Daiwa Saltist 50S?

[mley1]

I've been sending emails back and forth with Jennifer at parts@tarponfishingoutfitters.us, regarding the clutch lever on this reel. She advised she needed pics of the reel. So, I sent her pics of the reel, the same ones posted here. I guess she has a connection with Daiwa, or something. I've attempted to contact them through their site, no response. Anyhow, this was her last reply to me, that I just got today.

"Dear Marty,

That reel appears to be an overseas model.Daiwa in California cannot get parts for international reels.Their reel tech does know that E60-5301 will work on that reel.That is all the information I received from them on your reel.

Thank you,

Jennifer"

So, it would appear that Daiwa in California has no intention to even try to fit a replacement lever, just because it appears to be an over seas version of their reel. Ooooooooooo K. Mind you this is after she sent them the same pictures I have posted here. Well, I gotta tell you fella's, I trust you guys way more than I trust the techs that miss Jennifer may be working with at Daiwa. So, I just want to say thanks to you guys for your help. And, Keith, you're a God send. Thank you sir for your help, and generosity.

One question from you guys. If I should ever need any other parts for this reel, do you guys think the parts from the BG line would interchange?

[Fish-aholic]

Daiwa are not the only manufacturer who lack support for imported reels, so this is not anything new. What people often forget/not take into consideration when purchasing imports, is the after sales service. This is why domestically purchased reels are far more beneficial for support in the long run; well, until they too become discontinued and parts supply dries up.

Re your last Q'... Between the two, I think the only issue you need to worry yourself with for parts interchange ability, will be the gear train (main and pinion gear). If you look at the pinion gear on your reel, it will be a single slot (rectangular) design to accommodate the keyed spool axle (right spool bearing is not retained by a pin and slides off easily).

The B&G series has a different design where a 4 slot pinion gear accommodates a pin that retains the r/spool bearing to the spool axle. So if you ever need replacement gears, you'll need a new spool and maybe a drag assembly too and that then becomes an expensive repair where only nostalgia could justify the cost.

Hope that helps,

Steve

[mley1]

Thanks for the info Steve. The pinion and main gear look pretty good. Even the drag discs, paper like and thin they are, still looked almost unused. The whole reel actually looks good inside, with very little indication of any use. The outside looks like it may have ridden in a rod holder some, and got scratched against other rods or equipment. I suspect whoever owned it broke the clutch lever, and set her aside, who knows how long.

When I bought the reel I didn't know much at all about it, other than what was stated and seen in the pics. I suppose had I known a bit more I may have given the reel a pass. For some reason though she just called out to me. She needed a new home, and to be fixed. I paid 65.00 for her, hoping the repair wouldn't cost too much.

Now that I know a bit more about her I'm comfortable attempting the repair. And once she's done, the red drum better look out! She'll be fishing again!!

[handi2]

The part is on its way.

Keith

[mley1]

The part is on its way.

Keith

Thanks Keith! I'll remember to pay it forward.

[mley1]

Wife says I got some packages at home. Fingers crossed. I work till 10pm. May be in the morning before I dig into them.  😀

[handi2]

I hope it's there. These small packages get lost way too much.

[mley1]

All three packages were for the Saltist 50S!! Thanks Keith for the clutch lever!!!!!!



I'm gonna try to get everything installed tomorrow morning, hopefully. Thanks again everyone. I'll do my best with pics. Keep in mind I'm no professional. 

[mley1]

Well, I got up early this morning. I normally wouldn't be up till around 9 or 10am. The joys of working 2nd shift. I poured me a large mug of Mt Dew, and headed for the man cave, parts in hand. Got set up, and went to work. I first broke the reel down into it's four major parts, frame, left side plate, right side plate, and spool. The clutch lever was so easy to switch out a child could do it. The only thing holding it on is a heavy C clip. I took the broken lever off, greased up the area, fitting, and plate insides. Then the lever just slid into place, and the C clip was put on using my trusty needle nose pliers.

