Daiwa Lexa 400 HD Review

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Introduction

This article is a full Daiwa Lexa 400 HD review, and I wrote it because this is a great brand and there just isn’t a great review out there of this flagship reel for the great Daiwa Brand.

If you are anything like me, you like to buy reels that serve multiple purposes and allow you to fish a lot of different species.

This reel is so versatile and built in the right range for sizing, utility, features, profile, and gearing to fish so many different species both in shore and off shore.

The point of this review is to help make you an informed buyer, so if you have any other questions at the end of this please leave them in the comments so I can amend this article and address those questions.

Lets get to it.

Summary Table

Daiwa Lexa 400 HD: The Review Components

Construction

This is one of the most important areas to consider when purchasing a new reel. The body and construction in general is so important to the overall function.

This is a casting reel that is super popular for salt water fishing, meaning corrosion has the possibility of being a real issue.

This reel is has a completely aluminum body, essentially making the possibility of corrosion and rust to the body impossible.

Aluminum is the best material to have a reel body made of, because it resists corrosion and makes the reel lightweight while still maintaining strength.

We will talk about the gears and internal components more below, but it is important to know that the internal drive components where a lot of the reels stress is put are all stainless steel. As long as these components are sealed, which they are with the Daiwa Lexa 400 HD, you want them to be stainless steel to improve the strength.

Overall the construction of this reel is great, and if taken care of will last many many years.

Bearings

All of the Daiwa Models have 6 ball bearings and 1 roller bearing. This is a good amount of bearings that will keep the overall function of the reel very smooth.

One of the key things that Daiwa mentioned when they came out with the Lexa 400 HD is the change from oil lubrication on the bearings to a grease bearing system.

This is important, because grease will reduce the friction much more than the oil will, and reducing friction in a bearing is so key to the longevity of the bearing system.

Drag System (UTD: Ultimate Tournament Carbon Drag)

The drag on this reel is super smooth.

It is a machine cut star drag set up, which allows for quick and easy adjustment of the drag.

The ultimate tournament drag or UTD is Daiwa Technology. This is multiple impregnanted drag discs, which means they are about 30 times more durable than the typical discs that are put into reel drag systems.

This results in even more durability and means this reel will take a beating when it comes to reeling in fish.

Because of the multiple disc set up, the drag is super smooth.

The max drag of the Lexa 400 HD is in line with the max drag of the other 400 series sub models, it is 25 lb of max drag, which is a decent amount of drag for this size of reel.

Gears and Gear Drive/Pinion

So the internal pinion and gear drive of this reel are made of complete stainless steel, which is so important because that will improve the strength and allow them to stand up the the pressure that some fish put on reels.

When it comes to the gear ration the Lexa 40 HD comes in

• 5.3:1
• 6.0:1
• 7.0:1
• 8.0:1

This is quite a range of gears for one reel, and it is nice because it gives you the option to choose which is best for you and your needs.

Handle

The handle of the Lexa 400 HD is one of the main areas people focus on.

This reel has long 100-120mm handles that allow good leverage when you are reeling, but not so long that they are awkward and in the way.

The knob is a EVA knob. This material is so lightweight, strong, and comfortable to hold onto.

EVA is a synthetic material that is found in a lot of reel knobs and grips on rods.

The handle of the Lexa 400 HD is a great balanace of leverage, comfort, and size.

Magforce Cast Control

This feature changes the distance that the magnets are from the spool, adjusting the overall braking on the spool and allowing for changes in casting based on what you need. There are three settings, max brake, all around mode, and long cast mode.

Allows precise control over the casting of a wide range of lures.

• Max brake: The mode for strong headwind and lightweight lures.
• All around mode: For well, most situations hence the name of “all around”.
• Long cast mode: The mode for tail wind and long casting

Essentially, the long cast mode is the setting with least amount of braking applied.

This is another one of the unique things about the Daiwa brand that they carried to the Lexa HD lineup and it is one of my personal favorite features about this reel.

Weight

The weight of the 400 series of Daiwa reels is all around 16-17 oz.

This is great, because reels this lightweight with all the features that this one has will make it so you can fish for hours without your shoulder and arm getting tired.

Having to much weight in a reel also throws some balance issues into your rod choice. You have to get a heavier rod with more wight in the front of the rod, making it so you have to cast a heavier set up overall, and a few ounces here and there will wear your shoulder out quicker, and end fishing sooner.

Line Capacity

The exact numbers are above for both monofilament and braided lines. The important thing to understand in this section is that you can put on 200-300 yards of either monofiliament or braided line. This is a good amount of line that will make it so you don’t have to stop and respool your reel.

With the options for casting that the magforce creates, having extra line will make it so you can cast long distances and not worry about having enough line.

Daiwa Lexa 400 HD: What others have to say

• “Super nice reel. Threw it on a daiwa Proteus wn rod. Sick combo.”
• “It is Powerful and Smooth!!”
• “Awesome Reel ,highly recommend it’
• “It has exceeded my expectations in every way”
• “Top of the line, has everything you could want in a baitcaster”
• “Best Baitcasting reel, wish I knew about it sooner”

Other Commonly Asked Questions

Daiwa Lexa 400 HD Line Capacity

The line capacity with braided 55 lb test line is around 300 yards. With braided line it is more, and the higher weight lines will be less, while lower weight lines will be more than the 300 yards.

