# Long Distance "Spinning Reels" whats the nitty gritty truth?



## Guest (Aug 13, 2002)

just bought a pair of the breakaway "123" rods . One conventional and the other a spinner. Okey the reel choice for the conventional was easy."I bought a souped up Penn 525 and a hot rodded Abu 6500 Mag. But when it came to the spinner it was not that easy... let me explain.. 

Everyone is touting the Daiwa emblems... well the 6000XT is more of a mono reel where as I use the new braids.. and its really not a top notch quality reel... no instant anti reverse, plastic body etc... The Emblem 5500XA is a step better but its really not a robust reel... and is known to have the bail accidentally snap shut during the cast.. the Emblem5500ZA is a better reel all around but is still more show than guts and has a slow 4 to 1 retreive. 

Here are my questions for our experienced fisherman reading this thread..... 1. Has anyone tried the "Tica Dolfin" series of reels.? are they any good? they got 13 ball bearinga and a huge long range casting spool.. what is the verdict on these reel? 

Also I want to know what is a sturdy "braid friendly" high quality reel that can be used for distance casting? 

What are your recomendatiions and your experiences? 

Thanks in advance to all those who contribute their knowledge and experience to this thread.


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## DOWNUNDER (Jun 27, 2002)

SUPER AERO 5000 NOT FISHING JUST CARSTING NO DRAG FOR FISHING,CARST VERY WELL FOR THE MONEY ABOUT 150.00 OZ DOLLARS.


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## 1obxnut (Mar 26, 2002)

John, I too am thinking about the Tica dolphin..but the internal bail trip is turning me away..the trick to the daiwa emblem's are to have the bail arm up against the bail trip while casting so that it does not gain momentum to trip itself while casting. I use to have 2 penn surfmaster long cast spinning reels from the UK and just recently had one stolen along with my 11' pineapple absolut rod by some fish I did not even see down at Pt. lookout this past weekend. The distance gain was not impressive. Its in the technique, line, weight. My buddies out throw me using Ahab's, and baitrunners.


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## B-more (Jul 27, 2002)

I own the Tica Dolphin and the Diawa 6000xt both are very good reels but for the money the TICA cannot be beat!! The reason I believe these are great reels is because of their drags and Abillity to lock the spool and cast 8n'bait with no problems.Also I like the light weigth of the Diawa longcast spool. The TICA has 13 BALL BEARINGS try finding a reel like that for under $110.00 !!


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## Guest (Aug 17, 2002)

Just ordered thge Tica Dolphin.. its on the way..
but there seems to be 2 kinds...
the SF model has the faster 5 to one retreive but the SE has a slower 4 to one retreive. Unfortunatley my preference which is the higher ratio model will not be available until Septemeber... so I got the SE model slower one...

Every tica I have (I own 5 different ones) every ones bail shuts prematurely while casting "if I really lean into the cast".. I lost so many lures .. it driving me nuts.. those super smooth ball bearsing are a double eedged sword.. sure they are smooth as butter but the spool is so smooth it wont stay out during a hard cast.. does anyone know how to cure this problem? Maybe a lock washer under the bail arm nut?


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## John Softly (Apr 24, 2001)

Guys,
Bail lock is automatic on any threadline with an IAR roller bearing. External bail trips are better in this regard but internal trips also lock the bail.
With external bail trips the bail is opened and the line roller is brought up hard against the tripping arm. In this position the bail can't rotate in a forward direction because the external arm is stopping it and it can't go backwards because the roller bearing is stopping it. The only way the bail can be closed is manually.
Internal bail trips usually trip the bail at the 6 o'clock position and the proceedure to lock it is not quite so user friendly. 
The line roller is advanced to the top of it's travel (12 o'clock), the index finger lifts the line, the bail is opened and then the line roller has to be advanced to the bottom of the spool (6 o'clock) until it comes up against the internal trip.
Apart from the D A M Quick 65 and 80 models of the F, FT and FTS range (which have an internal bail trip, and a bail locking toggle switch) I know of no threadline with a roller IAR bearing and an internal bail trip which can lock the bail with the line roller in the uppermost position.
Anyone else care to comment or has a reel with an internal bail trip which can be locked with the line roller in the top position?
Cheers
John


