Daiwa Catalina TW 100P - A really good Dealeo on a top-shelf baitcasting reel, - but you gotta move FAST!

[Leprechaun]

So, I've been saving up my fishing shekels for a new reel to replace my 2005 Curado 200E5, and thought I was gonna put it towards another Abu Revo4 Winch.

Well, til this deal came along. This is why I read the various fresh and SW boards every morning, with my first cup of coffee. Sometimes, and just sometimes, a solid value presents itself.

So in the interest of helping out those like me, that prefer the "Good Stuff," but hate spending a ton to get it, here is the latest - The Tackle Trap is offering the JDM-only Daiwa Catalina TWS low-profile reel in both R and L-handed versions, and in both 7.3:1 and 4.9:1 gear ratios, for, get this, $189. SHIPPED! This is a $350 reel, all day long.

What is a Catalina TW 100P? Its the Japan-only marinized version of the popular Daiwa Zillion TWS, with corrosion-resistant bearings, a METAL (aluminum) handle side plate and frame, a unique over-sized 100mm handle with long comfortable EVA grips, the high-end Daiwa "Free Floating Spool" upgrade, a specific to this reel "Zaion" drag star and get this - a "clicking drag" system that emits a a low-sounding click as the line pays out - I haven't seen this feature on any small baitcasting reel since Abu stopped using it, about 35 years ago. VERY cool! The whole shebang comes in just under 8oz - which for a "Power-style" reel is pretty darn good.

The drag system seems to be VERY strong - to the point of being able to lock up the reel - which if you know anything about Daiwa's Zillion reels, you know their drag systems are optimized for smoothness, not top-end power. Well, not this reel.

Got my RH 4.9:1 version last night and let me tell you, its a beauty! I shot a couple of quick hand-held pix for this post, see below.

Here's the link if anyone is interested in acquiring one: Daiwa Catalina TW 100P-RM - RIGHT 4.9:1 [Daiwa Catalina TW 100P-RM] - $210.00 : The Tackle Trap, Inc., It's all about fishing tackle!

And here's how it works, click on the "Buy" link and let the site move the reel to the Shopping cart. It will be heavily discounted on that move. Then work your way thru the purchase screens to the one that has a box for any "discount codes." Put "BBC10" in there and click again. The final price will be $189 - shipped, and NO tax. Take THAT Amazon!

There really isn't much out there on the Interwebs about this reel - and most of what is written is in Japanese, which I do not speak. But trust me, this is an EXCELLENT top-shelf reel for the kind of money that ordinarily buys only a moderately good reel.

Here is Daiwa/Japan's website on this reel. Ask for your browser to translate if it doesn't do it automatically, as my Google Chrome browser does:

DAIWA ： キャタリナ TW - Web site

I particularly like the translation of this line, regarding the drag system:

"Since the slide is smoother than before, line breaks are less likely to occur, and fish are less likely to feel uncomfortable because they are less likely to feel uncomfortable. " Now THAT'S a selling point!

Here is another interesting "feature:" "How to make full use of the spool performance that the number of revolutions suddenly increases by reducing the weight and resistance of the spool in recent years? DAIWA put a knife there." Gotta love translation software. I'm still looking for that knife, as I LOVE Japanese cutlery.

Anyway, one small, and I mean VERY small point. Though the video below and TTT's pix show the reel with red highlights, they are actually pink-ish on the 4.9:1 version. Doesn't mean a thing to me - At 64 years young now, I know who I am! 'Nuf said!

Here's a vid:



And here are some pix - I highly recommend snatching up one of these, before TTT runs out of whatever inventory they brought in.

 

[buddha162]

So, I've been saving up my fishing scheckles for a new reel to replace my 2005 Curado 200E5, and thought I was gonna put it towards another Abu Revo4 Winch.

Well, til this deal came along. This is why I read the various fresh and SW boards every morning, with my first cup of coffee. Sometimes, and just sometimes, a good value presents itself.

So in the interest of helping out those, like me, that prefer the "Good Stuff," but hate spending a ton to get it, here is the latest - The Tackle Trap is offering the JDM-only Daiwa Catalina TWS low-profile reel in both R and L-handed versions, and in both 7.3:1 and 4.9:1 gear ratios, for, get this, $189. SHIPPED! This is a $350 reel, all day long.

