Yeah nice question Sarge.. Id be interested to know also . Ive used the ABU 7000 & 10000 for years but not sure what I would buy if doing the stuff I used to do. Trinidads ?

 personally im a shimano fan,  have a look at the shimano toriums for casting if your looking to catch a few small sharks an mulloway then it should do the do trick but i would recomend using braid as the 30 model and below dont have as much line capacity as some of the other overheads

 ive used a diawa saltist 50h for bottom bashing and beach fishing its about 5-6 years old hasnt missed a beat

 I use trinidad 30 saltiga 50 and the old daiwa LD50H as landbased casting reels for both baits and lures matched to 8 foot rods up here, more rocks and mud though than sandy beaches

I have used saltist 30/40 trinidads and toriums all good OH casting reels.  Also saltiga make an OH surf which I havent used but has plenty of good feedback, I think its a 30 size

I have personally gone back to spin reels for beach casting with the modern day drag systems, 6.1 ratios and long cast spools I find them alot more useful these days

Look around for an Abu 10.000ca, automatic two speed, good line capacity and doesn't weigh a ton. They were the Rolls Royce of overheads years back and stand up tall when compaired to todays reels.

 have used Abus all my life off the beach in Ireland and England, I would personally only use them for Barra or some light beach  work. I have had a Daiwa SHA50  which was pretty good but have replaced it with a Trinidad TN 30  which I think is an awesome

reel , big quote for a daiwa fan. 

 Cheers for the suggestions, the torium has got me thinking, does it have a centrifugal braking system? One trouble I have with the new silver trinidad reels is the inability to correctly adjust the spool tension, although the gold ones are very good reels! 

Ive been thinking about the Torsa but a quick look inside one reveils way too much mass to rotate spool wise and good distance would be had to achieve! 

If you guys have never tried a Fin Nor for surf casting i highly recommend them (the star drag offshore series) they are seriously fast for casting and strong. Only they require some corners to be "uncut" to be reliable casting reels. (Spool pin pulled, replace the chinese bearings with better quality ones that are oiled up, and order in penn 555 brake blocks as the stock rubber ones actualy wear out quickly) 

i like the feel of a strong reel in the surf and i had a Saltiga surf which i loved but lost (tragic!) it was great.

So so far Torium and gold trinidad are certainly on the list to look at. 

Saltist are great reels but essentialy the same as the Fin Nor OFC if you crack them both open. Single anti reverse shits me! 

Any other suggestions? Has anyone ever had a cast on a surf rod with the Torsa Just for laughs?

Cheers. 

 Haha i dont know why they put break blocks on the torsa. I imported a penn fathom in the 30 size (star drag obviously) and it is extremely good for a cheaper reel. This has caught me plenty of sharks but no mullas yet :( For my gereral surf fishing I use a trinidad 20dc. Bit of a cheats reel really as its pretty much a thumb free cast. But I would easily buy another fathom in the smaller size for my gereral work. There not available locally but can be bought in for around $200. Has a fantastic spring loaded centrifugal break, and a 3 min spin time out of the box. Also has dual antireverse pawls.

If you're not "old school" like myself and a lot of others ie Abu 10000 etc then have a close look at the US made Avet reels, in particular the MC with their magnetic cast control.I've heard good things about them and they won't break the bank, especially from US sellers.

Darren

 Have a look at some of my shark catches on my torium 50 and Trinidad 30A and I think that will prove the sort of abuse they are capable of. I use overheads because they cast further, smoother drags, hold much more line, lighter for the size, easier to use once mastered and just a much easier reel to use for surf fishing. The largest spin reel I own is a 4000 that I use 20lb on and anything heavier I use overhead for. The cast adjustment on toriums and Trinidad A's isn't great but very easy to get used to and once you are used to it you will never have a problem.

 Thanks again for the suggestions, ive since got hold of a Trinidad tn20, i had a cast with it yesterday and straight out of the box gave me a nice distance and pretty smooth feel overall which is great. Its going to partner nicely with my Fin Nor OFC 20H which i must say again if youve overlooked them because of the brand or whatever i would guarentee you wouldnt have a drama if i gave you mine to use for a week, its already landed a 39cm bream and a 4kilo jewie casting bait at night, and a nice kingie off the rocks shore jigging and with 15kg setup it was able to give those fish enough stick that they never once looked like getting the better of me, not trying to plug fin nor but they seriously work well. 

As for being old school i honestly dont mind abus they are nice reels, just to be brutaly honest they wont stand up next to equivalent sized modern reels like the saltist or fin nor or trinidad with regards to drag pressure and line capacity, modern reels are built for modern fishing, braided lines and high carbon content rods. Again they are lovely reels but if im fishing the surf for jewies and a 30kg bronzie grabs my presentation id much rather be fighting it on a fin/saltist/trinidad than an abu coz they are machines build to fight fish and hold allot of line! 

As for casting i get 130-150meters with bait and 4oz lead on the fin which is honestly plenty for anything!! Haha not trying to be an arse and certainly not saying that anyones choice of equipment is wrong or not as good as mine, im just searching for the honest truth in overhead casting reels and that means no reel or rod will get by me on reputation alone, itll have to prove itself! 

The MXL mc cast is a lovely reel for fishing and casting and is a very solid choice! I agree with the reports ive heard from accomplished surf fishermen that they are overmagged but that is easily rectified by shaving down the mags ever so slightly! 

Cheers again for all the knowledge you guys are sharing! 

Hope the fish are biting! 

All the reels mention are good reels, goes down to personal preference.

Med range (Cost) good reels:

Diawa

Slosh 30, 40 and 50

Saltist and the Shimano Torium.

Larny reels

Diawa saltiga range

and Shimano Trinidad range are awesum if you have the budget.

The Abu will handle any shark over 30kg no worries at all.