On to the drag stack. The main gear and drag stack all came off pretty easy, with no hang ups. Whoever had the reel before had all the drag discs greased, with what appeared to be Cals drag grease. The discs, although original, appeared new. So, I saved them in case I or anyone else may want them or need them at some point. I greased up the Carbontex drag discs, and then went into the gear just like the old ones came out. No issues at all. I greased up the inside of the right side plate, cleaned and lubed the bearings. I'll just mention, I'm too inexperienced at this point to pull the shields off the bearings. I'm still afraid of ruining a bearing, which I have no replacements for at the moment. So, they got cleaned with carb cleaner and lubed with Abu oil, which is what I had on hand. I also greased the main gear with Cals, which is something I do to most all the reels I service and replace the drags with Carbontex. Until now, I've only done Abu's and a Penn 320GTI, plus a few Penn 704's and 710's. Once I got the drag stack and gear into place the other parts, and side plate went back on in the same order they came off. I did notice, however, that the bellville washers were not facing each other. So, I corrected that when I put them back in. They are now () as they should be. The handle got placed back on, only using the end spot on the handle so I'll have a bit more leverage, which I like to do on my larger reels. I greased up all screws and screw holes. The right side plate was done faster than I anticipated.

There's not much to the left side plate, other than the break ring, clicker, and a bearing. A little, very little, cleaning  was needed. Lubed the bearing, greased the side plate, and buttoned her back up. I tested the reel, and all functions worked perfectly! Yippeee! I got it on the first try. In fact, this Saltist 50S is much easier to work on than my Abu's, especially the 10000CL(Which is a booger, and a two speed). I would like to note a couple of things for folks who may have never had this reel, and which I noticed while repairing it. First, the top of clutch lever sits about a 1/4" or so above the the edge of the right side plate. This, I believe, makes it vulnerable to breakage. It's subject to being caught on objects during transport, riding in a boat, or being carried by someone. The old piece appeared to be cast plastic, as does the new piece. Although, to the eye it may appear to be cast aluminum. I don't think it is, based on the appearance of the material at the break point on the old piece. The new piece that Kieth sent to me fit like a glove, and appears to be the same color that the old piece was. Indeed, a perfect match. Thanks again Keith!! With the vulnerability of the lever in mind, I plan to get a cover for the reel. That way it should be fairly well protected during transport, and when it's not actually fishing. I want to protect that clutch lever!!!

I just want to take a second to thank all of you for your help, your information, and your generosity. For without it, I would still have a broken Saltist 50S. Now, that reel operates as NEW, maybe even better because it's lubed appropriately. Here are some pics.

Before the work began.

Right before Greasing the side plate, and putting it back together. I apologize for not getting better and more detailed pics. I also didn't have a schematic so I could refer to part numbers.

Here you can see the C clip that holds the clutch lever in. I also put the old part next to it so you could see they appear to be the same material and color. At this point the plate has been greased and lubed.

The clutch lever was perfect! Works better than new(cause I lubed it!)

Right side plate all buttoned up.

Another shot of the right side after attaching it to the frame. Again, you can see the old part and that it's the same color as the new one. Keith, YOU'RE THE MAN!!

Frontal view of the reel after being put together. Here you can see there is a pretty big gap between the lever knob, and the reel. This could make it easy for the lever to catch on things, and break it. The lever needs special attention during transport, and use. Gotta pay attention to this. I believe this is where this models weakness is.

I put her on a Triton Tuna Rod rated for 50-80lb line, 6 1/2ft long. It should be perfect for the bull reds, drum and light sharking duties I have planned for her.

Specs on the rod.


