I've owned this reel since new. It's about 2 years old and has been used for less than 10 days on fresh water. Love the reel, just switching out my steelhead gear to two hand setups. I landed half a dozen steelhead and can say that the drag is the smoothest I've ever used. The spool spins straight, no dents or wobbles. There are some light scratches from setting the rod / reel down on rocks. The reel looks very nice overall, in my opinion. See pictures.