The higher the weight, the thicker the line and the more space it takes, which means the less line overall it will hold.

Monofilament line is a little bit thicker than braided, so it will hold less of it.

For example, if you were to put 17 lb monofilament line on this reel it would hold around 245 yards of it.

This is pretty good overall, and will allow you plenty of line for casting and using the line up when changing lures out.

Daiwa Lexa 400 Hd vs wn

The WN has brass gears and the HD has stainless gears. The bearing change as well, the HD has stainless bearings with the grease lubrication whereas the WN has the oil lubrication on its gears.

Also, there are some cosmetic and aesthetic changes on the HD.

Daiwa Lexa 400 HD power handle, what is different about it?

The handle of this reel has a nice counter weight to it and the length of it allows for some good leverage when cranking the reel around reeling in those monsters.

The length and the counterweight on the handle will really give you the power you need to reel in those stubborn fish.

Check it out here.

Daiwa Lexa 400 HD combo

This reel pairs really nicely with the Daiwa Proteus rods.

This rod has a great graphite construction and fuji guides with a strong reel seat that will lock your reel in place.

Check out the rod here

Casting Reel Buying Guide and common questions

Gear Ratio

Typically when it comes to gear ratio the best ratio to have is in the 6.0:1 range, which means the spool will turn 6 times for every 1 turn of the handle.

Anything below 6.0:1 is good for deep diving crankbaits, slow rolled spinner baits, and big swimbaits. The slower turning is better in these situations and allows for a nice movement through the strike zone (or at least what you hope is..).

Faster gear ratios are those that are the high 6:1 range and above that. These are good for using bait that is quick moving bait, and especially for fish that are notoriously deep in the cover, because the higher gear ratio allows you to get those fish out of the foliage a lot quicker.

Gear ratio is very important, if you are just starting you should shoot for a gear ratio of 6.0:1 or right around that, this will give you the best of all worlds when it comes to gear ratio.

Braking System

The braking system on fishing reels is primarily used when you are casting. It is similar to a disc brake on a car, it applies pressure to the spool and this lets you control just how much line you are letting out and how far you can cast.

As mentioned above the Daiwa Lexa 400 HD has three different settings for its braking system. This allows for you to adjust the cast based on the situation or setting you are in.

Drag

When it comes to drag you need to know that this is the resistance that a fish encounters when you stop reeling.

Drag will usually be reported as a lb rating. In other words it would be for example 15 lb of drag or sometimes it is reported as 15 lb of max drag.

It is important to have a decent amount of drag, if you have in the range of 5-15lb of drag, depending on the species this would be plenty of drag to tire the fish out and increase your chances of reeling in those monsters.

Construction

The important thing to consider is the outermost layer of the reel and then the sealing of the internal components.

You want the outer parts to made primarily of aluminum, because aluminum wont rust or corrode like stainless will, and it is much stronger than some of the other composite options that are out there.

The other important thing is making sure the internal components are well sealed. Most reels these days seal off the bearings and the gears, I have come a crossed some reels that are “weakly sealed” meaning they can’t claim a completely sealed off internal component system, but they have done their best.

These situations are okay, and you shouldn’t stress too much if they can’t claim it is completely sealed. Obviously it is better to be completely sealed, but partially sealed is good too, just not as good, if that makes sense.

Spool Size

This correlates well with the overall size of the reel itself. It will range from around a size of 1,000 (or 10) all the way up to 30,000 (or 300). Essentially the smaller ones hold less ling, are rated for smaller line, weigh less, and are ultimately for smaller species with the larger ones being opposite of that.

How Do you choose the Right Casting Reel?

Ultimately you want to look at all the factors we have discussed above, especially in the section that we review all the components of the Daiwa Lexa 400 HD.

For a quick recap these are gear ratio, spool size, bearing count, construction, line capacity, weight, and the braking system. Those are the important ones to consider when looking at a new reel. Each of those correlates with a different size fish and different needs.

What lb line should you use?

• 2-4 lb test line should be used for small trout and other similar species
• 6-10 lb test line can be used for fish similar in size to salmon and flathead
• 12-20 lb test line can be used for tuna, larger salmon, and snapper
• 30 lb and above test line is good for larger salt water species

Ultimately, if you plan on fishing smaller species such as trout (which can still get big) anywhere in the 4-10 lb test line range would be enough to handle them.

Wrapping up this Daiwa Lexa 400 HD Review: The Verdict

Overall I hope this Daiwa Lexa 400 HD review was helpful for you, I am clearly a fan of this reel and all that it can do.

The Daiwa lineup is a great set of reels and when it comes to the Lexa they didn’t disappoint. They have out together some great new features to add on the already great Lexa 300 and 400 models.

If you want to check out this reel more seriously, head on over to Amazon by clicking the button below and order yourself one, it will serve you well.

Thanks for reading,

Good luck out there

Sean