Wife wants to learn how to bass fish . Looking for suggestions on bait casting reels. Are there any reels out there that are easier to cast and unlikely to bird nest. I use older Garcia's and she is having a rough time with them.

Most of the newer ones are easier to learn on. Get one with the adjustments and tighten it down. You can’t cast as far, but you barely even need to put your thumb on the line.

Revos are a little pricey but good reels

Shimano slx DC or curado DC. Pricey but they work as advertised. I really like mine.

ABU garcia black max or a silver max.

My 6 yr old uses my daiwa tatula pretty good

Go to academy and get a Mettle. Easy to adjust down. Get two. Put braid on one for practice using a 1/4 oz weight and let her fish with the other. I learned on a 4500c with braid on it back in my learning days. Easy to learn how to get a backlash out.

Shimano curado dc is made not to backlash but I would bet you can teach her to throw a regular curado in less than an hour. Once she figures it out she will not like the dc as much as a normal curado.

I ran across a deal on a black max combo this spring and used it enough to know that I liked it, it was extremely easy to use. It would be a good one for someone to learn with and it wasnt expensive. Only took a few casts to get it adjusted and I can cast it a long way. I'm an experienced bait caster but I believe it would be an easy reel for a beginner to learn on

Im not a big baitcaster fan, ive got three but only use them for certain applications. My mother got me a black max for my birthday and it is the easiest of the three I have to use. Very seldomm backlashes.

I always liked the old Lew's reels, so tried one of their new ones. A Lew's LFS is $99 and seems like a great reel for that price. Set it properly, and it's hard to make it backlash.

Wife throws Shimano Citica’s. That’s what she learned on. As long as it has the cast control on the side, you can adjust to virtually eliminate backlash but distance will suffer. Once she gets used to using a little thumb she’ll get distance when you let up a little on the cast control.
For the money the Daiwa tatula 100 has been getting good reviews.

My boy has a couple of speed spools, he really likes them and dont backlash much.

Out of all the reels mentioned above which one is the smallest ? She has small hands .

Abu Garcia Revo X is probably the best bang for the buck for a beginner ive got 5 of them and nothing but good things to say about them. It is also extremely compact. and if she doesnt take to it its a good reel to throw in with yours and use. all mine are on Vendetta rods and I absolutely love them. for less than $200 for whole setup you cant go wrong. click the magnet up an extra few times more than you would use it at to keep her from birdnesting will cost her on distance but save alot of headache.

Revo will be the smallest unless you want to go with new bantam but you about 5 rovos for the price of one bantam. Sheltons clothing in moulton will have the best price on any of them.

I don't believe they've ever made one that I couldn't backlash

No other reel I would look at right now than a diawa. They got a couple of different reels that are nearly backlash proof. Once you get em set up you can cast em a mile.

I think most of the manufacturers make a small reel now. Reel technology has certainly come a long way. I don't know if you are familiar with the old ones, but here is an original Lew's BB1 beside one of the new LFS models. Doesn't look like a lot of difference in the size and weight, but the new model is a much superior reel and miles easier for a beginner to use. I suspect every reel mentioned in this thread is a fine reel that anyone could learn to use.

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Stoped by my son’s today. He was showing me a Lews Speed Spool Lazer MG he bought for his wife . I couldn’t believe how small it was . Anyone have any experience with this reel . So far his wife likes it but hasn’t used it much .