Daiwa Procyon MQ Review (Most Affordable MQ Series Reel)
- By: Justin Ritchey
- on
I’m back in the Salt Strong Reel Room to talk in-depth and discuss the Daiwa Procyon MQ Review!
Daiwa recently unveiled this reel at iCast 2022 and it has emerged as the most affordable MQ reel in their lineup.
Find out more below!!
Daiwa Procyon MQ Review [VIDEO]
The Pros
The Daiwa Procyon MQ is the most affordable reel in Daiwa’s MQ lineup.
If you’re unfamiliar with the MQ series, the MQ stands for ‘monocoque body’.
MQ reels have a threaded side plate that keeps the body of the reel very small and connected.
A one-piece body reel with a threaded side plate keeps everything compact, lightweight, and well-sealed.
The size of the main gear is actually the same as the side plate as well.
So the main gear on a 2500 version of the Procyon MQ is as big as the main gears on other reels of in bigger series.
A larger main gear on a smaller reel means when you are winding the reel under a load, you don’t have to exert as much force as other reels to bring that fish in.
Daiwa introduced its MQ body design a few years ago and is now starting to incorporate this technology at other price points for its reels.
The Daiwa Procyon MQ comes in at $179.
If you are looking for something under $200 with all the features of an MQ reel, this might be the one for you.
Moreover, Daiwa incorporates their ZaionV Material to assemble the MQ reels.
Zaion is a very lightweight high density carbon composite.
Those are a bunch of fancy words for super lightweight and durable.
More often than not, inshore saltwater anglers prefer to fish with lightweight reels.
So the Procyon MQ has all that a 2500-size reel has to offer using ZaionV material coming in at 6.9 oz.
That is super significant seeing that most other 2500 reels are in 7-8 oz. range.
Procyon Specifics
The LT on the back of the box stands for what Daiwa calls “light and tough”.
That is their way of reducing the overall footprint of the reel while keeping it compact and sturdy.
The Air Bail used on this reel is a unique hollowed-out bail design in an effort to reduce overall weight.
Also, this contributes to a much smoother turn of the handle because the weight is evenly distributed.
The Air Bail design is excellent for fishing with artificial lures and won’t get in the way at all.
Moreover, 22 lbs of drag are more than you’ll ever need on a 2500 reel.
Another interesting thing to note on this reel is the “XH” moniker which indicates the higher speed model.
There are different gear ratios when it comes to different reels.
In relation to other Daiwa reels, the Procyon has XH features in 3 out of the 4 models.
There are 1000, 2500, 3000, and 4000 reels in the Procyon MQ.
2500, 3000, and 4000 all have the XH features.
Another cool thing to note is the 4000 reels are actually labeled “CXH”.
That means the body of the 4000 in the box is of a 3000-size reel but with a slightly bigger rotor and deeper spool to give you more line capacity.
MQ Reel Comparisons
Daiwa designs a few different reels within the $200-$300 price point.
The very popular BG MQ, Ballistic MQ, and Saltist MQ.
The BG and Saltist are full-body aluminum reels so they’re already a bit heavier than the Ballistic and Procyon to start off.
But they are very robust and excellent when fishing with artificials.
Another thing to note is that you do get Daiwa’s Magseal Technology in the Ballistic and Saltist MQ.
The BG and Saltist are going to feel a bit heavier in the 2500 and 3000 sizes.
As we start to look further into the Ballistic MQ, we can draw some major similarities between that and the Procyon MQ.
The Ballistic 2500 also is tagged with an XH moniker.
The two reels have the same body material and the same rotor so they both weigh 6.9 oz.
However, the Ballistic MQ incorporates Daiwa’s Magseal technology within the bearings of the reel.
Magseal is Daiwa’s effort to fully seal and protect the anti-reverse clutch bearing inside the body of the reel.
This protects the bearings that keep the reel handle functioning properly and not moving backward.
Other companies have started to completely eliminate the anti-reverse clutch bearing altogether.
Inshore saltwater anglers don’t really need the ability to turn the switch and back off of a fish.
The anti-reverse clutch instead allows for a much better hook set so the handle doesn’t spin the wrong way and cause further issues.
