Just as you said in the video about the reel being able to handle bluefin, I had 2 friends land 150lb and 180lber's! The 180lb took 4 hours but the reel handled it.
I like mine, but water went inside, using it for a month then the reel become less smooth after that I open it found out the handle is not sealed enough and bone dry of grease I have corrosion in the gear and ball bearing. Lucky I do reel maintenance I remove the rust, reapply grease/oil it heavily, changes the ball bearing to ceramic and now is much smoother when I just first time bought it. I bought another one, open it and less grease inside the handle again, I regrease heavily on the handle part and the cast control now I don't see any water goes in anymore.
I opened mine up, they are completely changed from the old generation lexas. They are a massive upgrade. It's truly a saltwater reel. They have Shimanos X Ship and a whole bunch of other stuff that would take forever to write down. These things are like tranx with twice the gear support, better cast control and muuuch better bearings.
I have tranx400 for 3 months now fishing on jetties a lot for tarpon and kings mackerel etc and the salt just kills the bearings and gets into the inside and I’m pretty careful about that. I wish they put capacity of 300 for the 40lb.on this daiwa
@@loungydoc yeah i hate shimano bearings, they are advertised as being better for salt but really suck. What do you mean you wish it had the capacity? mine held 350 yards of 50lb prospec.
Does your thumb bar have a lot of play in it when it’s pressed down? Just got mine brand new and the play in the thumb bar is crazy. Especially compared to reels I have that are more than half the price. Thanks
Really been enjoying your content overall, I know you aren't a huge review guy but.....I've been thinking about upgrading my fluking/sea bass rigs from Quantum Accurist to a Lexa or Shimano Tranx for fluking. I know you have have probably seen all of them on Matt's boat. What's your opinions on these? I'm thinking about the 300 size if I do. Pairing it with a Jigging world black widow 150. My Accurists are on the jigging world Nexus H and Xh.
Great review. I have both the 300 and 400 in the Lexa HD series. I have zero complaints and really enjoy using them especially if your not trying to drop a lot of weight down. As you mentioned with practice they will cast very far. I use the 300 to cast swim baits in fresh and salt no complaints and prefer it over a spinning reel at times. I wish mine had the T wing like yours!
My lexa 400 TW casts way farther than the lexa 300 hd with the same size jig. They also have a bunch of other upgrades internally like double bearing pinion support. They are a huge upgrade I think you should try one
Penn has purposely screwed up many of there reels ..... Fathom 15 casting special they really FU it up! If people knew what Penn was doing to there customers they would stop buying Penn just as I have.... Screw Penn
The tension knob is adjust how much tension is placed on the spool. Basically adjusting how well it free spools. Adjust this first and make sure the weight your jig will pull line off the spool easily when in free spool. After this adjust the mag breaking starting with less mag force and increasing as needed.
Picking up this reel today but a bit confused to the left or right model. I'm a righty but it looks like a left hand reel may be more comfortable. Any advice?
@@FishingGrubbZ I did some digging and actually found it on the video when you fished with Angel on the Jigging Jerks boat. Thanks for the link. I reached out to Angel and he is already helping me out.
That is the sickest most bad-@$$ custom rod. I want one ! You should hook us all up with that rod with your buddy ANGEL RODS and create a signature GrubbZ Logo model. Win, Win, Win for everyone.
Daiwa needs to stop playing games. For $400 bones they need to have stainless gears period. Brass WILL loose the battle to a stainless main gear. Just a matter of time. The fact that they’re making it to last just long enough until the next set of reels drop is bs. Granted they aren’t the only company doing it, it’s still shit. That being said I’m sure it will put in work. Until they come out machined stainless gears, I’ll hold off. Good looks on the review though, that tws system is the future. Take a given force, the brass vs stainless. The brass gear will have to be larger to distribute said force without distorting. A stainless gear can. Be smaller and take the force without dissimilar metal issues or substantial wear of any kind. They market it as a reel that’s less resistant to turn the handle to to weight and the size of the gear, but in reality, a gear ratio is a gear ratio. They’re just pinching penny’s
Have you ever broken a brass gear??? Not sure you even understand what stainless means in these reels. The only reason the old lexas used Stainless on stainless and brass on brass is because they had pretty no pinion support, the pinion was supported by the spool shaft, nothing else. Not even a bushing as extra support. The lexa tw uses a bearing supporting the drive gear and 2 bearings supporting the pinion they are under the most precise alignment meshing the way they should be at all times, with or without the spool shaft as support. If they used the same spool shaft support design I would agree with you since the stainless gear would likely start wearing the brass down over time. But with the gears in constant precise alignment there is no way for it to wear. What they accomplished by using brass is a smoother gear mesh than with stainless maintaining the same preformance. The lexa TW series isn't a lexa, it's more like a super duty tranx. It has the highest grade bearings you can find in a reel from any manufacturer, the CRBBs which have been proven with the saltigas. Don't focus on stupid things that won't affect reel preformance at all.
