Shimano SLX Reels: SLX A, XT A, 70 and DC Compared

The Shimano SLX is four casting reels, from $115 to $225. Buy the $145 SLX XT A in 7.2:1 first. All four have the metal Hagane body, so the money goes on the brake and the spool. Save the $225 DC for when backlashes are the real problem. None of these reels was fished for this page: the specs and prices are Shimano’s own, as of Nov. 10, 2026, and the opinions come from published reviews and owners.

The $30 between the SLX A and the XT A buys what a first baitcaster needs most: a brake you can change without opening the reel.

Which Shimano SLX should you buy?

Match the reel to the fishing you do most. All of these are for bass and similar freshwater fish on a casting rod.

Every reel comes as a right-hand 150 or a left-hand 151 (the 70 A as a 70 or 71). A 151 winds with the left hand and holds the rod in your right.

What does each SLX add?

Shimano’s shop lists all four in November 2026, so none of them has been dropped.

The metal body is the reason to look at an SLX at all. Tackle Warehouse says the XT A’s Hagane body doesn’t flex under heavy loads. That’s what you want when you’re winding a fish out of cover. Shimano’s freshwater spinning reels only get one at the $235 Stradic, as the Shimano reels ladder shows. Here it starts at $115.

Bassmaster listed the first SLX reels at $99.99 in October 2018. In eight years the base price has moved $15.

Free PDF · Hook size chart What size is that hook? Lay it on the chart.

Print the free chart, lay any hook on it and read its size: 14 hooks from 9/0 to #8 at actual size, a gap ladder from #32 to 12/0, and the size for 17 fish and 16 baits on the back.

Your email address

Yes, send me the free chart

No card, nothing to buy, and the PDF is yours to keep. Confirm with one click and it's on its way. Then a few short emails and one a week on what's biting. Unsubscribe anytime. Privacy.

SLX A or SLX XT A?

Get the XT A unless $30 really matters. A baitcaster has a brake that slows the spool so it doesn’t overrun the line and throw a backlash. You set it for the lure you’re casting and the wind you’re in, and both change during a day.

On the SLX A that means stopping, taking off the side plate and changing the brake inside. GearJunkie’s Morgan Nowels, a guide who has owned one since it came out, lists that as a con. He says he and his clients found it “easier to backlash than with other reels.” One Tackle Warehouse owner calls the description misleading, because it promises an outside adjustment the reel doesn’t have.

The XT A has its SVS Infinity dial on the outside. Wired2Fish’s Shaye Baker asks two things of a first reel: a ratio of 6.8:1 to 7.3:1 and a brake dial on the outside. The XT A in 7.2:1 is the SLX that does both.

Baker also reviewed the XT A. Its dial runs from 1 to 6, and he starts at 4 with two of the brakes inside switched on and two off. At its $130 launch price he called it the best power fishing reel for the money. He also says other reels suit light lures better.

The extra weight is 0.3 oz. You won’t feel that on a 7 ft rod.

Stay with the SLX A if you throw one or two lures of about the same weight. Set the brake once at home and leave it. Nowels has had zero failures on his and still keeps it on the boat deck every day. He gives it 7.0 out of 10, and Tackle Warehouse’s owners give it 4.9 out of 5 over 34 reviews.

A baitcasting reel and a minnow lure. Photo: amnarj20066 / Depositphotos.

SLX A or SLX DC?

Pay the extra $110 for the DC only if backlashes are costing you fishing time. A microcomputer reads the spool speed and sets the brake itself, which forgives a bad cast. On the SLX DC you pick one of four modes on an outside dial: maximum distance, braid or mono, fluorocarbon, or skipping.

The rest of the reel is close. It has the same three ratios, the Hagane body and one more bearing. It weighs 7.6 oz, 0.7 oz more than the SLX A. Tackle Warehouse’s owners rate it 4.8 out of 5 over 62 reviews. One owner writes that it “casts a mile, and hardly ever backlashes.” One owner adds that it’s “by no means 100% backlash-proof, but it’s pretty close.”

Mode 4 is the one to know about. TackleTour says that with it “even anglers with horrendous bait skipping skills” can get a lure under a low dock without a backlash. If you skip docks a lot, that alone can be worth the $110.

SLX DC or Curado DC?

Buy the SLX DC unless you fish often enough to feel a retrieve. The Curado DC 150 costs $90 more, at $314.99, and weighs 7.8 to 7.9 oz against 7.6 oz.

TackleTour’s review is from March 2020, before the current Curado DC 150 A. It found the SLX DC cast just as well as the Curado DC of its day and gave it a Best Value Award. It also calls the retrieve “not as refined,” and its reviewer still reaches for the Curado DC “more often than not.” GearJunkie found the same gap between the plain SLX and the $235 Curado 150M. It heard a slight hum on the SLX’s retrieve and calls the upgrade “glaring.” Both DC reels use the I-DC4 brake, so the extra money goes on how the reel feels when you wind it.

Which SLX gear ratio should you get?

