JDM Spinning Reels

JDM spinning reels are the best in the world. I suppose I should label that as opinion rather than fact, but I'm not sure there'd really be much argument. The Japanese did not invent the spinning reel but they have dominated the market for a decades. How that came to be is a long story (much of it not directly related to spinning reels) but for now I'm just going to state that they're the best and let it go at that.

A completely separate issue is why reels sold in the Japanese domestic market are better than the reels sold in the US market. The short answer is that the two markets are different. Japanese anglers, on average, demand higher quality and are willing to pay higher (or much higher) prices than American anglers. I am not making any value judgements in that statement. There is no implication that one approach is "better" than the other. They're just different. I am firmly of the belief that people should buy what they want. 

I am also firmly of the belief that companies actually do provide what their customers want. The reason over half of the spinning reel models offered by Bass Pro Shops sell for less than $50 is because that's what most people who walk into a BPS actually buy. Bass Pro Shops is perfectly willing to sell an $800 Shimano Stella instead of an $80 Bass Pro Shops Carbonlite (or an $18 Bass Pro Shops Stampede), and if they sold a lot more of the Stellas they'd stock more high end Japanese reels. It really is about that simple.

So, if you want top quality spinning reels - especially if you want top quality finesse spinning reels that are matched to the JDM spinning rods, you pretty much have to go with the JDM reels.

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