Reel preferences

[Misty IV]

In my arsenal, I run the Eagle Claw SF-400A rods with Daiwa SG-47LCA reels for my downrigger rods. Seeing I am going to have more people on the boat this year, I added 2 more rods this spring. I'm thinking of putting the 47LCA's on them, as well, since they have been an incredible reel for me. However, wanted to see what other reels everyone uses and if there are any you'd recommend I look at and consider. Must be a line counter reel. Thanks for all input!

[Trolling82]

I use all daiwas.... love em. But then I stay mostly on the fingerlakes....

[Billy V]

You gotta check out the new Daiwa Saltist. VERY nice! I gave up all my SG47LCA's and we'll be running these exclusively this year.

http://www.daiwa.com/Reel/detail.aspx?ID=504

I really loved my SG47LCA's and you won't go wrong if you decide to continue with them.

[Misty IV]

I was actually just looking at the Saltist's, Bill. I like what I see in them, too.

[RiggerRob]

Hey Billy. Are you going to be trying the low speed Saltist or the highspeed Saltist. I would like to see your comments on these after you land a few hundred in the Spring. I am currently using the Tekota 600LC's and they work great. I only wish I could reel them Shaker's in a little faster here so I could get my line out sooner again for a big Salmon.

Rob!

[Missdemeanor]

Just ordered some Saltist reels for my wire rods. Smooth and the higher gears should be interesting

[Yankee Troller]

We have also switched all our 47's over to the new Saltist reels. I ran the larger versions last year for our 10 color set-ups. The high gear ratio was VERY nice for junk line fishing. The nice thing about the faster retrieves is with newbies. The pump and reel technique can put a lot of slack in the line. It wont take many turns of the handle to get the slack out of the line after a pump.

If you don't want to go with the Saltist there is also the new LCX which is a Sealine with a beefed up drag system. A friend of mine just bought a few of these and they seemed real nice when I played with them, and when I spooled them up for him. They have the larger handle too, which is a lot nicer than the old Sealine 47LC's small handle.

[Billy V]

RiggerRob,

I'll be running the 6.1:1 gear ratio. I have them for both my riggers and my divers. I'm sticking with my Penn's for copper and my ADP57's for cores for now. I'll be sure to post my impressions of them here after we use them for a bit this spring. I can't see a downside to the gear ratios. My biggest gripe about all the reels I've used over the years has always been the slow retrieve rates. Now I finally have what I want. We'll see if what I've always wanted in a reel is any good or not pretty soon! Word from the few guys that ran them last year on their riggers was that they're pretty sweet and have amazing drags.

[K Gonefishin]

Some guys down here on Erie have been running the LCX's for walleye and LOVE them much improved handle and even better drag. I have 2 on order right now should have them soon.

Can't go wrong with any of the Diawa products I run all Diawa's 47 LCA's for riggers and wire divers and all 27lca's for walleye. 57ADP's for 10 color core

The saltist's look awesome! Let us know how they work after you get some hours on them.

[Tim Bromund]

Kevin,

what are you talking about?? Everybody knows walleyes don't take out any drag

Tim

[Landshark]

If you are going to spend the money then go with the Shimano Tekotas , they are sweet and they aren't new, they are proven!

[Tall Tails]

Give Chris a call at St. Peters Outfitters in Oswego. He fixes reels on a daily basis and will give you the scoop. He sells all companys so there is no bias but interesting what he has to say about each manufacturer and the way things are built.

His top sellers are Shimano and Okuma. I myself have switched to Shimano diver reels, they are absolutly the best drag system on the market without putting the compettion drags in, but if you spend the 35 bucks on the competion drags you will have the best dipsy diver reel on the planet!! And I am an big okuma fan!!! I will still run Okumas everywhere else on the boat except big coppers. I have upgraded all my 45 and 55 okuma reels to 6.1/1 ratios and all new okuma tourney drags!!! I am working on getting a very large levelwind okuma reel upgraded to a larger gear ratio. You can spool 600ft of copper on these badboys with room to spare For the money in a side by side comparison it is Shimano all over the Diawa, but now we have the old Chevy Ford discussion to each his own.

[Billy V]

Hate to argue with you Brian, but in a side-by-side comparison, it's actually a pretty darn close race between the Daiwa Saltist and the Shimano Tekota. I am in no way slamming the Shimano. It's an incredible reel and worthy of all the praise it's received over the years. But making a blanket statement about the Shimano being "all over" the Daiwa just isn't fair, especially when you actually take a look at the specs side-by-side.

Daiwa STTLW30LCHA - 4 Super Corrosion Resistant Ball Bearings, 1 Roller Bearing, 6.1:1 gear ratio, 35" of line picked up per handle turn, 19.40 oz, 230 yards of 25# test, 15.4 Max Drag, Carbon U.T. Drag

Shimano Tekota 600LC - 3 Ball Bearings, 1 Roller Bearing, 4.2:1 gear ratio, 25" of line picked up per handle turn, 16.0 oz, 240 yards of 25# test, 16.0 Max Drag, Dartainium Drag

You're right when you say it's Ford vs Chevy, so I will give you that!

