The St. Croix Avid Reel

[Kingfisher]

Hi Guys, I just purchased one of the new Avid 300 reels. Wow! what a step up from what I was using. All I can say is Solid, well made , smooth , did I mention smooth?? Very nice . Casts 30% farther than my best c-3 abu with out over runs. I did not like spending the money but so far it has been worth it. I hope the quality hold up to the beating I put my reels thru. Kingfisher

[Slimeball]

I wish they offered them with a LH retrieve

Jason.

[Chasin50]

Dito to what slimeball said.

[Chris Barton]

As I am sure most of you are aware the St. Croix reels are an exact duplicate of the Daiwa Millionaire CV-Z baitcasting reels. Daiwa makes the CV-Z in the left handed version. They do not offer the left handed version in the 300 size, but they do in the slightly smaller size, 253. I have fished the 253 size for several years and it is an awesome casting reel.

Good Luck,

Chris Barton

[Slimeball]

Hi Chris,

Just wanted to clarify on this a little. St. Croix Avid reels are not the exact duplicates of the Diawa Millionare CVZ-series. Yes, they are made to St. Croix specs by Diawa but there are differences. The Diawa has one or two more ball bearings but the St. Croix has a metal thumbar, the Daiwa does not. I would like to have a metal thumbar and would not like to go down in size from the AC 300.

Thanks,

Jason Merics

[Chris Barton]

Jason,

You are correct. The Daiwa reel does have 2 more ball bearings then the St. Croix. Hopefully, someday St. Croix might offer the left handed version in the 300 size.

Chris Barton

[Slimeball]

Hopefully in the near future. The demand for left handed reels seems to be growing more and more every year.

Jason.

[Kingfisher]

I changed from left handed reels when I hung up my open faces. At first reeling with my right hand was difficult but it was only a week or so and Wow this is ok. It was the same for my wife. She was raised on left hand cranking open faces. It took her all of two days to switch over. The main reason I changed over to the right was that most TRrolling reels do not offer left hand crank. I have 12 Okumas all right hand. I didnt want to pass up the great prices on these reels . This has kept all our reels on the same side. Works for us. I like the metal thumb bar as well it just feels like a well made machine. Kingfisher

[spieg]

Just a word of caution on the 253's, they are a disengaging levelwind design and wide enough that it annoyed the heck out of me on about 50% of my casts. The spool is just a bit too wide and/or the line guide is too restrictive for that sized reel in my opinion. Especially with the bigger braids. Ive got a CV-X 253LA; its the only reel ive ever had fail on a hookset. The anti reverse bearing reversed. I realize the CV-X is a very different beast than the CV-Z (and the st croix for that matter) but to the best of my knowledge all three use the same ARB. YMMV.

[muskyguy]

Hello,

I still use a few calcutta reels but I am very happy with the avid series AC300. I bought 5 of the AC 300 last season and have had great luck with the reels. They made it through a grueling season(on the water everyday weather permitting) with no breakdowns. I own 4 calcutta 400 reels and have had great luck with these babies also. My personnal opinion is that the avid series is a better reel and I love the thumb bar re-engage feature! I would be lying if I did'nt say that the Calcutta palms better. It is slightly larger in size and fits better in MY hand. I love both the Avid series and the Calcutta series, despite the fact that I feel the Avid is a better reel. After a couple more seasons with the Avids and Calcuttas working side by side I will be better able to compare the two. If anyone is thinking about purchasing an Avid series reel; have no fear. It is a great buy!

GREG

[Kingfisher]

Im getting one for the Queen . Kingfisher

[muskyguy]

Great idea! You'll be the king forever! Have a great day!

GREG