I have LC's in Shimano, Okuma, Daiwa and Abu, the LC is about the same on all of them, but the Shimano is the best reel. Like others said before, the 500 has more than enough line capacity for just about every situation, a 300 with braid would be fine. The 5500 LC works great and is much lighter than the others, after repeatedly using them on somebody else’s boat I bought two of them, they can be used from Kokanee to Kings with good results. For the salt I would go with the Tekota in whatever size you like the best.