Contemplating My Quiver: What to do with a Daiwa Tatula SV TWS

[Big Hands]

I suspect many of us build up our arsenal of rods and reels one piece at a time, only contemplating one or two niches at a time, and not really knowing specifically what we will end up with as the quiver fills out. At least that's where I find myself. I updated my collection over the past few years from what would now be called 'vintage' gear to most of it being new within the past three or four years.

 

Over that time, there has been some trying this or that, but not really thinking of the collection as a whole. Since this winter has been tough or impossible to even go fishing, I have taken the time to go through my equipment, do some maintenance, upgrades, and I'm now trying to purposefully match rods and reel together to take advantage of their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses.

 

I have a collection of spinning rods from L, (2) ML, (2) M, and a MH, five casting rods from ML, M, (2) MH, and one H, a collection of three crankbait rods (M, MH and H), and three more swimbait rods.

 

The one piece I am struggling most to find a relatively dedicated purpose for is the Daiwa (MY17) Tatula SV TWS (XS - 8.1:1). It's a nicely made reel, but I can't quite nail down what it is best suited for.

 

Currently, I am thinking it might be OK for throwing jerkbaits (on my 6'10" SLX M/XF) with 8-10 lb monofilament with it's supposedly well controlled casting with lighter baits and a fast retrieve. 

 

Anything I am missing or is there another area where it might excel?

[Jar11591]

I use my SV TW for jerkbaits. It throws even light jerkbaits very well. The rod I use for that has the same specs as the SLX you use. The reel has a shallow spool, so you’ll want a thin diameter line if you plan on making long casts which is usually the case with jerkbaits. It won’t hold much line of a thick diameter.
 

But it would also make a decent flip and pitch reel, as you don’t need much line for that. It has plenty of power to handle flipping and pitching. Even though it can throw lighter baits really well, I wouldn’t call it a finesse reel and I don’t think Daiwa does either. 

[WIGuide]

It's suited pretty well for a lot of things. It can be used for winding baits as long as you're one of those people who can slow down your retrieve. Otherwise, the 8.1 is great for anything where you're primarily moving the bait with your rod and using it to pick up slack. Techniques like walking a frog or spook, t rigged anything, carolina rigs, jigs, and as you mentioned jerkbaits. Wacky rigs would be another good option. Although they do have a shallower spool, they'll still hold 100 yards of 14 lb line. which is plenty for most applications. 

[Tatulatard]

Put it on something you can skip 5" senkos and other 3/8 ounce weightless plastics.  Send all these baits under docks and low hanging shoreline. 

[Big Hands]

2 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

But it would also make a decent flip and pitch reel, as you don’t need much line for that. It has plenty of power to handle flipping and pitching. Even though it can throw lighter baits really well, I wouldn’t call it a finesse reel and I don’t think Daiwa does either. 

 

This is why the reel is a bit of an enigma for me. It's built pretty sturdy, like it could be more for pitching and flipping, but throwing light-ish baits is one area it supposedly stands out. Previous to this, I used it as my Carolina rig reel more than anything. But I have discovered that many of my reels cast as well or better than it does with 1/2 to 3/4 oz sinkers on a C-Rig. 

 

1 hour ago, WIGuide said:

It's suited pretty well for a lot of things. It can be used for winding baits as long as you're one of those people who can slow down your retrieve. Otherwise, the 8.1 is great for anything where you're primarily moving the bait with your rod and using it to pick up slack. Techniques like walking a frog or spook, t rigged anything, carolina rigs, jigs, and as you mentioned jerkbaits. 

 

Previous to this, I used it as my Carolina rig reel more than anything. As for slowing down, I would take three to five minutes per cast to retrieve a Carolina rig, so I definitely have the ability and inclination to do that. But I have discovered that many of my reels cast as well or better than it does with 1/2 to 3/4 oz sinkers on a C-Rig.

 

I had a small amount of mono backing and then filled with 40 lb Smackdown. With a Carolina Rig I could cast far enough that part of the backing was exposed by the time the rig hit bottom if I used a 1 oz sinker. My SLX MGL 70 cast almost as far with a 3/4 oz sinker and if I used a 3/4 oz sinker on the SV TW, the SLX MGL would outcast it. I guess I am trying to see if this reel has a 'superpower' that I can leverage in the water I fish.

 

1 hour ago, WIGuide said:

Wacky rigs would be another good option. Although they do have a shallower spool, they'll still hold 100 yards of 14 lb line. which is plenty for most applications. 

 

1 hour ago, Tatulatard said:

Put it on something you can skip 5" senkos and other 3/8 ounce weightless plastics.

 

Maybe I'll put this into the steel cage against the Curado BFS to see who emerges victorious.

 

2 hours ago, Tatulatard said:

Send all these baits under docks and low hanging shoreline. 

 

You're not wrong, but this did give me a chuckle. I can say there is no dock or other man-made structure that a bait can be cast under here. When the lake is stuffed full of water, there are a few trees at the bank, but this is our cover and structure for most of the lake:

 

[FrnkNsteen]

I have one of the '17 Tat SV's and two of the '20 Tat SV's.

 

The '17 SV is on MH Fast rod I use for skipping jigs. One of the '20 Sv reels is on a Medium Fast Techna AV that I use for pitching light craws on belly weighted twist lock hooks around cover. 

The other '20 SV has a Ray's spool in it and I have it on a Dobyns Sierra SUF740c throwing light stuff around 1/8oz or so.

 

Very versatile reels thar work well for a LOT of things!

[PhishLI]

6 hours ago, Big Hands said:

Currently, I am thinking it might be OK for throwing jerkbaits (on my 6'10" SLX M/XF) with 8-10 lb monofilament

Mine's currently spooled with 8lb Sufix Advance on a Powell Inferno 703C MHXF which, like Dobyns, fishes more like a medium. It'll fire out 1/8-1/4oz Bitsy Bugs with compact trailers very nicely, and 4" T-rigged 1/16-1/8oz weighted worms. Both dragging baits, so the fast IPT is just to pick up slack and good for quickly pulling them away from snaggy cover. I'll also zip out 1/4oz transfer weighted JBs with the rig and small cranks too. Drag management makes it work out nicely for those baits when I don't feel like swapping rigs or if I only bring a few combos.

[waymont]

It's a great skipping, jig/T-rig, swim jig, jerk bait, and fluke reel.

[WRB]

I use a Tatula 8:1 for casting jigs and larger soft plastic worms T-rigged with sliding 3/16 oz bullet weight and glass bead.

With the water up coving the stick ups both casting a jig and T-rig worm will come into play this year.

The advantage of the 8:1 reel is getting a hook set after casting over 100’ and controlling  keeping s tight line until the bass is closer to the boat.

I use 12# FC line for this presentation.

The key to success is a well balanced rod-reel combo and using it!

Tom

PS, have some jigs for you?

[txchaser]

That spool is going to shine with skipping, light baits, baits with a big cross-section, and wind, or any combination of those. Something like a rattletrap is going to be the opposite of what it's good at. It's most definitely not a long-casting reel.

 

Light t-rigs, small cranks like the curve 55, spinnerbaits in the wind, small topwaters like a rico.

 

Given your cover, do the showdown with your Curado and put the loser on the next-heaviest rod.