What is a Catalina? Its a Japanese-only marinized version of the popular Daiwa Zillion TWS, with corrosion-resistant bearings, a METAL (aluminum) side plate and frame, a unique over-sized 100mm handle with long comfortable EVA grips, a specific to this reel Zaion Star drag wheel and get this - a "clicking drag" system that emits a a low-sounding click as the line pays out - I haven't seen this feature on any small baitcasting reel since Abu stopped using them, about 35 years ago. VERY cool! The whole shebang comes in just under 8oz - which for a "Power-style" reel is pretty darn good.

Got my RH 4.9:1 version last night and let me tell you, its a beauty! I shot a couple of quick hand-held pix for this post, I can do better tonight, I suppose.

Here's the link if anyone is interested in acquiring one: Daiwa Catalina TW 100P-RM - RIGHT 4.9:1 [Daiwa Catalina TW 100P-RM] - $210.00 : The Tackle Trap, Inc., It's all about fishing tackle!

And here's how it works, click on the "Buy" link and let the site move the reel to the Shopping cart. It will be heavily discounted on that move. Then work your way thru the purchase screens to the one that has a box for any "discount codes." Put "BB10" in there and click again. The final price will be $189 - shipped, and NO tax. Take THAT Amazon!

There really isn't much out there on the Interwebs about this reel - and most of what is written is in Japanese, which I do not speak. But trust me, this is an EXCELLENT top-shelf reel for the kind of money that ordinarily buys only a moderately good reel.

Here's a vid:



And here are some pix - I highly recommend snatching up one of these, before TTT runs out of whatever inventory they brought in.

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View attachment 12832

Great find Lep!

Gary at the tackle trap is one of the best dudes in the retail fishing industry...if anyone has any questions re freshwater JDM tackle, he's the guy to contact.

Lep, what braking system is in that reel?

 

[Leprechaun]

Hi Roger, its the Magforce Z system. I dunno the difference between the various systems that Daiwa uses - I turn them all down to the Zero setting anyway. For my light casting and straight drop-down fishing I would do just as well pulling the entire mag system out of the left sideplate.

BTW- we never did get together to do any deep fluke fishing this season. Let me tell you, though it wasn't as overall caliente as last year, we did have some EPIC trips in August. Eh, maybe next season. . .

 

[buddha162]

Hi Roger, its the Magforce Z system. I dunno the difference between the various systems that Daiwa uses - I turn them all down to the Zero setting anyway. For my light casting and straight drop-down fishing I would do just as well pulling the entire mag system out of the left sideplate.

BTW- we never did get together to do any deep fluke fishing this season. Let me tell you, though it wasn't as overall caliente as last year, we did have some EPIC trips in August. Eh, maybe next season. . .

Thanks Lep! I did very little fluking at all this year, but I saw your reports and as usual you were on the bite! My fluke fever, going strong for almost 2 decades, sort of left me when I started catching quality freshwater bass. My mind can only obsess over one species at a time. Hopefully next year I'll regain some balance in my fishing life haha.

I'm a fan of Magforce Z, it's very user friendly. And you're right...if you're jigging you don't need any braking system, in fact many of Daiwa's "jigging" reels, though based on Tatula/Zillion platforms have no braking whatsoever. That 4.9 ratio is a great find indeed.

 

[hartattack]

Thanks Lep - perfect timing for this gem. I just ordered mine

However, please note that Discount Code is BBC10 (and their customer service was impressive)

 

[Leprechaun]

Oops, sorry! Good catch there hartattack! I fixed my original post.

 

[Occh639]

Thanks Lep - perfect timing for this gem. I just ordered mine

However, please note that Discount Code is BBC10 (and their customer service was impressive)

Couldn’t find where to put code in when ordering online

 

[Leprechaun]

Its there, on one of the last "Purchase Screens" - you have to work thru the purchase process almost to the end.

 

[holty]

Thanks Pete, I just ordered mine. Merry Christmas Holty!

 

[Occh639]

Its there, on one of the last "Purchase Screens" - you have to work thru the purchase process almost to the end.

I found it , thanks. More importantly, I stumbled upon this forum and found you here. That’s awesome! I am from the other forum. I met you a few times ,you did a review based on taking apart my Maxel Hybrid if you remember. I came to your job a few times , name is Anthony (aka puff tentacle) from NE. Glad to see you here and glad to be here. Btw, about this reel , I haven’t made the jump to these baitcasters yet, what say you on Fluking with them and maybe a possible Tog reel for shallow water drops in western sound.
Thanks Pete

 

[Leprechaun]

Hi Anthony, yep, its me! Nice to see you've found our new growing Website. Not easy to start off from scratch with an info-based website in this age of Facebook. Here on NYAngler we still believe that offering more than a place to post a picture and maybe one line of added text is the better way to go. Slowly but surely we're making headway in membership. So THANK YOU for joining!

