Saltiga 4500 update so far.
 

I know several of you were waiting to see how the reel has held up, so I figured I would give a little update. I have been using this real pretty hard so far this season. From the early season back in April, through the summer, and into the start of this fall, it has been a great reel. I started off using 50# Stren braid, but swithed back to 50# Whiplash last week on Cutty. The reel has spent many nights under water whether wetsuiting or just deep wading. Not even a slight sign of jerkyness in the drag or any reduction in performance. The reel absolutely out performs any other spinning reel I have tried so far, and I think I have gone through them all. I didn't even touch my VS's until last week, and that was just to see how it would feel after not throwing it in a while. I will probably be picking up another one of these reels this off season and retiring my back up VS250 all together.

The reel has several 30#ers, and more 20#ers than I can count under its belt so far. I am 100% happy with every aspect of this reel so far.

Ok, now for the ONE issue I have had so far. Last week, somehow, about a 3/4" piece of the reel foot broke off. The reel still functions perfectly, but I am in the process of contacting Daiwa to get it fixed/replaced, or whatever they will do. It may have the stress of one of the greatest blitzes I have ever experienced, or just a slight flaw in the reel. Not sure yet. The reel did go through about 60 - 70 fish in 3 nights, with about half of them over 20#'s, so it took some serious abuse.

Well, it's off to Block today, so hopefully I'll be back on Sunday with more big fish under its belt. :vamp:

You Suck Toby! You get to fish Cutty and Block back to back, tons of sweet fish, and really work out that reel. I hope you have lousy time on Block and only get one fish (a Fifty :hihi: ) and really test out that reel!

Good luck - sounds like a real sweet reel!

Thanks & good luck,


John

I cannot believe how much they jack up the price for a spinning reel.
I have to agree though, daiwa dominates on quality.

Saltiga Baitcaster is $400 to bad its hard to work a plug with one :crying:

good report, thanks for the info toby.

agreed, good report toby. i still cannot believe you wetsuit for those 20#+ scup!

so, who else has a saltiga to critique after the season thus far? i'm still pleased w/ my vs250 in the wash and rocks. of course, nothing like the pressure put on a bass w/ an abu 7000c3.

toby, has the reel seen any sand?
thanks

I saw one of those on that AUCTION SITE at the time high bid 220.00 buck. If I wasn't going on a hunting trip I would be biding. THomt

Awesome feedback and good luck out there!

This is my second full season with the Saltigas, and while I don't fish as hard as Toby from reading his posts, my reels are as good as new. The reels have experienced plenty of dunks, splashes, and some nice fish.

These have been my only years without any reel problems, and that includes 2 years fishing Van Staals and a few years fishing Ahab's.

i've got a saltiga blast 4500 that's landed 2 bluefin, countless blues to 16 lbs, and lots of bass to 5 or 6 lbs, and it has yet to see a drop of oil. this is pretty sweet, those regular saltigas must be awesome!

I have been using these reels for two full seasons now and have skished with them, swam to rocks with them and still have not sent them for servicing, they still have not missed a beat. The first paragraph of Toby's evaluation is on the money.

Regarding the question of "have they seen sand?" Mine have as when you are coming back in from skishing you get tossed around like a rag doll at the surf line usually and in one particular case the rod and reel were dragged on the bottom so much that the reel was covered (literally) in sand and the guides had sand build up on the corners (I was worried....) I washed it off, took it out again later that night and it was like the sand was never even on the reel, smooth, quiet and without flaw in it's operation.

I have already made my any other reel, including my VS reell the back up's to my two saltiga's and am considering getting another one in the 5000 or 6000 range to replace the VS 300. If you consider getting them, there is source that always has them in stock (they can be hard to find), they are an online dealer based in NJ and turn the order around very quickly.

Rock Hopper

why i didn't get my 4500......
 

Read this

and this

check out the video too

ouch.not sure the same stress is involved in striper fishin.for the most part.a good fish in the canal could probably do it.

I'll let you know. :D

But, I seriously doubt it - not with the 5000Z.

Now there seems to be another issue with the reel. Over the weekend, a noise developed. At first I thought the roller bearing was shot, but I still hear the sound with the spool removed. It is sort of a "swooshing" noise from within the reel. Definately sounds like some sort of bearing crapped out.

BM - I got a bit of sand in the reel this weekend as I was fishing a rocky/sandy beach. More than a little sand got under the spool as I took a few waves. One quick dunk, and she was nice and clean. The reel didn't grind up like a VS or 706 does when sand gets in it. By the design of the spool, it seems to let less sand under the reel.

U know a giant is coming.Its in their now.

I'm lookin forward to the day U break the record.
Gorilla style.He-Man fishin.
Any youngster can put on a wetsuit an get on a rock to fish.PFFFFFFFt
trow a 5 oz jig all yr.
that 5000Z is a big reel.is that the one u use.i know someone who has one for sale.I wonder why the tuna guys don't use the bigger one.

