Avet SXJ G2 5.3 MC Single Speed Reels

Rods. The SX and SXJ fish the light end of the live-bait rack: UC RCE 700XL or 700L, the RCE 800XF or 800 Mag for casting distance, Okuma PCH-C-701M, -761M or -801MH, and the Daiwa Proteus 76 or 80 in MF — step to MHF when you push toward the top of the class. The SX also fishes the same heavier rods as the MX: RCE 700M, RCE 800 Mega, PCH-C-761MH or -761H, Proteus MHF or HF. On the other coast these are favorite fluke reels — shorter jigging rods like the Daiwa Harrier X in M or MH — and for slow-pitch jigging the Okuma Tesoro Slow Pitch, Oceans Legacy Element SPJ or Daiwa Harrier SP in a 100–250 g jig range all pair well.

On the magnetic cast control, there are two clear buy signals. If you are new to fishing a conventional reel in saltwater, buy the MC version — it will save you time and frustration, and it does not degrade your cast one bit. And if you are going to fish mostly braid connected to a shorter leader, there is no question: get the MC. The magnet builds resistance in proportion to spool speed and then tapers off on its own as the spool slows, so it does the most work early in the cast, when a spool is most likely to over-run.

One thing to check before you buy: a plain SXJ cannot clamp to a deckhand rod — no clamp is made to fit it — so the rod needs a reel seat. Only the SXJ Raptor and Raptor Plus ship with a clamp.

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, color or a left-hand retrieve, that is usually a short wait rather than a dead end.