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