I believe this reel would be a good reel if you fish it at 10lbs of drag at strike..... the handle binding is very pronounced at anything over 10lbs of drag. I fished mine at max drag and it failed on my first trip.

We went offshore targeting amberjack. While vertical jigging we hooked about 30 and landed 15 AJs in the 16-24lb range (they were holding very tight to the structure). I had the reel set at 9lbs of drag at strike, 15 at full. I quickly learned that that wasn't going to be enough so I tightened the drag up some more to around 15lbs at strike, 20 at full. The drag stayed at full for the duration of the trip. I put this reel through its paces and it ended with a catastrophic failure. The spool bearing on the left side (opposite the handle) failed. It started making grinding noises while fighting an AJ. Shortly afterwards the reel lost its drag. I turned the "drag dial" as much as I could and the reel would put out about 6lbs of drag at FULL. Needless to say I was extremely disappointed. We continued catching the AJ's on our Chinese made Spinfisher V's without issue.

After disassembling the reel I came to the conclusion that the "play" in the bearing allowed the spool to move further left which reduced the drag on the reel. Now I will admit that I did remove the shields on the spool bearings. I cleaned out the bearings and put a few drops of Reel X (corrosion x) in them. This increased my freespool by about 10 seconds. Did that have anything to do with the failure. I HIGHLY doubt it but who really knows.

This would make a good reel to fish with 30lb line but I wouldn't fish it much higher than that. You can read my entire review on thehulltruth. Search seigler sg review. Unfortunately all of my pictures were lost. They were very detailed and showed everything I was experiencing.

Really love the canvas reel cover that the reel comes in. Machining of parts is as good as one can expect. Quality stuff....very light and great agronomics. Haven't fished with it yet and desperately waiting for the season to start. Would have loved to have a two speed reel though.
As always, a very quick shipment by Tackle Direct. Thanks guys.

Purchased two of these reels, extremely happy with them. High quality and we love that the product is made in the US.

Received my reel within 10 days in the UK top quality reel and service ! I would have no hesitation in using tackledirect again and would certainly recommend them to my friends. thanks guys. Stuart

Reels take a beating and the company stands behind their product. Have had a couple of small issues over the years but a US made product with a staff that stands behind it helps to get you back fishing ASAP.

I love this reel! So much torque and power! It’s like having a winch!

ive been using this reel for years, from red drum and cobia in the bay to big blue cats in the james the sg is killer. completely bullet proof beast of a reel

I fish from a kayak mostly and it tends to be a much more brutal environment for gear, reels especially. Several friends I know run the SG and the SGN they are fantastic reels, pack a lot of stopping power in a small light weight package. I run 30 pound braid on it have close to 700 yards on them with all the salt spray and being dunked eating it in the surf and the reels dragging through the sand they are still kicking only required one cleaning that I felt was beyond my skills. the reel is very easy to break down and clean which is very nice, the drag is buttery smooth. I dont have much bad to say about it to be completely honest.

I bought this reel a couple years ago for bottom fishing and the quality of these reels is amazing. They are very easy to self service and the machining is second to none. Even the ball bearing they use are of high quality. My only complaint is that the max drag advertised is above the range of this reel in my opinion. When too much drag is applied the handle becomes tight and can begin locking up. I think a thrust bearing could fix this.

I've got about 2 years of fishing with my 4 SG Seiglers and we have never had an issue with them. They are excellent reels. I was used to star drag reels but very quickly got use to and now prefer the lever drag. We mostly use them for trolling without any problems. Maintenance is low, we just wash them down with fresh water after fishing, and they are as smooth as they were when new after almost 200 hours of fishing.

Bought reel in Oct. 2018 I have used it on three trips in the Northeast Pollack/Haddock fishing. The reel has handled some big fish, loaded it with 300yards of 65lb brand. Plenty of power for what I am doing. Reason I bought this is to go lighter during long fishing trips. Awesome reel wont go to anything else. Looking at the LGN for my jigging rod now.

I just finished a third season with my original pair of SG’s. The reels have never faltered. We have landed a lot of Striped Bass and Blues and they feel the same today as the day I first fished them. They still look great as well. The finish on these is very well done. Adding another pair to replace a couple of other setups I don’t like using as much.

Seigler small game reel is well made and one that should last a lifetime.

Havent used it yet but seems to be well built and the lifetime warranty is a plus.

Amazing reel for any type of inshore fishing in the mid-Atlantic region. I use it for everything from fluke and up to deepwater cod and blackfish. Has enough drag to reel up any type of fish on the inshore grounds