Why am I mentioning that here, in a review for a Shakespeare combo? Well, because my dad spent more time trying to keep those Zebco reels in working order than I can remember. Time and time again he was dealing with tangled line on the spool, problems with the drag, or gears that would just fail. Casting distances weren’t great, and the frequent tangles in the spool added to that problem. You’re probably thinking, “anyone fishing with young kids will have those problems–it’s not the gear, it’s the kid who was mucked it up.” Well, I thought that too, until I purchased our first Shakespeare combos.

Why did I opt for the Shakespeare? Well, I remember all those troubles my dad had, and I must admit that the Shakespeare combo was about a third cheaper than the Zebco combos I saw at that time. So, I thought we would give them a try. I purchased one each for my eldest son and daughter. I already had some rigs, so I stuck with those and shared one with my wife. I expected to spend much of the day dealing with the issues I experienced as a child. To my delight, I didn’t have to deal with a single tangle or hardware issue. All I had to do was to keep baiting hooks and unhooking fish. That was enough to keep me from getting my line wet most of the day, but I was happy to have that problem.

Let me fast forward to today. I’m writing this about an hour before my family and I head out for a long weekend of hiking and fishing. We have ten kids now, nine of whom are old enough to fish. I have Shakespeare combos for each of them. As I put fresh line on a few of the rigs this evening, I realized I still have those two rigs I purchased more than 13 years ago, and they are still in great mechanical shape. In fact, the only problems we’ve ever had with our combos started only after my boys were old enough to bike off and fish on their own after school, and those were all related to learning how to bike while holding a fishing pole (if my #3 son snaps off the tip of one more rod!…).

I kid you not–these are simply the best starter combos for anyone who wants to fish, and they are at a great price, to boot! I’ve been extremely impressed with the quality, durability, and the fact that the reels haven’t caused me any trouble over the years. I couldn’t ask for a nicer starter combo, and I strongly recommend giving one a try.
Rating: 5 / 5