Tatulatard

Anyone have any feedback on these? They basically extend the reel seat out into the shape of a grip rather than using a separate grip material. I see the okuma psycho sticks do the same thing. There are very few reviews of the rods and this new grip design but I like the idea instead of using a soft spongy material for a grip that may deaden sensitivity.

I watched a video of a skipping novice giving this reel a go at skipping and it was brutal to watch. It is definitely not a a reel for complete skipping noobs. You need a bit of proper technique to make this one skip but it will do it. Just seems like the lews for the guys who really don't want a daiwa sv reel and have to have a lews. Not a bad reel and that same video says it casts finesse baits really well too.

They are a brand name that uses other people's stuff but the stuff they use is pretty good and they are better than others playing the same game imo.

We are feeling the effects of our reaction to covid for the past 2 years. Reactions that have created supply chain shortages as well as the giggaton of money printing and QE that has occurred. But its ok because the upcoming depression will slow the velocity of the dollar and inflation will probably stop.

For the steez ct? Do tell.

I would lean towards the sv if skipping or using 14 lb flouro and slx if skipping isn't a priority and using braid. I like how free shimano svs is with no spool tension but don't like it when trying to pass a plastic slinky trough the level wind. I have both and my slx mgl is my long casting weightless plastics and small crank reel and my tatula sv is my close quarters weightless plastics and light jigs skipping reel.

What's wrong with using the aluminum frame and side plate a tatula 80, 70 and alphas for punching? They have brass gears and are all aluminum with their armed housing concept that includes frame, gear side plate and the "set plate" which is the portion of the palming side plate that locks into the frame. If you are ok with magnesium for this then the steez ct has a similar construction in the same tiny size with even better ergonomics (not a square up front as the alphas) while being even lighter. None of these reels are meant for finesse only from what I am told.

It's considerably less dense than aluminum and is actually quite brittle. It is this low density and associated low weight that are what make the material desirable as an alloy in fishing reels but also allows for a more "hollow" feeling reel. A worth while trade off in my opinion. I've never felt any of my magnesium reels flex that I can pinpoint with certainty. Winching in fish through the slop I have experienced a loss of efficiency with some magnesium reels with the same ipt, handle length and main gear diameter as an aluminum reel. The magnesium reel would get a little difficult to reel in the fish when the aluminum frame and side plate reel was effortless in comparison. The difference is slight but I have noticed it. A far greater discrepancy is when I compared similar ipt chinease plastic reels to my aluminum handle and side plate reels when winching in a fish though the slop. For certain the graphite reels are frame flexing and producing a loss of cranking efficiency. With the graphite reels it is a very noticeable difference. With the magnesium reels the difference is so slight that I have had suspicions it is due to frame flexing but haven't been able to say for certain.

Reminder that we are on a fishing forum and much of what is discussed falls under the scope of "hearsay". When I hear someone that has established themselves as knowing what they are talking about when it comes to fishing reels mentioning that they have experienced frame flex in high drag pressure applications with a particular magnesium frame reel then I am inclined to belive it. Also there is nothing wrong with a smidge of frame flex from a magnesium alloy reel. Maybe don't use them in those locked down drag applications if it is a concern. I don't because by daiwa's own admission their zaion "rivals the strength and flex of magnesium" " shows minimal flexing under load like magnesium". Now I have both zaion and magnesium reels and zaion does flex more under load than magnesium because I have experienced it with my one zaion reel but have not with any of my magnesium reels. At the same time I absolutely belive that magnesium can flex more than aluminum under high loads and will not readily discount any reports I hear from anglers that claim to experience it.

Magnesium as a material has some flex as does aluminum. I've never felt it on my magnesium reels but I've heard of it and am not going to redily discount the reports of it from someone like FishTank when they mention experiencing it when using a magnesium reel in the very application the op is specifying. Not going to perpetuate the sentiment that magnesium reels flex too much for high drag pressure applications since I haven't experienced it but I'm not going to dismiss it as hearsay. Does that apply to the usdm zillion too? I don't remember if that one has an aluminum pinion or not. I know the main gear is brass.

Some of these cheap chinease reels can be very good performers but I have some questions about their longevity and serviceability. I had a kk assassin a few year back from their official store for under $60. It was lightweight and had a great casting 14 gram spool with a centrifugal brake. It was a very good casting reel and leagues better a caster than any mag only reels I have used including the lews LFS. It would sling baits out there and toured a ML up to a H frog rod. It was big, clunky and very unrefined reel but the performance was very good for the money. I bought it as a curiosity and gave it to a buddy as his 1st centrifugal reel to learn on. It had magnets too but they were really weak. For the $56 I paid for it I was a satisfied but that money would have been better spent on a fuego ct or slx to get an aluminum frame and availability of parts.

I always heard magnesium had a little flex to it. I think the tatula 70 and alphas wouldn't have this problem being aluminum with aluminum side plate.

Tatula 70 SV or alphas 800. Both are the same size as the steez ct. Both are the same reel with the tatula not having a double supported pinion but a us warranty.

Sure get whatever you want. A big part of the appeal of those rods is the awesome warranty. If that no longer appeals to you then get a megabass. Did you catch any fish on the rod? If you did, did you "swig in the fish"? That can be a rod killer.

Reels like the curado 150 mgl, lews tournament pro and tatula 100 or 80 are all good options.

This is making me want to get old pinnacle casting combos from the early 2000s.

