Islander vs. Trophy vs. Rapala vs. Amundson

[D24M]

I have a Trophy, Islander MR3, Amundsun TMX4 and TMX5. The Trophy is my least favourite with more finicky creep, the TMX4 is a favourite but not as nice as the Islander, the Islander has some creep but is a good solid reel (I have it on a 10' rod and the others are on 12' rods so not a direct 'feel' comparison) and the TMX5 is my goto rod. I am very pleased with the MR3, TMX4 and TMX5 and note that the Trophy can be good but you stay on top of the maintenance every use.

 

[fishin_magician]

With all due respect (respectfully submitted with no malice) though F.M and Wolf, I hardly think the O.P has any desire to consider your 1,000 hours on the water. You're comparing apples to oranges here.

You guys as guides need a 'commercially' viable product, I get that. Most of the rest of us who are weekend warriors don't even come close to that order of magnitude. But just as my 14' putt-putt boat has no business being compared to your 'commercial vessels', neither do your thousands of hours of use have a place to our personal use. You have a budget to support using the gold standard in everything.

I'm 100% content with three mooching reels that cost me a total of less than $400. I'm sure a couple hundred dollars in lifetime repair budget will have these reels last me 10+ years. If I win the lottery, I'm sure this would change.

Quality and value for dollar for me is priceless.

Fair and excellent comment.

Whatever anyone chooses...just be aware that when you head to your summer or fishing haunt in a remote location, reliability and serviceability is has a lot of value.

When the drag or internal parts check out of the hotel though...just make sure that you can go on in the absence of parts.

 

[dmurph]

At the price islanders cost I would expect them to hold up to commercial use. I have 2 trophys both have real sensitive drags and broken clickers. They feel nice when playing fish though. I have one mr2 which is nice but seems to have an issue, drag doesn't feel smooth when cranking down and it creeps. Just picked up 4 amundson tmx5 from pacific net and twine. Can't wait to try them out. Had one of the amundson ones where all the powder coating fell off. That reel felt great to play fish on though.

 

[Prairie Locked]

Fair and excellent comment.

Whatever anyone chooses...just be aware that when you head to your summer or fishing haunt in a remote location, reliability and serviceability is has a lot of value.

When the drag or internal parts check out of the hotel though...just make sure that you can go on in the absence of parts.

Thanks F.M. And to be clear with no misunderstanding or misinterpretation, I'm not trying to be argumentative or confrontational rather I'm trying to counter some of your guys' positions.

That being said, what if said person doesn't fish remotely, off the beaten path? Any mechanical item can fail from the highest rated Islander reels, motors, radar, etc. the list can be endless. The reality is that anything can happen, including having every Islander (or, insert Amundson, Rapala, Okuma, etc reel here) on your boat fail and be rendered useless. I don't think it's fair to argue that a specific brand or type of reel will be bulletproof. Highly reliable, sure.

For me, (and I'm sure many others) having a reel go down won't end my day. For you, Wolf and others in those positions, you depend on the reliability for your paying customers. For me, I will only ever run two rods and I always have a spare rod and reel on my boat. I have a fourth a 5 minute trip away if need be.

I think my point is more simply like this. I'd argue that you have valid points to consider but they aren't absolute. You said you "base my feedback on facts and not anecdotal." I think that is partially true but have you attempted to use any other brand for hundreds of hours on the water or did you give up after a negative experience (most were anecdotal)? In other words, there is no hard comparison. Again, don't get me wrong, I don't necessarily completely disagree with you, I just think your throwing in a lot of emotion and personal bias on a very narrow view on what the O.P is asking for.

At the end of the day, I run a 14' aluminum boat (not a 21' Weldcraft) with a 20 HP 2 stroke Yammy (no kicker), an Elite 5 sounder (Not an HDS 10), I run Scotty 1106's (not 2106 HP's), a couple of Amundson Mooching Lieutenant rod and reel combos (not Islanders and G-Loomis). And you know what, none of that catches fish. I'm all in for under $10K and I catch a hell of a lot of fish. I know for a fact that I often catch a lot more fish than guys I cross paths with that are into their set-ups 3, 4, or 5 times + my investment and it pisses them off (especially a flat lander to boot). This isn't ego talking, maybe it's luck, maybe it's because I dare to do things differently, who knows! Maybe next summer will be different, luck of the draw.

