[fishing bum wannabe]

I have a 4000 Megalite. Fantastic drag, better than any other spinning reel I own. To echo Salty, the rest is a POS. I bought 2, returned 1 and tried to return the other without success. I save it for those occasions when I will be targeting Bonito/False Albacore (because of the super smooth drag). The issue I ran into was the bail is fastened to the body with a plastic pin! The pin is held in place with a C clip. Sooner or later the C clip is going to eat up the pin and it will fail. I have seen this on 3 reels so far. The Ahab has the same fantastic drag, but is heavy and not braid friendly.

I have a 5500ss and a 710, both of which I like. Then I got a Daiwa Capricorn 4000. The Capricorn with the Hardbodyz (all metal frame) is a great reel for the money. I paid $84.00 including shipping on ebay. Lately there has been a lot of competition for them on ebay and they are bringing higher prices. The Daiwa is easily a match for the Stradic in quality, and with the metal frame, was my first choice. I bought late last summer, and only fished it through the fall so I don't know how well it will stand the test of time. My Penn 710 greenie is 30 years old and still going strong. I did not try braid on the Daiwa yet but have heard that is as good as any and better than most, with braid. Funny thing is that the reason I bought it was to try braid. Neither of my Penns are braid friendly.