Weekly Specials

Daiwa spent more than six years on this one, and it is the most powerful Saltiga lever drag they have built. It's aimed squarely at the fish that end trips early on lesser gear: giant bluefin, cow yellowfin and bigger marlin.

Daiwa got in-and-out of the big lever drag game on a couple of occasions. You might remember the Sealine Tournament series trolling reels, these were inspired by a heavy tuna bite in Japan in the early 2000s but have since been discontinued unlike reels of the same generation from their competitors. Then in the mid 2010s the bigger tuna showed up again outside of Tokyo which prompted a new generation of "Sealine" lever drag reels which the current Saltiga series owes its inspiration to... at least the 55 and 60 sizes. This one is a whole new beast, not designed to meet the temporary demand of the Japanese market but to be a standout big game lever drag made to support anglers around the world.

As you'd expect at this price-point, these are fully machined aluminum reels featuring stainless steel gears and internal components. High gear is 3.9:1 at 48.6" per turn for catching up when a fish runs at the boat or getting the slack out when fishing the kite; low gear is 1.7:1 at 21.6" for grinding one up from below. 

It has exceptional freespool for a reel of this size, a broad drag range which lets you smoothly adjust from lighter line trolling to fishing up to 60lbs of drag and an exceptionally loud clicker which was one point that hung up development until they got it perfect. 

For fish that follow a topwater bait and will not take it on top. The MadScad sinks, so you can count it down to where they are holding, then swim it slow, twitch it, or burn it. While the live bait receivers are low on quality cured bait, lures like these help you continue catching the local yellowfin and yellowtail. 

The Autotune eye at the front of these lures is what makes them different from the current/discontinued MadScads which have still worked well. The auto tune technology lets these lures have a full kick and lazy S swimming action at many different retrieve speeds unlike the previous. 

The 115 is 4-1/2", 1-1/2 oz on BKK Diablo 5X 3/0 hooks, the everyday casting size. The 150 is 6", about 3 oz on 5/0s, and it can also be trolled at 2 to 6 knots between stops. Anchovy, sardine and two mackerel patterns.

Shop the MadScad 150

The same machined aluminum iron as the 6.5" Meekster, scaled down to 5.5" and 2.8 oz. That shorter profile matters on the days the fish are keyed on small bait and will not commit to a full-size iron. Despite the small size they are still almost 3oz making them easy to cast, while smaller surface irons from other manufacturers are generally lighter and more difficult to use in most applications.

Classic irons are still the standard, but no two swim quite alike and finding a good one can take a few tries. Every Meekster is machined to the same shape, so the next one swims like the last. Offset hips, TIG-welded rings, powder-coated colors.

Built from the original Mikros stickbait that Merv Rubiano designed in 2013, the Mikros-Pop keeps that swimming action and adds a cupped face, so one lure pops, walks, or swims just under the surface depending on how you work it.

It pops with very little effort: a short pop and a one to two second pause is all it takes, which saves your arms for the fight. Rod tip down on a medium or fast retrieve and it swims with a tight, erratic action; lift the tip and it skips across the top like a flying fish. A shifting rattle slides back for distance on the cast.

Two sizes: the 130 (5", 1.4 oz, 3/0 singles), tested on pelagics up to 60 lb, and the 170 (6-3/4", 3 oz, 7/0 singles), tested on fish up to 225 lb. Six baitfish colors.

Reliable has updated their bag design recently, addressing the biggest complaint that people had which was the bag leaking. While the warm water leaking out of the bag was a feature at that point, not everyone has a truck they don't mind hosing down after a successful trip. The new sealed bags won't leak water and they still feature the great insulation performance that Reliable bags have become known for. 

Still based in Mission Viejo California, they are a quick and reliable company to work with, no pun intended. 

The bag numbers didn't change so they still make all of the same sizes with the new sealed design. The most popular for us are the 30 x 60" and 30 x 72" bags but depending on what you're going for the other sizes may be better. If you need a recommendation don't hesitate to reach out.  

Ocean's Legacy products continue to surprise and impress us with their design and performance. The Elementus were the top end series of slow pitch rods up until the brand new Solist series came out, but they still punch well above their price. 

These rods and all of their products are designed by people with extensive experience and attention to detail, Alan who runs the company is about as sharp as they come and he has done an amazing job of creating products that take angler feedback into account, with years of development before they put their name on it. 

These are a perfect upgrade over entry level slow pitch rods, so if you've been looking for an upgrade I would definitely check them out. They're spiral wrapped, have a blank through reel seat for sensitivity and the added bonus of a very durable yet light and sensitive blank. The PE3 blank dead-lifted 60lbs at 45 degrees. 

Van Staal has moved on to the VRII, so these are the last of the original VR series reels on our shelf, and the sizes we have in stock are 15% off this week. When they're gone, they're gone.

The VR brought Van Staal toughness to a lighter, more affordable reel: a fully machined 6061-T6 aluminum body, a sealed, waterproof drag with MicroClick adjustment, spiral-beveled gears and a titanium nitride coated stainless center shaft. They are lighter and smoother than the VS while keeping nearly the same sealing, and every reel comes with a bail plus a kit to convert it to bail-less.

In stock: VR50, VR51 (right hand), VR75, VR125, VR150, VR175 and VR200, in silver or black depending on the size. The 50 and 75 are light enough to fish the surf and inshore all day, and the 200 casts bigger poppers and stickbaits from the beach or the boat.

Okuma has done a great job with their travel rods over the years, creating unique designs for styles of fishing fewer manufacturers support and the Rockaway surf rods are no exception. They're a three-piece travel build, with tip-over-butt ferrules which makes them portable although you won't be fitting one in your carry-on. 

These are great for a variety of species, especially since they're overbuilt and made for casting distance first. Depending on the length and lure weight, these make great rods for local halibut fishing as well as rays and sharks. Up north or on the east coast these would also work well for striper fishing. Down south from Mexico to Panama these make great rods for roosters, jacks, bluefin trevally and even cubera snapper. 

After 15 years of spooling and being used to bulk mono the concept of buying small spools for leaders was confusing to me but after using this Ocean Record leader along with a few others from companies like Sunline and (Ishigaki) Fisherman I am convinced this is the way to go even for lighter line tests.

Developed with Seiichiro Tashiro, Japan's leading offshore casting angler for yellowtail kingfish. It is a bit stiffer than most mono, so it stays out of the way of your lure, but it does not hold much memory and casts well. The biggest surprise was how consistent it was due to it being wound on the spool line by line so no kinks, dents or bends can occur unlike the 3000-6000 yard mono spools I'm used to which definitely have some texture. 

Mono ties knots better than the same diameter fluoro and this one runs about 20% thinner than mono like Momoi and Izorline. Light purple, which disappears in the water. Available in 50m spools.

If you haven't tried a top of the line mono leader material for your lure casting or jigging, I would definitely give it a try.

More anglers are swapping the trebles on their stickbaits and poppers for plugging assist hooks. They give the hook more range of motion and a better hook set, so more fish stay on. These are built short and strong, so they also work well on tungsten jigs which have a small profile requiring less assist cord and more hook for the SoCal bluefin. 

Like all Suteki hooks they are made in Japan, including the split rings they come rigged with. Two per pack, sizes 1/0 to 5/0. A good upgrade for the MadScads and the Mikros-Pop above.