Need advice for a new reel.

[RandyinRockford]

I received a SC Panfish 64 light rod for Christmas and have narrowed the 1000 size reel down to either a Daiwa Legalis or Shimano Miravel. What are your thoughts?

[zekepa]

I've only used the Legalis of the 2 reals you asked about. I've become partial to shallow spooled reels out of Japan. Below is a topic from the ultralight sub forum about the 2023 Legalis.
Daiwa 2023 Legalis LT 1000s - Page 3 (crappie.com)

I actually bought the 2000 size reels rather than 1000. with the new legalis reels the 2000 actually retrieves 1cm less line than the 1000 due to different gear ratios. Not anything you will notice, however the 2000 spool holds 100m of 4lb line vs the 1000 holding 70 m of 3lb line. For mono I normally use 4lb that comes in 100m spools so it works well for me.

I haven't fished the reel alot due to weather, but did test it enough to like the improvements over the previous version of the Legalis reels I have. I bought 2 of the reels mainly for my wife and others to use on the boat.

The improvement I'm talking depends on fishing style, for me a with steady slow retrieve with the rod held steady the reels feel the same. But if twitching a trout magnet you can feel the play in the handle on the older legalis, as well as some other higher prices reels I have from Abu Garcia the ALX models. When fishing the new Legails I didn't feel like the handle had any slop.

The shallow spool legalis are available on regular US Amazon, for about $75, I pick the ones that are sold and shipped from Amazon Japan. It does take a couple weeks for them to be delivered.

[markedman1132]

I don't have the Miravel, but I have a JDM Legalis 1000 and a US version of the Legalis 2000. Both are great reels for the money.

A Miravel is considerably more expensive than a Legalis. The Legalis retails for $80 USD, while the Miravel is about $130 USD.

Also, if you look at JDM versions, there are a lot more options. For the price of a Miravel, you can get a much higher end Daiwa JDM reel due to a strong dollar against the Yen.

[Just_Bass]

Really agreed about 2000 size reel if possible. Most of them are pretty much the same frame, only 2000 size come with 1-2mm larger diameter. That 1-2mm really help in casting distance and a little bit of line management. I had the new 2023 JDM Legalis (2000S-P), that is really good, lightweight, smooth and drag sound as good as Shimano. Too bad I only got to enjoy it in very short time, bigger fish than crappie, pulled the rod out of my hand (one of my favorite as well), when it went under dock.
I actually bought this one because of slow gear ratio and to replace shimano Vanford that I sold. If you absolute have to buy here in US, I would recommend new 2023 Daiwa Exceler 2000 (silver color) at 88-100 USD. I think this reel is the same as JDM Legalis, marketing only USDM.

[Just_Bass]

Really agreed about 2000 size reel if possible. Most of them are pretty much the same frame, only 2000 size come with 1-2mm larger diameter. That 1-2mm really help in casting distance and a little bit of line management. I had the new 2023 JDM Legalis (2000S-P), that is really good, lightweight, smooth and drag sound as good as Shimano. Too bad I only got to enjoy it in very short time, bigger fish than crappie, pulled the rod out of my hand (one of my favorite as well), when it went under dock.
I actually bought this one because of slow gear ratio and to replace shimano Vanford that I sold. If you absolute have to buy here in US, I would recommend new 2023 Daiwa Exceler 2000 (silver color) at 88-100 USD. I think this reel is the same as JDM Legalis, marketing only USDM.

[RandyinRockford]

Thanks guys for the replies! Randy