As you probably have guess we LOVE the water and everything that has to do with the water. Thus, being in the process of selling everything in our life and house to buy a boat, move aboard, and travel the world. My husband (Doug) is a HUGE fisherman. Any chance for him to be on the water with a rod and avet reel sx in his hand is a good day. He even builds custom fishing rods out of our home. He’s been building custom fishing rods for 28 years and selling them for the last 5 years with great success. If you haven’t done so already you should go check out, and follow, DKCUSTOMRODS.
Part of his love for fishing rods is also the tackle that goes along with the rods, lures, lines, sinkers, reels, etc.. As we told you in “Things To Come” we are going to be doing product reviews for you and today we want to review an Avet Reel. We’re going to look at the Avet Reel SX, the first generation.
*From this point on the review will be in Dougs voice*
Click the image for detail on this particular reel
This is a reel I’ve used for a long time. It is a great all purpose light weight conventional salt water reel. The Avet Reel SX can help you catch anything from a 1lb snapper to a 20lb grouper. You could even catch a Mahi on a weed line you’re sailing past. The Avet Reel SX is one of my all time favorite all around reels. You can pretty much catch anything with this reel.
Avet Reel SX Ease of Use/Quality
There are a lot of points I have for ease of Use & Quality so to help you pick out what you might be looking for specifically I’ll use bullet points below,
- It has a great braided line capacity as well as monofilament line
- It has a 5-1 gear ration that picks up about 30 inches of line per revolution of the handle. This gives it great torque when reeling in a fish
- If you have a higher gear ratio when fighting a larger fish it will make the fight last longer and feel that much harder
- The low gear ratio makes it a great option for bottom fishing
- Its a compact reel and weighs in at about 14 oz without line, roughly 15 oz with line on it. You don’t fatigue since its such a light weight reel when fighting a fish or simply holding it all day on a long fishing excursion.
- It offers a silky smooth drag, it has one big drag washer. This means if a fish is pulling its a smooth line out rather than creating a sporadic jolting as the line pulls.
- Shifting from free spool into strike is a matter of sliding the lever from the free spool position to strike.
- If you want to reach maximum drag capacity you simply slide the lever past strike into full.
- Adjusting the drag, when you don’t have a fish on of course, you simply slide the lever into free spool and use the knob on the lever to adjust for more drag at stick and full or less drag at strike and full.
- It has a very comfortable handle for reeling, made of rubber or you can easily buy and aftermarket handle to suit your fishing needs.
With proper care this reel will last a life time. I try and rinse off my reel, with fresh water, after every use. But if you miss a rinse it wont hurt the reel. It is made of quality aluminum and stainless steel parts. However, like with any product, if you don’t take care of it it wont last.
Who Could Use This Reel
The Avet SX reel is a great option for everyone from the novice fisherman to the professional angler on the tournament circuit. Because of the quality components and its price point it makes it extremely reasonable reel for all anglers. Since it has an all around awesome quality is has been apart of my reel arsenal for many years now.
I recommended this reel to one of my clients four years ago after he purchased a rod from me, DKCUSTOMRODS. If I were to explain his level of fishing style I would slot him as a life long angler but not on the professional level by any standards. He purchased it, took it out for a spin, and loves the smoothness of the drag. He as well as the gear ratio for when he’s fighting the large bottom dweller like snapper and grouper. His words “The drag system is bullet proof and I use it all day because it’s so light weight”.
The Pros & Cons
Pros:
Light weight
Easy to use
Available in right and left handed options
Good for any level of fishing
They are esthetically pleasing
Corrosion resistant
Can be used for saltwater fishing as well as fresh water fishing
Stainless steel ball bearings which is what causes the smoothness for the reeling
The frame is a one piece aluminum frame, which means there is little flex in the reel
Cons:
I honestly can find very little wrong when it comes to this reel. I will say that when they put the reel together at the factor they put a lot of grease in it. Eventually the grease will get gummy. You have to clean out the inside of the reel because parts will start to stick. When you remove the old grease you will need to put more back in. I found out about this problem because the spool engage dog got gummy and I had to take it apart to clean it out. This can all be avoided through yearly maintenance.
Alternatives To This Reel
If I were to recommend some alternatives to this reel I would personally have to say there is no real alternative at this price point. But realistically there is the Accurate Boss Valiant BV-300 that I would consider a very close match to this reel but at a higher price point;. By higher price point I mean roughly $200 more. The SHIMANO Torium 16 PGA, Powergear Righthand Fishing Reel, TOR16PGA is also a good quality reel for only about $10 more. Other than those two I truly wouldn’t compare any other reel on this level. If I did we would have to move into graphite frames like the Penn Squall SQL25N Star Drag Reel, but the frames flex more in my opinion, but they do cost a couple dollars less.
Final Thoughts
Is it worth the money?
As the price starts at $199 I would hands down say yes this is a reel well worth its money. Since it is a reel that could last you a lifetime, with proper care and yearly maintenance, I would say you simply cant beat that price point.
If you are looking to get out on the water and do some all around fishing you simply can’t go wrong with the Avet Reel SX. Like I’ve said, this is one of my favorite all purpose reel. It is one I recommend hands down for anyone looking to get into the sport or take their fishing to the next level.
If you ever have any questions don’t hesitate to reach out to us on Facebook @KiddsOnABoat, IG @KiddsOnABoat, or through our e-mail @ KiddsOnABoat@gmail.com. We’d love to know what you’d like to see us review. We are up for anything family, fun, sun, fishing, etc.! Drop us a product in the comments below and we’ll add it to our list for reviews!
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