Daiwa has done it! (and some stuff on Harnell rods)

[Bob Senior]

I recently bought the lighter 12' 6" Breakaway conventional for fall surf casting, from an outfit in N. Carolina (Mike said he was backordered so far that he wouldn't quote me a price). I asked the guy there what they recommended for reels in order to maximize casting distance. Now he carries every brand of reel that's on the market, but he recommended the Daiwa Sealine-X series in the 20 or 30 SHV sizes. They're quite a bit cheaper than just about everything else. In other words, by recommending it to me, he lost about $150 in revenues if I bought it instead of a Morrum, other Abu, Calcutta, Penn International.

He explained that his son competes nationally in distance and accuracy casting competitions and he and other competitors have found this Daiwa reel to be the longest casting reel available.

Will it hold up, and can I control it? ...we'll see. But I got one and it's beautiful. But it has no levelwind. Following recommendations from some west coast guys I loaded it with Magibraid Spectra that they claimed was head and shoulders above fireline and other braids common around here.

One last thing. The Daiwas, on the Sealines, Sealine-Xs, and Millionaire series (this is the one with all the bells and whistles) with levelwind, have a system which disconnects the spool from all the mechanisms that drive the spool, when it's cast. I like that feature because it should reduce the drag otherwise caused by mechanicals and generate somewhat longer casts.

I'm now seriously considering replacing my traditional and very troublesome "other brand" conventional with a Daiwa Millionaire high capacity Z300. Anyone used one?