And they are very proven already. I have 2 friends, one caught a 150lb bluefin on his 400 and the other caught a 180lb bluefin. Both took over 2 hours, reels worked like fine after.
stainless is an upgrade for sure but not really a deal breaker, how the gear is machined and heat treated matters alot more, my old 2008 stella has aluminum main gear but its so oversized, heat treated and perfectly machined to the point where 14 years later its still buttery smooth after non stop land based shark fishing. im not complaining tho, the old lexas were monster reels for giants reds, medium sharks, and vertical jigging, this new lexa makes me wanna sell my komodo ss and tranx.
@@christianflores7583 have a massive update for this reel. Been using and abusing it for 11 months. Biggest feat yet on it was a 100lb brute batray that dumped 250 yards in 2 minutes with 15lbs of drag along with another 200-300yards of runs throughout the fight. Thats a brutal amount of pressure on the gears for a reel this size. Also caught 80lb black seabass and 30lb 5ft leopard sharks on it. First service in 11 months and i found 0 signs of wear on either gears, 0 bearings replaced, 0 parts replaced. It was pretty much like new inside minus some darkened grease and a surprisingly small amount of corrosion on the bronze drive gear. Daiwa is a brilliant manufacturer and it turns out they knew exactly what they were doing putting bronze with stainless, strength and smoothness.
Just as you said in the video about the reel being able to handle bluefin, I had 2 friends land 150lb and 180lber's! The 180lb took 4 hours but the reel handled it.
Unreal
all i need to know lol i am buying one
what braid did he use ? lb wise
Lol damn. 4hrs.
I like mine, but water went inside, using it for a month then the reel become less smooth after that I open it found out the handle is not sealed enough and bone dry of grease I have corrosion in the gear and ball bearing. Lucky I do reel maintenance I remove the rust, reapply grease/oil it heavily, changes the ball bearing to ceramic and now is much smoother when I just first time bought it. I bought another one, open it and less grease inside the handle again, I regrease heavily on the handle part and the cast control now I don't see any water goes in anymore.
Good to know
I opened mine up, they are completely changed from the old generation lexas. They are a massive upgrade. It's truly a saltwater reel. They have Shimanos X Ship and a whole bunch of other stuff that would take forever to write down. These things are like tranx with twice the gear support, better cast control and muuuch better bearings.
I agree! So much better than my tranx
I have tranx400 for 3 months now fishing on jetties a lot for tarpon and kings mackerel etc and the salt just kills the bearings and gets into the inside and I’m pretty careful about that. I wish they put capacity of 300 for the 40lb.on this daiwa
@@loungydoc yeah i hate shimano bearings, they are advertised as being better for salt but really suck. What do you mean you wish it had the capacity? mine held 350 yards of 50lb prospec.
speaking from experience , landed an #85 blue fin last year
lexa 400 WN
Oh hell yeah!
Does your thumb bar have a lot of play in it when it’s pressed down? Just got mine brand new and the play in the thumb bar is crazy. Especially compared to reels I have that are more than half the price. Thanks
I never noticed
Really been enjoying your content overall, I know you aren't a huge review guy but.....I've been thinking about upgrading my fluking/sea bass rigs from Quantum Accurist to a Lexa or Shimano Tranx for fluking.
I know you have have probably seen all of them on Matt's boat.
What's your opinions on these?
I'm thinking about the 300 size if I do.
Pairing it with a Jigging world black widow 150. My Accurists are on the jigging world Nexus H and Xh.
Lexa all day
@@FishingGrubbZ Same, I have tranx 500 and 400 if Daiwa will release a 500 size? I will ditch my tranx 500 for good.
I have the 300tw, I wish I hit the 400 size
Great review. I have both the 300 and 400 in the Lexa HD series. I have zero complaints and really enjoy using them especially if your not trying to drop a lot of weight down. As you mentioned with practice they will cast very far. I use the 300 to cast swim baits in fresh and salt no complaints and prefer it over a spinning reel at times. I wish mine had the T wing like yours!
My lexa 400 TW casts way farther than the lexa 300 hd with the same size jig. They also have a bunch of other upgrades internally like double bearing pinion support. They are a huge upgrade I think you should try one
Might be possible to get the parts manual for the Lexa TW reels and upgrade your Lexa HD reel.
@@jayhannan7412 nope, they are completely diffrent reels internally now. I compared both and there are hardly any similarities.
How are you liking the knob so far? Do you find it slippery when wet?
Not at all. I love it!
I was looking at the Lexa. I settled for a Penn Squall 400 LP. Nice reel!
I love my squall! But that knob is so small and it hurts my hand when I hook up on something big! 😭
Penn has purposely screwed up many of there reels ..... Fathom 15 casting special they really FU it up! If people knew what Penn was doing to there customers they would stop buying Penn just as I have.... Screw Penn
What is the difference between the mag force braking system and the tension knob?
The tension knob is adjust how much tension is placed on the spool. Basically adjusting how well it free spools. Adjust this first and make sure the weight your jig will pull line off the spool easily when in free spool. After this adjust the mag breaking starting with less mag force and increasing as needed.
