Avet HXW Raptor 5/2 Two Speed Reels

How the HXW family splits. Two axes, and they are different decisions. By drag: the standard HXW holds about 21 lb at strike — set drag at the usual quarter to a third of breaking test and that makes it a 60 lb reel, so it mostly trolls on private boats and fishes Ulua-style in Hawaii, where the drag demand is lower. The HXW Raptor nearly doubles that, which is what makes it the 100 lb-class reel — the bigger long-range live-bait size and a night-time bluefin jigging reel. Heavier line on the standard adds no pulling power; it just eats capacity. By cast control: the MC is the one generally used for casting — pier and land-based fishing with heavy weight and bait — while the plain frames mostly troll and soak.

Rods. Trolling: UC RCX 60XXH, which doubles as a standup rod. Local bluefin: the RCX 76 Viper — a very comfortable combo. Rail: Okuma PCH-C-741XXXH. Trolling on the Okuma side: PCH-TRB-5101H. For the Ulua and land-based styles we mainly recommend the trolling rods.

Going without the magnet is a choice, not a downgrade. If you have the thumb for it — and if you mostly soak bait, drop jigs or fish off a rail rather than casting lures — the magnetic cast control is a feature you will never reach for, and skipping it brings the price down. You still get the same spool, the same drag and the same gearing. Where the MC version earns its keep is with anglers new to conventional reels, and with anyone fishing mostly braid to a short leader.

On left-hand retrieve, Avet is not like anyone else, 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 they make. Among American manufacturers, Accurate and Seigler look after lefties too; nearly everyone else offers one or two models, if any. And a question we get a lot: does Avet make left-hand reels in colors? They did, six-plus years back, in a few colors — then stopped, for a practical reason. The only part that differs on a left-hand reel is the gearbox, and colored parts vary from batch to batch, so they kept ending up with mismatched colored parts. It is simply easier to build them in silver. A silver lefty is a manufacturing consequence, not a shortcut.

A note on availability. Avet holds a large stock of parts and assembles reels as they are ordered, so most Avet reels are not sitting on a shelf at the time of purchase. We order and receive from Avet three to four times a week, so a reel we do not have typically lands in three to four business days — longer on larger or specialty models. If you want an odd size or color, that is usually a short wait rather than a dead end.