Other reels that are a few notches down, for various reasons, from these two reels but still are worth looking into are the Penn 930 and 940, the Garcia 6500 - C3, and the Ambassadeur SM 6600. For all around use, monofiliment line is still hard to beat. With all the hubbub and hoopla over the new superbraids, most people have lost sight of the fact that monofiliments have gone through quite a few improvements as of late. Some people claim that the new superbraids are the cat's meow, but I've had no problems with mono, and there seems to be a longevity problem with the superbraids that the manufacturers don't want to talk about too much. With 150 yd.
Leaders represent the biggest change in going light.
I don't know how 60 lb. test nylon coated wire became the standard leader material, but I do know that scaling down has led to more detected bites. I thought it was pretty daring going down to 40 lb. test nylon coated wire, but now my personal leaders are made with 27 lb. test nylon coated wire. Some sharpies out there may notice that 60 lb. test uncoated braided wire has the same diameter as 27 lb. test nylon coated wire, and would therefore be as thin and twice as strong. I've already tried the uncoated stuff and have not had any particular success with it. My theory is that the uncoated stuff is reacting to the salt water and sending out electrical signals that a sturgeon can detect through those little holes that cover his nose area.