[schoolie monster]

I have a couple shimano stradic 4000's... I have also used the 5000 on some strong southern fish.

I love the reel, very smooth, nice drag, but its around $115... however, cabelas and bass pro shops generally sell them with decent saltwater graphite rods as combo's for decent savings. My newest outfit is a stradic and BPS inshore extreme 7'6". It is a nice outfit for $160. I target mostly schoolies to small keepers and I got a med action for its sensitivity... that would probably be a bit light for you, but I would imagine the heavier models are nice as well.

I've only had the reels a year, so I can't speak for how long they hold up. But both the florida guides I've been out with and most of the guides my uncle has been out with all use the stradic, so that should mean they do pretty well... or shimano gives out alot of freebies.

Reels that I know last are the Penn's... the current SS series. I have a penn 5500, 7500 and 8500. I've had the 8500 for 7 years, the 7500 was a hand me down from my uncle (probably 15 years old) and my wife found the 5500 on the beach half buried in sand... hell yeah I kept it. All three continue to work great.

ps... I also may not be the best at maintenance. I always wash my stuff down with fresh water as soon as I'm in the driveway, but I don't often break 'em down and re-grease, oil, etc. The penn's are pretty hardy reels.