Well, what do you guys think? This whole set up, rod and reel, cost me a total of 150.00 on the money. The reel was 65.00, plus 7 dollars shipping. The Rod was 56.00, shipping was FREE. The part from Keith was generously given free. The Carbontex drag washers were 20.00, plus 2.00 shipping. I got the rod, and the reel from Ebay, the part from Keith, and the drag washers from Ricks Reel Repair. Fixing this reel was very rewarding, and I'm looking forward to fishing it. I'm planning to put 80lb braid on it, with a 40lb top shot of 100yrds or so. That way I'll be casting the 40lb Berkley Big game, rather than the braid. It should work well for my purposes. Do you guy's have any other suggestions, on line, or anything?

[mley1]

I forgot to mention that the reel clamp I purchased for it, yes that fancy one with the Daiwa logo on it, wouldn't fit the rods reel seat. It was too small. It's more designed for the smaller diameter jigging rods, like the Trevala and such. So, I may use it on one of my other reels. I commandeered the reel clamp off of my Penn 340GTI, which isn't being used at the moment. It works ok, but I don't like the wing nuts. So, I'll be on the hunt for a better reel clamp for the Saltist 50S.

[mley1]

I finally got a chance to take the 50S out fishing yesterday. I went to the Galveston Fishing Pier, in Galveston TX. I moved the reel onto a 10ft FTU surf rod rated for 1-6oz since I wanted to be able to cast as far as possible from the pier. Word on the street was the bull reds were hitting. The conditions weren't great, with winds 15-20 and gusts to 25 out of the South/South East. So, I was going to be casting into a quartering wind. I was a bit scared this reel might backlash, but didn't know for sure. I have a 40lb Berkley Big Game top shot on it of about 150yrds. So, I figured it should do ok.

I was using cut bait, mostly mullet, and a 4oz surf spider weight. The rig cast great! Not even a hint of a backlash. I was quite pleasantly surprised, especially since I was essentially casting into the wind. The wind did affect the distance a little, but not too bad. I guesstimated that I was getting 60-70yrds on a good cast. I wasn't lucky enough to catch a fish on that rod. However, I noticed something that was also surprising to me. I noticed that reeling in that 4oz weight and bait felt effortless, almost like it wasn't even on the end of my line. My other rod and reels, both Daiwa BG SW spinners, you could obviously feel the weight of the sinker and bait. One of the Daiwa's was the 5000 model and I had it on a 10ft Penn Prevail rod rated for 1-6oz. Huge difference between that set up and the 50S on the FTU rod. It literally felt like I had NOTHING on the end of my line as I reeled in the bait and weight. Reeling was smooth, and EFFORTLESS. I LOVED IT. Now, I just gotta get a decent fish on it to see how she really performs. The only decent fish I got yesterday was a 3 and a half foot black tip shark, which came on the Daiwa BG SW 4500 on a 7ft Ugly Stik Tiger Lite. The shark, while fun, was no match for the Daiwa. I got her to the pier, and just as a nearby fisherman was going to drop my net to get her for me she bit through the leader and was gone. So, no pics.

At any rate, the Daiwa 50S was fantastic. It performed better than expected. And, I will be on the hunt for more good deals on reels like this one.

Here's a pic of my rigs, and the end of the pier where I was fishing. The 50S is on the left.

[hrogers]

Wow ! I like your beach trolley - Is the rims made out of plastic ?
What is the dimension of the rims 

[mley1]

Wow ! I like your beach trolley - Is the rims made out of plastic ?
What is the dimension of the rims 

Thanks. For land based fishing it's awesome. I can carry a ton of gear. I'll have to check the rims, but I think they're plastic. It's a very sturdy cart though.

[Bryan Young]

How did I miss this Marty?

Nice write up. Thank you for sharing your reel journey. May the winds calm, casts smooth, and a huge fish on the end of your line be in your future.

[Cor]

I have a Saltist STT40H which I purchased Nov 2005 and 2 month later the clutch lever shaft, became loose within the plastic lever and could no longer turn the eccentric and just rotated within itself.
Daiwa replaced it with a Stainless steel clutch lever from a Saltiga, which solved the problem fully.