Australia’s deep sea game fishing opportunities are the envy of bluewater anglers the world over. While the Cairns heavy tackle black marlin fishing scene grabs most of the international headlines, we are also blessed with a diverse range of smaller species to target, from yellowtail kingfish to yellowfin tuna. And of course, sharks. Australia is home to nearly all the game shark species, some of which top the thousand pound mark in weight.

Now if you want to tackle these mighty game fish, you need equipment that is synonymous with reliability and performance, and that’s Shimano. Shimano’s Tiagra game reels have been the benchmark for lever drag game reel performance for over a decade now.

The stresses placed on a game reel are acute, especially when the drag goes beyond sunset. In addition to this, drags need to remain smooth over long fights, yet dissipate heat easily.

The presence of a lower gear (1:1) is a decided asset when a fish dives deep and becomes tail-wrapped or is just incredibly stubborn. Even though it can be a tortuously slow process, some line coming onto the spool is better than none at all and plenty of great fishermen make use of the low gear during the course of a fight.

Light tackle anglers are also well serviced by Shimano’s smaller Tiagras for trolling and drifting, and of course there’s the Talica, Torsa, and TLD series, which are perfectly suited to those who get their kicks from the challenges of big fish on lighter lines, or going in hard with braid.