Daiwa Aird

[IndianaFinesse]

Tackle warehouse's description of the Daiwa aird says that it has a larger spool for coastal fishing, so i was wondering if it was enlarged enough to make it a big reel.  Is it a low profile reel, and do you guys have any experience with it?

[fishnkamp]

If you read the description it actually says it has a aluminum deep spool providing 30 % more capacity. They did the same thing with the Tatula CT when it came out. The body of a Tatula CT is a bit narrower and a bit lower in profile compared to a standard 100 series Tatula.  They made the spool deeper in order to hold the same amount of line as a 100 series Tatula and Tatula Type R reel.  Daiwa has been going in the direction of smaller bodied reels so I doubt it was made larger in physical size.

[IndianaFinesse]

4 hours ago, fishnkamp said:

If you read the description it actually says it has a aluminum deep spool providing 30 % more capacity. They did the same thing with the Tatula CT when it came out. The body of a Tatula CT is a bit narrower and a bit lower in profile compared to a standard 100 series Tatula.  They made the spool deeper in order to hold the same amount of line as a 100 series Tatula and Tatula Type R reel.  Daiwa has been going in the direction of smaller bodied reels so I doubt it was made larger in physical size.

Thanks, I assumed the deeper spool would also mean a larger spool.

[fishnkamp]

It does not mean that when comparing a Tatula 100 series to a Tatula CT. Unfortunately I have not seen the Aird yet to be sure.

[IndianaFinesse]

15 minutes ago, fishnkamp said:

It does not mean that when comparing a Tatula 100 series to a Tatula CT. Unfortunately I have not seen the Aird yet to be sure.

Do you think the exceller would be any better?  They both have the same retail price, and the specs look similar.

[IndianaFinesse]

Never mind, TW just ran out of them anyway.  What do you think of the daiwa exceller?

[fishnkamp]

I own one Exceler 4 Tatula Rs  2 TatulaCTs. I love them all. Actually if I blind folded you I  doubt you could tell them apart. half of my reels are lefties and half are righties and I have 6.3 and 8-1 gear ratio reels. My friend Bryan (baybass.com) got me addicted to Daiwas. He fishes roughly 3 to 4 times a week all year long. His Excelers and Tatulas hold up well and so have mine. The biggest difference between an Exceler and a tatula is the T wing system.  I will be upgrading the rest of my reels over the next 6 months. They will all be Excelers and Tatula CTs with the possible exception of one Tatula HD for pitching with 17 pound line ( the HD has more capacity.  Realize the Exceler is a $99 retail reel. It is no beginner reel by any means.  Go take a few minutes and read some of Bryan's fishing reports on his website baybass.com then choose fishing reports. Scroll down to some on both of the first and second pages. He catches some enourmous snakeheads while bass fishing 

[IndianaFinesse]

15 minutes ago, fishnkamp said:

I own one Exceler 4 Tatula Rs  2 TatulaCTs. I love them all. Actually if I blind folded you I  doubt you could tell them apart. half of my reels are lefties and half are righties and I have 6.3 and 8-1 gear ratio reels. My friend Bryan (baybass.com) got me addicted to Daiwas. He fishes roughly 3 to 4 times a week all year long. His Excelers and Tatulas hold up well and so have mine. The biggest difference between an Exceler and a tatula is the T wing system.  I will be upgrading the rest of my reels over the next 6 months. They will all be Excelers and Tatula CTs with the possible exception of one Tatula HD for pitching with 17 pound line ( the HD has more capacity.  Realize the Exceler is a $99 retail reel. It is no beginner reel by any means.  Go take a few minutes and read some of Bryan's fishing reports on his website baybass.com then choose fishing reports. Scroll down to some on both of the first and second pages. He catches some enourmous snakeheads while bass fishing 

Thanks for the reply's, can it handle lighter lures in the 1/4 ounce range?

[new2BC4bass]

1 hour ago, IndianaFinesse said:

Thanks for the reply's, can it handle lighter lures in the 1/4 ounce range?

 

Two members here....ChiCityBasser and Catchnm...both said it handled light lures.  CCB said down to 1/4 oz. while catchnm didn't specify a weight.  Search for reviews of the Exceler on Google and the thread I am referring to should show up.  I have better luck searching on Google than on a forum.  Include the forum's name in the search and you may be surprised at the results.

 

I'm sure fishnkamp can also give you an answer to that question.

[fishnkamp]

I can't really say since I never try to use a baitcaster for baits lighter than 1/4 ounce. I really think it takes a high dollar reel to accomplish those super finesse baitcasting techniques.  I use my Exceler to throw rattle traps, red eye shads, square bills, and some shallow cranks. Probably the lightest I throw on it is a Mann's 1/4 ounce Baby 1 minus or a Bomber Shallow A which weighs about 3/8 ounce. Most of the time when I throw lighter texas rigs, say 1/4 or 5/16 with a finesse worm or a unweighted Senco then I am using a G Loomis 6 foot medium spinning rod. That IMX rod just makes it easier to handle those baits. If I want to throw a Rapala floating minnow I throw that on a 6'6" Okuma spinning rod as well.  Once I get up to say a Rattling Rogue then I have my Ike series 6'4" delay series rod and a 6.3 Tatula CT in my hand. Those baits weigh 3/8 ounce if I am correct.  

[IndianaFinesse]

Thanks, I just wanted to make sure it could handle 1/4 ounce baits.  I use spinning gear for lures lighter than that, plus I also prefer spinning for skipping baits under docks and trees.  I don't have any problem doing it with a baitcaster, but spinning gear seems to get the lure farther back underneath docks a lot easier.