Daiwa Lexa LT

Reels are the hottest topic for TackleTour. Everyone wants to know what the latest and greatest is and how they compare to the old guard. What's the best for light stuff, or what's your suggestion for heavy cover. Do we really need different retrieve ratios? It's all in here.
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Poisson
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Daiwa Lexa LT

Post by Poisson » Thu Aug 15, 2019 8:32 am

I'm researching options for a hair jig and spybait combo - long rod, very light line. I'm thinking a 2500 or 3000 size will balance out a longer rod better than a 1000 size reel but I'd rather avoid the guesswork of spooling up a ton of backing to leave the right capacity for 6 lb braid, so I've been researching JDM shallow spool options. Anybody have their hands on a Daiwa Lexa LT?

Poisson
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Re: Daiwa Lexa LT

Post by Poisson » Mon Aug 19, 2019 9:45 am

Ha! Just looked at the Daiwa Japan site and noticed that the shallow spool versions make their debut in September, which explains why I could only find them on plat.co.jp. I may snatch up a 3000S-CXH once they are actually available, there is an itch in my brain won't let me pass up a perfect match for the Cronos 7'6" MML that is on the way. :lol:

poisonokie
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Re: Daiwa Lexa LT

Post by poisonokie » Mon Aug 19, 2019 1:01 pm

I know the OG Lexas were nice reels for the money and you can add a bearing to the spool and one to the line roller. Mine got a lot of heavy use, including battling a big catfish on the 2500 and it handled it great. It has developed some noise over the years, so I should've maintained it better, but dismantling spinning reels is just such a PITA. My 3000 is still smooth as butter and a beast of a bass reel. They have some of the best line lay I've ever seen on a spinning reel and great drag, too.
This is the way.

i_am_R2
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Re: Daiwa Lexa LT

Post by i_am_R2 » Fri Aug 23, 2019 3:37 pm

I received my 2500 in the mail today. First impressions are its a nice reel for the price. Seems very well built with a light smooth retrieve plus it looks pretty sharp with the silver and black color scheme. I was looking for a reel for light saltwater use (because my friends keep bugging me to go :lol: ) with a little slower retrieve ratio for tossing small swimbaits and this looked to fit the bill. Have it paired with a St. Croix Avid Inshore. May not be able to put it to use for a while but so far I like it and am happy with the purchase.

Poisson
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Re: Daiwa Lexa LT

Post by Poisson » Fri Aug 23, 2019 8:20 pm

i_am_R2 wrote:
Fri Aug 23, 2019 3:37 pm
I received my 2500 in the mail today. First impressions are its a nice reel for the price. Seems very well built with a light smooth retrieve plus it looks pretty sharp with the silver and black color scheme. I was looking for a reel for light saltwater use (because my friends keep bugging me to go :lol: ) with a little slower retrieve ratio for tossing small swimbaits and this looked to fit the bill. Have it paired with a St. Croix Avid Inshore. May not be able to put it to use for a while but so far I like it and am happy with the purchase.
Glad to hear the positive initial impressions!

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Jason Penn
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Re: Daiwa Lexa LT

Post by Jason Penn » Sun Sep 15, 2019 10:24 am

after this thread, i got to checking these reels out and like the cosmetics. i'm really tired of the blacked out scheme.

i'm looking for a new spinning reel, and will be using straight fc. i've tried to get on the braid/leader bandwagon, but it just doesn't work for me. would line management be better on a 3000s vs 2500? seems like picking a new reel used to not be this difficult, but there's so many options within the lt line and i can't figure out exactly what's what

Poisson
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Re: Daiwa Lexa LT

Post by Poisson » Sun Sep 15, 2019 11:50 am

Jason Penn wrote:
Sun Sep 15, 2019 10:24 am
after this thread, i got to checking these reels out and like the cosmetics. i'm really tired of the blacked out scheme.

i'm looking for a new spinning reel, and will be using straight fc. i've tried to get on the braid/leader bandwagon, but it just doesn't work for me. would line management be better on a 3000s vs 2500? seems like picking a new reel used to not be this difficult, but there's so many options within the lt line and i can't figure out exactly what's what
I actually ordered a Lexa LT 3000S-CXH the first day they showed up as in stock on Digitaka and picked it up from USPS on Friday. Very sharp looking reel, a perfect match for the Cronos series and many others with silver/black accents. Note that it is aluminum and therefore on the heavy side for its class, but the extra weight didn't bother me because it is matched up with a 7'6" rod. I tend to hold the rod in front of the reel with a finger on the blank or line, and the balance is right for my grip.

I've only spooled it up and played around with it for a few minutes, and I don't have any experience with truly high end spinning reels - on first impressions alone it compares pretty favorably against the Stradic 2500FK. Feels great and seems to lay line really evenly, as I'd expect from any reel at this price point.

While I'm not sure there is a clear consensus on this, I went with the 3000 size for better line management and casting distance. First reel over 2500 for me. My only concern with the bigger size is that I intend to use it for finesse presentations and the drag is advertised at an insane max of 10kg; I haven't had a chance to play around with it yet, but my a priori expectation is that as the ratio [drag setting] / [max drag setting] approaches zero it would be more difficult to attain pressure that is smooth, consistent, and easy to adjust in small increments, i.e. I would expect a drag stack to perform the best in the middle of its range, with some level of deterioration at either end. I need to do some more research on this, maybe look into a compatible set of finesse oriented felt washers. For science? \:D/

Poisson
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Re: Daiwa Lexa LT

Post by Poisson » Sun Sep 15, 2019 6:44 pm

I busted out a scale out this evening to test the drag on some light settings and got super smooth/consistent pressure from 1 to 3 lbs. Set at two pounds, five clicks either direction amounted to a change of roughly 0.10 lbs. I also took a peek at the drag stack and now I'm curious if the shallow spool models have a different configuration than the others in the series. It handles the light weights really nicely and I can't imagine these washers holding up to anything near the max pressure advertised on the box. I'm pleasantly surprised, but maybe I'm just paranoid because of the equipment I used when I was learning how to fish.

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