Daiwa Sealine SL-SH Casting Reels Review

great reel for price, 2008-08-28
Reviewer: wchamberneezy

Solid reel at a low price. It gets the job done for me. Ive used it for 8 years now without doing any deep cleaning, which im 7 years overdue for. Still works great and catching big fish. Great for rockfishing.

'Reel' amazing story, 2008-03-03
Reviewer: Greg Dixon

A really good friend of mine was snorkeling one day an stumbled apon a sl30sh in a rock pool. We dono how long it was lying in there for, but it looked pretty bad on the outside. He took it home, scrubbed the outside clean, rinsed it properly and amazingly it worked great. Everythin was still free! Still casts like the sinker is being shot out a cannon. Needless to say when i needed a smallish reel for my 10ft, this was my obvious choice.

First Conventional Reel used, 2005-03-14
Reviewer: Kai

The SL30SH is the reel I learned how to cast with. Have caught many fish in the past with SL20SH, SL30SH, SL50SH reels. Although the drags are not sealed compared to the Hv or Grandwave series, they definately get the job done once again.

Pro's

Proven over time.
Quality Drag System.
Good Castability.
Adjustable Handle! Turn it into a Winch!
Bushing for Bearing swap available in right hand brake adjustment cap. With adjustments to my friends SL20SH the thing casts like a 229 Newell.

Con's
Stock Yoke Springs weak. Trim down and replace with cut 6/0 Penn yoke springs.

6:1 Gutless SL50SH is better converted to 4:9:1
SG50 Gears.

Check Drags after awhile and regrease them due to no sheilding on drags.

Do your annual maintence like your suppose to and there will be no drag issues.

Exceptional Value!, 2005-03-14
Reviewer: Smitty_in_Socal

I have the SL-SH in 20, 30 and 50....I love 'em. These reels are durable, they cast great and the drags are definately adequate to handle most of the target species in Southern California where I do most of my fishing. They're great for fishing live bait or fishing the iron. Whether I'm drifting inshore for Halibut or out at Catalina trying to score on White Seabass, these reels get it done for me. For the price, I'm not sure there is a better reel out there, a tremendous value in my opinion. I highly recommend this reel, especially for those with meager budgets looking for a lot of bang for their buck!

Sealine Review, 2005-03-07
Reviewer: Sheki Chun

PROS: Castibiliy is excellent with the graphite spool construction. The reel is light in weight. Drag is silky smooth, retrieve is smooth. Drag surface is HUGE...more drag surface than a 6/0!

CONS: Possiblity of drag grease migrates to the dog mechanism causing anti reverse failure. Poor gear box placement...should have moved it 45 degree forward. Lack of power on bigger models due to high gear ratio (6.1:1).

NOTE: Good reel, but definitely worth forking out the extra cash for the upgraded SL-X series. A shimano torium will add plenty of power/torque to the retrieve.

Great casting reels - really good value for the money, 2005-02-18
Reviewer: Brent

The Daiwa SL20/30/50SH reels are very good reels for the price. They cast extremely well and work very well on fish up to 30 pounds or so. The SL20SH is an absolute killer on school sized albacore on 15 or 20 pound test. The SL30SH is a great 25# reel. The SL50SH is a good 30# reel and I use it to throw surface iron. The only knock on the SL50SH is that it is a little wide and it takes some practice to get efficient at putting line back on it in a uniform fashion when retrieving.

These reels are built for gaining line quickly on a fish. The 6.1:1 gear ratio does not allow the angler to lay the rod on the rail and grind a fish to the boat. However, with adequate drag pressure, the high speed retrieve can make short work of a school sized fish.

These reels are excellent half and 3/4 day fishing reels and for the money, they are very tough to beat.

I've personally fished them for 10 years and have had few problems. They can be a little touchy if you use water and squirt your gear off after fishing as this drives salt into the reel and can cause the dog to stick (i.e. reel will wind both ways). They need to be cleaned well once a year but if you take care of them, they will perform without an issue.

decent reel for the price, 2005-02-17
Reviewer: Arvin Reyes

good:
nicely priced at about $100, these work horses are great for local inshore species 30lbs and under. the free spool is great on these reels and the overall user friendliness is great, considering the price. also comes with a reel clamp, which should be standard on all conventional type reels.

bad:
the crank gets a little unballanced while fighting a hard-running fish. and the bearings are succeptible to corrosion, but easily replaced.

comments:
if you dont like the bad attributes about this reel, look to the sealine X series. basically the same reel, with a little bit of a face lift and some improvements that alleviate all the bad things about the regular SL-SH or "slosh" reels.