Can anyone recommend a good closed faced fishing reel? I have had zebco red rhino reels for my kids for about 3 yrs. now and have had nothing but problems with these reels. I've put new line and cleaned them every year, then they work pretty well for about halfway through the summer when they start hanging up while casting. My grandfather has been fishing with the Zebco 33 for yrs and has had little problems with them. I have dealt with alot of these type reels and have never had more problems than with these red rhino's.

problem with closed face reels is that kids tend to get excited when they have a fish and reel alittle to fast and the line tends to hang up inside or even get wrapped up on the inside of reel.. have had the best luck with zebco 33's with my kids...still have problems but you will get that with all closed face reels

When I have a casting problem I unscrew the cover and find that the line is fine,looks good on the spool and comes off the spool just fine, there is nothing that would indicate a casting problem, but as soon as I put the cover back on it, it will cast a few times and then start in again. My personal opinion is there is a design flaw with these reels, or my reels, that is causing these problems. I will be getting some new reels and was just looking for some advice on what to buy. Thanks for your post.

I grew up using those Zebco 33's and always wanted the better ones. Then somehow I went down the open face spinning reels and now the baitcasting reels. Still I fancy that red rhino reel and wonder if I should get one with my name on it. I remember only very rarely did I ever had problems with it, but I remember my uncle having constant problems.

I've used all kinds of reels over the years... and now I've found my way back to the spincasters. I've got a Zeb 33 platinum on my medium rig, and a 733 platinum on my MH rig.

my only advise would be to get the all metal variations. more durable, for only a few more dollars.

Garcia Abu-Matic 170 - very good quality reels. You can find them on Ebay.