Electric Reels

[ichthyoid]

I fish for halibut off the Oregon Coast in 600-700'. After a weekend of two fish per person, with bait checks and dog fish, I came home and ordered an electric reel. I was beat up pretty good. I'm looking forward to using the electric function for bait checks. The reel feels smooth and it seems the drag is also smooth and powerful.

So, if any of you have experience with a Daiwa Hyper Tanacom 600 fe, I'd appreciate any feedback. How do they hold up in the salt? It says the electrics are sealed but you never know. What kind of battery are you using?

I've tested the reel using my jump battery and I was a little surprised at how fast the jump battery lost its charge. I'm thinking about dragging along an extra battery, but would like to get away with the smallest battery as space is at a minimum (22' North River Seahawk).

[lawaia]

ichthyoid - A jump battery is not designed for long life. It's only intended to put out the short duration high current needed to start a car. It has no staying power and that's why your Tanacom killed it (plus the battery in the jump unit may be getting old). You need to get a deep cycle marine battery to power the reel. This is the same type of battery that those with electric trolling motors use for power. Out here we use deep cycle batteries to power our elec-tra-mates and locally made electric reels retrieving 4-5# lead from past 1000' and the batteries last all night and day.

Regarding the Tanacom reels, I've no first hand knowledge, but a buddy has them. He's had them for a while, got them in Japan before they were available in the USA, and says the only thing wrong with them is that the printing on them is all in Japanese . He had to figure out which button did what by trial and error! Now that he's got it figured, he loves 'em.

[ichthyoid]

ichthyoid - He had to figure out which button did what by trial and error! Now that he's got it figured, he loves 'em.

Maybe you could ask your buddy to write a few buttons down? Does this reel jig up and down? I can get it to jig with a pause up, but cannot figure out how to make it drop line out automatically. The dangers of the gray market.

Thanks for the tip on the jump battery.

[indasan]

I use an AGM wheelchair battery for my electrics. It will run 2 reels for more than one trip on a single charge. As for the Daiwa those things are bad ass. You will not have any trouble with them in the salt.

[ichthyoid]

I use an AGM wheelchair battery for my electrics. It will run 2 reels for more than one trip on a single charge.

Thanks for the great suggestion.