As the name suggests, Shimano’s ground-breaking Baitrunner threadline was designed with bait fishing in mind. The body is made of light-weight and non-corrosive graphite, there’s an aluminium spool with a line keeper clip, three A-RB bearings and one roller bearing, stainless steel spool shafts, collapsible handle assemblies, as well as waterproof, heat dissipating front drags with non-centring bails.

But it’s the baitrunner function that has endeared these reels to anglers right around Australia. Imagine a fish picking up a live or dead bait - completely unaware that there is anything suspicious about it - with the baitrunner mechanism keeping just enough tension to control the line prior to the strike. Flick the lever or turn the handle, lift the rod and the fight is on! There’s also a tension adjustment knob at the rear of the reel that takes care of active live baits or when fishing in strong currents.

The Shimano Baitrunner B series comes in three traditional sizes of the 3500, 4500 and the larger 6500 model.