Buying some new downrigger reels - Tekota or Saltist

[Dan M]

To preface, I own 3 Shimano Tekoa A 600's. 2 are my wire setups, and one is a downrigger rod. I also have an Okuma Coldwater for the other downrigger rod which I do not like, going to sell.

I own 2 Saltist LC 20's that I was using for muksy trolling, and I'm going to set them up for browns.

If you were going to buy 3 downrigger reels would they be - 

Tekota A 600s? (240 yards of 25# mono)

Daiwa Saltist 40LCHA - (400 yards of 25# mono) 

or even Saltist 30LCHA (which is about the same capacity as the Tekota - but less line retrieve.)

 

 

[shawn393]

Saltist 30's you don't need high speed for riggers. You will be happy they aren't high speed when you get a big king on

[Dan M]

Thinking one more tekota, and 2 saltists. Just run 2 of each!

 

[tuffishooker]

Shimano Tekoa work fine for me !

[Gator]

Saltist 30

[mudflat]

21 hours ago, Dan M said:

Thinking one more tekota, and 2 saltists. Just run 2 of each!

 

Both are great reels

 

I would go with 2 Saltist 40's and spool them up with 30lb test to use with flasher/flies/meat rigs and during flea season, they'll hold almost 300 yds of Sea Flee line.

I have found the line counters on the 40's are just high enough that my arm fits underneath them making them more comfortable to use than the 30's

 

Use the Tekota's for you spoon rigs with 20-25lb line and you can leader them down for brown trout

[John E Powell]

Thinking one more tekota, and 2 saltists. Just run 2 of each!
 

I think you answered your own question here. Use the higher retrieve rate reels for your spoon rods, and the lower retrieve rate for your attractor setups.


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[ErieBuck]

The new Tekota A was a huge upgrade from my Daiwa Sealines, soooo smooth and love the drag.  Now you guys got me curious about the Saltist!  Might need to pick up a few to replace my remaining sealines.  

[Dan M]

32 minutes ago, mudflat said:

Both are great reels

 

I would go with 2 Saltist 40's and spool them up with 30lb test to use with flasher/flies/meat rigs and during flea season, they'll hold almost 300 yds of Sea Flee line.

I have found the line counters on the 40's are just high enough that my arm fits underneath them making them more comfortable to use than the 30's

 

Use the Tekota's for you spoon rigs with 20-25lb line and you can leader them down for brown trout

I think the 40's are going to be alot bigger than the 30s - have you seen them in person? I haven't so I don't know. but I do like the idea of spooling down the tekotas for browns in the spring

[Dan M]

1 minute ago, ErieBuck said:

The new Tekota A was a huge upgrade from my Daiwa Sealines, soooo smooth and love the drag.  Now you guys got me curious about the Saltist!  Might need to pick up a few to replace my remaining sealines.  

Yea, the tekotas seem sleek and streamlined, the saltists remind me of a tank

[justtracytrolling]

I have all tekota A's 300s thru 600s and couldn't be happier with them.  From young kids to senior citizens all of my customers have a much easier time with low profile and light weight.  The drag system is second to none.  Are they the most rugged and heavy duty?  Doubtful when you consider how light they are, but shimano has always stood behind their high end stuff and Shimano is all I use for bait casters (curado dcs), spinning reels(ci4+) and now the trolling reels.  The saltists are awesome  but Daiwa hasn't been as good to me...I have 3 Lexa lcs and 2 came with busted clickers straight from Daiwa which I still can't understand how they got shipped out like that!  Either reel will definitely make you happy!

[spoonfed-1]

Happy with my Tekotas and I own over 2 dozen between 800's, 600's and 500's. Taken an awful lot of fish on them and no regrets. Good luck with your decision.

[ErieBuck]

Do you guys still buy the line counter version of the reels for your downrigger rods?  That's all I've ever bought because the price isn't much different, but I may pick up a couple non-line counter Tekotas to use on the riggers.   Only thing I don't like about them is how far the line counter sticks out which can get in the way a bit while reeling for people who aren't used to them and it makes the below deck storage on my boat a little challenging.  

[spoonfed-1]

1 minute ago, ErieBuck said:

Do you guys still buy the line counter version of the reels for your downrigger rods?  That's all I've ever bought because the price isn't much different, but I may pick up a couple non-line counter Tekotas to use on the riggers.   Only thing I don't like about them is how far the line counter sticks out which can get in the way a bit while reeling for people who aren't used to them and it makes the below deck storage on my boat a little challenging.  

All my 500 & 600s are LC's. 800's with copper and cores no LC"S

[justtracytrolling]

I run lcs across the board because I do a lot of long set backs off the riggers and want to be repeatable.  Also on my cores I often run 25-75 of backing out on the boards to adjust deeper with the same core or copper.  Doubtful that you need to be that precise with trout and salmon.

[Gill-T]

I use Shimano Tekotas 600’s for divers and Saltist 30’s for riggers. You will appreciate the fast line retrieve on the Saltists when a rigger release goes off. 

[Dan M]

10 hours ago, Gill-T said:

I use Shimano Tekotas 600’s for divers and Saltist 30’s for riggers. You will appreciate the fast line retrieve on the Saltists when a rigger release goes off. 

The tekota A actually has a 38in retrieve compared to the saltist 35in. The saltist 40 has a 47in retrieve making it higher than the tekota - but significantly larger. 

[Sk8man]

And the winner is..... There is also something to be said for selecting the same reels for the particular usage e.g. divers vs. downriggers for each setup especially if you have other folks going with you on the boat. With a mixture of reels e.g. one rigger reel that is a Diawa and another that is  a Tekota that have a different feel and operate slightly different in the heat of the  moment it can create a little confusion and that may be all that is need for a fish to get off.

[Dan M]

3 minutes ago, Sk8man said:

And the winner is..... There is also something to be said for selecting the same reels for the particular usage e.g. divers vs. downriggers for each setup especially if you have other folks going with you on the boat. With a mixture of reels e.g. one rigger reel that is a Diawa and another that is  a Tekota that have a different feel and operate slightly different in the heat of the  moment it can create a little confusion and that may be all that is need for a fish to get off.

Yup. I've decided to just grab 2 more tekotas and use my Okuma as my 4th rigger rod (if needed) or backup.

[tuffishooker]

Truism in hunting " It is not the gun but the gunner " ! For me the same in fishing reels ! After 34 years out in Lake Ontario I have used most ! From generic [ cheep ] Penns to the reels in question . Keep the reel serviced ! It is the drag which will make or break a big salmon ! Many will disagree but my favorite is my very old Shimano lever drag !