There are a lot of good reels out there and I have a lot of them. 3 Penn GTI 340s- 1 345-1 Penn Linecounter LC895, and a GTI 330 and some other misc large reels. All have caught halibut from very deep depths of over 650' and deeper. One important factor is to make sure and back your drag off when you put it away for the year. Also clean the rod and oil the rollers. When you put these rods away they sit with salt on them till next year. This can ruin them. Take a close look to make sure your rollers are turning. These can lock up and they will slide over the rollers with the slick line and you won't know it unless looking carefully. This could cause the line to heat up fighting a fish as these are usually wormed around the rollers.