Daiwa Saltiga SG6000GT, SG6500 and SG6500H

PAY AROUND

£1,199

Daiwa and top quality reels go hand in hand and from a company that’s produced such legends as the Basia for carpers and the TDR range for match and pleasure anglers comes two stunning new releases for salt and freshwater anglers – and boy are they good!

The Saltiga and Exist range were showcased by the Scottish giants at Japanese trade shows to rave reviews and they landed in Europe at the big Carrefour National Pêche et Loisirs show in France a few weeks back to equal levels of excitement. They’re not cheap but they really do represent the vanguard of reel design and are simply stunning – no further words are needed to describe the range.

For the freshwater angler, the Exist offers two models, the 2506 and 3012 and they’re capable of feeder, float and light carp and predator work including spinning, packed with Daiwa’s award-winning technologies to produce an unbelievably light yet powerful and durable reel.

The machined Zaion body, Daiwa Air Rotor and Daiwa Air Spool technology comes as standard coupled with the Mag Sealed magnetic oil system and a staggering 12 CRBB bearings, meaning the Exist is almost entirely corrosion proof to make it last a life time. A real innovation in particular is the Mag Sealed line roller that does away with line twist while removing any chance of corrosion of the roller’s bearing, which can render a reel useless when it goes! Smooth on the cast and even smoother on the retrieve, you’ll also find the Ultimate Tournament Drag for playing big fish with ease plus a line clip and aluminium machine cut handle with coated cork handle knob.

Moving on to the Saltiga, there’s 11 reels in the range that have been extensively tested for fresh and saltwater lure fishing in countries such as Japan, the USA and New Zealand and are certain to be a hit for lure and sea anglers on home soil.

Beautifully light to complement the slender kit used for this type of fishing, the key feature of the Saltiga range is their resistance to salt water corrosion, which does for many reels within 12 months of use but with the space age Mag Sealed magnetic oil system, a strong seal is formed to prevent water intrusion between the reel’s rotor and body.

Light it may be but the Saltist has bags of power to take on pike, zander and sea species like bass with Digigear™ digital gear design, a 15 bearing system for utter smoothness on cast and retrieve, automatic rotor brake, Ultimate Tournament Carbon drag for putting the brakes on hooked fish and a sealed two bearing line roller.

Saltiga reels will be available in the UK from April 2015 and the Exist models from May 2015.