newapti5

As shown in below picture, the Zillion on the left doesn't leave me much room to comfortably place my middle finger under the reel, and the Bantam on the right has plenty. This is a common problem for ACS style reel seats, and a problem for anglers who hold reels this way.

It's composite material as well, but with a different shiny paint job. It's got Micro Module Gears if that matters.

I'd add $20~30 and get the Chronarch MGL, it is pretty much the same reels with a better MGL spool.

They're really pretty. Might give them a try this spring.

There're many hidden gems in Japan used market like Rakuten, Mercari, and Yahoo! Japan Auction. I got this 13 Metanium for less than $100. Except a couple tiny scratches on the top, it is as smooth as a new one.

Set up your drag to a proper level, use your thumb to hold down the spool still, then turn the reel handle. If the noise still happens, then it's definitely from the gear side; if the noise stops, then it could be from either side.

Just curious, did you put the part 86 firmly onto the base of main shaft? The hole in its middle is not a round hole, but rather a square one. It must firmly fit into the base of the main shaft, so that part 86 will ALWAYS rotate with main shaft, not main gear. When you pull drag, the main gear will rub against drag washer 87, which in turn will rub against part 86, trying to rotate it. If part 86 is loose, it isn't totally locked with part 44 or the main shaft. With a little force from drag washer 87, part 86 could rotate and clash with part 44, making that noise in your video. This is what I could deduce from that sound in your video, because it doesn't seem like drag rubbing but some parts clapping together.

Why not try plat? Their shipping only takes about a week.

Yeah, I guess the AI gathers its info through how many time certain reels were mentioned on the Internet, not how deep and creditable that info was. Anyway, I am a bit released that AI ain't gonna replace us soon.

Yeah not good enough.

Even ChatGPT is bought by Kastking:

So...nothing

But not good enough, yet. I guess there's still hope for humanity.

For reels more expensive than Tatula LT, you could google SLP alpha spool; for reels cheaper than Tatula LT such as Fuego LT, try search SLP beta spool. Either one is pretty good from my experience.

Outside the two brands, Lew's BB1 and Heavy Duty are pretty decent; Revo Winch is also impressive.

12 days is not bad at all, considered the low-priced shipping method they use. The worst wait I had during 2020 was about 50 days. I am gonna digress a bit here: as far as I know, many Chinese vendors have fully realized the impact of slow shipping to their sales. Nowadays they would either ship directly from China with faster and more expensive shipping methods, or they would place the popular items in a US/Canada warehouse to shorten the shipping time.

Yes, 20lb is also the most braid I use on BC reels, and I use them for jigs, t-rigs, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits... Sometimes I'd even go down to 15lb. I also never had dig-in problems because I set the drag low, around 3lb. For fighting a bass, even a feisty 20" river smallie, 3lb drag is enough. Just use your thumb if extra drag is needed during hookset.

Plat.co.jp has Daiwa Silver Creek Air TW Stream Custom on sale for $230 now with free shipping from Japan, much lower than what Digitaka offers. This is a true BFS reel, designed for fishing stream trout.

Seaguar Gold Label if the price is not a factor. Otherwise Seaguar AbrazX is a good one. For FC leader line, I mostly look at diameter and abrasion resistance. Unless running a long leader over 10', I don't think other characteristics matter much.

Of course. Like many other luxury items, they are put on sale constantly. The most discount I've seen is the GLX line, 40% off last Christmas. But sorry I can't tell you how to find the discount/coupon; you'll have to search the Internet. I just want to let people know, don't pay full retail.

Yes, if the yoke is aligned ideally, it has nothing to do with the pinion gear alignment. It behaves, just like you said, as a tool to push in and out the pinion. But when the yoke is misaligned, it is constantly pressing against the pinion. So the pinion is just as under load all the time. When that happens, whatever tight tolerance between the pinion inside and spool shaft is, this constant load will affect the pinion and main gear meshing and shorten the smooth winding period. Also, since the pinion is "under load" even during casting position, the casting performance will be affected as well because now there's extra friction on the spool shaft. I didn't service many Tatula reels, but judging from mine and my friend's, I would argue this may happen more often than you think. Sometimes this happens after some usage, but I would say it happens more often when we put the reel back together after a deep cleaning and didn't pay much attention to that small piece's alignment. Thanks for the pics BTW.

I actually did, on my first gen Tatula. The screws were not totally loose, but this part was misaligned when I opened the reel after a year of usage. I respectfully disagree. Without dual support, the pinion gear is supported by one bearing on one end, and spool shaft for the rest. But the inside of pinion gear is not tightly against the spool shaft. There's some wiggle room there for sure. I mean, this is why dual bearing support is tighter and better, because the pinion gear won't become misaligned, even under load. When this little part becomes misaligned, the pinion yoke will be as well, and then the yoke will press against the pinion gear, making it misaligned a bit, even when the pinion is still on the spool shaft. Like I said, this is why dual bearing support pinion gear is better, because the "wiggle room" between pinion inside and spool shaft won't matter anymore. Of course, not every manufacturer can make a decent dual support pinion gear structure. I have a $10 unknown brand reel that has dual support pinion gear; doesn't make it any smoother than an ABU Black Max.

Yes I noticed that as well. Anyway, I guess smoothness is just one aspect of reels. I still secretly love using my old hard-grinding Daiwa Exceler BC reel, because its casting is so effortless and accurate.

Yes, it's made of some sort of metal, but I don't think the material is as strong as it used to be since it would flex a bit under load. Anyway, when I assemble my Tatula after a deep-clean, this part is the one I pay most attention to, making sure it is lined up straight and tightly secured.

Yep. IMO level bearings may improve smoothness a little bit in heavy duty situation, but in most cases, that small improvement is almost neglectable in daily fishing. What I'd like to see improvement is this little part in Tatula reels (and some other reels), the support for pinion yoke. The material it uses, the small size of it, and the tiny screws that fix it to the frame, all make that part not secure enough. Once it moves a little, the alignment of the pinion gear will be affected since the pinion gear is not supported by dual bearings. In the old Alphas frame and TD-Z fame, even with dual support pinion gear, that little part is made of metal, and riveted to the frame. It's about as secure as it can be. IMO this is another proof that Daiwa is going backward to save reel weight and cost.