I have been looking for a spinning reel for my soon to be built small football jig rod. Budget is sort of tight but I had gift cards. Loved my Daiwa Black Golds but they would be heavy on this build. Nasci and Fuego are nice but they just feel plasticy. Great reputations but ehh feel to me. Digging around I came across the '23 Daiwa Lexa LT. Hmmm basically a Fuego with an aluminum body. Ohhh shallow spool available. So I pulled the trigger on a 3000s model of Amazon. $115... 110yds of 8lb is plenty (going to be 20lb braid to leader). Quarter ounce heavier than a Fuego.

Yes there's 30" of ice on Champlain soooo not a test/review post yet. However if it's an Aluminum Fuego for less than a Fuego then I'm pretty confident it's going to be good.

Dig around folks you can find some cool stuff.

@webertime If you’re ok with it don’t forget to share a photo in the rod reel monkey thread when it all comes together.

I came really close to buying a 3k a couple years ago. They're light for an AL framed Daiwa, but from what I remember.

I cant remember exactly what they weighed, but I'm fairly certain the 3ks were over 8oz. I was looking at the EVA knobbed 3k because it was going to be an inshore reel, and it was over 8.5oz. I ended up not pulling the trigger because Stradic 3k was .5oz lighter than the 3k Lexa.

I compared the 2500s to my older 17 fuegos weight and the short handle model was pretty close, 1/4oz sounds right. The newer Fuegos cut close to 1/4oz off the total weight so now I bet they would be closer to 1/2oz lighter.