It's not what we would call trophy fish here in the Top End but on this sort of gear these fish were a big buzz. In shallow water this would have taken over 80 metres of line, twice, before it surrendered. This is one tough saltwater reel with plenty of applications for our tropical fishing both barra and bluewater! Setting a new standard in baitcaster technology the Saltist HRF is destined to become the benchmark against which others are judged.. These kingfish can take some stopping especially on a baitcast rod and soft plastics! BETWEEN SNAPPER AND A HARD ROCK! Whilst planning for a recent trip to NZ, I was a bit puzzled as to what gear to take. Living in Tauranga, an east coast metropolis about the size of Darwin with a similar tidal harbour, my brothers are keen on all sorts of fishing from flyfishing for trout to bluewater snapper and kingfish. I decided to be brave and cover all the bases with my trusty Daiwa Saltist Hard Rock Fish baitcast reel with 30lb Bionic braid and and a 3 piece travel rod. Brave indeed! Back in the fifties and early sixties, when I was growing up, Tauranga Harbour was mostly famous for it's annual autumn snapper run, a phenomena that attracted anglers from all over to fish for the elusive 10 kilo snapper in shallow water. Of course we all know what happned to the old days, and since then Tauranga has become NZ's biggest export port, and second only to Auckland in traffic. So guess what suffered? In the forty odd years I have been going back harbour snapper have been something of a myth, spoken of in reverent terms over a beer at the local fishing club. So when I was told we were going to spend a few days snapper fishing in the Harbour it was a bit of Ho-Hum! What they didn't tell me was that in recent times NZ fishos and their peak bodies have been doing some fantastic work in rejuvenating the once flourishing fisheries. Boy have they done a job on that one. We fished about six days over a fortnight, and lost count of our catch when we went past the fifty mark. Not all big, mark you, but plenty around the three to four kilo mark and in water only a few metres dee, and they fight like my kids used to sharing Coke and a Burger! Not only that, we were catching Kingfish at the same spot up to 80cms long. (not quite legal under the new rules) but a lot of fun and indicative of the health of the system. One of the things I learned was the effectiveness of plastics on snapper and reef fish. I was using small shads and scented Gulp grubs and most of the time they were outfishing bait. They were also effective as the top bait on a two hook paternoster deepwater rig - something I will be keeping in mind this coming dry season. Designed for either braided lines or monofilament, the Daiwa Saltist HRF will tackle any medium to heavy saltwater action you care to throw at it, from barramundi and jacks up north to mulloway and flathead down south. Daiwa has really rigged the Saltist HRF for all out use in saltwater. With specialized anti-corrosion treatment and 8 exclusive Corrosion Resistant Ball Bearings (CRBB) Saltist will give you years of use and won’t seize up just when you need it the most. The beefy, seven disc fiber composite wet drag keeps water out and the drag smooth, even when a hot fish is pulling for all it’s worth. Everything is kept in place by the solid one-piece aluminum frame and sideplate and the machined Free Floating aluminum wiffle spool gives you quick startup and long cast ability. You’ll be able to perfectly control your spool speed and virtually eliminate backlash with Daiwa’s new ultra deep Magforce-Z automatic magnetic anti-backlash control. Magforce-Z automatically applies more spool drag as the speed of the spool ramps up and the adjustment knob features an easy one finger control. Tough conditions demand tough tackle, Daiwa takes the next step in introducing a purpose designed saltwater baitcaster. Setting a new standard in baitcaster technology the Daiwa Saltist HRF reel is destined to become the benchmark against which others are judged. Rigid one piece machined aluminium frame and side plate Extra hard titanium nitride line guide Free floating spool Micro click precision drag adjustment Infinite anti reverse Stainless steel pinion gear Seven element Hyper tournament wet drag system Latest generation Magforce Z magnetic brake system Ultra low profile, up to 6mm lower than competitors 8 CRBB (corrosion resistant ball bearings) plus one roller bearing more detail