anything but the curados... I have 2 revo toro 50s & 2 Lexa 300's, love both but love the lexa more

I just recently went through the decision curado 300, lexa 300, or toro NaCl. The curado is tried and tested, you know what you are getting there. The lexa seems to have two followings, those who love it and those who have had immediate problems and say its trash. I'm of the latter opinion. My lexa 100 failed from day 2. My buddies lexa 300 failed from week one. Calling diawa and searching forums far and wide confirmed major problems in the lexa line. I hope the 400 is tweaked to improve factory built errors. Now to the toro NaCl, which is the reel i bought. I can cast swim baits a mile. The level wind technology should be in every new reel from now on! It's is more anti-corrosive than lexa or curado. It has a clicker for dropping live bait! I haven't found a community of problems like I have with the curado and lexa. So far I love my choice.

Has anyone upgraded the spool bearings? I want to upgrade mine with boca ABEC #7 but they dont have them for lexa 300, any idea which ones will fit? Thanks

I bought one of the Curado 300EJ when Amazon had them miss priced for $179 Shipped and I can say it's one of my FAVORITE reels! I have it mounted on a Terez Waxwing rod and the combination is absolutely flawless! I have wrestled BIG Calicos out of the kelp and filled my bait tank with stacks of macs and some bigger Bonita too. I would LOVE to fight a Yellowtail on it some day!

Following up on my last post here, I got my Lexa 300HSP in as advertised. Shipping was short about $3.50 so the total came out to $136.50. Still not a bad price.

The miss priced was $79 wasn't it? :D

Yep, I got one. My son got a 37# and a 25# yellowtail on it at Cedros fishing from a panga. I was impressed!

I really like the Lexa 300hsp. The power handle is nice but the length is the same on the paddle one and you have less chance of it going into gear on the cast with the twin paddles. Looking forward to the 400 in the next month or so!

@BrokeLoser

Do you have the lexa 300 on a Heavy action Teramar SE inshore series rod? Is the rod too stiff to throw smaller swimbaits?

I just got a Lexa 300 hsl-p and mounted it on a graftech GIS 7' H (20-30) but haven't had a chance to fish it yet.
Planning to use it for heavy (1oz+) swim baits.

I just went onto Haddrell's Point Warehouse's website and apparently it looks like they don't sell reels anymore.

I'm surprised they don't sell reels online anymore. They run a good full service tackle shop in Charleston, SC. Used to get my reels serviced there when I lived back east for a while.

My wife just got me a Lexa 300 with the power handle. Have yet to try it out. If anyone is still looking for one landbigfish.com has them for $139 with free shipping.

I have teramar SE inshore heavy and I would think it probably is too stiff for swimbaits under 1 oz
45

Bump:

I'd like to bump this thread as everything I have googled lately brings up older posts.

Looking to purchase the Lexa for a heavier bass rod. I respect Jeff's opinion on the Curado, however I was wondering if over the years Daiwa has improved on this reel? Anyone have some feedback on the Lexa? Specifically how they are holding up .... Thanks in advance.

Have a 300 and a 400. Taken both on multiple trips to Baja as well as put them both to work here locally. I probably fish the 300 on bigger fish than I should. But I can tell you with the regular maintenance and freshwater rinses alone, these reels are holding up great. Casting surface irons the the big 400 is a lot of fun and is definitely up to the task. Much cheaper than tranx although I have never fished a tranx, I've slowly gotten rid of most of my shimmy gear and gone over to Daiwa. Solid reels and customer service.

I didn't know or think Daiwa needed to improve the Lexa...I've owned my 300 since they first came out; I've fished it hard and not always taken the best care of it either. I've landed 25# yellows on mine without issue...this thing can really put the brakes on fish and I'm still on the stock drag. I own the 100 and 400 as well....Awesome reels for the money.

I wish the 400 had bait clicker, my only gripe.

True.

I love my Lexa 300HS and added a Curado 300EJ that I bought for $79 when they were "mispriced" on Amazon. Both are fantasic reels, and for bass fishing I think their overall performance is pretty much identical.