Anyway, for the past four seasons all I ever use for ocean fluking is small low-pros, like this one. I really like this new Catalina a lot and am sure it will get it done in the deep or the shallows. I have a very long Winter to think about it, until next May, at least. That really sux, but what can you do?

As far as black fishing goes, I'm not one to under-gun myself - in case that monster fish comes along. So I personally would not use anything smaller than a Lexa 300 for this purpose.

Having said that, in the past two weeks I've witnessed an 11.8lb fish taken with a little Stradic 2500 and a 10.6lb fish on a tiny Calcutta 100 - so maybe I'm a might too conservative in my tog reel thinking. I personally use a Pluton 200 on a Proteus SS "H" for my tog jigging (which I'm very new at), which reel will blow away any small low-pro in existence, power-wise. But if you really do want to use a small low-profile reel for tog, this would probably be the one to choose. Go with the 4.9:1 ratio, or you'll never get a handle turn of line on the spool, before a biggie rocks you!

BTW, whatever happened to that Maxel 20 I worked on for you? Since that time I've had three others on my bench and two of the three had the exact same hair-trigger free spool clutch as yours did. I honestly have no idea how to fish with such a reel. The third was a much more recent edition - and it appears that Maxel did make it MUCH tougher to re-engage the gears. Maybe by using heavier springs or some such thing. A much needed upgrade, in my opinion!

 

[Leprechaun]

Hiya Jay, Merry Christmas to you too! Enjoy the new reel, its a real beauty!

 

[Occh639]

Hi Anthony, yep, its me! Nice to see you've found our new growing Website. Not easy to start off from scratch with an info-based website in this age of Facebook. Here on NYAngler we still believe that offering more than a place to post a picture and maybe one line of added text is the better way to go. Slowly but surely we're making headway in membership. So THANK YOU for joining!

Anyway, for the past four seasons all I ever use for ocean fluking is small low-pros, like this one. I really like this new Catalina a lot and am sure it will get it done in the deep or the shallows. I have a very long Winter to think about it, until next May, at least. That really sux, but what can you do?

As far as black fishing goes, I'm not one to under-gun myself - in case that monster fish comes along. So I personally would not use anything smaller than a Lexa 300 for this purpose.

Having said that, in the past two weeks I've witnessed an 11.8lb fish taken with a little Stradic 2500 and a 10.6lb fish on a tiny Calcutta 100 - so maybe I'm a might too conservative in my tog reel thinking. I personally use a Pluton 200 on a Proteus SS "H" for my tog jigging (which I'm very new at), which reel will blow away any small low-pro in existence, power-wise. But if you really do want to use a small low-profile reel for tog, this would probably be the one to choose. Go with the 4.9:1 ratio, or you'll never get a handle turn of line on the spool, before a biggie rocks you!

BTW, whatever happened to that Maxel 20 I worked on for you? Since that time I've had three others on my bench and two of the three had the exact same hair-trigger free spool clutch as yours did. I honestly have no idea how to fish with such a reel. The third was a much more recent edition - and it appears that Maxel did make it MUCH tougher to re-engage the gears. Maybe by using heavier springs or some such thing. A much needed upgrade, in my opinion!

The Maxel is fine now , I sent it back to Bimini Bay about a year ago and it works good. I don’t really use it much it serves as a back up so to speak

 

[holty]

My early Christmas present arrived yesterday and she is as sweet as Pete's description above. My old Revo Winch will now be deligated to back up. The only problem now is the six-month wait until I use her.

regards Holty

 

[Occh639]

So, I've been saving up my fishing scheckles for a new reel to replace my 2005 Curado 200E5, and thought I was gonna put it towards another Abu Revo4 Winch.

Well, til this deal came along. This is why I read the various fresh and SW boards every morning, with my first cup of coffee. Sometimes, and just sometimes, a solid value presents itself.

So in the interest of helping out those like me, that prefer the "Good Stuff," but hate spending a ton to get it, here is the latest - The Tackle Trap is offering the JDM-only Daiwa Catalina TWS low-profile reel in both R and L-handed versions, and in both 7.3:1 and 4.9:1 gear ratios, for, get this, $189. SHIPPED! This is a $350 reel, all day long.

