My First Cold Water Star Drag Reel! Always Wanted to Try One!
This level wind reel is a game changer. It was initially designed for anglers targeting salt & fresh water species that frequents deep but cold water from the Great Lakes to the PNW. Anglers used weighted copper line to help the lure/baits run deeper. But in the 70's i was using smaller versions of level winds for shallow water trolling for Jacks in water 10-100ft. Sometimes i'd get a Tuna to a Wahoo or a Snapper as a bonus.
Counting the level wind bar strokes told me where the lure placements were without having to speed-up to visually inspect their positions when surface trolling. I had purchased several reels of the same model to make this work. Now that my friend has his Boston Whaler running again i'm thinking of trying this large capacity level wind on the shoreline drops at 30-50fms.
I've watched many vids showing this reel bringing up huge Salmons to Trouts. I used Penn Level Winds off the Columbia River with flashers for Coho Salmon over 30yrs ago. There are many good fishing reels out there. This style is an old favorite of mine. No right or wrong choices, use what you are used to or have faith in.