diawa saltist 20

[NTKG]

hey guys i bought one months back and its been used as a kayak rod until drum season I have casted it a few times and wanted to see what your opinions were.

I bought it bc I wanted a bombproof reel for the beach, my go to reel is not bomb proof by anymeans but will throw a bait a long ways. I usually fish a hatteras outfitters custum magged blue yonder.

anyway so the daiwa FLUFFS during the cast and then feels too slow and i feel like I am not getting any distance. Also, the drag seems very weak as the flat heads we've been catchin this past week were giving it trouble.

so basically is the drag really that weak? secondly i know its not a custom 6500 and I don't expect it to cast AS well, but i was hoping for a little better.

any input?

[Cdog]

Neil, the drag is weak in the beginning but after a while of use it tightened up on mine.

As far as distance, on my 20 I took it apart, cleaned it and put 3in1 oil on the bearings. Not getting as far as my old 525 but getting good distances.

Took my 30 out that is stock and like yours it wants to fluff in the start and seems to slow down. I will prolly clean the bearings and re oil that one next.

[SINNER]

I've got some 30's Neil. I agree with Cdog on the drag. Mine got better as they were used a bit. The factory oil was a bit inconsistant as well. I used some rocket fuel which made it more predictable.

[uncdub13]

The drag on my 30 seemed like it might have gotten a tad stronger over these last few weeks of heavy use, but i thought maybe it was just me...maybe not.

The spool tension on mine likes to loosen way up on its own (during the cast i assume) for some reason, but i just remember to check it every cast now so it's not a big deal really.

[surfchunker]

SLSH -SHA-SHV how is the drag and casting ..... should be about the same you'd think ..... I've had my eye on a Saltist for a good while

[Cdog]

SLSH -SHA-SHV how is the drag and casting ..... should be about the same you'd think ..... I've had my eye on a Saltist for a good while
About the same casting wise, drag I believe is the same but the only big fish so far was a striper so I haven't really tested it yet.

[surfchunker]

I kinda was guessing that it's just the same except for an alum. frame .... does it have a similar spool ?

[Ryan Y]

First off I havnt gotten the distance as my 25's but Im have made it a point to keep them on the heavers to give them a full test.

However, I kept the same brakes in them as they were delivered. I also ran the spool tension a little tight for a while when I first got them so I knew I want going to get distance.

(My girlfriend, start reading here) I figured I could dial it in a little better working it from Tight to Loose. It worked a lot better then I expected.

(reading over) The drag though, Its not as sensitive as the PENN 25's which I'm not sure I like. I have to make a few turns to tighten it up as opposed to one little turn on the Penn 25. I am bound and determined to put them through a Drum season before I make up my mind for good though.

[Shooter]

They are all a piece of junk so send them all to me and I will deal with the problems :D

Let's put it this way you know how much I love my little Avets and I am going to sell them and get a few more Saltist,,, 1 or 2 of each 20 and 30. True you may have to clean and re-oil but who likes factory oils anway.

Did find one trick when Ryan put in the carbon washes in my Abus, they need to be burnt in before they come into their own so I am guessing the Saltist may have to do the same.

[mud]

no problems here with mine after the drag adjusted itself. It cast a mile with the red brakes in and has no trouble keeping up with my 525 and even my sloshes. Will change the drags when its time. Good luck to ya!!

[bstarling]

I too took out the factory oil, and that was replaced with Penn Synthetic. Actually made it pretty quick and I do occasionally get some fluff. With a really big bait, it can be made to fuzz up a little, but not really what your would call a blow up. A little thumb in mid cast will eliminate that problem. Usually into a good head wind, I just add some spool tension to help out with the fluff. With a tail wind it is balls to the wall wide open and it really flies well. Fact is that out of the box one would have to really try really hard to make much of a mess out of it during a cast.

Bill:fishing:

[EDMboarder]

I too cleaned it out and got better distance out of my 20. But the drag is still weak, Ive had to thumb the spool a lot even with the drag locked as far as i can get it. I love the reel as a bombproof back up, but the weak drag is gettin too me.

