Avet makes something like 1,300 reels once you count every size, gear, color, and retrieve, and the catalog can be genuinely hard to read from the outside. We have been selling Avets since they started and have been their largest dealer since 2004, we fish them ourselves out of Southern California, and we spool and rig most of them by hand before they ship.
This guide is the conversation we have on the phone every day, written down: pick a size, decide single or two-speed, decide whether the third gear or the Raptor drag is worth it, and settle cast control and retrieve hand. Work through it in that order and you will land on the right reel without buying too much or too little.
1. Start with your line class and your target
The single most useful thing to know about the Avet line is that the size is chosen by the line you intend to fish and the fish you intend to catch, not by how big the reel looks. Here is the range the way we actually sell it.
SXJ and SX: light line, the smallest machined-aluminum reels made
The SXJ is a narrow version of the SX and the smallest fully-machined aluminum reel on the market, with a narrow reel foot that fits most rods, even freshwater rods. Both are tiny, powerful takes on the Avet lever-drag theme. Think light bait and iron for calico bass and school-grade yellowtail, light yoyo and surface-iron work, and freshwater crossover on the SXJ. The SX holds roughly 400 yards of 50 lb braid and the SXJ about 290, so the SX trades a little compactness for capacity or higher leader test. These are happiest at 25 lb and under; if you are routinely reaching for 30 lb and up, step up a size.
MXJ and MXL: the day-to-day SoCal all-rounders
If one Avet is going to live on your boat and do a bit of everything, it is usually an MX. The MXL is the wide, high-capacity version (about 620 yards of 50 lb braid) and the MXJ is the narrow one (about 470). Local yellowtail and tuna, bait and surface iron, mixed inshore and offshore days, this is the class most SoCal anglers actually fish the most. The MX sizes handle line up to about 40 lb comfortably, and that 40 lb line is also the number that decides whether you want a two-speed (see section 2).
JX and LX: heavier line, and often a specialist's reel
The JX and LX move up to heavier line and are frequently bought for one job rather than as an all-rounder. The JX holds around 400 yards of 65 lb braid; the LX is the wider, higher-capacity sibling at about 600 yards of 65 lb (or roughly 500 of 80 lb). The JX single-speed at 6.0:1 is a superb yoyo-iron reel: when a yellowtail is running for the rocks or the kelp, maximum line per crank wins, and there is no shift to fumble. The Avet Winch is the jigging-dedicated JX, a heavy-drag three-speed (45 lb strike, 70 lb full) with a big T-knob power handle and no clicker or cast control, built for cranking big yellowfin up from deep.
HX, HXJ, HXW: small reels for big fish
These bridge the casting sizes and the big-game reels. They exist so you can put a surprisingly large fish on a surprisingly small reel; anglers land 250 lb bluefin on an HX by leaning on the low gear of the three-speed. The HXW is a specialty build for pier and land-based shark fishermen who need to punch weight and bait a long way, popular on the Gulf and in Hawaii.
Pro EX 30, 50, 80: trolling and big-game
The 50 is the standard-bearer of the range and, in our experience across a charter's worth of customers, the reel that simply does not fail when everything else does. The 30 is a compact big-game reel that a lot of anglers push harder than its original brief; the 80 carries serious capacity for the heaviest offshore work. All come in two- and three-speed.
T-RX 80 and 130: the heaviest
Dual-drag big-game reels for the top of the range: rail rods, trophy tuna, and marlin-class fishing.
Rule of thumb: if you can name the line class you are going to fish, the size almost picks itself. Tell us the class and the target and we will confirm it.
2. Single speed or two-speed?
This is the decision that trips people up the most, and the honest answer is that plenty of anglers do not need a two-speed at all.
Single-speed buyers usually know exactly what the reel is for, a specific application, or they are keeping the cost down starting out (a two-speed runs roughly $60 to $100 more). That is a legitimate choice, not a compromise.
The rule we give on the phone: at 40 lb line and above, a two-speed is worth recommending. Below 40 lb, it is not a necessity; it buys versatility and convenience, not survival. Nobody gets tired enough fighting 25 lb line on an SX to need a low gear. The convenience is still real (after fighting a dozen yellowtail on one stop, an easier crank is welcome), but sell yourself the convenience honestly rather than believing you have to have it.
The two-speed's other argument is retrieve speed, not just power. On the SXJ, SX, MXJ and MXL the high gear runs 6.3:1, which helps with smaller yoyo irons, some stickbaits, and casting jigs, and it costs you nothing in cranking power because the low gear is always there underneath.
The exceptions worth knowing:
- JX and LX break the 40 lb rule because they are so often single-purpose. On a JX yoyo setup, shifting is an active liability: the couple of seconds it takes can put slack in the line and let a fish spit the hook or reach structure. The single speed is the right reel there, not the cheap one.
- Bottom fishing does not need a two-speed. Rockfish, and even bigger halibut and lingcod up north, want capacity in the right line test to reach bottom; they are not fighters that wear you down, so a low gear never earns its keep.
- If you fish any of those styles but you are also heading down here on a long-range trip, get the two-speed. That trip is exactly where the versatility pays for itself.