I have 300 reels that palm better than the 150 and 200 tatulas. It's that mag dial that sticks out with the sharp edges and not so much the size of the reel. It will rub your skin raw or move the brake setting or both if you palm with a finger over it. I had to adjust my pointer finger position when palming my 150 and 200s.

Proven in that they work. Diawa has abandoned their material in baitcast reels above the $100 price target and only shimano remains with the chronarch which I am personally convinced will never be made from this material again once the current model is phased out. They have not made any other baitcast reels from this material in the $200+ price to my knowledge. Both daiwa and shimano went from these materials being new wonder materials for baitcast reels in the $300 range to completely abonding it on baitcast reels and using it as more of a budget marerial on spinning reels. There is a common theme I hear from feedback about reels using this material including the Lews reels. They are frequently reported as noisy and not as smooth as their aluminum counterparts after use but they work just fine. As a whole they just don't stay as smooth or quiet as long but that doesn't mean mechanical failure is eminent. This is just the price to pay for weight reduction at an affordable price and as long as the buyer knows this when they buy the reel then there is no reason to be upset about it. The thing is Lews or anyone else for that matter isn't going to say "new and improved plastic reel that offers high end magnesium like weight for a low cost but it will get noiser than it was out of the box after a season or three of use". They are going to promote how light weight it is and how its made from short strand CARBON FIBER powder in a polymer with behaviors that largely mirror the polymer. Sometimes they'll throw corrosion resistance around like 13 does with their cast carbon reels. It's true that plastic is corrosion resistant but that's more of a salt water talking point imo. Personally I want to see more reels go the route of the hakai and use a magnesium frame with heavily ported brass main gear with high carbon plastic side plates for $200 and under. The tiny reels like the curado 150 mgl and tatula 80 are also a good way to achieve weight under 7 oz.

Both are great. The 150 is a big reel and is actually an oldie but a goodie being the original tatula. One thing to consider is how it palms. The 150 and 200 aren't super friendly to palming with the trigger between the pinky and ring finger. The mag dial will rub on your pointer finger if you put it on the blank when palming the reel. I really only had this problem when fishing jerkbaits and just changed reels for that bait. They later released the tatula ct in 2016 as a narrow spool version to fix this issue but they gave the reel a cheaper plastic side plate. Much later when they put out an even newer tatula, they relaunched the original tatulas as heavy duty models. They are heavy duty compared to the modern tatulas but they are big reels from 2015 or whenever they 1st came out. Unless you need the capacity, I would be looking at the curado 150 mgl or tatula 80. They are much smaller more palm friendly reels for regular bass use and don't weight 8oz. I would be looking at the 200k and 150 for long casting heavy baits in the 3/4 to 2 oz weight or the tatula 200 for 1 oz to 4 oz. Between the 200k and 150 I would go 200k if braid and 150 if heavy flouro/mono for the twing. I like how the twing handles big diameter high memory lines. Let's get ahead of something right now before it gets brought up. I see it everywhere and have no idea where it comes from "I just want to get that 5lb bass with 5 lbs of weeds to the boat" You don't need 10lbs+ of drag for that. That 10lbs doesn't weigh 10lbs in the water. It's in the water. It's floating or is neutral in density. The bass can't pull with 10lbs or force. It doesn't take 10lbs of force to move it through the water to the boat. Your 5lbs of bass with 5lbs of weeds stuck to it doesn't weight 10lbs until you dead lift it out of the water. If you want to use the reel and rod to do that then I hope you are a fishing rod buying enthusiast because you are going to be doing a lot of it.

I'll add that both the casting 6'8" medium mojo bass sticks have very soft tips that make for a decent finesse casting rod for weightless plastics. I was skipping 1/16 oz wacky jigheads with floating worms the other day with a tatula sv. All my other medium rods are too stiff for that. There is also a medium plastics rod in the lineup that I almost got but got then"jerkbait" instead because it has a similar soft tip and is shorter. The plastics rod has more backbone with a very soft tip too. All 3 of those rods are good power bfs esque sticks.

So they do have a gen 2 aluminum frame reel. Shame they all aren't aluminum. I do believe boat flipping a bass is going to "stress" the frame as in flex it. I can go to every display graphite reel at my cabelas and press the top of the frame down until frame touches the top of the level wind by hand. Grab a reel, look at the small gap between the level wind and frame, then press down with both hands on the frame and you can see the sliver of light between the two disappear as frame touches level wind. This is my test to see if a reel is aluminum or not. Can't budge the aluminum reels.

Those high drag numbers are there just to look good on paper. A standard 10# drag on lockdown isn't going to budge unless you do some weird crap like hook setting with your whole body and heaving the fish into the boat all in one rod endangering motion. This is a thing people do now because they saw it on TV or so they don't have to bend over or something. If you are doing this then maybe a higher drag number will benefit you. Even then a 13# drag should be more than enough for this.... behavior. Ok. One reel is plastic and another one is some chinease thing. I would scratch those two off the list right away but that is me. The Curado 200k is an excellent reel but you might want to cross shop it with the 150 MGL.

Me too. Unfortunately many use max drag and reel weight as pretty much the only two things when purchasing a reel.

The washers are to shim out play. You may or may not use them all or need more.

Its graphite plastic reel. 25lbs of drag is meangless in bass fishing. Even if you are dead lifting fish into the boat a reel with that frame material is not the one I would want to being doing that with if I even wanted to that (I don't). I don't see the appeal of this reel other than maybe inshore use because the body won't react with the salt.