What is a Catalina? Its the Japan-only marinized version of the popular Daiwa Zillion TWS, with corrosion-resistant bearings, a METAL (aluminum) handle side plate and frame, a unique over-sized 100mm handle with long comfortable EVA grips, the high-end Daiwa "Free Floating Spool" upgrade, a specific to this reel "Zaion" drag star and get this - a "clicking drag" system that emits a a low-sounding click as the line pays out - I haven't seen this feature on any small baitcasting reel since Abu stopped using it, about 35 years ago. VERY cool! The whole shebang comes in just under 8oz - which for a "Power-style" reel is pretty darn good.

The drag system seems to be VERY strong - to the point of being able to lock up the reel - which if you know anything about Daiwa's Zillion reels, you know their drag systems are optimized for smoothness, not top-end power. Not this reel.

Got my RH 4.9:1 version last night and let me tell you, its a beauty! I shot a couple of quick hand-held pix for this post, see below.

Here's the link if anyone is interested in acquiring one: Daiwa Catalina TW 100P-RM - RIGHT 4.9:1 [Daiwa Catalina TW 100P-RM] - $210.00 : The Tackle Trap, Inc., It's all about fishing tackle!

And here's how it works, click on the "Buy" link and let the site move the reel to the Shopping cart. It will be heavily discounted on that move. Then work your way thru the purchase screens to the one that has a box for any "discount codes." Put "BBC10" in there and click again. The final price will be $189 - shipped, and NO tax. Take THAT Amazon!

There really isn't much out there on the Interwebs about this reel - and most of what is written is in Japanese, which I do not speak. But trust me, this is an EXCELLENT top-shelf reel for the kind of money that ordinarily buys only a moderately good reel.

Here is Daiwa/Japan's website on this reel. Ask for your browser to translate if it doesn't do it automatically, as my Google Chrome browser does:

DAIWA ： キャタリナ TW - Web site

I particularly like the translation of this line, regarding the drag system:

"Since the slide is smoother than before, line breaks are less likely to occur, and fish are less likely to feel uncomfortable because they are less likely to feel uncomfortable. " Now THAT'S a selling point!

Here is another interesting "feature:" "How to make full use of the spool performance that the number of revolutions suddenly increases by reducing the weight and resistance of the spool in recent years? DAIWA put a knife there." Gotta love translation software.

Anyway, one small, and I mean VERY small point. Though the video below and TTT's pix show the reel with red highlights, they are actually pink-ish on the 4.9:1 version. Doesn't mean a thing to me - At 64 years young now, I know who I am! 'Nuf said!

Here's a vid:



And here are some pix - I highly recommend snatching up one of these, before TTT runs out of whatever inventory they brought in.

View attachment 12830

View attachment 12837

View attachment 12831


View attachment 12832

Lep, this May be a stupid question but being that this is a JDM is it warrantied in this country

 

[Leprechaun]

I honestly have no idea. Best to ask TTT. In truth I’ve never heard of any small Daiwa bait caster needing warranty service, ever. We do need to differentiate between the one-year of warranty service commonly provided by manufacturers and the general repairs/maintenance required to keep a reel in tip-top fishing form. It is inevitable that any heavily-used small bait caster will need something replaced sooner or later. As these Catalina reels are almost identical to Daiwa’s US-market Zillion HD reels, any of the common wear items, inclusive of the gear set, are very much available here in the USA. In fact I obtain 75% of my Daiwa-specific parts from TTT. They are really an excellent source. As is Causeway B&T, right here in lovely downtown Wantagh.

 

[Bassman909]

Hey Lep, just an update for any folks who didn’t get the fishing gear from Santa that they wanted, this deal is still alive, I just order one for myself
Great Deal!

 

[Leprechaun]

Thanks for the intel, Mark! Best to grab one before they're gone. Really a solid deal!

 

[Leprechaun]

To to put a capper on this (for now), and to the extent that I can, sitting here with my boat up on blocks, I went ahead and made a few "upgrades" to what is already a solid reel. The first order of business was to address the factory-supplied long, narrow handle knobs. I think they could be fine. More than fine, actually. For others. I do prefer a slightly fatter knob, and so with that in mind, I ordered in a pair of EKFan knobs, via AliExpress, with pink accent caps of course.

Additionally, I wasn't super wild about the plastic-y Zaion drag star, though it too is fine for this reel's intended use. But this is a "Lep-owned" reel, so I absolutely "needed" to make an upgrade here to something a bit more "custom." Looking on-line thru Daiwa's factory "SLP" hot-rod component listings, I saw that they offer an aluminum star drag wheel in multiple anodized colors - and one of them is pink! Sold! Ordered one in, along with an aluminum level wind screw-cap to replace the original plain-jane black plastic version. I do not like plastic pawl-holding screw caps. Though they do work, they don't take kindly to over tightening. Nearly every Shimano Calcutta I see has a partially (or fully) stripped cap, so this was a priority to replace as well.