[Sea2aeS]

yes the drag is a bit of a dissapointment. locked down hard, couldnt break a flapper off on 20lb tri:(

I got 2 of the 30s, im gonna experiment with some different washer configurations in one of them.

[surffshr]

don't fill to top this wil help with fluff.

[snowy]

The Smoothdrag carbon fibre drag washer upgrade is now available for the Saltist. There's a tutorial by Alan Tani over on the Senor Tuna forum on how to do this yourself. Alan estimates that the upgraded greased drag will produce about 24lbs of drag on the Saltist 40.

[Rockstar]

I love my 30... I casted over the field on a 12' Tica with red brakes and factory oil and I think it casts fine... not as fast as my 525 but consistent every time. I use it on a 7'6 XH Teramar in the kayak for pitching lighter baits, I think i'm going to put the black brakes back in for that application... she gets a little fluffy on me if I don't have the spool tightened. Unfortunately, I haven't got to test the drag, but we'll see... I like it alot more than my old 525's for sure.

[eric]

my penn 535mag for the win.. yes, i said 535 not 525

[Newsjeff]

my penn 535mag for the win.. yes, i said 535 not 525
Yeah, awsome boat reel. :rolleyes:

[eric]

i use it on my heaver...
a 6500 for the middleweights

and a luna for plugs

[NTKG]

yeah im gonna leave it as a back up reel, but im just wondering if i should locate me some old daiwa 20s. I'll have to test them (limited) during the fall.

[Newsjeff]

Neil, see if Smoothdrag has Carbontex drag washers for that reel.

I know they have them for the 30H at $22 a set.

Those stock washers are paper thin.

[Sea2aeS]

ordered a set yesterday.

[NTKG]

do u have to replace the metal washers too or is it a straight swap? someone got a website?

[jerkjigger]

thanks for clearing up that some of y'all have had some experiance with the weak drag. i still dont understand though why when i put my reel in lockdown the i can still pull the line out really eaisly though.

[snowy]

thanks for clearing up that some of y'all have had some experiance with the weak drag. i still dont understand though why when i put my reel in lockdown the i can still pull the line out really eaisly though.

Just a thought - if you are using braid without backing on the spool it might be the braid slipping on the spool which is allowing line to feed off rather than the drag itself slipping.

[snowy]

do u have to replace the metal washers too or is it a straight swap? someone got a website?
Here you go...

http://www.senortuna.com/main/showthread.php?t=14827

[AtlantaKing]

Yo, Neil, give me a holla next time you're up in NoVA...I'd like to take a look at the Saltist 20. I find it rather odd that so many people are having trouble with the drags on the 20. The 30 I got to play with some time ago was pretty beefy on the drags which makes no sense the lack of drag on the 20 as the 20 and 30 share most of the parts in the right side plate. I'm starting to wonder if a whole batch got assembled with the bellville washers installed wrong.

Very thin washers themselves don't make as much of a difference...it's the installation order as well as making sure the very thin washers are not coated in grease or something. I got over 13lbs of drag out of one of my stock Abu 6500's, but that's completely stripping, cleaning and rebuilding the stock drag stack, making sure there's no grease at all on the drags. On the flip side, I did install a set of greased Carbontex with lapped SS washers and got over 16lbs sustained out of a Mag Elite, measured with a Boga Grip.

[NTKG]

yeah im wondeirng whats up with the 20s as well. do the 30 washers fit the 20?

[Russelpup]

I have the drag issue with my 30H. I just checked, and had all of 4# with the tightened down. I tore it down and removed the grease, and there was a lot of it. After cleaning, I could get just over 6# of drag.
The parts list with the reel, indicates that the only difference between the 20H and 30H, are the frame, spool, and the right side plate.
I hope that smooth drag carbontex washers will solve the problem.

[kenyee]

How are you guys measuring drag? I can lock mine down halfway and find it pretty hard to pull line out of my 30H but I have no clue what # it is...