Daiwa 400h

[fishmeluck]

My favorite is an old Daiwa 400h that I got from Ebay at least eight years ago, long before learning that it was essentially a Penn 4/0, except better constructed including the stock aluminum frame that comparable Penn reels lack.

Back then, I had rebuilt a few Penn 500 and 501 reels, just wanting fresh drags in them and not knowing about Alan's reel rebuilding tutorials. The Daiwa caught my eye because the seller said he was replacing the reels on his Great Lakes charter fishing boat. I thought "Great Lakes" = "fresh water", and maybe this reel would be fine with a little lube, some fresh drags, and no corrosion. So, I lubed the bearings, replaced the drags with Smoothies, filled the spool with 65# green Power Pro braid, and used it for rock cod and sand dab fishing for several years. Then last summer, I put a 40 lb fluoro leader on it, took it on an overnight out of San Diego, and caught several tuna on it. It was out again on my first trip this summer too, but I can't remember if I caught anything on it.

A few days ago, I got a pretty good deal on some Penn reels: a stock 113h, a 113h Yellowtail Special with Tiburon frame, and two Penn 114h reels, one with a Tiburon frame and one with an Accurate frame. They all look very nice but they only free-spool for about 3-4 seconds, so they need some work obviously. But, it made me wonder about my trusty Daiwa 400h which has only been serviced the one time. So, I just checked and was surprised to get 22 seconds of free-spool !

[johndtuttle]

Ain't nothing wrong with that! 

[basto]

Great reels. I have a 50h Sealine. Penn did issue a 6/0 with an aluminium frame. I have one, but to my knowledge, they did not put an aluminium frame on a stock 113h.
good fishing
Basto