I was wondering if any of you have used the Shakespear Tidewater casting reels? If so, how do they hold up and how well does the drag work? I am looking for a reel for BIG CATFISH in heavy current. I don,t want to have to take out a loan to buy one though. Any Ideas? I don,t really need a line counter reel.

How about a Penn Level Wind, model 9m starting at 50$ Look in your Cabellas under saltwater fishing. Actually any Penn is worth buying.

Thanks. I was at Cabelas in Mitchel SD a couple days ago and took a look at the Penn reels. I liked the 209 pretty well. The price is sure right. Going after Big Catfish in heavy current.

My catfish rig consists of the following: Abu Garcia Ambassadueur reel and Shakespeare salt water series 6.5' medium-heavy action rod spooling 20 lb. Xtra Tough Trilene. It' s a great combo and I' ve caught many a big cat on it.

Tide water is a pretty good reel. I believe we sell them around 42 dollars at the shop. Looks like Shakespeares version of the Black-Gold Penn. It is a pretty good reel, but I like a Daiwa.