New Diawa Luna 253

[birdman]

Bought a Diawa Luna 253 for throwing the plastics at the bass. $219 retail. It worked great sunday. Catching several calicos at Cat. . Smooth drag and great casting ability. It may be as good the Shimano Calcutta TE for over a hundred dollars less. Hopefully it will last. I traded in my last inshore bass reel the new Abu Garcia Record. It casted good, but the drag was sticky after only 5 or 6 trips. I also had to replace a little plastic gear within the first week. The record was overpriced/ not worth the $140. Anyone been using the Lunas??

[Mean-Machine]

Yeah I got the Diawa Luna 300 earlier this year. It's freakin awesome I love it. Jack at Fisherman's Access in Brea hooked me up. Too bad I have not gotten to use it as much as I would have liked to this year. No need to spend more. It's a bad ass bass reel that could handle an occasional yeller if need be.

[chuam]

I heard from a very knowledgable person at Noahs that the Luna is as good if not better than the calcuttas. I'm going to pick up one soon.

[birdman]

Thanks for the feedback. The reel seems pretty bullet proof. I can not wait to use it again. I love throwing the artificials with it. Something about tricking the fish is better than using bait. Tight lines!

[Double Z]

You guys are killing me on this one. I've caught a grip of Yellowtail and even a decent (read Little, about 18lbs or so) Yellow Fin Tuna on a Diawa PT-33 spooled up with straight 10lb. Since 1988 I'm on my second pinion gear (my fault) and have smoked a few drag washers. That Luna is one awsome reel. The ability of both the Calcutta and the Luna is beyond their collective capacity. I'm leaning towards the Diawa. Shimano seems to think that if 50 parts are good then 75 are better.

[Staven]

I have a Luna 103 for inshore here in FLorida, which works wonderfully. I have caught many large trout (that have soft lips) and the drag performed flawlessly and then the same day hook up on a large snook, lock the drag down and battle it out. No probs.

I also have a Luan 300 and I like it alot, I even use it fishing for snapper on the closer reefs or when chumming in deeper reefs. I like the line capacity. It holds more then the Record 60 and a little more then the Calcutta 400. Well made, good gears and great drags. No plans on changing it out for anything else this point, unless Penn gets their act together and upgrades the International baitcasters finally. (I love my 16VSX and Torque 300, they outdid themselves with those reels).

[alantani]

birdman, the abu record has carbon fiber drag washers. these dry washers tend to stick. try some cal's or shimano grease on the washers and the drag should perform flawlessly. here's the link ....

http://www.bloodydecks.com/forums/re...0-rebuild.html

captain z, are you talking about the small daiwa baitcaster? i have a set of daiwa pt 33 sh's. mine have the 7.1:1 crank. i got a pair of penn drag washers, one was the #6-113H and the other was the #6-965. both had to be cut down slightly to fit, they were also greased and they have worked flawlessly as well. i do not have a rebuild post for this reel, but the if you follow the curado post, it is very similar. only the right side plate has to come off.

staven, if the drags on the luna ever start to stick on you, please post here and i will see if i can match up a set of carbon fiber drag washers for you. i'm thinking that a set of carbontex for the abu 5 and 6 series reels would work. keep us posted. good luck, guys. alan

[Double Z]

Hey Alan, Yep, that's the reel but mine is a 6-1. I've destroyed two HT washers and pinion gear. Again, the pinion was my fault. I'd like to send it into Diawa for a complete go through. I'm going to send that one and few others in for a complete go through.

[Cartero]

I have a 253 as well and I really like it except for one thing. From time to time I get a loop of line that goes up into the track for the levelwind and then loops over the levelwind itself. It basically locks up the spool and it's a bitch for my fat fingers to undo it. So far I haven't hooked a fish in this situation so nothing lost or damaged. Other than that it's a great performer.

[x-man]

Birdman
Thanks for posting your report on the Luna 253. I just ordered one from Cabelas and it should be in my hot little hands in the next couple of days. Can't wait to try it out. What rod did you put it on and what line did you spool up with?

[hamachi51]

I have a luna 253 and it is a better reel than the old millionaire. I used it for the first time on the Q105 skiff trip this past June, I had it spooled with straight 65# power pro. I like the reel but in my opinion my 400te pulls better. It just seems to have more torque. However, I do love my luna

[bradmaralbacore]

i want a 253 so bad, but $219 is a alot. where can u get cheap ones?