Reel opionions
 

seeing as how there is no freshwater section, and a lot of people here fish both i was trying to make a decision between 2 reels

I used the Sahara's last year, and they where reliable and consistent but the drag was a bit jumpy.
Shimano Sahara SH4000FD


I have heard great things about the Aird and i am hoping to sample one this weekend in Worcester.
Daiwa AIRD AIRD4000SH


thanks in advance for your feedback

Skip

FYI its going on a St Croix Tidemaster TIS76MF, i am going to use it for a jigging stick in fresh water.

I fish Sahara as well, but have my jig rod as a conv. I guess my thought would be my stick for jigs is heavy and rarely if ever is the drag needed to be smooth as I keep it fairly tight set the hook and then haul them out of cover. BTW maybe its just needs some cleaning as mine worked smoothly on steelies this fall.

I will say also that my FW time really has been cut down lately so I cant say I have tried fishing heavy with my spinning stuff. Hope to get more into the LMB scene as my kids get a little older before I get them into saltwater stuff.

I like the Sahara decent amount of reel for the $,but i heard some good stuff about the aird.

Im not a conventional kinda guy.

But it amazes me the amount of pros going with 65# braid. Never had luck jigging with braid, i love suffix camo.


Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

I've beem using the Shimano Symetre the past couple of years and have beem happy with it.....reasonably priced too...

That's the one I use as well. No complaints at all.
As for the drag issues Skip, remove the drag stack, clean and apply a thin film of Cal's drag grease.

Hmmmm cal's drag greese, im gunna look for some of that right now, this newb didnt know about it. Thanks BB.

And i have been leaning towards the shimano, just got derailed with some good stugg about that Aird, not that it matters in fresh, but that line capapcity is insane mono 12/260, may turn into a nice schoolie reel, 13.6# drag i think
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Just get the 1oz size. It goes a very long way. I believe Shimano also sells a drag grease.