Daiwa Saltist Star Drag Conventional Reel - SALTIST15H [SALTIST15H]

Great little reel

So like stated these seem to be newer version of the Saltist B&G. but for bit more $ new color and handle for about $20 more then what B&G was. Still same drag and gear ratio and sizes available. i use them for all around from live baiting for cobia and striper to trolling for mackeral/ tuna of shore clicker is nice and loud. new handles are softer seem like you can get more power with less resistance then the football knob. i got 4 shipped only had to send one back was missing the bag of goodies with the reel seat clamp and maintenance tool. order 5 to replace that one which had it all in there. i spooled 500yards of 65lb grand jbraid which the old saltist i spooled 500 of the 65lb regular jbraid so spool holding about same. only CON you can get a Penn Fathom 40nld Lever drag for around the same price and put same amount of line on it and have more drag and bit faster gear ratio. But I'm a Daiwa Junkie so these will do.

Absolutely love the colors and the feel its a little on the heavy size but it will last forever. Love the Daiwa reels. showing this one is going on a kingfish rod ready for next season

Nice reel.

I like this reels power, and casting is pretty good. The screws on this reel were very cheap and had a lot of loctite on them making servicing this reel basically impossible without damaging it. I used high quality wiha precision bits of the correct size, but a few screws still stripped after their first removal. In addition when replacing an internal screw on the plastic internal plate the threads broke very easily. I will now use this reel without servicing it until it dies prematurely. If they used better screws, threads, and a metal internal plate instead of plastic this reel could be great. The screws and threads broke so easily it makes me question the quality of Daiwa’s upper tier reels like the Saltiga. Why would you buy a higher tier reel if it breaks so easily while servicing it. Even if the internal plate on the Saltiga is metal, the screws will all likely strip as well. It makes me prefer buying seagates and never servicing them until they die knowing that daiwa uses such bad screws.

I bought the 35H model and the Saltist is smooth, powerful and silent, all great but my complaint is the drag performance. When fighting a 36” striped bass and the fish starts taking line I start applying additional drag and there seems to be no gradual increase, it’s either full stop or it’s to loose. At full stop just loosening the drag 2 clicks the fish starts a wild run.

I have landed huge grouper with these reels and lots of snapper. It's not really fair but coupled with good line, terminal tackle, and the right sized rod then it's hard to beat. I give away all my TLD's and fish solely with Daiwa Saltist and Saltiga's for reef fish.

Handle fell apart while using this reel for the first time. This is a daiwa reel and last for years without a problem like my cheaper daiwa sealine reels.