Daiwa 20 BG MQ Reel

How well is it built?

The big change on the MQ is the body. Daiwa make it from a single piece of aluminium, what they call Monocoque, rather than two halves screwed together.

That sounds like a technical detail, but it matters: there is no seam for salt water or grit to work into, and the body stays rigid when you are winding a big fish in under pressure.

In the hand it feels solid and compact, and the classic BG black and silver finish looks the part. This is a reel that is clearly built to be used hard, rinsed off and used hard again.

How well does it cast and retrieve?

Because the one-piece body leaves more room inside, Daiwa can fit a bigger main gear, which they call Digigear.

What that means on the bank is that the reel still winds sweetly when you are cranking a lure back against the tide or pumping a heavy fish up off the bottom, rather than grinding.

Sizes run from 2500 right up to 20000. The smaller models suit pike lures and light bass fishing from the shore, while the bigger ones are built for boat work on pollack, wrasse and rays. Line lay is neat, which you notice most when casting braid.

How useful is the drag system?

The drag uses Daiwa's carbon washers, which give smooth, steady pressure when a fish makes a run.

It is the sort of drag that lets line go cleanly rather than in jerks, and that is what stops hooks pulling when a big pike turns for the snags or a bass hits a lure right at your feet.

It holds its setting well through a long fight, so you are not fiddling with it every time you hook something decent.

Is it good value for money?

It is above average in price for a pike reel, although you do get your money's worth. At around two hundred pounds you are getting a sealed one-piece aluminium body and a proper carbon drag, the kind of build that used to cost a lot more in a Daiwa reel.

For anyone who fishes for pike in the colder months and heads to the coast when the weather turns, it saves buying two reels, and that makes the price much easier to swallow.