Best Spinning Reel for $100 in 2024 | Nasci VS Exceler LT VS Fierce IV

I own a new 2023 Shimano Vanquish, 2023 Shimano Stradic FM, and a Shimano Nasci. Three very different price points but all three are great reels. I use all three for inshore saltwater fishing and I love all three of them. I don't know that I can truthfully justify the 4x price of the Vanquish over the Nasci but I really wanted a high end reel just because.

I came into your store last Thursday 4/4/24 (I'm the guy with the walker), I can't remember his name, but I spoke to the tall older guy and he was a great help! I'm 4th generation from Clearwater and I have many high end rod's and reels, as I fish both saltwater and freshwater. On this day I was looking for a two piece rod that I could leave in the front of my Ranger all the time, so I could grab it and jump out at any time I see a lake or pond that I want to try, yet not have to worry about it being stolen if I'm in a store somewhere. I was told that you didn't have any two piece rods, but I ended up buying a Bull Bay 3 pc. travel rod which was perfect for what I needed! He then showed me a Shimano Nasci 1500 and the Diawa Exceler 2500D-XH, I played with both and it took me less than a minute to choose the Exceler. Would I have chose it if I needed it for saltwater? Definitely not, but I used the Exceler and the Bull Bay Travel Rod a lot over the weekend and both performed even better than I expected! Thanks Tailwater Outfitters for your first class service!

Exceler is a gorgeous reel! Was in a fishing store Niagara On. and asked to try it out and wow! Smooth, light and great feel. Spec's are excellent too! $99 Can. I didn't buy it though, but might go back for it tomorrow.

I bought 2 x Excelers. A 2000D-C for finesse fishing and then a 3000D. The 2000D shit itself after being exposed to saltwater. I've had Shimano Siennas dunked and survive with just a wash when I got home. Daiwa's are nice and smooth but dont last anywhere near as long as Shimano reels. The best reel on the planet for the money is still the Stradic (FL is my preference). I'd take the Nasci here

I switched from Shimano to Daiwa a long ago. Shimano reels are usually heavier and always had heavier start up inertia. Exceler is a great reel.

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That’s a solid assessment and your feel for the Shimano NASCI is spot on. It’s in Shimano’s CoreSolid lineup which is more for power than the finesse line known as MagnumLite. CoreSolid = takes more to start the revolution but it rotates longer MagnumLite = less effort to start and stop the reel (smoother)

Picked up a Daiwa exceller and I love it!

It's crazy how good these $100 reel are, they are as good as $200 reels 10 years ago

I have not found anything yet that beats a daiwa BG for quality and value at that price point. Smooth and powerful if not a little heavy but will not flex under heavy load. Still an easy real to maintain yourself. I have the 3000 and 3500. The 3500 is as beast. I also own a Shimano stradic 4000. Sixty bucks more than the daiwa but a work of art . The downside is if you do your own maintainence this real will be very intricate with a lot of small parts. Just a note if you fish in salt check the line roller bearing . Mine had corrosion starting after half a season. My last reel is my most expensive and wish I didn't buy it. A penn clash 2 in 3000 size. It's one of those reels that felt real smooth in the store but didn't come close to the daiwa and Shimano jigging all day. . i use this real for throwing out bait and putting the pole in a sand spike.

If You're a weirdo like me who likes to use 20 or 30 lb fluoro to braid line go with diawa. Shimano always makes a narrow choke point between the line roller and the bale. Makes it so you're connecting not gets caught. But if you know that with that real you're always going to you 15 and below line I would say Shimano is a little better. I just like having the option.

I actually agree with 99% of this video great review over all. I would personally go with the nasci over the daiwa. I bought my kids the nasci and was messing with it and got a 34" redfish with it and handled like a dream. Throwing arties all day too i dont notcie the difference between the nasic and the daiwa my biddy got his kid. Its not this model daiwa i believe it was the next step up. The cheaper daiwas and the lt model daiwas don't seem to have the build quality of Penn and Shimano. Just frkn my own experience and opinion

I would go Nasci. Core protect gives good water resistance. Exceler would be good but Daiwa spare parts in Australia are an issue. The Penn would be good if the extra weight did not both you.

Just got the Exceler on sale for $60. Super excited to put it through its paces

I paid $70 for my Fierce IV and it was on a Penn rod. I paid $90 for my Battle III and I would chose it over the other two. Thanks for info.

I think daiwa reels up to 100 dollars are unbeatable, especially for UL. I have Legalis 2000, 2500 and Fuego 2000. Very light reels and smooth, without resistance and inertia when winding. In the more expensive segment, Shimano is a little better, it depends on which price range. ​

One thing to note is that the exceler is not rated for saltwater fishing but the nasci is!! If the exceler was saltwater rated i would choose it any day over the nasci :)

the LT has an antireverse switch still which by default should take a few points off

What you said about the mid range reel being a better value than the top shelf models? Yeah. Kinda. Like if you buy a jdm shimano stradic it'll run you around 160 dollars. No warranty. Spend 15 dollars and you can buy a couple parts and replace the stock parts in the stradic and once reassembled you've upgraded it (for all intents and purposes) to a stella internally. It's like a stock zebco 33, buy a single pack of bearings, swap out the stock bushings for tge bearings and internally it's a zebco platinum. The only difference is the platinum has an all aluminum frame while the zebco 33 is graphite which makes it much lighter. We call it super tuning. I do it to every zebco 33 i give to a kid. I'm all about supertuning reels. It's fun and brings performance to a much higher level than was designed. I just wish they made reels easier to maintain just so that supertuning is easier. Also, that would pretty much render their warranties useless because it'd be so much easier to fix a reel yourself. I think lew's is excellent in that area.

Fuego is also a solid reel at that price point. Out of the shimano reels, the Sedona, sahara, nasci, miravel, and ultegra are all somewhat similar too with them being within $20 or so of each other. I wish they had a couple more reels in between the ultegra and the stradic/vanford tho..