All parts arrived in good order and are now installed on my reel. Take a look:

You can see that the new knobs should make a substantial difference in "grip-ability." The best part about these knobs is that they're like $7 each, shipped - and fit perfectly, without any fancy manipulations. They are direct replacements. One quick tip that can save you some grief while disassembling the factory knobs for service or replacement- the grey/black factory Daiwa factory knob covers are removed CLOCK-WISE, not in the more usual counter clock-wise direction.

So what's left? Oh yeah, gotta get some line on it. And this opens up another can of worms. A big one. You see, if you are a true tech-y tackle ho, its not enough to use perfectly good, readily-available lines, like PP Slick 8-V2, Sufix 832, Daiwa's own J-Braid, or my latest find, Berkley X9 - and thanks to John at Trophy Tackle for that excellent "discovery." Oh no, not for me. Hey, this is a JDM-only reel, and so I was on the look-out for a JDM-only PE braid to match. Eh, what the hell else do I have to do with my off-season time, other than playing with my grandson and doggie?

So the search was on for a somewhat exotic line that would be "appropriate" for a somewhat exotic reel. This brings up the whole "Japanese PE braided line vs whats available here" discussion. Which I'll keep brief, in the interest of not having people clicking off this tread, after being bored to tears.

It is obvious to those that look at the latest in fishing gear that the JDM market has been consistently well ahead of what's available here. It is apparent to me that they get at least a 5-8 year jump on "the good stuff," with very few exceptions. This applies to reels, rods and especially to higher-tech braided lines.

In the sexy line department, some of the biggest players are Varivas, Sunline and YGK, along with somewhat smaller manufacturers, like Gosen. Frankly, all of the big Asian line providers make a bewildering assortment of differing lines, for specific applications. These can vary greatly in weaves, called "Pics" per inch, the number of individual threads utilized, coatings, and overall limpness. Its really quite intimidating, once you get into it. Interesting though . . .

For example, at this point everybody knows of the excellence of Sufix's 832 line - widely available here in the USA. But how many know of the Japanese equivalent, called Performance Pro 8, which omits the single Gore-Tex thread and goes straight PE for all 8 threads? This actually makes for a thinner and somewhat limper line. But its not available here, unless you bring it in yourself from a Japanese vendor, like Japan Tackle, Digitaka or Plat. Or you can look to another Sufix line that is JDM only, which is a 16-thread line, though its no thicker than their 8-thread version. Costs plenty, but its said to be MUCH improved. When do you think we'll see that stuff here? Probably never, would be my guess. Gosen also offers such a line - at right around $85 for a 300 meter spool. It better be a GREAT line for that kind of money, that's for sure.

Nearly all the Japanese line manufacturers offer several versions of "Jigging Braid," which is designed to shoot your lure to the bottom and to keep it there - plus its so tightly woven that it will not pick up water like most other braids, which translates into much less spool and other component corrosion of your reel. I like that. Hate the price though - as much as four times the cost of the "Normal" stuff.

Some of their "best" slow pitch-intended braids will cost more than $90 to fill a small-ish reel, and the Japanese will happily pay it, in order to use tiny rods on large fish. Many of these line makers offer in excess of 20 types of braided line, even featuring specifically developed lines for squid fishing - called "egging" in Asia. I don't know a ton about this type of line, except that its very, very limp and very, very thin. Very, very expensive too . . . so there's that.

Perusing the Japanese tackle vendors sites, I was looking for a super thin line, in 20lb. test, as the intended use was on this reel, mounted on my Daiwa Proteus SS "H" casting rod, for those days that are so rotten that even a 6oz bucktail fails to maintain contact with the bottom. Putting out a B/S rig with an 8, 10 or even 12oz sinker is no one's idea of fun, but if I'm already out there, and I think the fish are under the boat, I ain't a'comin' home - or heading inshore, in the hopes of calmer conditions. Just NOT my style. Sometimes ya' just gotta suck it up and fish through, ya' know? Oooo-faaa!

