In a nutshell he recommends by price range, but is generally focused towards larger rather than smaller fish, and ignores free spool reels as he rarely uses them.

For regular reels he speaks very highly of Daiwa's Catalina especially, which is practically a cheaper Saltiga.

 In it's price range he recommends the Stradic FJ 'brilliant reel' for any fish of suitable size for the reel, and where dunking is unlikely.

If after bigger fish the Spheros SW gets the nod for being well valued, strongly built and fully sealed. Not so much the Saragosa SW which has minor 'improvements' for a major price bump.

For baitrunners he puts the Thunnus CI4 as easily the best option. 

http://www.alanhawk.com/blog/wr15.html" rel="nofollow - http://www.alanhawk.com/blog/wr15.html

What I like about his reviews is that he goes into obsessive detail, and after reading a few I feel like I've learned something.

I've owned and used multiple Stradics, Sustains and Twinpowers in various sizes. They are all great reels in my opinion, depending what sort of paces you want to put them through in regards to hard running kingfish. The sustains and smaller twinpowers were beautifully smooth with extra bearings in the right places and more metal configuration, I'm no reel engineer junkie. I've seen what effect that has when playing decent fish. But you do have to question the extra dollars when the Stradics and Saragossa's keep getting better and better. My inkling would be Stradic or Saragossa these days for a quality reel under standard use, but if you're a dedicated sports fisherman who really can see that you are going to get the reel absolutely screaming at force more often, a Stella may have to be the go. 

Because in the old days it was the Penn Vs Shimano debate and we all know who makes the best reels out of those two now surely. Daiwa at the time I guess had a foot hold on the stardrag freespool with the best SLOSH series but then started bringing in the Saltiga, Luna's, Sol's, Ryoga's etc.

Since then Daiwa have innovated more with magseal etc and Shimano have kept pace I would say the new concept of bring the weight of a spinning reel closer to the rod with the new smaller Stella's and Stradic is a winner imo.

So who fishes Penn, Abu, Quantum etc? I would say 50% of fishing reels being used would be a Shimano of some sort and sales figures would back it up. 

 

You say Shimano lack on baitcasters I would say the old Curado D and E models are maybe the best ever made no nonsense workhorses. And from what I read the american bass anglers are calling the Chronarch C14 baitcaster the best out there now. I owned a couple of Daiwa baitcasters in the Curado price range the old and they did not come close.

Light spinners well Shimano have the Stella's and Daiwa has the Exist, Branzino and Certate. If you have not had a play with the new Stradic its worth a look.

TBH Daiwa and Shimano have been matching up with new concept reels for years now. But at the end of the day most anglers could get buy with a TLD, SLOSHY and a baitrunner and that would be 2-1 to Shimano. About the sales rate I would bet 

Ancient Mariner, since it's a medium size reel, I'd either go Stradic or Stella in the Shimano range. I wouldn't bother with much in between.

If you want a bit more water tightness than the Stradic, but don't want a Stella, then the Certate is completely sealed. Apparently the magseal is now mature, and works well, prolonging time between services, but you can not self service. So you will need to send it to a qualified dealer every other year or so. 

Disclaimer: All this based on what I've read mainly Alan Hawk, but other stuff as well. 

I fish a Stradic 2500, Technium 4000, Symmetre 2500, Thunnus 8000 Ci4, and a Calcutta 200d. None of them have ever let me down, and I fully expect years of use from all of them.

that line ended about 4-5 years ago I believe 

Price will always be Daiwa's problem here.

so why not lay it out 

Stradic 4/5000, Certate 3000, Catalina 4000, or Stella. I haven't fished Saragossa SW but I imagine the 5000 SW would be a sick little reel as well.  

The Stradic 4000/5000 will do everything you need and then some. I upgraded washers for $20 from an ebay supplier so that's moot. If you don't plan to dunk it, usually fish 2kg-4kg of drag, and want a good valued reel then that will do you fine. 

A 20lb rod shouldn't be using any more than 4kg drag anyway.

Otherwise if you want the best money can buy, at the moment it's not Shimano. I was going to spend some extra to put a Stella on one of my rods. Can happily say that not doing so has not and will never cost me any fish, on anything I will use that rod for. 

Have a look at the customised softbait reels topic to see his work.

I just took a Saragosa off my softie rod and put on a much lighter CI4.

The Saragosa is a great reel and I have many many big fish on it with my little rod but as soon as I put the lighter reel on my rod it just balanced perfectly and was perfect right off the bat!

The reel does feel a little cheap compared as someone mentioned but the drag is smooth and so is the wind and it's pure pleasure to fish with compared to the much stronger Sarogosa in the same size.

Loosing the weight without going to a small body reel is magical.

Like a cheap barrel heavy shotgun then someone hands you a gun thats balanced.

I get a new nano rod tomorrow and am pretty excited to pair them up.

You do need high quality for casting around fads for sure but a good fit and feel for hours of happy fishing is very important.

The 8000 should be more rugged all round, and has a more capable drag.

You can still view the specs and schematics on Shimanos site. The link is down, but a google will find it. 

Brilliant marketing I think, so many more great brands around for you guys to choose from , however with the saturation advertising & promotions of this brand hard not to believe it is the best for all applications. Great for my reel repair business, cheers swordfishsteve

 The new Penn Clash, (laugh all you like Shimano fan boys :P) 

 The 2000 for the dainty among us 

 the 3000 for people that want a good crank handle. fantastic drag etc with great line capacity for softbait. 

 

 And the 6000 for those who want some grunt for jigging / stick baiting. 

 Light weight, most excellent Line lay. metal body, CNC machined Alloy composite main and brass pinion on the 2000-3000-5000 sizes and CNC machined Brass main and pinion on the 6000 and 8000 sizings... 

 I own the 3000 and it would be one of the nicest small spin reels I've used sub $800 price range.