Daiwa Ryoga Shrapnel

[exp2000]

I thought of posting this in "Pitfalls and Black Box Warnings"

The Shrapnel is a blue-water casting reel kinda like an ABU 7000 on steroids but there are some woolly features in the design of these reels. Daiwa are going a bit overboard with "Clicker" technology lately and this one caught me out so I thought I would post a warning to others.

The top washer in the drag stack is pretty thick, partly to accommodate a hidden clicker plunger which will launch off into parts unknown when the top drag washer is removed by an unwitting tech - in this case me! And you can forget schematics - it's too new. All you can hope for is a parts spreadsheet.

Another reason for this post is to alert potential buyers to an "innovative" design feature of this A$1000 reel. There is no worm pawl cap in the conventional sense. Instead the pawl is "secured" by a lateral plastic rail plug. I can think of better solutions. This arrangement is rather inadequate in my view as it fails to provide effective  protection and shielding. Furthermore to withdraw the level-wind pawl requires unscrewing the RH side-case to remove the line-guide rail blocking it's path. This does not strike me as progress somehow!

It's a shame that a single, ill-conceived engineering quirk can deface an otherwise nice reel.
~

[Superhook]

I can't help but laugh at the name and wonder if it will live up to its name.

[handi2]

I did look up the prices and to check them out. Expensive!

[Tightlines667]

There might be a reason for the apparant overly complicated engineering.  There must be some reason for the high price tag.

Here's a review..

http://www.tackletour.com/reviewdaiwashrapnelpg2.html

And a link to Diawa's site..

http://daiwafishing.com.au/products/ryoga-shrapnel-c3000h/

[exp2000]

There might be a reason for the apparant overly complicated engineering.  There must be some reason for the high price tag.

Here's a review..

http://www.tackletour.com/reviewdaiwashrapnelpg2.html

And a link to Diawa's site..

http://daiwafishing.com.au/products/ryoga-shrapnel-c3000h/

Throwing frogs! Gimme a break! Who would spend this much money to toss frogs around?
But then again, I don't even know what a Snakehead is? Guess they must be pretty important to warrant this much attention!

Except for the level-wind botch up, the reel is a nice piece of premium quality engineering. Don't think I have never seen a conventional reel before that boast a fully sealed drag chamber!

But how do you reconcile this level of sophistication with an exposed level-wind pawl? It's almost like someone decided to throw a bad joke into the mix?
~

[Mudman]

I had two of them, beautiful reels. Well made- not necessarily well thought out. For the price- I'd rather have a Calcutta Conquest, much nicer reel imo. I had two older conquests that felt much better in every way. All of these were for swimbait fishing.

Japanese freshwater fishing scene is pretty wild! Especially with it comes to the reels and lures.

While the Shrapnel was smooth and fit in the hand nice, I didn't like the spool. There was something off about it that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Needless to say, I sold both of them shortly after. Not to say it's a piece of junk, several of my friends have them and love it. I made the blind purchase early on for two, based off of my experience with the Daiwa Pluton which I absolutely love. Sad to say I was disappointed in the Shrapnel when compared to the Pluton. Felt like we traded off nice features of the Pluton at the cost of having an all black reel and some different handle grips.

Reminds of me of the Blacksheep reel, very similar basis. High cost for relatively little benefits. I've heard of people paying upwards of 2k for the Blacksheep.

Enough of my rambling, just wanted to share that it was a pretty reel. I wanted so much to like it. But the cost/feature ratio didn't do it for me. Granted this was my experience with freshwater only.

[nelz]

Does this reel have a stainless steel pinion? The Aussie Daiwa site claims it does but it doesn't look like it in the pics.

[exp2000]

Does this reel have a stainless steel pinion? The Aussie Daiwa site claims it does but it doesn't look like it in the pics.

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

some shimano reels have the same feature, clicks when the fish is pulling line. it does not me bother that it's there i just remove the whole mechanism. in this particular reel, photo 2, it looks like you can just pull the pin out.

tight lines!

[Wolli]

and dont forget to remove the small spring

[foakes]

Guess I am kind of afraid to ask why they named it "Shrapnel"?

Does it blow up the fish, itself, or your wallet?

Best,

Fred

[nelz]

Does this reel have a stainless steel pinion? The Aussie Daiwa site claims it does but it doesn't look like it in the pics.

So is it stainless?

[exp2000]

Does this reel have a stainless steel pinion? The Aussie Daiwa site claims it does but it doesn't look like it in the pics.

So is it stainless?

It was too many reels ago so I cannot really remember but it certainly looks that way from the pic.
~

[nelz]

Guess I am kind of afraid to ask why they named it "Shrapnel"?  Does it blow up the fish, itself, or your wallet?

Ha-ha, good one Fred. I just picked one up, brand new & shipped for $337 from a reputable dealer, not eBay. It's pretty awesome. The drag is incredibly strong, and the frame very rigid, it's very light for such a beast of a reel. If I can find one fault, it's the funky "Snakebite" grips which I really don't care for.

As for the level wind lacking a pawl cover, the level winder assembly is designed to be very light in weight since the reel is supposed to cast very light lures (frogs). Actually, I think the design allows water to drain out which is a good thing.

Now I just have to sell a couple of reels to pay for this one, lol. 

[nelz]

Does this reel have a stainless steel pinion? The Aussie Daiwa site claims it does but it doesn't look like it in the pics.

It just occurred to me to hold a magnet up to the pinion to test this. Yes, it stuck. Yay.