Daiwa 19 Emcast BR LT, Freespool Fishing Reel, Front Drag

I'm a fishing guide on the white river in arkansas. I use these reels daily. I have purchased hundreds of reels like this and I have found that every reel manufacturer that has recently sold to china or Mexico for example their quality has went downhill severely. For example. I have okuma baitrunner reels that are several years old and they work still. I recently bought new ones and they were junk. I bought 4 reels and they all crapped out within 90 days. Granted I use them daily but 2 broke the second time I used them. They weren't priced cheaper either. It seems that this type of thing happens to every reel that has been purchased by new overseas manufacturer. Penn okuma are just a couple of examples of reels that are now manufactured elsewhere and dropped severely in quality but not in price. Diawa costs less but works perfectly. I think its assembled in Tulsa still.

Absolutely love this reel! Have caught 2 keeper snook on it in the last week (and lots of other fish). Put 50lb braid on it and smooth as butter. The almost endless drag adjustment to both the main reel and the bait runner is ideal to handle everything I’ve put on it from small shrimp to 1 lb croakers. I’ve been a Shimano Baitrunner guy for 20 years, and they’re great no doubt, but for a third less? This Daiwa Emcast is giving them a run for their money. I’m buying these from now on.

The media could not be loaded. I’ve had this for about a year, multiple trips inshore saltwater fishing without much maintenance and it’s been doing great and still super smooth unlike my Daiwa fuego.The only bad thing about it is : the spool is small and doesn’t hold a lot of line , I currently have the 3000 series with 30 lb braid and it helped me land a large black drum. Good workhorse reel

I love mine smooth strong great drag,

If you want to get a baitrunner reel but can't afford a Shimano then this is the best value. The reel spools line properly and the drag is very strong.It's biggest flaw (deal breaker for me) is that the drag sound (sound when fish peels line) is non-existent. The reel has a super quiet drag clicker (main drag and the baitrunner secondary drag.)When you have the baitrunner drag engaged you cannot hear the drag (deal breaker.)In my opinion, spend the extra 30 dollars and buy the Shimano baitrunner.