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Daiwa Lexa HD 300 and 400 size low profile reel review

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Sudsy

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Yup, salt.

Not a speck of sand in it, which is surprising since it's seen a good bit of use on the beach

I just wanta play everyday despite small nagging injuries --

and go home to a woman who appreciates how full of crap I truly am. ~ Crash Davis

 

Social Distancing since 1962

 

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been looking for a bigger low pro to use for light work off the bottom. nothing major, this reel will never see sand or ever be close to dunked. maybe some splash on the gunwale. would the cc, wn, or hd be better for me? preferably in a lower gear ratio, but nothings a deal breaker. im a lefty retrieve if it matters (i know im weird)

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On ‎10‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 3:36 PM, Sudsy said:

Update - October 23, 2018 - Lexa HD 300:

 

So I'm just shy of the two year mark, and with the exception of a few drops of oil in the spool bearings I have purposely done absolutely -0- maintenance. This has been my go to reel and has been extremely heavily fished, mostly jigging rivers and inlets, with some beach, bridge and boat as well and I expected some wear and damage.

I wanted to make it to Christmas to make it a full 2 years but the thumb bar was starting to stick and I was forced to finally crack it open.

 

Absolutely no grease in it whatsoever (not sure if it came like that as there wasn't even any grease residue to be found) and surprisingly enough the gears are still sharp and there are no signs of any corrosion anywhere. There was some considerable salt buildup, which was causing the thumb bar issue.

 

I cleaned it all out, loaded the gears with MilSpeck grease, oiled everything that needed oiling and it's ready to go again.

 

20181023_150752_resized.jpg.0d8ff897cc7ff57fa8a1ad54cc98a269.jpg20181023_150805_resized.jpg.127a51d7f03290c1a0097a2d1f9b667e.jpg

wow,that is dry,def a well made reel.

when I did the pre-trips on both of mine I found that they were well greased and I added some to spots I saw in tani's video that he coated with grease.

I have found that after a while the IAR squeaks a bit so this time I am doing them with 3-in-1 oil just to see how it holds up.

a single drop should suffice.

other than that they have been rock solid[400hd's]

have you found the same lil squeak?

HH 

An armed man is a citizen,,,an unarmed man is a subject,,,,,,,,

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On ‎11‎/‎28‎/‎2016 at 9:10 PM, Baitbucket said:

 

 

Another nice little feature that not many know about, you can reengage the freespool by popping the thumb bar back up. This allows you to use one hand to let line out and reengage the spool.

 

Heres a little video showing u what I mean.

 

yes I found that out,very nice indeed.

HH

An armed man is a citizen,,,an unarmed man is a subject,,,,,,,,

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A word of caution regarding using the thumbbar to reengage the reel. The clutch will pop back, but the pinion gear does not move, so it's not fully engage half of the time  until you move the spool with your thumb so the spool pin and pinion is fully engaged.  If you hookset on a half engaged spool, it might slip too much before engaging. It's not good for the pinion in the long run.

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9 hours ago, asian satan said:

been looking for a bigger low pro to use for light work off the bottom. nothing major, this reel will never see sand or ever be close to dunked. maybe some splash on the gunwale. would the cc, wn, or hd be better for me? preferably in a lower gear ratio, but nothings a deal breaker. im a lefty retrieve if it matters (i know im weird)

I’m weird too ;-). I have a 300HL which is the lefty 6.3 gear ratio version. The reel came with a dual paddle handle which I’ve recently upgraded to the round EVA power handle. The reel is used primarily for jigging ocean fluke (40-80’) and blackfishing the inshore ocean reefs. The reel has plenty of power for my applications & is very comfortable to fish with. You could go with the lower gear ratio version (5.5 I believe?) but honestly don’t think it would make much difference. As for the WN version - it’s the same reel with a Winn grip. Never handled one but it looks pretty nice. The HD version gets you the EVA power handle & stainless gears. The power handle alone is a $40 item so if you’re looking for that, the HD may be worth the extra $. Overall you really can’t go wrong with any of these configurations - just depends on your personal preferences. 

Edited by vinnyb
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  • 10 months later...
  • 9 months later...

Another year and a half have gone by, I'm still abusing these reels and they're still going strong

 

I haven't been using the 300 as much in the salt as it seems the 400 casts just as well and holds more line. Switched the 300 to 30# line and it's been seeing more use casting large rubber frogs and bigger plugs in fresh water. Frog/lure gets stuck and I can tear the water lily out of the bottom, or break the tree branch off (or wreck the frog/lure)

 

The 400 HD has become my go to for everything from bottom fishing off boats, to bridge fishing, to river/canal jigging, to plugging. I've actually sold off most of my round conventionals since I pretty much stopped using them.

