I own just about every reel shimano makes including the calais, great reel ,I use it for steelhead, kings(in freshwater only) I've had mine for 2yrs. and have had no problems at all. other than having it cleaned once a year that is the only thing I've had done. I must say that I also own a curado super free and I like it as much as I do the calias, holds a little more line casts a mile , and costs half as much , takes a little while to get used to the spool spinning so fast , but once you get it tuned in it is really sweet. I don't know if I would have bought the calais if they had the super free available at the time ,But I have no regrets because they are both great reels, by the way they warn you Not to use the Calais in Salt Water but you can use the Super free in salt. they both have really good drag systems and I noticed the differance playing a fish the first time I used them ,it's almost too easy. try one