New Reel
 

I ordered a Shimano TwinPower reel from Japan last week. When I opened the box Wednesday there was a Daiwa box sitting inside the larger box. No way they would ship a Shimano reel in a Daiwa box. Yep...inside was a Daiwa Ignis 2005 Type R. On research of the reel found out is designed for finesse fishing using light line....right up my alley....and it cost about 50 bucks more than the TwinPower. Now I am wondering who opened up their package expecting a Daiwa and received a Shimano...LOL. Since the reel is a much better reel than the TwinPower I decided to keep it. It is designed for using fluro. So I checked into just what that means. It tapers the spool to better handle fluro and manage the line. It also has an ultimate tournament finesse drag. I used the reel today. To say it is smooth is an understatement with the 12 bearings. But what really impressed me was the drag. Now I only caught 2 fish with it today but this drag is different. It has a much more precise drag adjustment than other reels I have used. The drag has what is called a wave spring....which is 8 layers of spring washers in the drag. So I guess with getting a better reel than I paid for it is a nice surprise Christmas gift....life is good!


Regards

Congrats on the upgrade! lol. Thats a sharp looking reel!
Its amazing the research that goes into each and every facet of the fishing industry. From special steel for drop shot hooks to different reel seats on rods. Every aspect of our sport is constantly changing, upgrading, reverse engineered and made better.

I cannot believe I missed this.
Congratulations on the reel. From what I hear Daiwa JDM spinning reels are where it's at, not to discredit the Twin Power, Stella or Vanquish, but from what I hear they are no match to the Certate, or Morethan. Well maybe the Stella is, but I can't bring myself to spending $500+ on a reel, my max is around $400 up to around $450.

Please give us an update on the reel and how you like it.

I'm not sure what I think of the non-serviceable drag system on the Certate, and I've never heard of the Ignis.

Thanks.....the reel is my best to date. I had never heard of it either until I started to research the reel to see if I should keep it or return it. It has the internal workings of the Daiwa Exist. It looks plain Jane on outside compared to the Exist but it is what's inside that counts. 11/1 bearings makes this thing as smooth as butter. I have landed a couple of dozen fish with this reel and yes it is very smooth...no flexing in the handle.....but it is the drag that one will notice more than anything. Hard to explain how the drag is but you will notice that it is not like any drag you have felt while fighting a fish. It is called the ATD drag. That stands for Automatic Tournament Drag. It is in all of Daiwas high end reels. Here is their explanation of how it works. "ATD or Automatic Tournament Drag is a new introduction into the Daiwa spinning reels. The biggest issue with many drag systems is that they are not smooth at the beginning of the drag and do not adjust to suit line distance or a fish slowing down. ATD rectifies this issue. As an example ATD works like this, at the beginning of a strike the drag starts smoothly, then increase to its pre-set drag rating, as the fish swims further away and begins to slow down, line pressure increases thus increasing drag and line breakage is a high possibility. The ATD system recognizes this and automatically decreases the drag to compensate for the added pressure. As an example, if a drag is set at 7kg, at the beginning of the strike for a brief moment it will be 1kg then increases to 7kg, as the fish swims say to 250m (this equates to approx. 3kg of extra line drag, depending on line thickness) the drag will decrease to 4kg, thus avoiding line breakage." This is my fourth JDM reel. It is by far the best. But I still want a new 2015 TwinPower. As you said..and I agree....I have a top end of my budget range and the Ignis is there at just under 300 bucks....so for 230 bucks I got quite a good deal. I watch reel disassembly off of youtube from this guy in Russia. Name a JDM spinning reel and he probably has taken it apart. My Daiwa Luvias was my first JDM reel....to see the insides of it compared to the other 3 is an amazing difference. The Luvias is a fine reel...but when one steps up to the Certate...TwinPower...Ignis...just no comparison. You can service the drag on the Certate...I just put in a Carbontex drag washer. I think when one gets to the Exist.....MoreThan....and Stella you have most assuredly reached the top and they would all be very close in performance. I can't imagine how one of those three would fish. You know I don't saltwater fish anymore but I can see where these JDM reels in the saltwater size would really earn their keep. I have paired the Ignis with a Yamaga Blanks Blue Current 6' 10" jig head special. It balances very well.....and just last week got in a Yamaga Blanks 8' 3" Blue Current TZ. Got it for the Ignis for Float'N Fly and vertical jigging for crappie. Hope to have the TwinPower and one other reel before February. So my JDM journey continues....just hope my money holds out...LOL.

Regards