Pinnacle Slyder

[bassinbob]

Anyone hear of the new reel from Pinnacle? It has a wheel that picks up line instead of a twitchin bar. It also has a 7:1 ratio. I have never used the brand and wondered about getting one. I think the price is $69. Is the brand reliable?

[BigBassin144]

I've never used a Pinnacle brand reel, but I used to have a Gander Mtn. reel (about the same price) which was made by pinnacle (or at least looked exactly like one). I bought it right before the June 2008 Guntersville Get Together because I had a rod that I needed a reel for without spending a bunch.

I spooled it up with 30lb power pro (hadn't discovered Sufix braid at that time). It worked fine for what I used it for: jigs and throwing heavy plastics. I never really tried it with lighter baits.

Fast forward to late spring/early summer 2009. Fishing at a local reservoir I got a bite. I reel in the slack and set the hook. Guess what happened? The anti-reverse failed and hook sets + no anti-reverse = BACKLASH! I won't get into the crap the manager at Gander told me, but I eventually returned it and added some cash for a Citica (I know, I own a Shimano! Shocking, isn't it. )

Anyways, given the choice, I'll stick to my twitching bar, thanks.

BB

[Backwater Charlie]

Pinnacle isn't a trusted brand, IMO. Stick to the Daiwa Megaforce or whatever it's called, with the twitchin' bar. It's just about $70 - $80 if I'm thinking of it right.

I saw the Pinnacle at Wal-Mart today. It did look nice.

[WillTheThrill]

Originally Posted by Backwater Charlie

Pinnacle isn't a trusted brand, IMO. Stick to the Daiwa Megaforce or whatever it's called, with the twitchin' bar. It's just about $70 - $80 if I'm thinking of it right.

I saw the Pinnacle at Wal-Mart today. It did look nice.

Charlies got it right. If you're looking for a reel with an application to pick up that extra slack then I'd go with daiwa. Ive went through 2 different pinnacle reels over the course of a year. Not a sturdy reel at all.

[Cavs1123]

They look pretty good but im not ginna try one.

[WTL]

I've seen the ones at walmart. I thought there was a wee bit of play between the wheel and the spool.

I wont say pinnacle isn't a trusted brand. Its not that, per se. You can trust them to work for a little while, they give decent performance for a price. You can also trust that they wont last as long as a shimano, garcia or daiwa. If you only have 60 bucks, they arent too bad. Personally, my days of buying cheap reels are done - not just cause of performance, but more because trying to get one fixed 2 or 3 years later, after styles have changed, is a real hassle. Whereas with a garcia round reel, or a revo, or a curado, you can almost take it to any reel repair guy in America and he will have the common parts.

[Jrob78]

I used to have a Pinnacle reel. It was actually a decent reel...for awhile. I got one season of use out of it and it quit on me. If you don't fish all the time and aren't hard on your gear it would probably work well for you. For me it just didn't last. I won't ever buy another graphite framed cheap reel again. The internals aren't heavy duty and like WTL said you can't get them repaired. There are too many options in the $100-$160 range to spend on $60 on a reel that won't last.

[Jim80]

Originally Posted by Backwater Charlie

Pinnacle isn't a trusted brand, IMO. Stick to the Daiwa Megaforce or whatever it's called, with the twitchin' bar. It's just about $70 - $80 if I'm thinking of it right.

I saw the Pinnacle at Wal-Mart today. It did look nice.

Originally Posted by WillTheThrill

Charlies got it right. If you're looking for a reel with an application to pick up that extra slack then I'd go with daiwa. Ive went through 2 different pinnacle reels over the course of a year. Not a sturdy reel at all.

I have 5 pinnacle reels and a daiwa megaforce , after one season the drag on the daiwa is shot and a few of the pinnacles are a coupe years old and going strong , you can't beat what they put in a reel for the money . I would not buy another daiwa megaforce imo they lost me with the reel i already have as soon as I can afford to replace it I will .


jim