Daiwa Tanacom (and Tanacom Bull) line spooling and calibration

[zmk1962]

Hey Raiders,

Ok this post is more for the ones that are into deep dropping and more specifically Diawa Tanacom/Tanacom Bull electric reels.  As I discovered from the Fathoms Friday trip losing a significant amount of braid is a real possibility, and that it may happen more frequently then I expected. So this presents two subsequent challenges:

1) creating a convenient set up to top up the reel with braid - you need power to the reel and somewhere solid to fix the relatively heavy rod/reel combo

2) creating a convenient set up to help re-calibrate the reel - so that it can accurately report line out - for depth and retrieve.

Most of us have the electric rod and reel connection set up in the boat, which means topping up the spool requires us to work from the boat - all good if the weather is fine and you have a mate to help with providing correct tension on the new line spool - but what happens if the weather is crap and your are in COVID lockdown (and the missus does not want to stand in the rain holding tension - like your best mate would for a beer or two !)

Well, you have to get creative !

First thing was to solve power supply! Quickly I realised that my landcruiser has a battery (which could power the reel) and a pretty solid bumper bar to hold a temporary rod mount that could take the strain of the braid being spooled on under load. Also I could nose the cruiser into the garage and work out of the elements in the relative comfort of the garage (which also happens to hold the beer fridge!) So here is what came out of the workshop:

And the line spooler .... (a couple of dumbell weights on the base hold it down)....the two levers on the right drive reversed wing-nuts to tension the drag system. They lock against each other to hold at the set tension ....

Now for the line calibration ! 

The Diawa Tanacom line calibration procedure basically requires you to load the spool to full, then peel off exactly 50m, press a button and then peel off another exact 50m - so that the reel knows what has come off is exactly 100m.... then reel the 100m back on and check against the spool reading.  Peeling off 50+50m is somewhat easy to measure if you had colour change braid but even then you have the hassle of handling 100m of loose braid. The problem is more compounded with solid colour braid that I prefer to use for deep dropping.  Fortunately, many years ago I had previously purchased a cheapo line counter that fitted onto a rod and I had used ONCE to measure how much line went onto my game reel... so using that this is what came out of the workshop:

And the final calibration task in process .... which was actually a bit of an anti climax as I was done and dusted with only 1 beer / rod !

Well I hope I never tangle with the bottom again and have to use these but if it happens I am ready !

Hope this inspires others.

Cheers 

Zoran

 

[Rebel]

Super gear. Well done.

[kingie chaser]

Great ingenuity, love your work Zoran 👍

Did you learn all that on Pakula 🤣

 

Sorry couldn't help it 😜

 

I know we spoke about line tension on the spool under weight for the 1st use so what amount of tension do you & can you use with the rod in the makeshift rod holder??

Similar to your rig drop weight or more??

[kingie chaser]

Just now, kingie chaser said:

Great ingenuity, love your work Zoran 👍

Did you learn all that on Pakula 🤣

 

Sorry couldn't help it 😜

 

I know we spoke about line tension on the spool under weight for the 1st use so what amount of tension do you & can you use with the rod in the makeshift rod holder??

Similar to your actual rig drop weight or more??

 

[zmk1962]

Hahaha ... yes ... there's lots of sites that give you their theory, but theory with some experience and local knowledge is GOLD 🥇. ... and as you now know,  lots of videos show you deep drop techniques but they tend to focus on the catching part ... not the fishing part ! Bahahaha 🤣 

Anyway, I can get similar line tension to when we deep drop, but what I can't get is for the line to be wet when spooled under load. I guess I could soak the spool in a bucket over night etc etc ... but have not gone that far yet. 

Also, braid ships with waxes and coatings (part of the manufacture process)... so after a few uses it does thin down a bit. All this change in thickness adds up to a different spool diameter when you are working the deep drop depths. 

The main thing is to identify the problem you are dealing with and to have a plan to handle it as efficiently as possible.

Cheers Zoran