Daiwa Lexa (400) - Your Thoughts Please ?

johndtuttle · October 08, 2015, 03:38:41 AM

The reel I recommend over the Lexa 400 is the Revo Toro S. Much more drag than a Nacl. I think you will like it too.

edmartz · October 30, 2015, 02:27:41 AM

I just got a Daiwa Lexa 400HD 7:1 and love it. I paired it with a Pheonix Abyss 808 (15-30lb). I use it for throwing jigs up to 6 ounces. I havent used it for tuna yet (soon I hope). This youtube video is why I got it

I used it for Rock Cod and it cast a mile. I fits perfect in my hand.

MarkT · October 30, 2015, 03:28:00 AM

I picked up a TranX this summer and took it on my 10 day on the Excel at the end of Sept. I had it on a Phenix psw809xhj with a 50# leader and was throwing poppers with it. No love for me this year on the poppers but I did get a 20# YFT on it with bait. There were several guys with them including repeats from last year. One guy had two and had the handle snap on one of them on a wahoo. He caught a lot of YFT and wahoo on them with both poppers and bombs. As I said earlier, I've caught YT and YFT on both my Lexa 300 & 400 plus now a Wahoo on the 400. Both the 400 and the TranX will be on board again next year! The TranX for bombs and poppers on the 400.

BTW, my son got YT of 37 and 25# on a Curado 300ej a couple years ago at Cedros when we were panga fishing. You don't need a 400 size to get it done but a little more capacity would've been a good thing!

johndtuttle · October 30, 2015, 04:15:19 PM

So much fun with these reels. Truly the future.

Quote from: edmartz on October 30, 2015, 02:27:41 AM
I just got a Daiwa Lexa 400HD 7:1 and love it. I paired it with a Pheonix Abyss 808 (15-30lb). I use it for throwing jigs up to 6 ounces. I havent used it for tuna yet (soon I hope). This youtube video is why I got it

I used it for Rock Cod and it cast a mile. I fits perfect in my hand.

What they do for the average guy is give him more versatility. Much easier to go back and forth between iron and bait than standard set ups.

Rancanfish · October 30, 2015, 05:42:17 PM

I bought a few because of Mr. Tuttle's review.

MarkT · October 31, 2015, 12:37:20 AM

You don't need a 400 for footballs that small, a 300 would handle them easily!

mirrorlure7m · October 31, 2015, 02:30:40 PM

Has anyone done a break down review of the 400 HD ? I would love to see the internals compare to the older 400 reel side by side.

croozer · February 09, 2017, 08:52:05 PM

I have both the 300 and 400 hs-p. I have had then both for 3 yrs, in which time they have been very well used.I use them primarily for salmon fishing in the south island of New Zealand. The 300 is my river reel, so thousands and thousands of casts per season, mainly 1oz spoons being cast up to 50 odd yrds. The 400 is my surf reel, also cast thousands of times per season. This one is used to cast "irons" between 2-3 oz between 100-200 yrds. The conditions here vary from still warm days to rain, wind and dust on others. I can say that both these reels have caught plenty of fish up to 21lbs, and have performed impeccabley. If I have had any problem at all, it is the level wind mechanism. It seems that it is extremely sensitive to any foriegn matter, ie , weed, sand or dust getting into the worm drive. One speck and it will stop functioning properly. I have found that by flushing with oil, it can usually be made to function onsite, until a proper pulldown and clean can be performed. Neither reel exihibits any corrosion at all. My maintainance regiem consists of regular oiling of the spool bearings,level wind, some in the gears and a little in the spool tensioner. I very rarely wash them, as I believe that it usually just buries any sand etc deeper, instead I wipe them down with a cloth. At the end of the season, a full pulldown and clean and grease and oil is performed. So there you have it, 3 yrs on, well used but maintained and still going as good as the day I bought them. Awesome reels.

the rockfish ninja · February 17, 2017, 10:18:24 PM

I have the Lexa 300 8x1 & I love the thing as much as my avets. Casts well, drag is strong & smooth, and the knob is perfecto.

handi2 · February 17, 2017, 11:53:16 PM

When this thread started i had just purchased 2 of the Lexa 400 HP models.