[Tall Tails]

Bill,

I wasnt trying to slam Diawa, just will be waiting with baited breath to see them stand up to a Wire fish in May and an inexperienced charter customer. I will bet you dinner the reel will bind with the fast gear ratio and wire. (I want you to be honest with me.)Everybody is excited about the new gear ratios my concern is will there be the stopping power of a high gear ratio reel. My bet will be not enough when it comes to wire setups. Now I am being specific because I think the problem will arise on the wire. Riggers- I think they will work out just fine with mono. I know they work great with cores but again there is a lot of forgiveness in core and copper setups.

I was just saying guys should talk to the people who repair all types of reels on a daily basis. From what I am hearing Diawa still has a way to go to equal Shimano. I was trying to avoid saying that earlier. And hey I was in the market for new Diver reels and I looked at all of the manufacturers and was turned off the Diawa by the guys in the business who repair them.

See you at the dock this weekend!

[K Gonefishin]

Kevin,

what are you talking about?? Everybody knows walleyes don't take out any drag

Tim

When you catch big fish and as many as I do...drags on my reels get used alot, and don't forget we do have a heck of a steelie fishery...

I hear what your saying though.

by the way i couldn't wait any longer and picked up a couple new 27 LCX's...S A WEET. Much improved handle and the drag works like a Tekota with the little clicks smooth as butter. Defintely an improvement over the already bulletproof LCA's.

Picked up this horse the other night on a bait I painted and first fish on the LCX. Over 11 and yes Tim...it took drag and my board completely under water.

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

I just have to jump in. The Okuma catalinas have been a great reel for us, and I'm looking forward to putting the upgraded versions through the paces this May. They sure look sweet! Will be adding some Clarions to the junk rod presentations, as they now offer high speed models. My concerns with the high speed models are the same as yours Brian. Heres hoping they are just as powerful. No matter where your loyalty lies, it sure is great to see the industry looking for innovations and upgrades for the Great Lakes fisheries. It was getting stale there for awhile.

[Tim Bromund]

while I admit to being a strong Daiwa fan, I'm fairly non-partial as to what I will use. I have Daiwa's, Okuma's, Shimano's and Penn's on the boat in different applications and they all do the job.

Tim

[A-TOM-MIK]

Just a note to the guys that still love the old Daiwa 47 counter reels, I think we all agree they are a reel that served us very well for a numerous amount of years. It's hard to store something away that doesn't owe you a penny and has gave us years of service.

However in comparison to a Shimano Tekota 600LC leaves for one to give it a pretty hard look, side by side comparison my forearms thank me after a core fish or a screaming wire diver King made its way out to 600' - 700'.

Can't wait to see the verdict on the Saltist, we have sold a couple dozen so far and they haven't been on our site for very long. Time will tell, we're hoping for the best as newer technology usually does end up serving our needs to a higher degree. Year after year dealing with all our expensive gear that next best thing is always out there.

Brian, the retired Okuma Titus 50L (L version retired) was a hopeful, too bad there wasn't some interest in an upgrade in that neighborhood, could be a reasonably priced reel that may take the haunting feeling away from the Penn 345 era.

Tom

[Tim Bromund]

I've got my 400' copper on an Okuma Titus T-20L which is a lever drag level wind reel, with 400 yds of 30 lb power pro backing. I believe it has the same rated line capacity as the Penn 345 and the handle on that reel is HUGE, makes reeling in a lot easier. Those reels are still pretty reasonably priced at East Coast Tackle on closeout at the moment for $104.99 (regular price was $139.99)

Just thought I'd throw that out there as another option (for the time being anyways) for longer coppers.

http://www.eastcoasttackle.com/mm5/merc ... y_Code=174

Tim

[Tim Bromund]

ok cancel that, they only show one in stock. Oh well, it is a nice reel for the money.

Tim

[A-TOM-MIK]

Agree Tim !!!

We sold the the 50L model for about 3 to 4 years, they still make it in the 50 version but took the level winder off ):

Would hold 700' of our heavy copper with 300 yds of 50# braid (for the Hajecki's of the bunch) (:

It was a popular reel, but guess I couldn't sell enough to keep it in production, lmao

Loved the over-sized handle as you mention

Tom

[rolmops]

Most of my fishing has been either leadcore in the finger lakes,or Deep Sea out of Gloucester.

For the leadcore my preference is the Daiwa 57 LC which easily takes 18 colors, but for anything bigger than lake trout there is at least in my mind the Penn 330 GTI levelwind and for the copper and stainless The Penn Senators 112 and 113. A meat pole really should have nothing less than a Senator.

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

Tom, do you mean 55L? The Okuma 55L convector is a great copper reel. I hope that didn't get discontinued.

[A-TOM-MIK]

Nope, its really big brother Vince

[Billy V]

I guess I'm not understanding the concern over a higher gear ratio reel and it not being able to stop a fish. The drag is the thing that stops a fish, not the gears. All the higher gear ratio does is allow you to bring line in more quickly. Unless you're just cranking the fish in with the reel, which we don't advocate doing on my boat, how is it ever going to be a problem? All I can see the new Saltist doing is being a major upgrade what with a greatly improved drag system and the higher retrieve ratio.