NIB

If the 5000Z should break on a canal fish, It'll be the least of my problems.
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I may need help lookin' for my arm though. :o

Jim, I'll see you out there :) in a few hours :spin:

NIB, find out how much he wants for it???? :call:

Slip,

I'm thinkin' midnight ±

Must be a cast frame on those reels, judging by the video and Toby's breakage. They certainly look cast. It seems like a nice reel, but for what they ask for it they really should step it up a notch and go with a machined frame. Daiwa would never have to worry about a video like in Leptar's link or Toby ripping the foot off ever again. The VS frame is machined and the reel costs less... :confused:

looks like they could at least machine the foot.I recently bout a 250 VS.I am a old 706 guy.i would like to try a 300 but alot of people tell me its to big.which is why i want one.any comments would help.the size of a 706 does not bother me down to a 9' spinner.

300 has a lot of cranking power but to me seems a little overdone from the surf.Also too slow to jig the canal.Love the 200 on my nines and a 1204 but a250 is great for the fall.VS= great drags!!!

One kid in college and my wife's new car, (long sigh) I won't be getting one soon but wish I could. Why do I have to be responsible with my money? I would love to try one on a good stand up spinning rod for tuna. No spare money= no Saltiga for Stevie. I'm bummed.

I traded in my VS300 for this reel. It was a great size on a 10' rod, and I even used it in the spring on my 9' heavy duty Lami. It really is a sweet reel. My two gripes with the VS's were the slow turnaround on repairs and the fact that the drag was a bit small and weak for what I want. The Saltiga has a beast of a drag, and I'll soon know about there turn around on repairs.

If u start savin now u could have one by the surf shows in march.it only a hunfdred plastic swimmers.I know u have a few of them.I would guess ur like me easy to nickel an dime out of my pocket but savin to spend 600 is like pullin teeth.U just gotta have some restraint.He He He
They also make some lesser type reels in the 400$ range along the same line as the saltiga.Not as extreme though.Anyone ever use any of them.

That drag nob looks like something i could cross thread pretty easily.They have some small threads on the top of the shaft.Plus I'm kinda worried bout sand with that type of reel.do u think it would look funny with tape holdin it on my rod.I am also afraid of he lack of representation in the states its almost like they don't care.will be interested to see how they work with ur problem Toby.I just don't like leapin in head first to any kinda new fangled technology.Plus I'm cheap.

NIB, get up here, you're missing it :eyes:

stella 10000= #1 IMHO

I agree. The 300 is slow for jigging. You have to reel like a mad man at the end of the swing to keep from losing too many jigs.

Mac sell me urs.

Repair update:
I sent the reel out on October 5. they have the reel, but "will not be opneing up the box" until some time next week as it was inventory time last week and the service department was closed. This caused a back up in reel service which will make this about a 3 week turn around... :bsod:

At least when I sent my VS's in I could call up and bitch and they would get right on my reel. I tried to explain to the service rep on the phone a few minutes ago of the urgency of getting this reel back and he repeated to me that it would be 2 - 3 weeks.

That just blows.U buy a 700 dollar reel to use for striper fishin an its gonna miss the best part of the fall run.Damned if u do damned if u don't.
My first reaction would be to really give em hell.not sure thats gonna fix ur reel any faster though.I would call every day.

Sorry, can't sell you a 300 since I don't have one anymore. I like and use the 250 jigging. It works awesome. Has 50# calcutta on it right now but will be changing it over to 65# whiplash next week :happy:

Thanks for the updates on the Saltiga guys. I've only used mine a couple of times so far but it has worked well. Its been hit with some sand and I hear it sort of grinding out but its back to normal after a few seconds.

Are you guys noticing better casting than a large spool diameter such as teh VS?

Also, what is the best way to service this reel, and how much do you think it will cost? I'm guessing it would be a good idea to bring it to an anuthorized Daiwa dealer?

Thanks!

whats up TLap,,,I don't know but.. I'ld be PO'd haveing to send in that reel and it hasn't gone through one fall, I know you fish it hard but still. And whats up with the service department being closed? Being that the pricey reel is fairly new to the public, they couldn't keep the so called service "department" open during this time of year?.. at least for the high end reels.

They should really have a counterpart to Shimano's "Platinum Service Plan" for reels like the Saltiga.

Your just asking to piss off customers when you sell something that expensive and then tell them to pound sand for a few weeks when it comes time for repairs.

My only thoughts about having the reel serviced at a local Daiwa dealer would be the parts issue. I'm not sure they'd have any on hand since it's a relatively rare reel. But maybe.

Damn !@#$ing Japanese!

We should nuke 'em a THIRD time. :af:

I think you need to go up the food chain. You need to talk to the National Sales Manager, not some peon from the service dept.
Try asking for Terry Pederson.

Bernzy

MUCH better distance and acuracy than a VS! When you cast a Saltiga, the line feels like it rockets off the spool. Since I have fallen back on my VS, it feels like the line is falling off the spool on a cast.

If I do not have a good answer by next Monday, 1.5 weeks into this process, I will be asking to speak to someone above a service rep.

I truly hope your experience with Daiwa's Customer Service is better than mine. It took them 6 weeks to repair, not replace, a reel that came broken in the box. I spent considerable time emailing and phoning with 0 satisfaction. Granted this was not a $300-$400 reel but I missed most of June and all of July using it.

To top it off, when the reel was returned, it had been put back together incorrectly and I had to fix it. Dawia will not be getting any more of my money.