Avet MXJ MC or JX MC?
 

Looking to buy a reel :reel: for throwing surface irons as well as trolling off the kayak. I'm pretty new to kayak fishing and thought I'de ask some people with more experience. Do i need the line capacity and extra drag of the JX? Thinking of mating the reel with a Calstar GFDH 850H rod. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

This is a popular question and usually has a long but comprehensive answer.

-I'll speak directly to the reels you mentioned. I own everything avet makes, so heres the apples to apples answer.

-For a jig stick (and yo-yo iron) I like the JX in 6:1. You can pack on 240 yards of 40 lb. and 280 of 30 lb.
It works nice for bruiser yellowtail.

The main reason I recommend the JX is its narrow frame. This will make it much easier to stack the line properly when you retrieve after each cast. Your only as good as your last cast, because if you don't wind on the line tightly and even you are going to have problems on your next cast.

-When in doubt drop your line to the bottom and re-stack your reel.

The next reason is - the JX is not going to get a pile up of line under the reels crossbar. This can happen with the MXL when its loaded with line for a Jig stick application. (usually when you are hooked up and fighting a fish and not really concerned about setting up the line for the next perfect cast).

46 inches Vs. 38 inches of line retrieval per crank makes a huge difference when you just casted out 80 yards of line at a breaking fish. You will need the higher gear ratio to make the jig swim.

The JX is better suited to the drag pressures we need for yellowtail. On the MXL you will be skirting the boundary of handle bind because you will have to fish the MXL near its max drag rating.
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-On a side note.
Avets are great reels and work very good if fished in their Manufacturers Drag Range. (if you exceed this number you put too much load on the pinion bearing, and cause quick wear, and handle bind)
-So set it at or below the Strike Spec. with a drag scale, then use a permanent marker to mark the preset knob so you don't overload the reel.
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More info on jig stick reels can be found on this thread.

http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwevb/s...ad.php?t=10164

Yes, on the JX for all around reel... :reel:

true of any lever drag reel (except accurates I think). which is why I think you'll find probably greater popularity for a star drag jig reel. I'm not sure lever drags are as well suited for throwing iron. I love the sealines, but newells, saltists, toriums, etc., all are probably a better choice for throwing iron.

I would look at the JX over the MXJ. As mentioned above the gear ratio will aid in the retrieval of line along with the difference in maximum drag (14lbs for the MXJ & 20lbs for the JX). With a small difference in size, the JX gets my vote for max drag and the additional line capacity if needed. Cost does come into play as $210 gets you the MXJ MC 5.8:1 & $290 for the JX MC 6:1. As for the size of each of these reels, see below.

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/6767/mxj.pnghttp://img718.imageshack.us/img718/5582/49367205.png

I just noticed I said MXL - My bad. The advice still stands on the JX for your intended use though.

Thank you for all your insights. Im limited to reel selection due to the fact that alot of reels dont come in a left handed version.