Yes, kind of a rant I know, I just think your being slightly off base with your comparisons (respectfully of course). Now, let's go for a beer, I'm buying! Lol

 

[Reeltime]

And i still love my Trophy's and they had a lot of fun last summer ...

 

[ryanb]

If you are going to get any sort of aluminum reel (trophy, islander, amundson etc), get a silver one! Scratches and dings won't be so visible.

I have 2 tmx-5s and have been pretty happy with them. One of the drags is more sensitive than the other, since new, which is a bit annoying, but still better than an islander!

 

[fish brain]

I'm going to throw another option out there for you. How about a SS Peetz? https://www.peetzoutdoors.com/produ...nless-steel-fishing-reel-1?variant=3539494724

I have a 5" SS Peetz inherited from my uncle that he got as a retirement gift back in the 80's and I've recently found that you can take these to Peetz and they will convert/upgrade to the one-way drag mechanisms. The cost for that is about $100 (for any Peetz reel). Has anyone had the opportunity to use either the new reel and/or a converted old reel? And how do they compare to the models mentioned above. Weight is, of course, the obvious difference but how did you like the new drag system on those? For $300 it appears to be a very reasonably priced SS reel.

I have an old Peetz that I had converted to the new design last spring. I didn't get out as much as would have liked last year, but the times I used it I liked the mechanism. The drag set is quite short which took a little getting used to 1/4 turn on mine. Once it was set, not one centimeter of line creep, just set it and forget it. It doesn't have a free spool mode which I like on my other reels, that said you can set the drag in about the same time as it would take to verify the drag after using a free spool reel. As mentioned its a tad heavy, but it is fun to use and sounds cool with the clicker on.

 

[TheBigGuy]

I have an old Peetz that I had converted to the new design last spring. I didn't get out as much as would have liked last year, but the times I used it I liked the mechanism. The drag set is quite short which took a little getting used to 1/4 turn on mine. Once it was set, not one centimeter of line creep, just set it and forget it. It doesn't have a free spool mode which I like on my other reels, that said you can set the drag in about the same time as it would take to verify the drag after using a free spool reel. As mentioned its a tad heavy, but it is fun to use and sounds cool with the clicker on.

Definitely the coolest clicker sound going. Way fun to hear the real screaming with a big one on. Unfortunately, with all the trained seals that's just like ringing the dinner bell for them these days. If you fish in an area with relatively little seals I guess it would not be too risky. Nothing looks nicer and more classic than a wooden drum reel IMO but there a little too bulky for my liking. Fish with what you like.

 

[CCB]

Lots of people have it backwards they will go out and spend thousands of dollars on screens, boats, rods , reels all high end gear then when it comes down to it never change there main line and use the cheapest hooks , line , swivels and so on when in actual fact the quality of your line and the last 8ft of it being the most important to catch fish . Islanders and abels loomis and sage guys doesn't mean your going to catch fish it's the guy who pays the the most attention the terminal tackle . Sure there's other factors at play but the rod brand and real don't mean shat in catching fish. Ever wonder why the guy with gramps 40 year old set up is smashing it and your not? It's because he pays more attention to what really matters. I have a buddy in vic he catches more halibut for people then actual boat owners this guy doesn't even own a boat but because he's OCD on the last 8 ft of his line and everybody's on the boat they get into fish regularly while others can't. From a lodge guide stand point it's nice to have nice gear for your customers to use as they in most places paying $1000s to fish . I myself like nicer gear but I will also fish on anybody's boat with any rod and reel I don't care but till always have a small box of fresh non rusted sharp terminal tackle .

