TLD vs SLD 30

[jaypeegee]

Hi
This season I have set a goal to live bait for Kingfish here in NZ
I live in Wellington and as I am shore based will be targeting legal to medium sized fish
It seems that in NZ most land based fishos look to the Shim TLD 25 up.
But I am skeptical of this choice being based entirely on diligent research
As we are geographically isolated and have a smaller market the price points tween these two items may be a deciding factor.
Also: The fact that the Shim is the goto choice may influence each sunsequent purchaser. and a loop is formed.

Looking wider for information I see that the Daiwa has the edge on the Shim for Freespool for Construction strength  but the Shim might have the edge in ease of service and drag.

I will look at the single speed options of these.

I am on a budget so will be looking to the second hand market (Hence the ease of service aspect of these)

If there is a better choice that in my naievety I am over looking, Feel free to throw that in. (Especially if it allows me to double purpose it. Say allow me to use it to cast with for deadbaiting) I have thought of a SL50SH but ideally want a lever drag.

Also: If any one has one they wish to sell I am keen although I will advertise that fact in the Buy sell trade forum once i have a better idea of which option best suits.

Thank you all.

[conchydong]

Look for an older Japanese made TLD 20, put a carbontex drag in it and you are good to go. A larger handle is a nice option also. I have had my single speeds (2-15's, 2-20's, 3-25's)for about 20 years and they are a very simple lever drag design yet pretty much bulletproof. Only had to replace bearings  on one that went swimming in the Philippines. I did swap out all of the canvas drag washers with greased carbontex.

I want to clarify that I fish these with straight mono within their design perameters. If you want a reel to fish braid with heavy drag, these are not the best for that application.

[jaypeegee]

Cheers Conchy

Yeah a few places I will be fishing have all sorts of sharp edges to them so that rules out braid.
PLus the absorbent aspect of the mono is your friend with these beasties.

I take your point about the Older model and certainly will look to carbontex them.

Just to clarify however. Did you choose the TLD through chance/Luck or have you compared itagainst the SLD and then chosen?

[redsetta]

G'day jpg,
You're on the right track re: the differences being slim, ie alloy construction vs graphite etc.
Either would be great for that application.
As you've noted, Shimanos generally and TLDs in particular have been the standard here in NZ for some time and I would've seen maybe a dozen TLD20/25s for every one Daiwa.
For that reason, secondhand options/parts etc are in the TLD's favour.
As they're both quality options, it's likely to come down to peripheral issues such as cost/availabilty etc.
If you do go for the TLD, Conchy's advice is spot on (re: Japanese made, Carbontex etc).
Good luck, Justin

[jaypeegee]

G'day jpg,
You're on the right track re: the differences being slim, ie alloy construction vs graphite etc.
Either would be great for that application.
As you've noted, Shimanos generally and TLDs in particular have been the standard here in NZ for some time and I would've seen maybe a dozen TLD20/25s for every one Daiwa.
For that reason, secondhand options/parts etc are in the TLD's favour.
As they're both quality options, it's likely to come down to peripheral issues such as cost/availabilty etc.
If you do go for the TLD, Conchy's advice is spot on (re: Japanese made, Carbontex etc).
Good luck, Justin

Appreciate that Justin.

Seems like NZ fishos tend to mirror their peers, That or Shimano has Tony Soprano in the marketing dept
Either way I am sure I will be on the right track with whatever I finally decide to go with.
Either reel looks to be OK to dissassemble and service

Bring it on

[conchydong]

Cheers Conchy

Yeah a few places I will be fishing have all sorts of sharp edges to them so that rules out braid.
PLus the absorbent aspect of the mono is your friend with these beasties.

I take your point about the Older model and certainly will look to carbontex them.

Just to clarify however. Did you choose the TLD through chance/Luck or have you compared itagainst the SLD and then chosen?

JPG, when the TLD's first came out, they seemed to have cornered the market as a light weight lever drag reel. We were using Penn Senators or much heavier Penn Internationals at the time and these light weight reels were a big hit in S. Florida were I live. I first fished them on a friends boat, liked them, and then started obtaining my own collection. Foe some reason, either the Daiwas weren't available at that time or they weren't marketed properly because I do not recall anyone using them.

If you do decide to go new, I would have a look at the new Penn Squall lever drags. It seems they were designed to compete with the TLD's and have a lot of the updated features. Just throwin' that out there to add some confusion.

www.bdoutdoors.com/story/penn-squall-lever-drag/

[jaypeegee]

Hi Conchy

I have seen the Squall and they are priced very competitively vs the tld and sld's.
I do like the idea of the lower profile lever and switchblade lugs
Appreciate you putting that option on the table

I shall add that to my target list and see if anyone else has an inclination to negate that as an option

I just realised the squall doesnt have the mid placed "bar" on it that the tLD does. Perhaps this means it could be able to be cast a little further (Be able to get the thumb in there)

Also the Fin Nor Lever drag SLD25 etc. Any word on these?
Looks like a bunch of line can fit on them.

[Bryan Young]

Now that your options have widened...Note, I have not worked on the Daiwa SLD or held a SLD before.  So, I'm going to leave that one out of my posting because I don't want to lead you astray with nothing I know about.

TLD - a proven work horse.  relatively light compared to a similar sized reel.  Simple to service and good availability of parts.  Available in single and 2 speed.

Penn Squall - New to the market, and updated with the bells and whistles that people wanted in a very light reel.  The pinion bearing is backed with a thrust bearing, so reduction of pinion bearing failures on this reel.  Freespool is excellent if you want the option of casting or freelining live bait.  Good drags.  It's really an excellent reel.  I personally would rather have a narrower spool, but that's me.  Easy to service. Only comes in single speed as far as I know.

