I've had a preference for Stradics over last 20 years or so, and have not had some of the problems that I read about on the net, but wanted to try something different, and more economical, so I bought a Pflueger Supreme size 30 day before yesterday, paired it with a med lite 6' 6" fast taper rod and went to the Elk. 2 hours into float I feel a wobble during retrieve, look down, the bail arm had broken where it attaches to rotor, opposite side of line take up. Have no idea how it happened, didn't drop it, didn't bang it against yak. Can't think of what caused it. I used it for a while longer by carefully opening bail and repositioning broken arm before casting. It reeled very smoothly...until it got wet, then it was rough as a cob. Luckily I had a standby. Actually I have several stand by's, just can't stand the sight of a rod without a reel.
How bout Daiwa???