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## AtlantaKing (Jul 7, 2002)

Hey, Awesome John, are the Tica reels good? I mean, how is the build quality, smoothness, drag, resistance to corrosion, country of origin, warranty, and the like? I am contemplating on getting a new reel, and was looking at the Diawa Emblem-X, but after reading this post, I am also seriously considering the Tica Dolphin. It looks like a great buy, but there isn't a vendor in my area that carries it, so I can't go look at it closely (I don't like buying stuff that I can't closely examine). Any comments would be super helpful


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2002)

Hi Atlanta king... I'll tell you what I know..
I own 5 Tica reels.. there isnt a higher quality reel "for the money" anywhere. Its a copy knockoff equiveleny of the high end Shimanos or Daiwas. The drags are very smooth and have pleased some very demanding pros... the customer service is also excellent.

These are chinese reels... but its in a whole different leage... "its definately not junk" these guys have been in business for 30 years making reels for other big companies who put their name on them and sold them for a high profit.

Some where along the line the guys at Tica got fed up with being in the shadows and decided to start their own brand.

Because they distribute the reels themselves.. with no middle man the prices are "ridiculously low" for the very high end quality they offer...

Actually they are "too good to be true"..
they all possess one common factor that makes them great but is also their weakness. They all have alot of ball bearings in their design and are probably the smoothes reels in the world. This is great till you try to cast the darn thing... they are so smooth and move so effortlessly that the rotor will spin when you cast and the bail will snap shut in the middle of the cast if your not careful...you must employ a new bit of hand skills (described by John Softly here is this tread)... I am happy with all my Ticas and would highly recomend the brand. In my oppinion Daiwa, Penn, and Shimano are is very serious trouble and have their hands full with competing against the Tica reels.

But in all fairness I must admit that I used to own a daiwa Emblem XA 5500 and it too would snap shut during a cast. "I have a very sharp two handed snap cast and I think its more me than the reel. But I own a few Mitchell nautl reels and they never snapped closed on me once? The many ball bearings are a two edged sword.. they make the reels super quality but add so much smoothness that the roter wont stay put during castin. But as mentioned this can be corrected by a small rotoe postition adjustment befor casting. Like all high tech "Rolex like" reels Ticas are not too crazy about sand and being submerged... but then again neither is the 500 dollar Shimano stella. with that kinf of money you could buy 5 Tica reels!


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## AtlantaKing (Jul 7, 2002)

Thanks a lot, that clarifies the reason why they are ridiculously low priced. I usually try to stay away from the "too good to be true" deals, but I understand economics: if there are no middlemen to take their cut, the resulting price will just be naturally lower. 

Again, Thanks

AtlantaKing


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## Joey (May 27, 2001)

John,
I know how you feel about losing those Gibb's to premature bail closure.  I have the Tica Libra 4000 and experienced the same thing when adding power to my cast. TimS solution works MOST of the time but I still have a bail snap shut every now and then. Hate to say it, but I don't rely on the Ticas when it comes to throwing expensive wood or my lucky lures. Perhaps if they make a manual bail conversion, I'll change my mind.  

BTW, I never experienced the bail closure with a Camry 3500 or Mitchell Nautil 6500 Pro GV. However, the Nautil finally stripped on me last weekend battling a skate. It could barely handle 2 lb blues after that. Guess it's time to get a hold of Pure Fishing and see if I can get a yellow guy.


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## Guest (Aug 25, 2002)

Joey.. ever since I added "one extra step" to the cast by pushing the rotor and bail up around tp press against the post and lock I have never had another problem with the Ticas.. 

The reel beingthe smoothestreel in the world is a doulble edged sword.. sure its like butter but because its so smooth it moves when you cast. "Every rose has its thorn"..

But once you get used to pusnd the rotor up still it stops after you pick up the line with your index fingerto cast.. then you go no problems.

stay well


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