New reel for jigging

[RVRRAT]

Upon putting away my rods and reels for the winter I inspected one of my reels that has been giving me some trouble.My Diawa regal Z has been reeling kinda stiff lately and upon disassembly I noticed the drive gear missing teeth!This reel has seen some heavy use since 1995,and I have grown attached to it and its twin since I buy all rod and reel combo's in matched sets.I have recently started using Diawa ss 700's for my jiging reels and really like them.I am loking to replace my regal Z's with something like a Penn 4200 or the new Diawa BG series since I am partial to Diawa.I know these reels are no frills (no infinte anti reverse,no 6+BB),I am after durable reels with a good drags and wan't to keep the price under $70 a reel.Has any one out there tried either of these reels?

RR

[Fuzzy]

Take a good look at the Shimano line....Symetre and Stradic - solid and durable

[rodbuilder]

the black gold diawas were one of my favorites for years i still prefer them over penns in salt water but as a good small reel thats a different story i have a few stradics i have some ss1300s and ss 700s but now there is a diawa capricorn that is head and shoulders above the rest as far as i am concirned they are a little higher in price than you wanted but well worth the money

[RVRRAT]

Thanks for your replies.

RR

[Crow]

Rod Builder,
help me out on this here also. I have seen the reel you refer to on-line in the Cabelas catalog the Capricorn.....looks great....but it doesnt say anything about drag improvements ,as they have been a problem on the Diawa Regal S and Regal Z...both good reels for the moey, but you had to fish thru 10 of them at the store to find the ones with a smooth pull....no sticking points or "flat" spots on the drag.most had a hard time engaging smoothly on that "breakover" point for the drag not to "drag" on those reels.I need to say here now that I own 2 Regal S models and a Z....all are close to retirement. Convince me that the Capricorn has solved these problems....
Shimano as we all know is revamping and introducing all its models this year by Jan.
They have introduced a new model Stradic..the Stradic MgF and the ST-FH..both these models have all of the old Sradic design dependablilty many fisherman have grown to tought as the industry standard with quality in a mid-range priced reel, plus a few new features as well as the shimano drag system that has proven itself very consistant over the years.
From what I've read, the Diawa gives you a spare spool as part of the deal....shimao provides one only with the MgF....the ST-FH comes as is....the MgF has a tag of 159.99 [at Cabela's] can see Shimano is charging you on the spool by the price , a practice they have done for years., the ST-FH at 119.99, no mention of a spare spool.
The diawa at 114.99, spare spool included.
look them over please and give us your best 2 cents worth here, and please be objective yet critical on all products..
Its gonna weigh heavily I know in my choice ....maybe a couple of other guys out there too that will use this as a source in making their decision as well.

[rodbuilder]

if this helps i purchased a capricorn last june

i used to fish with anything that sounded like a good reel
(deadbolts ss 1300s stradics sustains...)

i now have 6 capricorns and use them almost exclusively i have had regals and emblems i know what you are talking about but what really impressed me is the smooooooooth drag on the capricorn

i really never depended on my drag much after tarpon fishing with a penn 950ss drag locked up on me and i had to back reel a 150#+ tarpon for 45 mins talk about a knuckel buster

but i have used the capricorn all year and really like it

thats just my opinion i would never recommend to buy anything without holding it in your hand yourself rods and reels are getting very expensive latley go to your nearest dealer and check both out

one other thing make the decision yourself don't get "sold" on one

hope this helps