With that sort of "Combat Fluking" in mind, I purposely DID NOT buy a deep vee hull all those years ago, because my intended mission was to find an alternative that would NOT rock 'n roll me right out of the boat, whilst drifting broadside to the prevailing wave action. That gets real old, real fast. And so my boat's hull design, when combined with it's deeply center-mounted inboard's low center of gravity, gives me the ability to continue to fish through days with particularly nasty conditions. Charles Jannice was my boat's marine architect, which is somewhat ironic, because he also designed several of the world's best deep-vee boats, including the 29', 32' and 38' Blackfins. Naturally, because of my hull's design I have to give up some speed in a head seas situation. But that's the trade-off I was and still am willing to make.

For that type of nasty day I always bring along a heavier setup, in order to deal with what seems to be an increasingly common type of fishing. Heck in 2018 we never even put the drift sock in the water, not a single time. In 2019, we used it nine times out of maybe 20 trips - that's how bad conditions were during this season's deep fluking. Man 'o man, I hope 2020 gives us a return to 2018's much nicer conditions, and not a duplicate of 2019's "Summer of Wind." Eh, either way, I'll be out there.

That all being said, what I was looking for in a line was something very thin, but equally strong - so to really cut thru the water, thus allowing a lighter jig or sinker on "those" days. Also important was high visibility (my eyes aren't getting any younger), as well as being fairly limp. This took a ton of research, but I believe that I've found it in Gosen's X8 Braid in 20lb. test. And its available in a pink color - perfecto for this new reel! Done. Ordered it in and though it took a couple of weeks, it appears that it was worth the wait.

Here's Gosen's Japanese web page for this line: 剛戦X8ブレイド ソルトウォーター ｜製品紹介｜株式会社ゴーセン　フィッシングサイト(GOSEN)

Ask your browser to translate, I have my Google Chrome set to perform that function automatically. Even a quick perusal of that site's other pages will bear out the near ridiculous number of application-specific lines that Gosen offers - and they aren't even close to the largest provider of PE lines in Japan.

Gosen's box is completely unreadable, being in Japanese, naturally. But hey, it does say one thing in English - "Absolutely Fantastic!" For now, I'll have to take their word for it, pending actual tryouts, this coming May.

I loaded it onto my Catalina this morning and can safely say that this is the thinnest 20lb line that I've ever seen. Though I cannot accurately measure it here at the house, it looks to me to be about HALF the diameter of my current favorite 20lb. line, Sufix 832 - look here, this is the best image I could take:

It is stunningly thinner - more like 8 or 10lb test Sufix 832. And this brings up yet another "issue" when evaluating braided lines, one to another. Here in the good old USA, line makers tend to "under-rate" their lines, meaning that 20lb Sufix 832 has been repeatedly reported to break in the mid-30 pound range. So it does offer a "breakage cushion" for pulling free from deep snags and the such. Most other USA-intended lines are similarly over-rated, as evidenced by several websites that have compiled such intel.

Can I safely predict that my new Gosen line is both super, super thin AND also offers that same over-rated level of surplus breaking strength? At this point, of course not. But I'll find out soon enough, that's for sure.

I’ve been watching YouTube videos of other guys with some aptitude doing their offshore fluke jigging over obstructed bottom with as light as 10lb test braid. And though they show quite a few large fluke coming aboard, they never seem to show what happens with such light line when they hang bottom. I'm sure one can safely assume that they donate a hefty amount of jigs for their efforts.

If I'm figuring correctly, my new Gosen braid is double that pound test, while giving up little in diameter to the more commonly available 10lb braids. Hey, its a gamble, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. That's what I do anyways, so whatever I find out about the feasibility of this line, I'll post up.

One last thing. Though this line is relatively inexpensive as JDM lines go, its still more than twice the price of any PP, Sufix, or Daiwa PE line available here - so that's a consideration as well, I guess. The way I rationalize this is if it works as intended in a rough ocean by facilitating the use of lighter jigs or sinkers, while still providing the ability to pull free from at least a few snags out where I fish, then its money well spent.

If you don't buy into my rationale, or do not care to wait for my report on the veracity of this new line, or just want a pink braid that's commonly sold here, then Spiderwire offers their Stealth braid in a tracer-pink/black version. Its 4-thread braid, which is no longer considered cutting edge, but so what? We used 4-thread lines for years before the newer 8-thread stuff became widely available. Anyway, here's my Catalina, all spooled up and ready to go, come the fluke opener:

LET'S GO FLUKE SEASON! Only five months to go . . .

 

[Leprechaun]

One quick thing, if you want to see my pix or any pix on this site as full-sized instead of as thumbnails, then you should join up and login. The pix will then load in a MUCH nicer fashion. Best, Lep