Which Avet

[chippy]

I am looking at buying my first Avet reel and have trouble choosing which model.First of I live in Australia and will be useing the reel for casting metal lures from 2 to 3 oz at Tuna &Mackeral in the 20 to 40 lb range. I will also do some trolling with Rapalas &the like for tuna &anything else in that size bracket.  I will be fishing with 30lb Braid  as I like the feel of it & the increased spool capacity.
I will be fishing 10lb of drag so I was looking at the MXL5.8MC ,JX6.1or LX6.1.
The MX has the line capacity though I am worried about the size of the Drag.
Does the Mag control decrease your casting distance?
I have read all your threads on re-oiling & greasing the reel before useing it .
Chippy

[akfish]

If you want 10# of drag, you need the JX or LX instead of the MX; the one you pick depends solely on your line capacity needs because the two reels are identical except for the size of the spool. The MX maxes out at 9# of drag and anything more will fry the pinion bearing and cause handle bind. Avets are good reels but pushing the drag over the stated maximum will cause serious problems. As for the Magic Cast: I love it. Some people say it reduces casting distance but I don't notice it or I'm too bad a caster to tell. If you do get an Avet, I recommend you grease the drag washer and repack the pinion bearing before taking it out.

[chippy]

Thanks for your input akfish . As I said this is my first Avet reel and I was going on the specs for MX reels . I could have misunderstood the specs that stated max drag at strike is 9lb and at full is 15lb. If I was to fish just over strike is that still going to damage the bearings? Or could I , useing the preset ajustment , set the full drag at 10lb. I value your opinion ,so, please do,nt take it that I am questioning your recomendation.
Thanks Chippy

[akfish]

You **might** be able to get away with setting the drag as you describe, but I would recommend the JX so that you are not pushing the drag so very close to its limit. The JX is only a little larger than the MX. Unfortunately, it does cost a few more bucks. I use an MX for salmon and fish it with light drag. I love it. But I wouldn't want to push it very hard. Now, if you could spring for a MX Raptor you'd have much more drag than you need.

[alantani]

ok, if you HAVE to go with avet........

30# braid might be a bit light, but an avet sx is the logical reel.  if you go with 50# braid, you have the option of either a 30 or 40 # topshot.  now you're looking at a reel that needs to be able to deliver 12-15 pounds of drag.  i think the jx spool is too big and the mx side plate is too small. 

as far as magnets go, i'm casting baits or light jigs and magnets are generally of little use to me. 

does it have to be an avet?   

[chippy]

I come from a game fishing background where we use 1/3 of the brakeing strain of the give line as a strike drag and very rarely go past this. Though we are useing Mono as a main line ,I was going to fish this reel with Braid as main line to increase my line load. The only mono would be a trace of about 7ft. I would be useing a 30lb rod capable of casting 3oz metal lures .
Yes Alan I realize other reels could do the job, though I am interested in these little reels as they seem very well priced for a lever drag reel you can cast.
I have fished with Abu,s ,Daiwa,s and Shimano,s and started my casting from the rocks many years ago with Pen Squiders&Jigmasters with plastic spools.
Thanks for takeing interest in my questions.
Chippy

[alantani]

try the avet sx.  it should serve you well. 

[SoCalAngler]

I fish Avets and in my humble opinion the SX,  the MLJ or MXL will not fish the 10lbs of drag your looking for without stressing the reel a bit too much. I fish a JX that I have 300 yards of 60lb spectra with a topper of 90 yards of 40lb mono in Baja for yellowtail, (your kings) dorado, (your mahi mahi) stripers and sails. It is much better suited to fish the 10lbs of drag your looking for unless you look at a Raptor series and that opens up a whole new class of reels to look at. Avets are fine reels if you fish them for their intended drag pressures and do not over fish that rating.

In the price range of a JX you may want to look at a Saltist lever drag reel, your able to get more drag pressure in a smaller package.

[alantani]

i concur......

[vfalcon7]

Looking to purchase first reel. LX size for 65# Powerpro. Any recomendation for another reel in the same class as the LX? Thanks for any help

[alantani]

try the shimano tld star 15/30 as we had discussed today!