Pimp my reel

[Paul H]

For those of you who don't know who Alan Tani is, you should google him, as he's the guru of reels. While shimano tld 15's are good lever drag reels for the money ~$130, they can be improved slightly.



Their handles could be a tad longer



Where Alan Tani comes in is what happens inside the reel, replacing the stock canvas drag washer with a penn 6-25 (~$6 vs $15 for a carbontex, and a drop in fit) A light coat of Cal's drag grease and hitting all the bearings with reel x. Lots of small parts when tearing the reel down, so choose your work area carefully, especially a floor where you can find the small bits when you drop them.



Much smoother drag, smoother freespool and I like the feel of the longer crank



Now the big question is, after the upgrades and having $170-180 into the reel, how's it compare to say an avet mx for the same price? The shimano has more drag and holds more line, but I like the feel of the avets better. If shimano would make the tld 15 1/2" narrower, with a carbon drag washer and longer crank from the factory, it would be a killer jig reel for $130, IMHO

I've also done the same carbon drag washer treatment to a shimano charter special 1000, I'll try and get some pics up later.

[kthomas]

Good stuff, I like seeing threads like this. Thanks for sharing Paul H.

[VernAK]

Alan [bloodydecks site] is very knowledgeable as is Hawk [allcoast site]....these guys can do great things with reels as those San Diego fishermen really can put a reel to a test.....much more so than fishing halibut.

Upgrade handles can make a so-so reel much easier to use.....reel colors and area rule being two manufacturers. Many Shimanos can be improved by installing the crank from the next up-size reel.

I've only had one Avet and never got the line deployed the first time when it broke down.......while I've had two TLDs for over twenty years.....I'll stick with Shimano ......

Check out those two websites for info on reels from guys that really stress their gear....

[vaaler]

I dropped off some TLD 15s at Alan's house a couple of weeks ago, and am looking forward to the improvements in the drags. I have some Avets too, and often fish with a friend's Accurate 270. I still like the TLD 15 for it's overall performance and corrosion resistance (AKA tolerance to neglect). Of the three, the Accurate has the best feel to me, but it is a maintenance nightmare. I don't have enough time on my Avets to have an opinion about them yet.

Big_E

[Reel Bob]

I also do upgrades to different reels if people ask. Just takes time and money....All my Ambassadeur 6500 C3's are now C6's with 4 drags and a ceramic Pawl

[fullbush]

Bob I hope I made the right choice buying my Okuma Solterra....Whatcha think is it a keeper?

[carolinaboy]

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=1404.0

This link shows how to service a Solterra. Good stuff. The least I would do would be to go through the tutorial and open the reel and grease the drag disc (teflon grease - ONLY) and maybe take a toothbrush and coat the internal surfaces with marine grade grease with the exception of the shaft and bearings which would get a drop of oil.

I have Okuma reels and their service is great. I had a spinning reel handle snap off on a big feisty silver 2 years back and right after the trip I emailed Okuma. Got a new handle FREE in the mail right away.

[Paul H]

The one thing I didn't do, that Alan shows in his tld 15 tutorial is change out the drag washers for tld 20II washers. IMHO the tld 15 has plenty of drag with the stock belleville washers, and going to gorilla levels of drag will shorten the life of the reel. Somewhere out there on the net is pics of a frame that was cracked in 1/2 from boosting the drag.

[VernAK]

If one is to use these smaller reels for halibut etc with heavy lines, be sure to install the rod clamp so you don't tear the reel foot off the frame. Just saying....I've seen it done.

[Vek]

I got about 2/3 that much dough in each of two 1000-series shimano charter specials. I did the carbontex drag washer with Cal's drag grease, and bought two of Alan's first run of topless aluminum frames (see his site - I don't know if any are left). The frames are somewhat flawed in that the front crossbar is a bit high, but I've had no line contact with the frame doing halibut bait soaks to 300'. Makes for a sturdy little reel.

[Paul H]

I tore into the charter special 1000 last night, I'll have to upload the pics.