 

[Derby]

agree with u with mostly all the above.... but u forgot to say the young fellow that kicks butt in most cases bring all the gear (rods & reels) with him as he doesn't trust the gear on the other boats.. I for one bring my own gear in some cases depending on who boat I jump on...I rarely let anyone gear on my boat.. perhaps a touch OCD my self

 

[DuroBoat]

I have to throw in another vote for shimano 4000's. I've fished my pair for 4 years, all seasons, rain or shine and never had a issue. I've done zero maintenance except new line every year and a rinse after use. Not as sexy as the aluminum reels but they work great and I'm never worried about scratches, creep or theft. I could afford something more shiny but I'd be spending hundreds of $$ and the fish don't care either way.

 

[Peahead]

Lots of people have it backwards they will go out and spend thousands of dollars on screens, boats, rods , reels all high end gear then when it comes down to it never change there main line and use the cheapest hooks , line , swivels and so on when in actual fact the quality of your line and the last 8ft of it being the most important to catch fish . Islanders and abels loomis and sage guys doesn't mean your going to catch fish it's the guy who pays the the most attention the terminal tackle . Sure there's other factors at play but the rod brand and real don't mean shat in catching fish. Ever wonder why the guy with gramps 40 year old set up is smashing it and your not? It's because he pays more attention to what really matters. I have a buddy in vic he catches more halibut for people then actual boat owners this guy doesn't even own a boat but because he's OCD on the last 8 ft of his line and everybody's on the boat they get into fish regularly while others can't. From a lodge guide stand point it's nice to have nice gear for your customers to use as they in most places paying $1000s to fish . I myself like nicer gear but I will also fish on anybody's boat with any rod and reel I don't care but till always have a small box of fresh non rusted sharp terminal tackle .

Are there truly any fishers out there that actually think that buying a certain brand reel/rod will find them more fish ? ... good point though if there was anyone even starting to think that here . Terminal gear /main line /laeder is a great other topic and thread. I think there has been several others ..... Back to the comparison of reels thread. Thanks for starting this thread ....and for all the posts - interesting and informative opinions.

 

[dmurph]

I find fighting fish on the higher end reels is alot smoother. I have mostly run older diawa and shimano until recently. On my shimano the drag system always seemed to surge when the fish pulled sometimes creating slack line. This was the same when I fished others shimanos. On higher end reels I find the feel much smoother, especially when playing smaller fish.

 

[wishiniwasfishin1]

I have a Peetz stainless reel that I bought and was going to use for Winter fishing. I have a MR2 for summer - but wanted something for winter with a faster pick up.
I haven't spooled or had a chance to try it yet, but it has the one way drag and seems good quality. Thats another locally made option. Anyone have anything to say about this reel? Retails on Peetz site for $300.

https://www.peetzoutdoors.com/produ...nless-steel-fishing-reel-1?variant=3539494724

 

[Bret]

For what its worth I had Trophy reels for one season, nothing but grief. They did replace them and I sold the new ones. I now run Islander MR-3's work great I do regular maintenance throughout the season then servicing at seasons end. Mine are on a charter boat so they get quite a work out. I only had to replace one that's cause a Chinook stole it.

 

[Dogbreath]

I find fighting fish on the higher end reels is alot smoother. I have mostly run older diawa and shimano until recently. On my shimano the drag system always seemed to surge when the fish pulled sometimes creating slack line. This was the same when I fished others shimanos. On higher end reels I find the feel much smoother, especially when playing smaller fish.

New carbontex drag washers and a touch of Cal's drag grease is the solution to that-Dawn sells them both

http://www.smoothdrag.com/

 

[DuroBoat]

I'm very curious about the stainless Peetz reels too.. Peetz usually puts out a quality product and they manufacture them down the road from me (Victoria). Anyone out there used one?

Great discussion btw

 

[TheBigGuy]

New carbontex drag washers and a touch of Cal's drag grease is the solution to that-Dawn sells them both

http://www.smoothdrag.com/

I don't see the Daiwa and Shimano mooching reels on their website. Did you email them to get the correct part numbers. Wonder if Mikes Reel Repairs in Abby caries that product line in stock.

 

[Dogbreath]

If you call it'll probably be the owner Dawn who answers she knows them all inside out.

The less said about that other place the better.

 

[TheBigGuy]

If you call it'll probably be the owner Dawn who answers she knows them all inside out.

The less said about that other place the better.

Thanks DB