Tidewater reels

Dreadnaught: JW, just checking out the new format, seen your name and thought I'd giver'er a try. This is really great, now I gotta get all acclimated again, lol. I'm still a firm believer in Penns though, just to stay with the thread subject.

 

Dreadnaught, you beat me to the post. I have 4 tidewaters and love them. The loud bait clicker sold me.

 

I have a TW30LA on layaway. If I get a job again I will get it out.

 

I have 2 tidewaters also. Of the four baitcasters including a Penn and a catmaster, the tides are my 2 main poles.

 

Does anyone have problems with casting their tidewater?

 

No problems here and I have learned I got the cheaper? made model from Wallyworld.

 

I have a 30LA and it gets the job done just as well as any reel. I have to agree for the money its a great buy.

 

i had a 10l for a bit. it was a pretty stout reel imo. sold it when i got 4 new abus ambass,.

 

I got one from Wal-mart and had trouble casting it at first. Figured I needed a bit more weight and some help with the way I was casting. I looked up the "Off The Ground" cast and tripled my casting distance and stopped the bird-nesting. Had to put on a 60# shock leader due to the added weight.

I am interested if the baitclicker will stand the test of time or of it will break. All and all it is a great reel. I noticed at the store they had an older version and it had less plastic/graphite. That is the one I got.

 

Catman, I can tell you what, there is nothing wrong with graphite at all. The Penn 320 GTi is made of it, and its hard to find a reel better than that for that price.

Anyways, I finally got my tidewater in the mail today, and it feels like it could wench in a horse. It is super smooth, the clicker is a few decibels shy of a gunshot, and it can hold a truckload of line. The only thing bad about it is the brake is a little touchy, but that isnt anything that cant be compensated for. Overall looks like an excellent reel.

 

The tidewaters are good reels.

 

I have a 20L, I've pulled in a couple 20 pounders with it with no problem. It dont cast the best but its got one of the smoothest bait clickers I've seen on such a large reel.

 

I've got a Tidewater from Wally World, and found that very careful adjustments of the spool drag for each weight will really help in making backlash-free casts.

 

We've had about 10 tidewaters for 2 years, and now about 1/2 of them have been taken apart and fixed. They're alright for $35 but the baitclickers are hard to pull out, and the drag system is not very good. At one spot it will pull out easy, turn the spool a little and the drag is hard to pull out.

 

ah paratrooper. found ya again. i got to get more fellas on here from the ville. think brian can fig it out. lmao.

hey. cj21. is that cha jak the 3rd. just wondering. lots of folks have changed names just trying to fig out who is who.

 

I'd agree they're decent reels for $35, but not all that great. Mine has a horrible clicker, barely audible from more than 15'. A ripple on the water could pull some line out with the clicker on. With large baits I have to tighten down the tension knob to hold them in place, which is behind the drag. It's impossible to get your fingers on, and even with a pair of pliers I have to torque on it to get it to move at all. The drag is weak, but I set mine very loose so that's not a problem with me. It's not a bad reel, but I have many others that I much prefer.

 

I used a tidewater for almost 5 years before I bought my Penn, and thought it was a great buy for the price. Great sounding clicker also. I tell all the new catfisherman that I know I to buy the Tidewater, its a great starter reel. I still use my tadewater as a secondary reel, even though it has saw its better days :sad:

 

Ya catsforme. I aint going no where.