I ended up using just one.

I use it for Cobia and Snapper fishing in the gulf. It has never been a problem. Plenty of drag for those fish.

But, I am beginning not to like the non syncing levelwind. Its great for casting but for straight down fishing with a 3oz weight the line struggles and strains the levelwind. Its something I had to get used to by centering the pawl.

Other than that it gets the job done and I can palm the reel.

Keith

MarkT · February 18, 2017, 12:14:11 AM

On the Alan Tani '16 trip on the Spirit of Aventure, I caught 7 YT in one day throwing surface iron with my Lexa 400 on a 9' Phenix psw909xhj. I also got another Wahoo with the Lexa on my 10 day last Oct. with a Raider on a Phenix psw809xhj. The Lexa is still going strong!

handi2 · February 18, 2017, 01:19:20 AM

Quote from: MarkT on February 18, 2017, 12:14:11 AM
On the Alan Tani '16 trip on the Spirit of Aventure, I caught 7 YT in one day throwing surface iron with my Lexa 400 on a 9' Phenix psw909xhj. I also got another Wahoo with the Lexa on my 10 day last Oct. with a Raider on a Phenix psw809xhj. The Lexa is still going strong!

You have to love using low profile reels to catch big fish. My son thinks im crazy.

Gfish · February 18, 2017, 10:47:40 AM

Just tore my 400 Pwr(lower gearing) completely down. Anyone else notice that the cast control cap bushing's loose ona i.d. part? Didn't like that, 'cause I thought the bushing was there to support-align the spool shaft. Don't know though, after 2.5 yrs., still casts great, even down to 1/2oz. lures. Mabey the bushing is designed to do it's thing without excess friction?...Still think this reel's been worth every penny I paid for it.
Gfish

johndtuttle · February 18, 2017, 04:33:41 PM

Quote from: Gfish on February 18, 2017, 10:47:40 AM
Just tore my 400 Pwr(lower gearing) completely down. Anyone else notice that the cast control cap bushing's loose ona i.d. part? Didn't like that, 'cause I thought the bushing was there to support-align the spool shaft. Don't know though, after 2.5 yrs., still casts great, even down to 1/2oz. lures. Mabey the bushing is designed to do it's thing without excess friction?...Still think this reel's been worth every penny I paid for it.
Gfish

Yea, the spool bearings do all the work in this design.

Cor · February 18, 2017, 06:05:44 PM

Quote from: mahfudzmn on October 08, 2015, 02:38:11 AM
Quote from: johndtuttle on October 08, 2015, 01:00:05 AM

I didn't measure the drag on the one Lexa 400 I worked on because I didn't see the point. None of these reels have the frames to put out smooth drag much over 6 maybe 7kg. They might make more than that in a dead lift, but smooth performance is another thing entirely.

These are uber light reels so there is no free lunch. If you want those drag numbers smoothly for a real run by a real fish you need another class of reel like a Penn Torque LD or Okuma Makaira.

Really for 7-8kg you need heavier reels.

Thanks again for your thoughts John! As a person who sees a few reels every week I kinda know what the limits on baitcasters are. Its just that I really like em that I'm looking for a reel I can cast poppers and stickbaits with a few more pounds of drag than the NaCl that I have currently.

I had a look at the Tranx few weeks back, man that thing is HUGE and heavy too. Perhaps that's that and the limit for BC reels for heavy casting, I'm probably too reluctant to let go of that very dim glimmer of hope haha!

LOL....my perception is precisely the opposite "Wow those tranx reels are small and light"

I suppose it's just where you come from. I used 40 and 50 size Trinidads, SL50SH's, Speedmasters, Saltists, Saltigas etc. for many years and 3 years ago switched to using only My Tranx HG's and have not looked back. I must also say that I've had better service from them then I had expected.