Hard to beat a 113 or 114 Senator for casual use. If you're planning on using them a lot or chasing big fish, a lever drag reel is nice. Shimano TLD's and Penn Formula's are both good reels. I would urge you to stay away from level winds as they are just one more thing to break. Using power pro or its equivalent you can put plenty of line on your reel and not have it so full that line will slip down the edge of the spool. You also never have to take in line fast with halibut, so you have plenty of time to concentrate on guiding the line. Another note on the superbraids is that sometimes they're too thin to work with in the lower breaking strengths. For instance I started out using 50 lb dacron, but when I switched to Power Pro I moved up to 100 lb because the 50 lb Power Pro is almost impossible to untangle and very prone to cutting your hands. Even with double the breaking strength of the dacron, the Power Pro is still skinnier and thus has less resistance in the water.

good luck
david