Get 7.2:1 for a first reel. It sits inside Baker’s range, and it suits jigs, Texas rigs and topwater. If you mostly wind crankbaits and spinnerbaits, 6.3:1 is the better one-reel pick. The gear ratio is how many times the spool turns for one turn of the handle. It sets how fast a lure comes back.

The model code tells you all of this before you buy. Take SLX151HGA. SLX is the family, 150 or 151 is the size, and the odd number means left hand. HG is 7.2:1, XG is 8.2:1, and no letters at all means 6.3:1. The A on the end marks the SLX A, XT A and 70 A generation, so check for it on the box. The DC’s codes don’t carry one.

The DC picks up more line at the same ratio. At 8.2:1 that’s 35 in a turn against 32 in on the SLX A, Shimano’s spec tables show. The XT A matches the SLX A at every ratio, and so does the 70 A at its two. So an 8.2:1 DC is the fastest reel in the family. A 7.2:1 DC, at 30 in a turn, is close to an 8.2:1 SLX A.

How much line does an SLX hold, and how much does it weigh?

The SLX A holds 135 yd of 30 lb PowerPro braid, and so do the XT A and the DC. Shimano rates all three for 12 lb of drag at 6.3:1 and 11 lb at 7.2:1 and 8.2:1. The SLX 70 A is rated for 12 lb at both of its ratios. For big catfish and heavy line, look at a round reel instead. A low-profile 150 holds far less line than one, and the baitcaster page has the numbers.

What is the SLX 70 A for?

It’s the small one, built for light lures. Shimano calls its MGL Spool III “Shimano’s lightest spool to date.” TackleTour calls the reel “designed for finesse presentations to close-quarter power techniques.” You give up line and choice for that. It holds 85 yd of 12 lb mono against 110 yd on the SLX A, and it comes only in 7.2:1 and 8.2:1.

Make it your second casting reel, not your first. It costs $20 more than the XT A and does less of what a first reel has to do. Shimano’s next step for light lures is the $235 Curado BFS, which weighs 6.2 oz and holds 50 yd of 8 lb mono. That’s a bait finesse reel, a shallow spool for thin line and small lures, and most anglers won’t need one.

Is the SLX good for a beginner?

Yes, and the XT A is the better one to start on. Spend the rest of your budget on a rod. Baker’s number for a first outfit is about $200, split “$100 on the reel and $100 on a quality rod.” Shimano’s own $99.99 SLX casting rod fits that split. The 7 ft medium-heavy SLX is rated for 1/4 to 3/4 oz lures, a good match for a 150-size reel on bass.

Whichever SLX you buy, set it up first and practice on a lawn before the water. The baitcaster page walks through spool tension, the brake and your first casts. If you’d rather not start on a baitcaster at all, you don’t have to yet: a spinning reel is the easier first reel.

SLX or the other reels at this price?

The SLX A is the cheapest reel in this group, and it ties the $200 Tatula 100 for lightest.

Stay with the SLX unless you already like one of the others. The Lew’s has a one-piece aluminum frame and four ratios from 5.6:1 to 8.3:1, which helps if you want a reel slower than 6.3:1. The Tatula 100 is the Daiwa to look at for light lures, and it has a magnetic brake. The Revo X has a carbon frame and is still the heaviest reel in the table.

Can an SLX go in salt water?

Treat it as a freshwater reel. Shimano’s pages list no water protection on any of the four. Its $255 Tranx 150, another low-profile reel, does list CoreProtect, Shimano’s water resistance. If an SLX does get splashed, Shimano says to rinse it lightly under a faucet or hose, never at high pressure. Then wipe it dry.

What do reviewers and owners complain about?

Three things come up.

• The brake on the SLX A. It’s inside the reel, and GearJunkie’s reviewer found it easier to backlash.
• The retrieve. GearJunkie heard a slight hum on the SLX, and TackleTour found the DC’s retrieve less refined than the Curado’s.
• Drag. TackleTour says the SLX DC’s drag is “reliable but not an upgrade” over the first SLX. One Tackle Warehouse owner of a DC says the drag slips.

One DC owner also reports an intermittent squeak straight out of the box. Shimano’s warranty covers a reel for one year from purchase, for the original buyer, and bearings aren’t included, so keep the receipt.

The reels hub sets the casting reels beside the spinning ones, and the best fishing reels page puts the SLX against every other brand.

Free PDF · 2 pages

Stop guessing hook sizes. Lay any hook on this page and read it

A jar of loose hooks and no packet in sight. Guess wrong and you find out with a fish on.

The True-Size Hook Chart. Print it at actual size, lay a hook on the outlines, and the one its bend fills is its size. One sheet, front and back, for the tackle box.

• 14 hooks from 9/0 to #8 at true size, plus a ladder from #32 to 12/0
• The size for 17 fish and 16 baits, from bluegill to tuna
• A 2/0 circle that gapes less than a #4: why a 2/0 is not always a 2/0

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.

Your email address

Yes, send me the free chart

No card, nothing to buy. Confirm with one click and the PDF is on its way, one version for your phone and one to print, yours to keep. Then a few short emails and one a week on what's biting, with an unsubscribe link in every one. Privacy.