Any thoughts on the shimano saragosa vs the daiwa saltist mq? The boy is really into fishing, I think those might be too much reel for doing bay and surf fishing. I lean towards the stradic or the back bay saltist, both are they smaller cousins of their brands. Any experience with any of these reels?

edit to add, he likes the power knob on the saragosa which is why he leans that direction

My spinning setup for the bay is a shimano stradic. I've used it in the surf, but I'd really prefer something more economical (yet still good) like a penn battle due to the fact it's near impossible to keep salt out of reels when surf fishing.

I'd also lean towards smaller/lighter cousins if throwing artificial.

I bought a Shimano NASCI recently and like it a lot.

FYI - You can buy replacement knobs and put whatever he wants on the reel you decide on.

For bay fishing you'll be hard pressed to outdo the Stradic, you can always replace the handle with a Gomexus off Amazon for $10-15. I actually replaced the handle on my 10yo Stradic with a Gomexus recently and like it quite a bit.

Best spinner for the surf, for the price- Spheros SW6000. I have multiple spheros and saragosa's in the 6000 to 14000 sizes and really can't tell the difference.

Best for bay, for the price- Nasci 3000FC.