Whilst wandering the NJ SW Fishing Expo this past March with my friend Eddie/Savvy18 the subject of the Daiwa Coastal TW200HS came up. Its always been a very pretty reel - possibly the best looking SW-intended baitcaster on the planet - but the uber-fast 7.3:1 gear ratio is a great big turn-off - and not just for me.
I pointed out the reel to Eddie at the Daiwa factory kiosk - he told me he already owned one, but didn't enjoy using it because the extremely fast 7.3:1 gearing was just not what works well for fluking with any kind of weighty bucktail. Not to mention it was way too fast to be confident reeling a husky specimen to the boat without the possibility of pulling the hook. Oh sure, some will say just reel slower, but that's still not a comfortable gear ratio to fish - overall.
I always believed that this reel is not much more than a fancied-up Tatula 200, but could never prove it, not owning a "Tat" myself. I felt that if it is a Tatula variant - then the slower 5.5 Tat "P" gearing may well fit. I've repeatedly asked about this while speaking with the Daiwa reps at the various shows I've attended, but they were really not all that helpful. They would never give me a straight answer (probably because they just didn't know), instead posing inane questions such as "Why do you want to slow down such a sweet fast reel, anyway?" Yeah, um, never mind - nice talking with you, have a great show. I just love people that answer a question with a question. Not.
Flash forward to late April, I finally decided to retire my problematic Gen3 Revo Winch - and replace it with a brandy-new Tatula TW150P - carrying the desired 5.5:1 gear set. I did remember that March conversation with Eddie - and so I asked him to bring over his Coastal for a trial gearset swap. Turns out that the Tat gears fit like a glove - as I suspected.
So I ordered in a set for Eddie and today performed the open-reel surgery. Here's Eddie's reel - a very pretty piece, no?
And here it is next to my mildly hopped-up new Tatula TW150P
A couple of shots of the gears - look at the far more substantial teeth of the 5.5 pinion (right) vs the 7.3
And now the Mains, with the 5.5 on the right - a bit difficult to accurately capture in 2-D imaging, but trust me, the teeth are far meatier on the lower gear ratio
Here's the new "Power" gearset inside the reel - snug as a bug in a rug
The tools that you will need to make it happen. I'm partial to German Wera screwdrivers myself, and the 10mm handle nut wrench is from Hedgehog Studios/Japan.
And if you choose to do this very easy job - here are the part numbers you will need. Total cost $41 shipped, direct from Daiwa/California. A small price to pay to turn a not being used fairly expensive reel into a must-have. Such a nice piece!
I also performed a full break-down and thorough lubrication. New or not, no reel leaves my hands without a complete disassembly and protective lube job - in fact its even more important for a new reel. For example, no manufacturer ever does the very basic lubrication of the side plate screws. A season of heavy SW use and they'll most likely be frozen in their aluminum-frame bores - making the next disassembly a freakin' PITA for whomever does the service. Hopefully it won't be me.
Anyway, now Eddie can go slay a few slabs with this reel over the Summer season - maybe even on my boat. Enjoy your "new" reel Eddie!
I pointed out the reel to Eddie at the Daiwa factory kiosk - he told me he already owned one, but didn't enjoy using it because the extremely fast 7.3:1 gearing was just not what works well for fluking with any kind of weighty bucktail. Not to mention it was way too fast to be confident reeling a husky specimen to the boat without the possibility of pulling the hook. Oh sure, some will say just reel slower, but that's still not a comfortable gear ratio to fish - overall.
I always believed that this reel is not much more than a fancied-up Tatula 200, but could never prove it, not owning a "Tat" myself. I felt that if it is a Tatula variant - then the slower 5.5 Tat "P" gearing may well fit. I've repeatedly asked about this while speaking with the Daiwa reps at the various shows I've attended, but they were really not all that helpful. They would never give me a straight answer (probably because they just didn't know), instead posing inane questions such as "Why do you want to slow down such a sweet fast reel, anyway?" Yeah, um, never mind - nice talking with you, have a great show. I just love people that answer a question with a question. Not.
Flash forward to late April, I finally decided to retire my problematic Gen3 Revo Winch - and replace it with a brandy-new Tatula TW150P - carrying the desired 5.5:1 gear set. I did remember that March conversation with Eddie - and so I asked him to bring over his Coastal for a trial gearset swap. Turns out that the Tat gears fit like a glove - as I suspected.
So I ordered in a set for Eddie and today performed the open-reel surgery. Here's Eddie's reel - a very pretty piece, no?
And here it is next to my mildly hopped-up new Tatula TW150P
A couple of shots of the gears - look at the far more substantial teeth of the 5.5 pinion (right) vs the 7.3
And now the Mains, with the 5.5 on the right - a bit difficult to accurately capture in 2-D imaging, but trust me, the teeth are far meatier on the lower gear ratio
Here's the new "Power" gearset inside the reel - snug as a bug in a rug
The tools that you will need to make it happen. I'm partial to German Wera screwdrivers myself, and the 10mm handle nut wrench is from Hedgehog Studios/Japan.
And if you choose to do this very easy job - here are the part numbers you will need. Total cost $41 shipped, direct from Daiwa/California. A small price to pay to turn a not being used fairly expensive reel into a must-have. Such a nice piece!
I also performed a full break-down and thorough lubrication. New or not, no reel leaves my hands without a complete disassembly and protective lube job - in fact its even more important for a new reel. For example, no manufacturer ever does the very basic lubrication of the side plate screws. A season of heavy SW use and they'll most likely be frozen in their aluminum-frame bores - making the next disassembly a freakin' PITA for whomever does the service. Hopefully it won't be me.
Anyway, now Eddie can go slay a few slabs with this reel over the Summer season - maybe even on my boat. Enjoy your "new" reel Eddie!
