Which in your opinion is the better medium sized (think 3 - 4.5oz) swim bait reel? I’m leaning towards the Lexa because I like the externally adjustable brakes but man, Shimano is tough to beat! Your thoughts?

I would lean towards the Diawa Tatula 300. The old 301/300 Curado E7's were great reels, the new ones however do not impress me at all from the test's I've seen on them.

I'm still on the fence about going back to the bigger swimbaits, if I do, the Tatula 300 will be my reel of choice.

Have you held a Daiwa Lexa WN300?  My buddy has one and I don’t like the knobs on the reel.  I have not tried the Curado 300 so can’t comment but do have a Tranx and those are great reels

Trying to keep the cost at $200 so I'd really like a comparison of the two reels mentioned. Not trying to be a jerk or anything but on a budget. I'm sure the Tatula 300 and the Tranx are fantatstic reels but not in my price range unfortunately (plus as much as I like my Tatula's the t-wing system makes it very hard to use a braid to flouro/mono leader...the knots just don't like coming through).

6 hours ago, camman said:

Have you held a Daiwa Lexa WN300?  My buddy has one and I don’t like the knobs on the reel.  I have not tried the Curado 300 so can’t comment but do have a Tranx and those are great reels

They do have a power knob option, wonder if that would be better?

2 hours ago, Brett's_daddy said:

Tatula's the t-wing system makes it very hard to use a braid to flouro/mono leader...the knots just don't like coming through).

They enlarged that section of the T-Wing for the 300 specifically to pass leader knots.

 

The K 300 uses the old sytle VBS brake pins, so if you're accustomed you'll be fine. Choosing between it and the Lexa is a matter of which is more comfortable in your hand. One doesn't radically outperform the other when chucking heavy baits. The Tat 300 is a real cut above both though, especially if you're going to use heavier plastic mainline. Your chances of backlashing off a costly bait are reduced greatly going this route compared to straight braid, or braid to leader. I watched my hardheaded braid-to-leader pal backlash a Bullshad across the lake the other night. You wouldn't believe how many times he's done that. A few dozen at least. Seriously.  I haven't once.

I have a Curado E.  I don't use it very often but I like it.   I have a 7'9" Fenwick AETOS rod that I use to throw A-Rigs with.  I don't have any experience with the Diawa reel so I can't speak to that.  I imagine  it is a pretty good reel.   Most of the DIawa reels I've handled have been pretty good reels.   I've just been a Shimano guy for the past couple of decades ( at least as far as bait casters are concerned ) and that's unlikely to change.

If it is in any way possible/fiscally sensible  to upgrade to the TranX - I'd do that.

I second the opinion to get the Tatula 300. 

 

Barring that, it’s personal preference between the two. They both work fine. I’d be happy with either.

You can find 300 Tatulas for close to $200 with a little searching. I've almost pulled the trigger a couple times. I need to just sell my 300E Curado and buy the Tatula.

7 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

You can find 300 Tatulas for close to $200 with a little searching. I've almost pulled the trigger a couple times. I need to just sell my 300E Curado and buy the Tatula.

I’ve searched and I can’t find it for that. Closest I found was $245 and that’s coming from China which I’m skeptical to say the least.

I have a Lexa 300WN. It casts nice. Not as smooth feeling as a Curado and 2oz heavier.  I'm going to use mine for chucking and trolling musky baits so I imagine it'd work well for your purpose. 

Well, I ended up with the new Tatula 300 (300HL to be precise). I found a cheap price of $224 online so I called Kittery Trading Post to see if they would match it which they did and not only that they gave me the 20% off for being a member so it brought the price down to $215.99. Now I wanted to pay using PayPal and for some reason there was a technical glitch that wouldn't allow it. I was on the phone with their customer service several times yesterday and even today...these guys (Russell and his supervisor Steven) really went above and beyond to help make this transaction work and we finally did and because we went through so much Steven knocked the price of the reel down to an even $200. Wow, Kittery Trading Post customer service is AWESOME!!!

Love the Lexa 300WN. Search ebay to get them in the $170 range. Handles the Gancraft 230, 8" Magdraft and Jackall Gigantarel well. No complaints with the reel so far. Palms well. 

I wish I knew a place with bass so big I need 300-400 yards of line on my reel.