Daiwa TAT200HL Tatula 200 Baitcasting Reel Left Hand

Long experience with spinning gear, and some prior experience with the ABU Ambassadeur conventionals. Mounted this on a budget M/Fast 7'6" fiberglass rod, since no appropriate baitcast rods in my collection. using it for inshore and jetty casting, jigging, crankbaits, etx. Havent thrown very heavy (~3oz) cut baits yet. While i am used to setting cast control on the ABUs on a per-bait/lure basis, i trusted the manual and left the factory cast control setting zeroed, no side play on spool. cranked mag brakes (due to big spool this has MAGFORCE, but not MAGFORCE-Z brakes). Casti g distsnce with a 3/4 oz spoon was dissapointing, as expected with full brakes applied. kept lowering brakes until distance was equivalent with any of my Daiwa/Shimano/Quantum spinning reels. Tried many different ~1oz lures, had to clear a couole birdsnests learning the brakes and reel. Takeaways: Throws light (3/8 to 3/4 oz) weights just fine, not stellar. bump weight in the 1.5oz to 2oz range and LOOK OUT...drastically outpaces my spinning gear, super long, controlled casting. Smooth casting will prevent birdsnests, even with light braking. Try a typical spinning reel whipping motion and the non-Z brakes will let line fluff on the initial cast, since there is no centrifugal component. Late cast braking is super smooth and effective. Bottom line: suoer easy and effective reel if you use it for 3/4 to 3oz weight casting, just decent down to 3/8oz. Super smooth and light gears, good solid drag (only caught a midsize pompano so far), big handle, and only a 150 size in hand. Daiwa quality throughout. Regrets: got the 7.3:1 ratio and its taking some getting used to. VERY fast for my use cases. Would have been better off with the slower (~6 to 1) ratio.