For bigger gamefish, I prefer the Lexa. Using a scale, my Lexa measures just over 23.5 lbs of drag -- well over the stated 22 lbs max drag pressure given by Daiwa. My Curado puts out about 14 lbs -- about a pound less than the 15 lbs stated by Shimano.

At the same price point I'd probably go with the Lexa. With the Lexa normally priced about $50 less than the Curado, I'd definately buy the Lexa.

I have the Lexa 300 w/power handle. Fished on the east coast for reds/trout/flouder and almost everything else. Caught a 36 inch bluefish on it no problem. cast like a dream barely any cleaning needed adn holds tons of line.

http://goo.gl/JBwwy0 its 147 right now

Thanks for all the replies guys! The only thing I kept reading was some crazy noises going on when casting, never got the full details on it though. The price points are insanely good for how they perform... Looks like I'll be investing in a 300 and a 400 soon here.... Thanks again!!!

I have the Lexa 400, got 4 yt on it so far up to 27lbs. I'd like to get the 300 for calico fishing. I picked up a citrix 350 (salesman sample only $100 new) and that does have a clicker on it, but I don't like the fact that there isn't an external cast control on the citrix. That's the reason I'd look to the Lexa. Right now my citrix is only serving the purpose of bait fish on the sibiki stick. Haven't fished the Curado so I can't compare, but I like the Lexa so far

I have the lexa 300 with power handle paired with a medium heavy Teramar and love the setup for calico fishing. Has held up just fine over the last year.

I am guilty of not maintaining my reels as often as I should and fish all of my low profile reels HARD. This is the reason why I need a reel with great customer service and a reel that holds up especially since I kayak fish like you guys.

I take my reels offshore caught 40-50 lb seabass, caught 30 lb Jack Crevalle on my Abu Toro, 100 lb alligator gar on my 300 DSV.

I own a Curado 300 DSV, Curado 300 EJ, Abu Garcia Toro, Abu Garcia Toro NACI, Curado 300D, and the Shimano Tranx. So I am very familiar with low profile inshore reels.

My past experience with Daiwa reels are the are amazing out of the box for the first year or so and their castability and quality diminishes after. Their customer service also sucks. I might have to buy a Lexa 400 to see what I think since I have a few friends that love them.

Pro: Abu Garcia; The first thing you will notice about this reel when you hook a big fish is the reel does not torque like the Curado's. The reel cast great due to the main pinion fully disengaging from the spool when casting. I have caught a bunch of 40+ lb seabass on this reel and it holds up great in the salt. I am a big fan of this reel so when the NACI came out I purchased it right away.

Cons: The cast button on this reel goes out and gets stuck, this happen to both of my Toro and NACI. My buddies have the same issue, like some of the other guys posted the drag pressure does seem like it is not what it is rated.

I have not tried to contact Abu Garcia's customer service so I don't know how it is.

Customer service goes a long way and hands down Shimano has the best customer service out of all of the reel manufactures. If I have a issue with my reels I just send them back pay the service fee and my reel comes back like its brand new.

I owned the Curado 300 DSV since way back this reel is a beast and still in excellent condition. Here is the alligator gar I caught off of my DSV 5 years ago and I still fish this reel weekly.

<a href="http://s250.photobucket.com/user/toadstoadsonly/media/Louisiana%20Pic/200910211820_038.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg264/toadstoadsonly/Louisiana%20Pic/200910211820_038.jpg" border="0" alt="5'10 1/2 on curado 300 dsv photo 200910211820_038.jpg"/></a>

Pros: When you look at the scematics this reel is the same as the original 300 DSV except faster gearing, Carbon Tec Drags, and power handle. My opinion is the EJ is not as good as the original DSV, I brought the reel out to Delaware to fish Ocean Run Striped bass at the Indian River Inlet and the reel was torquing and the drags were chirping. -I got rid of this reel and stuck with my DSV.

Calcutta 300D this reel is awesome! I have no negative feedback on this reel. It has great cranking power, great drag pressure, you could cast this reel a mile.

Tranx; This reel is on a class of its own it is pretty much a Trinidad A with a level wind and low profile look. The problem with this reel is it's almost the price of a Talica 2 speed. You could buy 3 Lexa's for this price.