Nice to see Oddball getting into the fishing side of things . As said before depends on the application like so many of you on here I have rods and reels coming out of my ears, my fish room was my garage now its 40% tackle store and 60 % fish room. The best reels I have ever owned for carp / pike/ catfish fishing are my daiwa infinity this is the longest serving reel I have owned 3 years in total front drag smooth as silk bait runner huge capacity for line I love these reels with a passion and will trance any Shimano of its type.
for most situations, baitcasting. The biggest fish I ever caught though was landed on a thick branch from a willow tree with a piece of 10 lb mono tied to it (medium-ish channel lake trout).
I use a push button spinner for most application's for easy use less frustration when all the line is contained this is important because every fishing trip i do the first thing we catch is a buuuzzzzzzzz .I do break out the big baitcasters when i find those striped bass i love catching those big fish i have a rhino baitcast and a rhino spinner i think that is my favorite brand.