North Wales Kayak Fishing
Daiwa TD Viento Baitcaster Reel
Last year I wanted a baitcasting reel that I could use
in freshwater for pike and perch and maybe the odd dip in the salty
stuff for bass & pollack, I looked at several but once I saw this
one there was no going back, not least because its blue , sad I
know, but also because it has a unique feature built
in
Its the Daiwa TD Viento Baitcaster and it has a unique
feature called a twitching bar, the bar is pressed down with your
thumb this in turn retrieves line and turns the handle One handed
operation - brilliant!! Just playing with the twitching bar you can
get the handle to rotate at least one full turn, but in reality
with a lure attached it will recover 4 - 6" of line, enough to give
your lure an interesting action.
On the technical side the reel is constructed with aluminium frame
& side plates, has an 8 disc fibre composite micro click drag,
perforated aluminium spool for quick spool start up, infinite anti
reverse to enable more positive hook ups, 6 stainless steel
bearings & 2 being roller bearings, bronze drive gear & Magforce
cast control
In use and bearing in mind this is my first baicaster (cast with
lots of multipliers though), its very smooth in operation, casts
long (no birdsnest to date ), drag is easy to adjust, the twitching
bar adds a whole new dimension, something else to enjoy and
experiment with. To date its only been used in freshwater and has
only landed a few small jacks & chub but its going to get a few
outings with jellyworms for pollack & Bass but I'm not sure how it
will handle the salt even with a good washdown & oil - only time
will tell.
The reel was probably designed for the American Bass fishing market
and the twitching bar made for twitching back jigs & plastics, it
will work with jellyworms and small plugs etc but I don't think the
twitching bar would have the power to impart sufficent life in a
chug bug or similar.
Would I buy another - Yes
Would I change anything - I'd love to see a version in Daiwa's
corrosion resistant finish and corrossion resistant bearings to
assist with use in the sea.
The reels RRP is £150, its a quality bit of
kit,