Among the many new items introduced at ICAST last week from Daiwa were several lever drag reels. Lever drags are becoming more and more in vogue, and Daiwa is feeding the consumer hunger for these reels.
Here is a sampling:
Saltiga® Lever Drag (Pic 1)The new Saltiga® Lever Drag's will be available in both a two-speed model and a single "Hyper Speed" model that comes with a scorching 7.3:1 gear ratio. Some of the Hyper Speed models are capable of bringing in over 52.6 inches of line with every crank!
MSRP on these reels is around $410-$500.
Saltist® Lever Drag Hyper Speed (Pic 2)Boasting the same gear ratio as it's more expensive big brother, the Saltiga®, the Saltist® Lever Drag Hyper Speed will be priced around $200 less.
Saltist® Black Gold (Pic 3)Invoking the name of their ever popular and durable spinning reels, the Saltist® Black Gold lever drag reel comes in at a price point of about $200.
Features include:
* Aluminum one-piece frame and side plate
* Four CRBB corrosion resistant ball bearings, plus roller bearing
* Protective anodized finish
* Ultimate Tournament carbon drag (UTD)
* Infinite Anti-Reverse
* Machined aluminum spool
* Centrifugal anti-backlash control
* Spool click selector
Emblem® Pro-A (Pic 4)Speaking of spinning reels, the Emblem® Pro-A is a large, high-capacity reel which claims to be able to generate over 35 lbs. of drag!
"With a reliable manual bail trip and large diameter, tapered spool, these reels were designed for optimum casting performance. Super versatile, each comes with a standard capacity spool and a shallower, alternate-capacity spool to give you maximum performance with a wider variety of lines. It's like having two reels in one."
Saltist™ Jigging Rods (Pic 5) and Saltiga® G Boat Rods (not shown)Saltist™ Jigging Rod features:
* Powerful composite blank combines the resilience of E-Glass with high strength graphite
* Quality Fuji® Hardloy® guides and padded butt cap on M and MH power rods—Fuji® Alconite guides and Nylon gimbal on heavier actions.
* Fuji® reel seat
* EVA foam grips
Saltiga® G Boat Rods Features:
* Strong, powerful Glatech blank construction
* Fuji® reel seat
* Rigid-frame Fuji® Silicon Nitride guides on conventional models
* Fuji® Hardloy® guides on spinning actions
* Padded butt cap and EVA grips on 6'and 6'6" jigging models (Nylon gimbal on other jig rods)
* Aluminum gimbal with rubber butt cap and Powerlift Grip on boat rods
For more information on the latest Daiwa products visit
http://www.daiwa.com/Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Here's the new logo (Pic 6). What do you think?
