Avet Reels: Every Series, Which Size, and What They Cost

Avet reels cost $213.99 to $1,649.99 on Avet’s own price list, and all but one series are lever drag conventional reels, machined in Chatsworth, California. For most boat fishing with 20 to 30 lb line, buy an SX 6/4 MC G2 at $323.99. Every price and spec here is from Avet’s site on Nov. 14, 2026. No reel was fished for this page.

Every Avet is machined and assembled in one factory in Chatsworth, California. That factory is also the only place Avet services them.

Chart: fishing.info, from Avet’s spec charts and price lists (Nov. 14, 2026)

Which Avet should you buy?

Start with the line you fish, not the size. Avet’s own rule: set the drag at the strike position to a third of the weakest line in your rig. Most anglers fill an Avet with braid and add a lighter mono or fluorocarbon top-shot, so the top-shot sets the number. Then pick a reel whose strike rating reaches it.

The line classes and strike ratings are from Avet’s spec charts. The middle column is our arithmetic on Avet’s one-third rule. The drag at strike is the preset the lever returns to, so it’s the number that matters most.

Then pick the spool. Narrow for casting and jigging, wide for more line on long-running fish. Avet says the smaller, lighter reels “are easier to cast and handle”. If you’re not sure, a dealer’s guide from Tackle Express says to start with a G2 in the JX or MXL frame.

What do the letters and numbers mean?

An Avet name reads like a spec sheet once you know the code. Take the SX 6/4 MC G2: the SX frame, two speeds, the magnetic cast control, the G2 single drag.

Avet spells out J and L. The W and the EX and T-RX numbers are our reading of its spec charts.

Gear ratio alone doesn’t tell you how fast a reel picks up line. Avet points out that the spool size counts too. At 6:1, the small SX takes in 36 inches per turn of the handle and the bigger LX takes in 46. Fewer inches per crank means more cranking power. Avet uses the “inches per crank” column for that reason.

Why two speeds? Avet’s example is casting “wahoo bombs” from a long-range boat. You want a fast gear for 50 to 100 casts, then a low gear to fight the fish. A button switches between them.

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Raptor, Raptor Plus or G2?

Buy a G2 for 15 to 50 lb line. Buy a Raptor when your line or your fish need more drag than the same frame’s G2 gives.

Chart: fishing.info, from Avet’s spec charts and prices (Nov. 14, 2026)

The Raptor puts a dual carbon fiber drag in a frame of about the same size. You can’t convert a G2 into one. Avet says it “puts out twice the drag pressure of the original single drag Avet reels.” On the charts it’s less than double on the SX, 12 to 17 lb at strike. On the HX it’s close to double, 22 to 40 lb. A Raptor weighs 0 to 3 oz more. It costs $35 to $45 more than a G2 with the same cast control and glide plate, which every Raptor has, and $80 more on the HX.

Avet is clear that a Raptor isn’t simply the better reel. It’s built for line several classes heavier. Avet tunes its drag curve for heavier line and higher drag settings. Avet also suggests an SX Raptor over a single-drag JX or LX if you want a lighter, compact reel for the same line. It’s rated 20 to 50 lb against their 25 to 50.

What about the Raptor Plus? On the SX and MX, the Raptor Plus keeps the Raptor’s drag and line. It adds a lower low gear, 3:1 instead of 3.8:1. On the SX that’s 16 inches per crank instead of 21, for more winching power. On the JX and LX there’s also a three-speed Raptor Plus, the 3/S. Tackle Express, a dealer, says Avet is gradually phasing out the standard Raptor as the Raptor Plus takes over.

The strongest JX is the Winch, a three-speed with a triple carbon drag. It lists 45 lb at strike and 70 lb at full for $729.99.

What does a lever drag do that a star drag doesn’t?

A lever drag uses one lever for everything. Slide it back for free spool, forward to the strike position, and further forward to add drag in a fight. Pull it back to strike and you’re at the exact setting you started with. Avet says a star drag, the wheel beside the handle, is “nearly impossible” to return to the original setting once it has been moved.

Avet makes a second argument. In a star drag reel the drag washers sit inside the main gear. At 6:1, Avet says, a star drag needs six times the pressure on its washers for the same pull at the line. Less pressure means less wear and heat. That’s Avet arguing for its own design, so take it as that.

Avet sells one star drag line too. The MXJ and MXL Star Drag run 5.8:1 with 20 lb of max drag and cost $354.99 to $405.99. If you’ve only ever fished a baitcaster, the lever works a bit like its free-spool switch.

How does the MC cast control work?

MC stands for Magic Cast, an adjustable magnet that brakes the spool to stop backlashes. It never touches the spool. The faster the spool spins, the harder it brakes, and a slow spool gets almost no braking, so light baits still start off easily.

Avet’s setup routine:

1. Turn the MC knob to the top setting, 5.
2. Hold the spool with your thumb, cast, then keep your thumb off in flight.
3. Stop the spool with your thumb just before the lure lands.
4. Turn the knob down a step on each cast.
5. When you see loose line forming on the spinning spool, go back up one number.

Light lures need higher settings, heavy ones lower. The MC version adds $36 to $41 to an SX G2. You can add it later to a current model with a new frame.