Fin Nor Marquesa - This reel is a brute!!!  Well built with the weight to back it up.  More of a trolling reel feel in a smaller size.  Good drags, relatively easy to service as well.  Available in single and 2 speed. 

[jaypeegee]

Penn Squall -   I personally would rather have a narrower spool, but that's me.  Easy to service.

Why Bryan? This is due to your personal fishing style or do you feel the machanics/Balance would be better with a narrower spool?

Fin Nor Marquesa - This reel is a brute!!!  Well built with the weight to back it up.  More of a trolling reel feel in a smaller size.  Good drags, relatively easy to service as well. 

Hi Not sure my budget is Marquesa style Bryan.
More like the Fin-Nor Biscayne FBLD25

[Bryan Young]

Fin nor biacayne?  Sorry, I haven't seen these before.

I used to cast a 113hlw, and for me, that is fairly wide. I didn't like the balance when winding and having to shift my guiding thumb so far over. I started fishing with narrower reels and haven't gone back. It's just easier for me to cast and retrieve.

Bryan.

[jaypeegee]

Well I have been looking at ebay and Trademe (Local to nz auction site) and have seen a few 25's and 30's come and go
While doing this I have had an uneasy feeling about justifying the money in a single purpose object.
It seems that perception here in NZ around the PENN products is they are below par regarding build quality. This makes the Squall less than attractive on paper. However more important to me is the lack of cast control. Neither the TLD, SLD, Squall  etc have any sort of cast control.I can cast a SLOSH without a casting ring and brakes but the inevitable blowup is just round the corner at all times so I want to know I have a product that will give an assurance that a 2 am fubar is a little further away.

Thus the AVET MC range could be what I need.So I am going to look at this with a little more scrutiny. The trouble is opinions in this country are a little conservative and allegiances to products hard to deconstruct and analyse accurately.Hence me bugging you all here.
I by myself will eventually find alternatives that are essentially able to be purposed to both a light game reel as well as a casting reel of some type. I can get a SL20SH to 80-100 Mtrs and have no need for further than that (Although as my technique improves so does my distance)But if anyone here wishes to pushe out a suggestion that I may miss through naievety or ignorance I am very happy to do the groundwork and see what I can do to investigate it at a paper level

Bear in mind I appreciate there is no magic bullet , No reel that will be all things to all needs. But one that can service a couple of my needs is more attractive and justifiable than servicing just one.

I appreciate all of your contributions immensely

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

Good lord, you want something that want blow up then you definately need a avet mc Those things are fubar proof. Alot of people i know use saltist, ive never gotten to throw one myself though Heard great things about the star drags.

[jaypeegee]

No. Not blow up (Or I missed your humour)

Probable outcome is I will be posting in the Buy sell forum asking if anyone has an older TLD given my current financial hurdles.

That and spend the next few months on ebay

The more I look the more I see and the more confused I be. I think A.A milne may have touched on this with Pooh Bear

[Jeri]

Hi jpg,

You mention that you can cast well with a SL50, and using that as a base point for the comments below:

TLD's, we have modified a couple for use with shark fishing, and removed the top brace, and replaced it with a single stainless steel bar at the front mounting point of the old brace. This gave a little more room for locking down on the reel spool during the cast – as getting spool slip mid cast with a heavy bait can be seriously painful, and usually ends up with a screwed up cast.

The more frequent reels down here for big bait casting (local sharks) is the Diawa Saltist – nice and cheap, and they do the job. They then brought out the new BG series Salist, which was basically to take on the FinNor OHC sries, though they have a problem with the strength of the dogs on the pinion gear – we've repaired quite a few in the past months – no doubt latter models will have this corrected. They have recently brought out a lever drag version, haven't seen one yet, but as it is in the same family as the BG series, it might have some early model design issues – wouldn't want to be one to start finding the faults with the new reel.

The other popular series of bulletproof reels down here are the Trinidad series from Shimano, great reels, I have one as a 'back-up'. Lastly, a great favourite of mine is the FinNor OHC, we have great faith in these reels, nice big bearings that can be serviced easily, and don't need replacing as often as Diawa and Shimano reels (above). Good Carbontex drag to start off, fitted by the factory, and although a star drag they are smooth and robust.

Last but not least is the Avet, we have a few of the non-MC used by our clients, but only the really better casters can get on with them – I'm not one of them!!!! However, the MC versions have a magnetic control that really is just too good – virtually impossible to throw a crow's nest – however, we have done a little fine tuning, and by removing just 0.1mm off the face of the magnet, we find that we have a reel that really does spin, but with a better temper than the full Avet.

All of the above are used here with 300m of braid backing, followed by 300m of mono, depending on your strength requirements, which for our long running sharks is plenty, and the mono does all the real work, and the braid is basically there for the odd seriously long running fish, and as insurance against having too little mono on the reel.


Hope all this just adds to your quandary about which reel to get.


Cheers from sunny Africa,


Jeri

[jaypeegee]

So thanks to work I have missed my appointment with the Kingfish this year.
Although , In a way this has been beneficial as I have managed to save an extra dollar or two.
Along the way I have kept researching and for better or worse decided on an Avet
Now I want to know one thing pre purchase - mainly how tall is the LX for casting?
l will be mainly shore fishing using Balloons and Slidebaiting as my bigger species method, but would like to be able to cast the reel also - Casting an overhead isnt an issue - I use and abuse SL20s daily.
If I can handle casting an SL50 (Getting my thumb on top of the reel at release time) will I likely be able to do the same on an LX or will it still be too high?
The option of trying one of these in a shop is a no go as there isnt a retail dealership where I live - Any one have the experience of this care to comment?