It is absolutely critical to protect this bearing within the reel.
Magseal incorporates a ferrofluid that works in tandem with magnetized plates to create a watertight seal within the bearings of the reel.
You do not have that in the Procyon MQ – there are instead physical barriers and means of sealing.
At the end of the day, the only major different between the Procyon MQ and the Ballistic MQ is the use of Magseal as well as additional bearings within the Ballistic MQ.
These are what Daiwa refers to as CRBB which stands for Corrosion Resistant Ball Bearings.
The Cons
There are really two major cons that come to mind when talking about the Procyon MQ.
The first being there are not many physical seals at the handle entry point that you may find on other reels.
These are small rubber gaskets or rings that provide even more defense against saltwater intrusion.
The second is the price point.
Generally, anglers are looking to spend around $100 on a quality spinning reel.
Or they often will bump up to the $200 mark where you really get a lot of bang for your buck.
To put it to you simply, this is the way to go if you don’t want to spend $200 but want something that compares to that price point.
Conclusion
Overall, the Procyon MQ is super lightweight, moderately sealed, and has just about everything you’d be looking for in a reel at that price point.
It comes down to what you want to get out of the spinning reel and how you like to fish!
It will also blend perfectly with the inshore fishing rods out on the market!
Do you have any more questions related to the Daiwa Procyon MQ Review?
Have you gotten a chance to fish with it yet?
Let me know what you think of this reel down in the comments!!
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hi, thank you for the review. which one would you pick between Procyon MQ and Shimano Ultegra FC? thank you.
The Procyon MQ is a better reel, so that would be the clear choice in my opinion between those two reels.
Thank you. And what do you think, can Procyon MQ be a good upgrade from 2023 Fuego or not that necessary? Mostly for saltwater, inshore fishing.
Unless you’ll be using 15lb line or higher, the Fuego is surprisingly good for its price so that’s what I personally get for my light tackle needs.
Note: The Procyon MQ is certainly a better reel than the Fuego, but it just seems that the percentage of increased cost is greater than the percentage of increased performance for light tackle fishing.
Thank you very much.
I’ve yet to fish my Procyon MQ 3000 but I do have some observations. It’s very smooth to start the reeling process. I like the soft touch T-handle. It looks pretty good if you like lots of silver. What I don’t like is how soft and timid the drag sounds. Had I known that I probably would have gone with a BG. It’s got that nice metallic “ting ting” drag. It beats the BG in weight savings. I miss the reverse switch too.
Appreciate the feedback! I believe the Drag Material is still carbon fiber on the Procyon MQ, which is the same on the BG Series. But the Drag Clicker mechanism might be different between the two, hence why one sounds different from the other.
The Reverse Switch is an interesting perspective…for Inshore Saltwater Applications, the Reverse Switch is a redundancy that actually causes more harm than good for the angler in the long run. It serves as an unintentional water entry point for saltwater to gain access to the gear box and potentially compromise the pinion bearing (which would be very bad). Plus having this Anti-Reverse Switch is yet another part that can “break” if used repeatedly. These reels that still include Anti-Reverse Switches can still come in handy for Freshwater Anglers that still back-play their fish during the fight or right at the boat. But for the majority of Inshore/Saltwater Applications, there isn’t that need to back-play a fish: Simply loosening the drag is a much safer & manageable technique when a fish a boatside.
In other words, an Anti-Reverse Switch on a spinning reel really only serves the Inshore Angler as a Convenience, but at the expense of exposing the reel to saltwater much faster than a reel without an Anti-Reverse Switch.
If you had to choose a single reel between the Procyon AL LT and the new Procyon MQ LT, which would you choose? Removing the price since they are similar in that … which is better? for bass fishing, some mangrove and rock fishing
Personally, I would prefer the Procyon MQ over the Procyon AL. On one hand, the uncompromising rigidity of the Aluminum Body of the Procyon AL is a nice feature, but I’d rather pay the additional $20 for a BG MQ with both Aluminum and MQ Technology. However, if I was on a budget, the Procyon MQ is nice for those that are wanting a lighter-weight reel with a decent level of sealing. The MQ Concept definitely helps with transfer of power as well, so that’s a nice added feature.
