new light saltwater casting setup

[eupher]

I just got back from breaking in my new casting outfit at the outer banks of NC. I got a calais dc 201, spooled with 15 lb power pro, on a g. loomis mbr844c. It worked great for throwing 1 oz gotcha plugs off the pier for bluefish and spanish mackerel. As I was expecting, the setup was able to easily throw the 1 oz plugs a LONG way. I'm not sure how much line the reel holds, but it is supposed to be 4lb diameter. It looked like I was using over half the spool on a lot of the casts. Throwing into the wind was a piece of cake. The only problem I had was casting sideways to the wind. There was so much line going out that the wind took it in a big arc sideways. That's just the price you pay for distance in those conditions.

As impressed as I was with the casting, I was most impressed with the drag. It was so smooth I couldn't believe it. Not only was it no problem when a nice sized spanish grabbed the plug and went blazing out with the line, but I also ended up hooking into a 15-20 lb cobia with the outfit. He hit right by the pier, and didn't even end up taking as much line as I was throwing out on the long casts. He did a lot of head shaking (which felt great) and jumped once, which was fun to watch. I did end up losing him by putting too much pressure on him and snapping the line while trying to coax him into the net and keep him from getting wrapped around the pier. If I didn't have the pier to contend with, I felt like this light little outfit could easily handle a considerably larger fish. You really have to experience the drag on one of these reels while a big and/or fast fish is taking line. It's amazing.

[norml]

Sounds like a great set up. I am new to saltwater angling, can you look at my post @ norml of Aug. 01. Any feedback/ suggestions would be helpful.
Thanks,
Norm

[lpquick]

I inshore fish a lot and own a Calais 201DC reel fitted on a G Loomis NRX 893C JWR 7'5' X fast rod and the combo is outstanding. I recently purchased a Calais 201A and felt the drag to be very limited, yet smooth. I just upgraded the drag washers to carbontex from Smooth Drag and couldn't believe how much this has helped. I can't swear it's any smoother but I have a much improved range of drag settings, close to what the DC model offers right out of the box. Now I'm looking to sell my 3yr old Curado 201DHSV & ST Croix Avid/ADC66MF so I can purchase another.