Daiwa Df100A Giant Spin Reel 3.4:1 1Bb 30Lb/320Yd,black

The Daiwa DF100A may not be pretty but for what it lacks in beauty, ball bearings and smoothness, it makes up for it with LINE CAPACITY!!!Simply put, this reel is the cheapest reel you can buy that has the ability to catch large sharks and rays.I bought this reel in 2012 when I was in college and on a budget. My goal was to get the most line capacity and go sharking on vacation without breaking the bank. The Daiwa DF100A paired with a 7’ heavy action rod did not let me down!I slapped 760yards of 50lb braid on it and the drag proved to be more than enough to subdue any fish that picked up my bait.I find people complaining about the reels fit/finish to be asinine, what do you expect for $32?!?I strongly recommend buying a sheet of carbon fiber and upgrading the top and bottom stock felt drags. If you use this reel in saltwater the felt drags will get destroyed. Also, make sure to liberally apply Penn blue grease inside the gear box to mitigate saltwater intrusion. By liberal, I mean literally fill the entire gear box up! It will keep the reel working as it should, especially the anti-reverse.All in all, I love this reel for what it is- The cheapest shark surf reel on the market. Would I buy the reel now? No. I’ve since upgraded my shark rig to the Fin-Nor LT100 paired with a 12’ heavy action Penn Prevail rod. However, the Daiwa DF100A along the my old ugly stick still make the yearly vacation trip and get called to action whenever a family member wants to join in on the fun!Bottom line- If you are on a budget and want to give shark fishing a try, go with this reel!!!

Our fishing station is fluttered with penn internationals of every size, for any specific pelagic occasion, and abundant in Saragossa’s which the boys and I always put to the test for strong jigging, spinning and live bait line/pitch action. last but not least, Ofcourse amongst the peculiar set of other tools in the shed not mentioned, Four of these reels stand with strong fortitude armed on a few good old penn beef stick rods for a couple reasons. Since I was three feet tall my father and I would, and still do when the stars align in our favor, fish the living day lights out of these massive spinners. These reels have lasted the test of hard times big pelagic species bring, needless to say ofcourse I have the same one in working condition that my father bought me around 11 years ago. The reel has fought 30LB grouper and even bigger mahi among many other fish my old man and the boys caught— many of which have been forgotten. These reels have been battle tested on the hunting grounds off Tavernier, FL Keys through and all the way down to dry tortugas and in the deep ruthless offshore waters out of treasure key, Abaco Bahamas. For Angling studs off the bottom or flat lining baits and even trolling, I can tell you among all the shiny reels one may have, these continue to perform like no other. And there’s truth to this, it’s astonishing how some times the best things in life are actually not too complicated it’s a pretty simple winch in material but it’s strong and it’s definitely a work horse: the drag system is stellar and will no break down on large studs, it’s built for them. I’ve tested them. And no, I’m not a spokesperson nor have any association to the buyer or seller, I’m just a kid who likes amazon and whose father one day showed him a good reel and still has it. It won’t let you down, back it with braid and top shot it with mono depending on your experience. Good luck angling.

Reel came in on time. I opened the package to find that the bail arm was disconnected from the bail assembly on the fire side. In manufacturing process, they just smushed the bail arm's metal wider after inserting it into the bail assembly to fasten it in place. Unfortunately in my reel, they didn't smush the metal wide enough and it popped out during shipping. I called Diawa about it and the nice lady gave me the option of sending the reel in for service, or of them sending out a replacement bail assembly.The replacement bail is on its way but is backordered. Fortunately Diawa included a full assembly diagram with the reel, which is awesome -- I was able to jerry-rig the broken bail and the reel works great now. I'm still waiting on the replacement bail, it's supposed to be here in a few weeks.This reel is HUGE and it holds a TON of line and is a great fit for a 12 or 15-foot surf rod. I've got it on a cheap 12-foot rod and it's awesome. The super-wide diameter spool makes for some incredible casting distance with a long rod.This reel is SO CLOSE to being perfect. The bail arm needs to be fastened in place more-securely to the "far-side" piece of metal housing, and it would have been nice to see a washer in there so the metal crimp isn't rubbing up against the zinc casting piece. That piece of zinc is going to wear out eventually and the bail arm will pop out - mine popped out in shipping because it wasn't crimped enough. Diawa, please do a better crimp on the bail arm where it goes into the far-side housing piece, and please put a washer in there. Washers cost like a penny. If it weren't for the bail arm issue, this would be a five-star reel all day long.This reel happens to be a "clicky" reel - that's not really a negative thing, but I think most people prefer the non-clicky sort.The reel is sort of heavy, probably because a lot of it is made from Zinc castings. That isn't a big problem, but it's noticeable.If a "DF110A" or a "DF200A" came out that was non-clicky, made of aluminum instead of zinc, and had just a little bit better construction (the bail arm thing), then I'd pay twice the price for it.My main surf rod is 12-foot and I'm thinking about picking up a cheap 15-foot. If I do, I'll probably get another one of these reels to put on there.