My vote is on the Procyon MQ!
Awesome insight from the expert himself! Definitely need to break mine in soon, spooling it up with 8lb Island Blue Jbraid to match the color scheme 😎
That’s a sexy combination right there!
Awesome review Justin!!
Thank you Buddy!
Justin, that was a great review!! Thanks!!
Thank you for watching, Frank!
Does the BG MQ have the same ATD system and long cast ABS spool as the Procyon has
That is a GOOD question, Tim. Yes the Procyon MQ does have the Long Cast ABS Spool design, but I’m not 100% sure on the ATD Drag System. I want to say “Yes”, but I’d need to check within the spool to see if they are Carbon Fiber or Felt washers (that’s the biggest determining factors). I would be very surprised if they decided to stay with Felt washers at that price point, but let me see if I can find out.
Question for you Justin. Daiwa specs say this reel and others have a capacity of 250 yds with 10# Jbraid (.015 mm dia). But the specs on the box say 300m (328 yds) with .016 dia line. That’s a big difference. I think the specs on the box are more accurate. Any idea why the discrepancy?
To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a discrepancy there with Daiwa’s labels (they have been known to do this from time to time). Knowing that you probably won’t ever actually use a full 250yds of braid on that reel since it’s really designed for shallower water applications, I’d be more conservative in your math and assume it holds less. I’ll run this by Daiwa later today so that they are aware of this disconnect as well.
***If you’ve purchased the 2500 size, I’d definitely say it holds closer to 250yds of 10lb. J-Braid. Again, that’s if you put J-Braid on directly and not a monofilament backing base first. Over the past ~10 years, I’ve noticed that the majority of Shimano and Daiwa reels will hold approximately 200-220yds of 10lb. Braid after adding backing first. I’ve always felt that difference of ~20-30 yards was negligible in the grand scheme of things.
The reason I ask is I use those specs to help calculate how much backing to put on the reel for 150 yds of braid. I’ve been using the specs on the box which basically results in about 55 yards of 10# monofilament backing. So far the numbers have been working out perfectly as far as spooling up the full 150 yards of braid.
Thanks for the review Justin. Just bought one mostly because of its low weight yet it’s made out of ZaionV so it doesn’t flex like the fuego. It’s a perfect cross between the BGMQ and Fuego. I’ll just have to make sure not to drop it in the water.
Exactly! Nail on the head, my friend. For shallow flats fishing around Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon, I’d say it’s excellent for that approach.
That was a great review Justin. I think for the most part, Luke is correct when he states that the reel is a mechanism to hold line. Period. The only times, would be when you wade fish and/or fish that will use your drag system throughout the fight such as a King or Amberjack. I do think that if people have the money then go for the extra dollars and get the Mag seal but, I’m still not sure if it is actually needed but not a killer as far as cost goes. But, as one person already stated, why not just go with the old faithful reels such as the BG and the Fuego? They are a lot less money and the Fuego is way less in weight.
I think that Luke’s perspective of the reel being a line management tool is accurate when it comes to shallow water scenarios. But this might change when you place yourself in a situation where cranking down on a fish around structure is important (Ex: dock pilings in moderate current). In my experience, there have been several moments fishing around docks & bridges where I was grateful to have a reel with a larger Main Gear (such as those used in MQ Frame Reels by Daiwa) so that I could wind down on a fish with much less resistance. Anything that offers me the opportunity to pull fish away from structure, I’ll happily take it 🙂
The decision of whether to go with Magseal or not really depends on the anglers style of fishing, level of exposure they expect to experience, and whether they are OK not servicing their own gear (because the Magseal fluid is not available to the general public, at least not “Daiwa’s” brand of Magseal ferrous fluid). I think for the everyday angler, the Fuego and BG are the way to go. But there will always be some anglers that want to have these improved features, but not quite “break the bank”.
Across the board, the Procyon MQ is lighter than the Fuego in every model offered, due to the Procyon MQ being made from the newer Zaion-V material (the Fuego is still made from an older carbon composite material). But those models of reel are lightweight, all things considered!