Born for Big Game, Born for Winning
DAIWA's globally launched BG SW and LT spinning reels take home Best Saltwater Reel at ICAST 2026
FOOTHILL RANCH, CA – There's no bigger stage in the fishing tackle world than ICAST, and there's no tougher category to win than saltwater reels. More than 70 percent of the planet is covered in water, and most of it is saltwater, which means nearly every major tackle brand on Earth is fighting for a piece of that same ocean, pouring its best engineering into the category every single year.
So, when the industry's dealers and media all pointed to the same reel this year, it meant something. DAIWA's all-new BG SW spinning reel series just took home Best Saltwater Reel of at ICAST 2026, the fishing industry's biggest trade show and the closest thing the sport has to a proving ground.
It's a big win made bigger by how BG got here. Unlike most product launches that roll out region by region, BG SW and BG LT hit the water everywhere at once. Every DAIWA market around the globe released these reels simultaneously, meaning an angler in Florida and an angler on the other side of the planet knew about the same brand-new technology on the same day. Standing out in a category as crowded and demanding as saltwater reels is hard enough. Doing it as a true worldwide launch, judged by an industry that doesn't hand out category wins lightly, makes the honor land even heavier.
"Launching simultaneously in every DAIWA market takes total confidence in the product and you don't do that unless you know it's going to hold up everywhere it lands," said Marc Mills, DAIWA Marketing Manager. "Winning Best Saltwater Reel at ICAST proves BG SW and LT can compete with the best in the world on day one."
A Legacy That Doesn't Quit
Ask any angler who's fished the BG long enough and they'll tell you the same thing: it doesn't quit. Since 1981, that black-and-gold frame has been the reel charter captains hand a client without a second thought, the one surf guys leave in the truck bed and it still works the next morning. It built its reputation the hard way, one abused drag and one bang against the gunnel at a time.
Now DAIWA is taking that reputation and splitting it in two. Rather than build one reel to do everything, the BG name grows into a pair of dedicated platforms — the all-new BG SW and LT spinning reel series — each engineered around a different kind of fight.
BG SW picks up where the legacy BG left off and keeps going, expanding beyond the old 8000-size ceiling and running all the way up to a 20000 frame. It's built for the fish that make drags scream and anglers rethink their leader choice for bluefin, amberjack, and sharks that don't know they're supposed to lose.
BG LT goes the other direction, built in tighter 2500, 3000, and 4000 sizes for redfish on the flats, snook tucked into mangroves, and the kind of light-tackle finesse work where feeling a soft tick matters.
Different missions, but the same DNA underneath.
Two Drivetrains, One Philosophy
At the center of BG SW is POWERDRIVE DESIGN, an engineering approach that treats the reel less like a collection of parts and more like a single, unified drivetrain. Its oversized POWERDRIVE DIGIGEAR increases the drive gear's diameter while thinning out the body profile, packing in more tooth engagement and translating into a noticeably smoother, more efficient line lay under max pressure. A companion POWERDRIVE ROTOR spreads stress evenly through the frame, cutting start-up inertia so the reel responds instantly the moment a big fish decides to test the drag. Bridging the two is the CRANK POWER BAIL, a tubular, forged bail built to survive the shock of heavy artificials and hard hooksets without adding bulk.
BG LT takes a different route to the same kind of confidence. Its AIRDRIVE DESIGN strips unnecessary mass out of the front-end assembly — rotor, bail, spool — to virtually eliminate start-up resistance. The result is a reel that turns with zero hesitation and shifts more of its balance back toward the rod grip, which matters when you're making cast after cast.
"The saltwater reel category is incredibly demanding, and for a long time anglers believed a reel had to feel heavy to be truly durable," said DAIWA Field Marketing Manager Chris Martin. "With BG LT, we upended that compromise. We drenched this platform in contemporary technology to eliminate startup resistance, giving coastal anglers elite rotational smoothness without sacrificing an ounce of the toughness the BG name is known for."
Built to Survive the Same Salt
Where the two series really line up is in how they're built to survive saltwater long-term. Both lean on DAIWA's TOUGH DIGIGEAR, a digitally mapped, machine-cut gear tooth pattern that keeps operation quiet and extends service life. Both use the brand's ATD drag system, a low-viscosity grease formula that all but erases the split-second hesitation that can pop a light leader on a sudden strike, then ramps up smoothly and progressively as the fight goes on. And both spools are J-BRAID Ready, machined with texturing that grips braided line directly so there's no need for monofilament backing.
BG LT goes a step further on the corrosion front with a deliberate mix of marine-grade bearings and self-lubricating composite bushings — bearings where the load is heaviest, bushings where saltwater exposure is worst — instead of just stacking bearings everywhere and hoping for the best.
"More bearings doesn't automatically mean a better reel in saltwater," Martin said. "It often just means more places for salt and grit to get in and cause problems down the line. We put the bearings where the load actually is and let composite bushings handle the areas most exposed to the elements."
Both reels also carry DAIWA's Long Cast ABS spool technology, using a tapered lip profile that controls how line releases under pressure, which is critical whether you're bombing a topwater plug into the surf on a BG SW or dropping a soft plastic quietly with a BG LT. And both platforms wrap their internals in a rigid, torque-resistant aluminum body and body cover, keeping the gear train aligned no matter how hard the fish — or the conditions — push back.
Where they diverge is in the details that match each reel to its job. BG SW's egg-shaped, soft-touch power knob is sized and sculpted for grinding out long fights against big pelagics, spreading pressure across the whole palm to cut hand fatigue on extended offshore days. BG LT sticks with a T-shape soft-touch knob built for all-day casting comfort and compatibility with SLP WORKS S-size replacement knobs for anglers who like to customize their setup.
Priced Like a Workhorse, Built Like a Flagship
Pricing reflects the split in mission, too. BG SW runs from $199.99 up to $279.99 across its expanded size range, while BG LT comes in at $179.99. That kind of feature depth at that price point is exactly why dealers have responded to BG SW and LT the way they have.
This is the rare reel that reads like a flagship and prices like a workhorse.
One Name, Two Missions
Together, BG SW and LT don't replace the reel that built DAIWA's reputation in saltwater, but rather extend it in two directions at once, giving anglers a dedicated tool instead of a compromise, whether the day calls for muscling a shark off the beach or working skinny water without spooking the fish.
The BG legacy doesn't just continue. It finds a new, higher trajectory.
MSRP: BG SW $199.99–$279.99 | BG LT $179.99
For DAIWA's latest color catalog and/or information on DAIWA dealers in your area, call DAIWA's Customer Service Department at 562-375-6800 or e-mail inquiries to: CSR@DAIWA.com. The URL for DAIWA's web site is daiwa.us
About DAIWA Corporation
DAIWA's first spinning reel rolled off the assembly line in 1955. Since then, the company has grown into one of the largest and most influential tackle companies in the world today. To handle sales and distribution in the United States, DAIWA Corporation first opened its doors on September 26, 1966, operating from a small facility in Culver City, California. Today, based in Foothill Ranch, California, DAIWA Corporation sells tackle throughout the United States, Canada, Central and South America. From the very beginning, DAIWA's emphasis has been upon innovation and quality. The result is a long list of product features, design and materials that have become standards for the fishing tackle industry. DAIWA's long-standing record of innovation has left a visible mark on the majority of tackle manufactured today and continues to advance the sport of fishing. Learn more at daiwa.us