Daiwa Emblem Pro

[mrfish]

Well I originally got this reel for the carp fishing side of things. it was used for spodding bait out a looong way.

When my mate and I decided to have a go at the beach casting I decided to use this reel as it is a workhorse and not one of my nicer more valuble reels.

It costs about £100 and comes with a spare spool. It has now done a year of beach fishing without any issues at all. It's not been washed every time (I forget) I've used it and no corrosion has started to appear, although it does have a fair few scratches and dinks from the rod falling off the pod a few times.

It's two massive benefits to me are the huge (wide) spools for casting and a retrieve of 5.1:1 which is one of highest you can get, I think it equates to around a 120 cm (4 foot for old people ;D) per turn of the handle. This is fantastic for fishing over rough ground as you can get the lead high up in the water very quickly.

I did check with Daiwa and they are suitible for sea usage.

Steve

[mrfish]

Just an update to this.

Apart from a 4 month brake on fresh water, these have now given 3 years of reliable service. I have had to change the line roller bearings this year as they were getting a bit noisey. But at a cost of £7 it's not bad at all.

[eccles]

I use Diawa fixed spools too, not that particular model actually, a cheaper one but have also found them tough and reliable and would recommend to anyone. I used to use Okuma's and they are not bad but the Diawas have them beat in my experience.