 

When they finally figure out how to add a clicker this will become the perfect all purpose conventional reel

I just wanta play everyday despite small nagging injuries --

and go home to a woman who appreciates how full of crap I truly am. ~ Crash Davis

 

Social Distancing since 1962

 

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1 hour ago, Sudsy said:

Another year and a half have gone by, I'm still abusing these reels and they're still going strong

 

I haven't been using the 300 as much in the salt as it seems the 400 casts just as well and holds more line. Switched the 300 to 30# line and it's been seeing more use casting large rubber frogs and bigger plugs in fresh water. Frog/lure gets stuck and I can tear the water lily out of the bottom, or break the tree branch off (or wreck the frog/lure)

 

The 400 HD has become my go to for everything from bottom fishing off boats, to bridge fishing, to river/canal jigging, to plugging. I've actually sold off most of my round conventionals since I pretty much stopped using them.

 

When they finally figure out how to add a clicker this will become the perfect all purpose conventional reel

 

They already have a Lexa 400 with a clicker.

 

Only down side is that it does not have mag brakes or the stainless steal gears.

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Brakes and stainless are must haves

I'd like it to have all three, brakes, stainless and clicker

I just wanta play everyday despite small nagging injuries --

and go home to a woman who appreciates how full of crap I truly am. ~ Crash Davis

 

Social Distancing since 1962

 

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  • 7 months later...

Another year past

Still have done no cleaning or maintenance other than to add some grease and oil

 

Still operating at 100% and not a speck of rust anywhere

Admittedly I didn't fish as much this year as in years past, it spent most of the past year baking/freezing in the ceiling rack in the van

I just wanta play everyday despite small nagging injuries --

and go home to a woman who appreciates how full of crap I truly am. ~ Crash Davis

 

Social Distancing since 1962

 

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3 hours ago, Sudsy said:

Another year past

Still have done no cleaning or maintenance other than to add some grease and oil

 

Still operating at 100% and not a speck of rust anywhere

Admittedly I didn't fish as much this year as in years past, it spent most of the past year baking/freezing in the ceiling rack in the van

Which one do you prefer for overall fishing the 300 or the 400?

HH

An armed man is a citizen,,,an unarmed man is a subject,,,,,,,,

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On 6/4/2020 at 10:47 PM, Beastly Backlash said:

 

They already have a Lexa 400 with a clicker.

 

Only down side is that it does not have mag brakes or the stainless steal gears.

Have you done the pre-trip maintenance on it?

I just did both of mine for the third time in three seasons.

Everything is cool with blue Grease mobile xhp 22.

Not saying that's the best recent world but hey that's what I got I get it for free so that's what I used.

HH

An armed man is a citizen,,,an unarmed man is a subject,,,,,,,,

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30 mins ago, Heavy Hooksetter said:

Have you done the pre-trip maintenance on it?

I just did both of mine for the third time in three seasons.

Everything is cool with blue Grease mobile xhp 22.

Not saying that's the best recent world but hey that's what I got I get it for free so that's what I used.

HH

 

Yeah, I have taken apart a Lexa 400HD apart quite a few times for maintenance and just to compare vs other big low pros.

 

Never used the Lexa 400 with the clicker though.

 

I did use the Lexa 400HD for a good while, had actually put some serious miles on one even before Sudsy picked up his 400HD.

 

I actually had the Lexa 400HDs before I got into the Komodo 471. It is a great reel and really didn't have any issues with it. I ended up selling them after using them side by side with the Komodo 471SSs. They both compared favorably, but since I needed a reel that was a proficient multitasker and I liked the greater line capacity that came with the 471SS I opted to stick with the Komodo 471SS.

 

I already had a number of seasons on the 1st gen Komodo 364P so I knew just how strong the Komodo was, which helped me further make up my mind.

 

The Lexa 400HD will always get my first vote if you want a big low pro purely for lure casting due to the mag brakes. They are very tame and controllable casters which is huge in windy conditions. Distance vs the 471SS was about the same though.

 

During this time I also ended up picking up a Tranx 400HG and an Abu Revo Toro Beast 60HS to compare against the Komodo and Lexa.

 

Neither offered anything over the Lexa or Komodo except smoothness, so ended up selling them off after 1 season.

Edited by Beastly Backlash
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