Beach fishing places a number of specific demands on a reel. Firstly, it needs a generous line capacity, because you just never know what lurks out among the breakers — from giant mulloway to big sharks. Secondly it needs to cast effortlessly, as sometimes that fish-holding cover is a fair way from shore. Thirdly, it needs to recover a lot of line with every turn of the reel’s handle to keep that hooked fish heading in the right direction and combatting the effect of breaking waves and cross currents.

All of Shimano’s dedicated surf fishing reels — the Aerlex, Alivio XTA, Baitrunner LC, Ultegra XTB, Navi XTB and Biomaster XSB fulfil this criteria, with oversize long cast spools (the same style tournament casters use) that hold plenty of line and make distance casting with the big baits and lures that are sometimes used headache-free. They all recover around a metre of line with every turn of the reel’s handle, and this also makes them ideal for working metal casting lures like Raiders and Spanyids.

Rock fishing presents similar problems, with the added issue of crashing waves and salt spray thrown into the mix, but these reels are built to withstand the harshest of all marine environments and still see the fish safely landed.

Matched with Shimano’s Ian Miller-designed Aero Wave graphite, graphite composite and glass rods, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better fishing combination.