Easy answer is both but if you can only have one would it be 300tw or 400tw and why? Trying make a choice thanks
Really depends. I use the 400 more all year. The 300 I use for fluke.
@@FishingGrubbZ thank you
Picking up this reel today but a bit confused to the left or right model. I'm a righty but it looks like a left hand reel may be more comfortable. Any advice?
I am right handed and use a left handed reel.
@@FishingGrubbZ thanks man!
What model is left handed? Thank you, Daiwa website not much help
That’s a sick set up ya got there. That rod is sick
I love it
Is there a clicker sound on the drag when the line runs ?
No
What country are they manufactured in?
Where everything is made!
Have u tried casting a 110 120 jerk bait with that reel?
Not yet. I use it more for bottom fishing right now
I don't see the link to Angel's custom rods , might have missed it. Possible to link again ? Thanks !!
facebook.com/profile.php?id=100051282053257
@@FishingGrubbZ I did some digging and actually found it on the video when you fished with Angel on the Jigging Jerks boat. Thanks for the link. I reached out to Angel and he is already helping me out.
Dope dude
Bro that’s such a sick looking setup u get the reel at snug
I did
Is that a heavy rod? Or medium?
i would say med heavy. It is a suzuki blank
RXXF 15-30-701 Pro. 7'1 extra fast action
Great choice Todd👍
Is the wise Kraken still doing fluke trips
Hopefully. Been slow the last two trips. If it doesn’t pick up we will switch to cod before tog season
@@FishingGrubbZ just wondering no one has called me back after leaving a message
Nice reel
This reel must be a special order as they only do a left hand lexa in the 300 TW
That is not true at all. We have left handed 400s for sale at my tackle shop
@@FishingGrubbZ Must be an Australia thing then as I was told they don’t so I got a 300
Nope. They do and you can order it from the states if you need or straight from Japan
That is the sickest most bad-@$$ custom rod. I want one ! You should hook us all up with that rod with your buddy ANGEL RODS and create a signature GrubbZ Logo model. Win, Win, Win for everyone.
Daiwa needs to stop playing games. For $400 bones they need to have stainless gears period. Brass WILL loose the battle to a stainless main gear. Just a matter of time. The fact that they’re making it to last just long enough until the next set of reels drop is bs. Granted they aren’t the only company doing it, it’s still shit. That being said I’m sure it will put in work. Until they come out machined stainless gears, I’ll hold off. Good looks on the review though, that tws system is the future. Take a given force, the brass vs stainless. The brass gear will have to be larger to distribute said force without distorting. A stainless gear can. Be smaller and take the force without dissimilar metal issues or substantial wear of any kind. They market it as a reel that’s less resistant to turn the handle to to weight and the size of the gear, but in reality, a gear ratio is a gear ratio. They’re just pinching penny’s
Have you ever broken a brass gear??? Not sure you even understand what stainless means in these reels. The only reason the old lexas used Stainless on stainless and brass on brass is because they had pretty no pinion support, the pinion was supported by the spool shaft, nothing else. Not even a bushing as extra support.
The lexa tw uses a bearing supporting the drive gear and 2 bearings supporting the pinion they are under the most precise alignment meshing the way they should be at all times, with or without the spool shaft as support. If they used the same spool shaft support design I would agree with you since the stainless gear would likely start wearing the brass down over time. But with the gears in constant precise alignment there is no way for it to wear. What they accomplished by using brass is a smoother gear mesh than with stainless maintaining the same preformance.
The lexa TW series isn't a lexa, it's more like a super duty tranx. It has the highest grade bearings you can find in a reel from any manufacturer, the CRBBs which have been proven with the saltigas.
Don't focus on stupid things that won't affect reel preformance at all.
And they are very proven already.
I have 2 friends, one caught a 150lb bluefin on his 400 and the other caught a 180lb bluefin. Both took over 2 hours, reels worked like fine after.
stainless is an upgrade for sure but not really a deal breaker, how the gear is machined and heat treated matters alot more, my old 2008 stella has aluminum main gear but its so oversized, heat treated and perfectly machined to the point where 14 years later its still buttery smooth after non stop land based shark fishing. im not complaining tho, the old lexas were monster reels for giants reds, medium sharks, and vertical jigging, this new lexa makes me wanna sell my komodo ss and tranx.
@@christianflores7583 have a massive update for this reel. Been using and abusing it for 11 months. Biggest feat yet on it was a 100lb brute batray that dumped 250 yards in 2 minutes with 15lbs of drag along with another 200-300yards of runs throughout the fight. Thats a brutal amount of pressure on the gears for a reel this size. Also caught 80lb black seabass and 30lb 5ft leopard sharks on it. First service in 11 months and i found 0 signs of wear on either gears, 0 bearings replaced, 0 parts replaced. It was pretty much like new inside minus some darkened grease and a surprisingly small amount of corrosion on the bronze drive gear. Daiwa is a brilliant manufacturer and it turns out they knew exactly what they were doing putting bronze with stainless, strength and smoothness.