I'm going to get another linecounter reel, solely for downlining. Although the Shimano Tekota's are super nice, with the smoothest drag I've ever felt, I'm thinking more along the lines of the Penn GT2 310, or the Diawa SeaLine 27, or perhaps the Abu Garcia Ambassadeur, to keep it under the $110 mark. I haven't used any of those 3, but I'll bet many of you have. The Penn has 4 bearings, whereas the others have 2. Any recommendations as to which of these is better? Thanks!

I believe the Penn is a 320 LC, I've not seen the 310LC

Value shopping can get you into trouble eventually if you let it. I've rode that rodeo and since then, spent thousands of dollars replacing reels that are simply subpar. I've done some upgrading to the point that all of my downline reels are Shimano Tekotas (with a line counter). You're right, they have a super smooth drag and if you will think about it, there is NO other striper fishing technique that requires such a smooth drag. When you are downlining shallow, such as 20 feet deep, a limber rod and smooth drag are the only things that will allow you to fish with light pound test flourocarbon leaders (to increase the number of strikes) without simply breaking off.

New, cheaper reels seem to work fine for a couple of outings, but after they are exposed to different weather schemes, over a period of time they just turn out to be junk. You can catch fish with them, but the drag system goes, which causes level wind problems right behind that and so on and so on - as well as other features start malfunctioning and cause for fish catchin' problems.

If it will tell you anything, and this is the honest truth, I have not had ONE break off on the downline while using the Shimano Tekotas......I tie new leaders every trip I go in the summer time (or any downlining season) and when you combine that with the quality of the Tekota reels, it's much easier to be successful. That was NOT the case with every other line counter I've tried - which is nearly all of them.

If I were you, even though you don't want to, I would spend the extra $80 per reel and be completely satisfied - you might even find a better deal out there.....the economy isn't in that great of a shape.

As for comments on the other reels - I used to be a fan of Penn, but they've started to become cheaper and cheaper built. They are relatively easy to repair though. The drag on the Penn GT's are not good quality, but I use a couple of them to pull U-Rigs around and that is mainly because I lock the drag completely down now that I'm spooled up with the 130lb braid. The SeaLines are better than the Accudepths, but they still wouldn't get my vote - for whatever reason, Daiwa installs the crummiest linecounter on the reel ever made. If you can get one of there linecounters to actually work after a large fish or after ONE hangup, then you're a lucky fellar - I've never been able to (maybe I ain't holding my mouth right). I have some Abu reels, but I only had the line counter model for a couple of weeks. Putting a line counter on their reels must've been a total after thought. The reels are blue and the removable face with the built in line counter is black - maybe that's for mass production of reels or something. If you'll take a screw driver and take the side of that reel off and examine the gears, you see MUCHO cheap plastic. Overall, the Abu linecounter is NOT a quality reel.

My point is, if you have to buy two or three $110 reels to get the life out of a $180 reel, what have you accomplished?

You know what they say about opinions, but that's mine. Good luck with the decision making.

Hey Charles, how about an Okuma Convector 20D LC. Its under $80. I use them. Its solid with a good drag. Definitely not in the same league as the Shimanos, but I like them better than Daiwa.

I've had the Convectors and the Catalinas too. The Catalinas are higher quality than the Convectors, I just didn't like the weight of the reel - BUT, that will let you know that the Catalina is built solid also. I can't say anything bad about the Catalinas other than the weight and I only kept the Convectors for a couple of months, so I didn't put them through the tough test.

I have used the accudepths and okumas and both have caught fish. The other day when I went out with Dan he had some Tekotas we used. I was very impressed with them. Those will be the next reels I buy. I have never used penns but they don't look nice unless you get the high end ones.

I would buy a bamboo pole and plenty of fishing line before I ever bought another Accudepth - the bamboo pole would be more reliable. I caught many a fish with them too ROOSTER (what is the deal with the name change?), but that don't mean they are worth a flip.

Corey makes some great points. If you don't wait on the Tekotas go with the Catalinas. My two cents.

If you can find the older Cat's, they qiut making our current moldel and went to a $200.oo Catalina. The one that took their place is the Clarion. The top pic is the Clarion and the bottom is the new Catalina.

I saw those new Catalinas a while back in a catalog. I'd like to see one in person - they look SHARP. I heard the same thing about the price - $180-$200. It looks to be constructed completely different and if I had to guess, Okuma got the weight of the reel down on the new model. I wish the manufacturers would quit putting that jumbo sized handle hickey on the reels though - it seems like they all do that - to me that is just unnecessary.