Avet MXL

[overslotter]

Im in the market for a new outfit for trolling kings, dolphin, etc. I have always wanted to get an avet. The reel would probably be put on an offshore extreme kingfish rod. The only turn off is how little drag it has, some people say it only gets 9# max. I've also heard people say the more drag you put on it the harder it gets to reel, what do you guys think? The other reel second in line is a saltist. I like the avet because its lever drag and its pretty cheap, but i've heard some pretty crappy things about it.

P.s does it come with a rod clamp

[Sea Draggin]

Have you considered a shimano TLD?

[don'thaveaboat]

I hear good things as well as bad things but overwhlemingly more bad. I would not get it but for kings there is a huge plus of low drag and that is you can't go to far on a king you don't want alot of drag since the hooks will drop out. If you want a reel for that king of thing I would look in to a daiwa saltist,sealine,tld,ect the thing about the saltist is it is like fighting a fish with a load of bricks but if you are tuff on your reels yo need that other wise get the sealine sha x 50

[overslotter]

do you know if they come with rod clamps?

[sasman]

do you know if they come with rod clamps?

They come with a clamp. The reel gets like 15-17 at full if all you do is measure from the point where are one turn back of the cam will give you perfect freespool. You do not feel the handle stuff people say when you are on a fish if you dont try to get those high drag settings. I crunched some berrings in a little with my LX trying to see if it will get 22. Dont advance the cam when the lever is engaged at all. I have more than 50fish on my new mxl up to 50lbs and it one of the best little reels I have used. I tested it (mxl) and with the first 100 yds of the 50lb spectra backing it had 20lbs of drag. It goes right back to the 9-15 when full. Dont remember ever hitting full on it cause there is so much line on it. Burnt the shit out of my hand on my progear cause the drag case and side plate got fire hot so I just stay with the leverdrag guys and try not to majorly over fish them.
Steve.

[Ciguatera]

Don'thave.... you hear overwhelming of the bad? Hmm.. the only way to find out is to fish with it. I fish and tinker with Avets and can say they do have crank load on heavy drag. But it becomes negligible while fighting fish.... unless you leave it on the holder and try to muscle it. I don't have the mxl since I need larger line capacity but do love my LX. That little thing can bring up a 200+ lb Bronze Whaler in a heartbeat.

[Nauti Natured]

I use all Avet LX's for my live bait needs and will never buy another kind of reel. They are amazing little reels.

[gradyfish265]

You only get the hard turn of the reel when going above what the reel was designed to do. I have heard of this happening right at the advertised max drag. Biggest issue is many guys I know set their drags for strike, not full and then when they go to full on these reels they over do it without realizing it and curse the reel, not how they did it wrong. On a lever drag like an EX, Tiagra, International...etc, you can slowly bump from strike to full so it is a gradual jump, the avet reels(excluding EX models) jump in steps, so it is a more noticable difference in drag setting, but much better then a star drag IMHO. A tld is a decent reel also and would allow you to bump the drag up smoother, but honestly you should be fishing at strike and only going to full to slow a fish in more extreme situations so honestly it should not be a big issue. I love my Avet's , I have some SX's and JX's, some are 4 years old, some only a year and half. So far only one of the 4 year old SX's has needed a bearing replacement. They are the simplest reel to take apart, clean and maintain that I have owned, and everything is metal inside.

The saltist is also a very nice reel, I have used them on friends boats and been pleased with their performance as well. Both are good quality reels, you cannot really go wrong with either. I have not taken one apart so I do not know how they are built or how well they hold up but I know my buddy with them has been pleased with them.

[GALAZIO]

Have 2 of them as jigging setups... but found them to be great for kings, mahi and the blackfin tuna we get down this way.

Would I do it again? Yep. nice reels.

[El Capo]

What about the saltiga?