What does an Avet cost to own?

The warranty runs one year from the date of purchase, for USA customers only. Read what it leaves out. It doesn’t cover “sand, salt, or debris on or in the reel”, bearings or normal wear. Lack of maintenance, bad line spooling and fishing past the rated drag are out too.

That makes the care routine part of the deal. Avet wants a full service at least once a season, which it puts at 15 to 20 fishing days, and twice if you fish more. Factory service, effective March 1, 2026, costs:

The service replaces all the bearings and cleans and lubes the inside. Avet quotes 7 to 10 business days, and you don’t have to strip the line off. Outside greater Los Angeles there’s no other authorized service center, so you ship it to Chatsworth. You can also service it yourself, Avet says, with the schematic that comes with the reel.

After each trip, Avet’s routine:

• Dunk the reel in cool fresh water, shake it for 5 to 6 seconds, and shake the water out. Don’t let it soak, and don’t use warm or soapy water.
• Never spray lube straight on the reel. Spray a rag and wipe it. Spray in the gap between spool and frame fouls the drag.
• Never grease the drag. It’s a dry woven carbon drag.
• Store it with the lever in free spool.

A jerky drag usually isn’t the drag at all, Avet says. It’s braid slipping on the spool or digging into itself. The how to put line on a reel page covers getting it on tight.

And if a huge fish grabs a small Avet? Avet says the line breaks or the drag slips before the reel takes damage. The worst case is getting spooled.

Are Avet reels any good?

On paper, yes. The parts are machined 6061-T6 aluminum and stainless steel, with eight bearings in a G2 and nine in a Raptor. The lever drags use a dog-and-gear anti-reverse instead of a roller bearing. Avet says every part is made in house except the bearings, which come from suppliers around Los Angeles.

Owner reviews don’t settle it. J&H Tackle’s page for the SX G2 shows a 5.0 rating from two reviews, too few to count on. Read the trade-offs instead. There’s no IP sealing rating on Avet’s pages, the warranty leaves out salt and sand, and service means shipping to California.

Weighing an Avet against the big brands? The Penn reels page covers Penn’s lever drags, and best saltwater fishing reels sets the categories side by side.

The picks in detail

SX 6/4 MC G2

The Avet to start with, at $323.99 without the glide plate, a $26 option. Two speeds, 12 lb at strike, 400 yd of 50 lb braid, 16 oz. Tackle Express calls the SX the better size for calicos and halibut. Skip it for anything that needs 40 lb top-shots, where the Raptor’s 17 lb fits.

What’s the glide plate? Avet lists it as a “ratcheting glide plate” for the lever. TackleDirect, a dealer, says it “holds tight to your desired drag.”

SXJ5.3 G2

The cheapest Avet, $213.99. One speed and the narrow spool, at 12 oz the lightest reel Avet lists. There’s no cast control, so you thumb the spool yourself. If you’ve never cast a conventional reel, spend the $41 for the MC version.

MXL 6/4 MC Raptor

$424.99 for 21 lb at strike and 620 yd of 50 lb braid. It’s the wide MX frame with the dual drag, rated for 25 to 50 lb line. The narrow MXJ is the same reel with 470 yd for $10 less, better if you cast more than you troll.

HX 5/2 MC Raptor

$549.99 for 40 lb at strike, 50 lb at full and 500 yd of 80 lb braid at 29 oz. It’s the reel for 50 to 100 lb line. Unlike the SX and MX, the HX has no trigger-seat foot. Avet says the bigger reels pull too hard for a graphite trigger seat.

Where to buy Avet reels

Avet doesn’t sell reels direct. Buy from an authorized dealer. Dealers set their own prices, so check a few against Avet’s list. Avet sells parts, accessories and service itself. Its site also links an Avet factory outlet that sells discontinued models, colors and blems, all final sale.

Avet machines true left-hand reels as a mirror image of the right-hand ones, not converted. Every model except the EXW 80 is built that way. Avet stocks lefties in silver, and other colors cost $35 more. Orange costs $25 extra on the SX, MX (not the Star Drag) and JX/LX, and $35 on the bigger reels.

Who makes Avet reels?

Avet Reels Inc. builds them in Chatsworth, California. Brothers Harry and Sarkis founded the company, and the reels launched in March 2002 at the Fred Hall Show, says a 2013 factory tour by the SoCal Salty blog. Harry had been an aerospace engineer, it says. Each frame starts as a rod of 6061 aircraft-grade aluminum and is cut on CNC machines.

Lever drags are one family of conventional reels. The reels hub covers the rest, and best fishing reels sets the big brands side by side.

How we chose

Every price and spec here comes from Avet’s own spec charts and price lists, read on Nov. 14, 2026. The care, warranty and service details are from Avet’s FAQ, warranty and maintenance pages. The history is from a 2013 factory tour and a 2025 Alliance for American Manufacturing article. The size advice, the Raptor Plus note and the glide plate line are from dealers, named where used. No reel was bought, fished or tested for this page.

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Every outline drawn from Mustad's published dimensions; every size from the 25 sources on the page, Maryland DNR and Idaho Fish and Game among them.

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