pflueger President 30X | 8.8 oz | 6 lb / 145 yd | 25.3 | 10 + 1 |
| Daiwa BG2500 | 9.3 oz | 6 lb / 210 yd | 33.2 | 6 + 1 |
| Abu Garcia Max SX 2500 | 8.0 oz | 8 lb / 130 yd | 27 | 6 + 1 |
Note the bearing column against the others. The President has four more bearings than the Daiwa and less capacity, less retrieve and a less rigid body. Bearings are not a quality score.
Where the money actually goes on a budget
If you have $200 total for a rod and reel, the honest split is roughly $70 on the rod and $110 on the reel with the rest on line. The drag is the component you interact with on every fish, and a rough drag is the thing you cannot ignore.
If you have $120 total, buy a combo instead. Below that price point a factory-matched combo beats anything you can assemble — see our combos under $100.
What to skip in this price band
Reels sold on bearing count alone — the “13+1 bearing” listings that lead with the number and say nothing about capacity, weight or drag. A maker who leads with the bearing count is telling you which spec they are proudest of, and it is not one that determines how the reel fishes.
The picks, in full
Every card below lists the specs we could read off a published page, the URL they came from, and one honest reason you might not want it.
1. Best overall under $100
Pflueger President Spinning Reel (30X)
Pflueger
8.8 oz, 145 yd of 6 lb, 25.3 in per turn, ten stainless bearings plus a roller.
The President has been the default sub-$100 recommendation for a long time, and the specs explain why: it is light for its capacity, it recovers a sensible amount of line, and the aluminum spool is braid-ready so you can tie straight to it.
Graphite body and rotor keeps the weight at 8.8 oz. The 5.2:1 ratio recovering 25.3 inches per turn is on the slower side, which for a first reel is a feature rather than a fault.
The drawback
No published maximum drag figure from either the maker or the retailer. It is also a graphite body, so it flexes marginally more under heavy load than an aluminum-framed reel would.
Published specs
- Gear ratio
- 5.2:1
- Bearings
- 10 stainless + 1 roller
- Weight
- 8.8 oz
- Line capacity
- 6 lb / 145 yd, 8 lb / 130 yd
- Retrieve per turn
- 25.3 in
- Body
- Graphite body and rotor
- Spool
- Aluminum, braid ready
Specs read from Tackle Warehouse — Pflueger President Spinning Reels.
2. Most line for the money
Daiwa BG Spinning Reel (BG2500)
Daiwa
210 yd of 6 lb and 33.2 in per turn, on a Hard Bodyz frame with a waterproof carbon drag.
The BG2500 is the capacity outlier in this price band. 210 yards of 6 lb is far more than a typical mid-size reel, and 33.2 inches per turn is the fastest retrieve of the three despite a modest 5.6:1 ratio — the spool diameter is doing that work.
Daiwa publishes a Hard Bodyz body and side cover, an Air Rotor, a Dynamic Cut aluminum ABS spool and a waterproof Carbon ATD drag. Of those, the waterproof drag is the one that matters over years: water in a drag stack is what turns a smooth reel into a jerky one.
The drawback
It is the heaviest here at 9.3 oz, and it feels bulkier in the hand than either alternative. On a light finesse rod that half-ounce is a real, noticeable difference over a full day.
Published specs
- Gear ratio
- 5.6:1
- Bearings
- 6 ball + 1 roller
- Weight
- 9.3 oz
- Line capacity
- 6 lb / 210 yd, 8 lb / 170 yd
- Retrieve per turn
- 33.2 in
- Body
- Hard Bodyz body and side cover, Air Rotor
- Spool
- Dynamic Cut aluminum ABS
- Drag
- Carbon ATD, waterproof
Specs read from Tackle Warehouse — Daiwa BG Spinning Reels.
3. Lightest
Abu Garcia Max SX Spinning Reel (2500)
Abu Garcia
8.0 oz at the 2500 with 27 in per turn — and a published size ladder from 6.1 to 9.1 oz.
At 8.0 oz the 2500 is the lightest of the three, and the full published size range is genuinely useful when you are building a specific setup: 750 at 6.1 oz, 2000 at 7.5, 2500 at 8.0, 3000 at 8.1, 4000 at 9.1, all at 5.2:1.
Six ball bearings plus a roller, asymmetric graphite frame and rotor, machined aluminum braid-ready spool. 130 yards of 8 lb at 27 inches a turn.
The drawback
The capacity is the thinnest here — 130 yd of 8 lb against the BG2500's 170. On panfish that is irrelevant, and on anything that takes a long run it is the number you would want back.
Published specs
- Gear ratio
- 5.2:1
- Bearings
- 6 ball + 1 roller
- Weight
- 8.0 oz
- Line capacity
- 8 lb / 130 yd
- Retrieve per turn
- 27 in
- Body
- A-symmetric graphite frame and rotor
- Spool
- Machined aluminum, braid ready
Specs read from Tackle Warehouse — Abu Garcia Max SX Spinning Reel.
Questions people actually ask
Is a $100 spinning reel good enough?
Yes, comfortably. Under $100 you get a braid-ready aluminum spool, a bearing in the line roller and a drag that works. More money buys a smoother drag start-up, a more rigid body and less weight — real refinements, none of which catch fish this tier would lose.
What is the best spinning reel under $100?
The Pflueger President is the long-standing default at 8.8 oz with 145 yd of 6 lb and 25.3 in per turn. If line capacity matters more to you than half an ounce, the Daiwa BG2500 holds 210 yd of the same line.
Should I spend more on the rod or the reel?
The reel, on a first setup. You feel the drag on every single fish, and a rough one is the fault you cannot ignore. A rod either fits your fishing or it does not, and a modest rod that fits works fine.
Do more bearings mean a better reel?
No. Placement and quality matter far more than count. In this roundup the ten-bearing reel has less capacity, less retrieve per turn and a less rigid body than one of the six-bearing reels.
Read next
Sources
Prices on this page come from the retailer at request time and change without notice. If we cannot get a live one we say “check price” rather than show you a number that has gone stale. How we pick.