3. When the third gear earns its keep
Avet is the only company currently making a three-speed reel, and the reason to buy one changes completely depending on size, so ignore any one-size-fits-all pitch.
On the small reels (HXJ, HX, HXW), you are buying the low gear. A granny gear down around 1.3:1 gives you cranking power that nothing else offers in a reel this small; with most brands you would have to jump up to a 50 or bigger, and only in the heavier frames. That is the whole point: a small reel that can still fight a big fish. Yes, a small spool in low gear gives back only a little line per crank, but when you are trying not to get spooled, turning a fish before it goes under the boat, or keeping it out of structure, every inch counts, and the smaller spool is easier on your arm when you are out of gas at the gaff.
On the big reels (Pro EX 30/3, 50/3, 80, T-RX), you are buying a higher high gear, and often a lower low as well, so the three-speed widens the range at both ends. The fast top gear is what makes kite fishing work (you have to pick up the slack before you can even set the hook on a tuna that ate the flying fish), resets land-based shark baits quicker after a soak, and clears the long slack after a SoCal bluefin troll, where anglers run high-speed lures like a Nomad MadMac 100 to 400 yards back, swing the boat past the school, and then have to wind all that line back without wearing themselves out.
Fair warning, because we would rather you know going in: a three-speed asks more of the angler, since you have to learn when to shift and when not to. In return you get, at worst, the most versatile reel in its class, and at best the single best tool made for a few specific styles of fishing.
4. Raptor, Raptor Plus, or standard?
Raptor models are the high-drag versions, a dual-drag design with considerably more stopping power than the standard reels. If you fish heavier line and want more drag on tap, that is the Raptor.
Raptor Plus takes it further and comes fully loaded: two-speed, MC cast control, and the glide plate, all standard. On the smaller sizes it is the easiest way to get the whole package in one reel.
Standard (non-Raptor) reels are still the right answer for a lot of fishing, with plenty of drag for the line class they are built around, at a lower price.
If you are not sure whether you need the extra drag, the deciding question is line class: the heavier the line and the bigger the target, the more the Raptor's drag matters.
5. MC or non-MC? (magnetic cast control)
MC is Avet's magnetic cast control, and here is the rule from years of fishing both:
- New to conventional reels? Get the MC version. It flattens the learning curve on backlashes without costing you distance.
- Fishing mostly braid to a shorter leader? Get the MC version, no question.
- Experienced thumb, and you like it that way? The non-MC is for you, and it is not a downgrade. Note that non-MC reels are silver, right-hand only.
The objection we hear is that a magnet must cost casting distance. It does not; the MC feature will not degrade your cast one bit, it just saves you time and frustration.
6. Left-hand retrieve
Avet supports left-handed anglers unlike anyone else in the business, and there is a reason: Harry, one of Avet's owners, is a lefty, so they go out of their way to build a left-hand model in almost every size and model. Among the other American makers, Accurate and Seigler support lefties too; most other companies offer one or two models if any.
Left-hand reels are silver only, and that is a manufacturing story, not a slight. Avet did make colored lefties years back, but the only part that differs on a left-hand reel is the gearbox, and colored parts vary batch to batch, so lefties kept coming out with mismatched colors. Silver keeps them right. The one place left hand is a special build is the T-RX 80 to 130; even there Avet makes a left-hand version for us, with the lever mechanism reversed.
If you do not see the left-hand model you want listed, call us. We get lefties in all the time.
7. How we spool it
Every reel we sell can be spooled and rigged to your specs before it ships, and we have been rigging braid since spectra first hit the West Coast. Braid backing with a mono topshot for casting work, reverse-spooled for bottom fishing, or a leader run into hollow core for a knotless connection, your call, and we will talk it through. As one common example, we generally put about 300 yards of 50 lb braid on an MXL with a 100-yard 40 lb mono topshot, since mono eats space faster than braid.
We do not tie quick uni-to-uni connections on gear headed for big fish. We take the time to make a better knot, a Bimini to Albright, served, or Sato connection, one that holds up over time and deals with larger fish, runs thinner through your guides, and fishes stealthier. One tip worth knowing: it is preferable to run a braid a bit higher in line test than the topshot or leader it connects to. You can see how we do all of it on our YouTube channel, CharkBaitUSA.
8. When a reel shows out of stock
Do not let an out-of-stock note stop you. Avet builds most reels to order. Nobody, including Avet, keeps one of every one of their roughly 1,300 SKUs on a shelf; instead they hold a deep stock of parts and assemble reels as they are ordered, often the same day. We place and receive Avet orders three to four times a week, so a reel that is not on our shelf typically lands in about three to four business days (a little longer for the largest or most specialized models).
This is actually the advantage of buying an Avet from us: the odd size, the specific color, the left-hand retrieve that another shop's page just lists as unavailable, we can get it for you in days. Tell us what you want and we will tell you the realistic timeline.
Ready to pick one?
Browse the full Avet reels lineup, or step back to all our lever-drag reels. Or just call the shop: you will get an answer from someone who fishes these reels, not a script, and we will spool it and rig it the way you fish before it goes out the door.