I was in the market for a new Saltwater capacity conventional reel; the first one to really catch my eye was the Saltiga 15, but it was priced pretty high. Then I stumbled onto the Pro Gear V20 - what’s not to love? A one piece frame, indexed star drag, enough capacity and a very nice finish. The only thing that concerned me was the lack of cast controls either magnetic or physical; but that can be easily fixed. I put line on it and was going to take it out to see how it casted, but before I could put on a snap on the end of the line a loop went into the gap on both sides - fixed that and it happened immediately. A closer look revealed a gap between the spool and frame of a good 1/8th inch gap. I was planning on using the reel for throwing plugs and bait, and plugs and bucktails at night this reel is just not going to do either of those types of fishing well.

Could anyone suggest a conventional reel around $200 that will do the things I mentioned well? I’m going to look for a used Penn 970 but if I can find a new reel first I will consider it. Thanks!

might look at the Okuma Cortez or Penn fathom. Good for the price.....

New Daiwa Sealines, cheap, reliable, very good casters. The Saltists, Seagates, no doubt better. But for near $100, the Sealine-X 20 is very hard to beat. Okuma Cortez, also a good performing reel. That darn Daiwa has been a winner for years, and overlooked by a lot of us. I well remember one of our charters when a fellow landed what thurned out toe be the jackpot on a Sealine (110 yellowfin). Solid reels, very capable.