Advice on Daiwa 7HT

[Plod]

Well, I've finally took the plunge and spent my hard earned cash, and bought a Daiwa 7HT and a Daiwa supercast 13'. Got a pretty good deal through Harris angling on the net. Only downside is that the rod is currently out of stock. They delivered the reel today, but without a rod to put it on, it seems a bit pointless!

My question is, now I've got the reel, I wondered if anyone can give me some advice on how to use the thing. I've got to be honest, moving up from fixed spool to multiplier, I was hoping for some more comprehensive instructions, than those that came with in the box. I'm a tad confused with what the two tightening knobs do exactly. Obviously, they slow the reel down to prevent overruns, but what does each do individually? Also, does it need stripping and oiling first, or is it good to go?

Now I've got the reel, I'm having second thoughts that I should have spent an extra £30 or so and got a Mag Elite. Don't you just hate that feeling!!

Any advice (constructive preferable) would be welcome, especially from anyone else who has a 7HT.

Cheers in advance,

Darren

[ross]

hi
the 7ht is a good reel had a cuple my self
but the best advice i could give you is to speak to phill hide in pagtion he is a good frand and well as beeing a rod bilder and developer he is all so a casting instroutor 0180355660

orher than that hear gose
the two knobs ai eack end of the spool are for spool tension
i would set them with the reel in free spool so the spool is centralised and about a 1/16th of spool side ways movemant but as a begineri would set it so the is no movment but dont over tightn it or spool wont turn
lol
make shour brak bloks are in it i know diawa some times just put them in a plastic bag in the box

then comes the next critical bit line
one of the bigest problems with mutiy plyers is ovwer runs
and one of the main causes is line

now an over run is caused when line is comeing of the spool when casting and say you have a line say more at one side of the spool
as the line is puled of the spool the spool turns so if the line is comeing of a lower diamater bit of the spool its going to turn the spool faster than if it pulling line of a biger diamter bit of the spool
so whe the line comes of a narower bitit speed the spool up and as line is pulled of it get to a wider bit lin is still pulled of bit the spool is still turnindg at a faster rate than than the line beiing taken from the reel
the line then bunches up un till a big mess over run or blowup
to quere this when you put the line on try to put it on as level as you can that should do it
on the 7ht wind line on untill the rill spool is is full to about 3mm from the lip on top the spool

job dune
atach leader and have fun


stae=rt with a cuple of easy lobs to get the feel of the reel befor slowly casting with wore power



hope this helps
thx
ross

[pingu]

cant add mush more
good multi to start on, well i did anyway
gonna be at ladram tommorrow night & will take mine plus a rod for it if you wanted a play

[Solent Fisher]

Hi,

I own two 7HT's. You've made the right choice as they are a joy to use. I second all the advise above but would add three things,

I've tried lots of line, some of the supposedly good stuff I hated but the absolute best I found and would now never change is Varivas Vermax Strong in 20lb. Its the same thickness as most 15lb line and has great properties for a casting multiplier like a 7HT.

I always use Varivas Tapered Shockleaders.

Never take the side plates off over shingle. The brakes blocks WILL fall out and you WONT ever find them again.

[Plod]

Cheers guys,
as always prompt and very helpful advice. Ross, you've mentioned sideways movement...I presume that one is controlled by the knob on the handle side of the reel?
Cheers for the line advice Solent fisher. I was wondering what line to invest in, so I'll give it a go.
Ping, would love to join you but unfortunately it's time of the month......night duty week!! Not one call all night last night, if this continues, I might be able to squeeze new rod (when it arrives) and reel in the squad car and join you for an hour

Thanks again,

Darren

[mike_d]

Darren,

I have just bought a 7ht too and have just set mine up and casting lovely with it. If you want to go fishing in the torbay area some time let me know and I will show you how to set your reel up. It does though propose to be a reel you can use staright out of the box, however the spool was a bit loose on mine when i got it.

As for line you can't go wrong with 15lb ultima red ice, I wouldnt really put any more than 15lb on mine. I use my 525mag and slosh for heavier line.

Mike.

[geejayy]

just a few little thoughts,
when you've first set the reel up on the rod and have used the right hand spool tensioner to centralize the spool in the cage .
the best way i've found to adjust the tension on the left numbered tensioner is;-
with the reel in free spool hold the rod up and with the weight near the top eye and the left tensioner tightened just enough to stop the lead pulling line from the reel , gently slacken the left tensioner untill the weight slowly starts to fall.
this will be probably too tight to cast any real distance but on the next cast
slacken it a bit more untill untill after a few casts either;-

you notice excessive sideways play on the spool which= 'end tension ' on the spool is zero and further slackening will just cause more play on the spool.
if you get this far your casting style must be fairly smooth and line lay nice and even.
if you want more distance re tune the reel with thinner oil and/ or smler break blocks.

or;- you start to get birdnests/ notice line starting to 'lift' from the spool.(this is difficult to spot when u first start useing multi's as you also need to watch the weight so as to thumb the spool as the weight hits the water, or you get a little birdie as the weight slows but the line still gets thrown from the spool by momentum ).
birdnests , at start of cast . = poor line lay or snatchy casting style (like mine )
birdnests , in mid cast ,= usually poor line lay/ 'line bedding in' or reel running a bit fast.
line 'lift' from spool , this is noticed in mid cast as the weight starts to slow but the spool is spinning freely , instead of the line pulling off the top of the spool and takeing a direct line towards the first ring it 'lifts' off the back of the spool and gets throwen up by momentum be4 turning towards the first ring, this usualy signifies optimum spool speed/tuneing , backoff the tension any more and birdnests follow.

sorry if this is a bit longwinded and preachy,
hope it helps( and don't confuse) some one, it all sounds more complex than it is.
geejayy.

[Plod]

Thanks again lads. Very helpful stuff.
Mike D, I lived in Paignton up until last August, so know the area pretty well. I'm sure I'll be coming down that way during the summer for some fishing, so I'll PM you nearer the time. Your advice on the lb'idge of line to use seems to fit in with what Solent Fisher said as far as the diameter of line is concerned.

Geejayy, I'm in your debt. Richard, if you get to read this I think you should consider making his post sticky, unless there is already a section devoted to this and we are just repeating ourselves! As a novice, I've found what has been posted extremely informative. I regularly read the fishing magazines, but the last explanation surpases anything they print about reel usage, so I'll save my £5 a month from now on!! Not patronising at all, and even if it was, I wouldn't take offence!

Cheers again,

Daz

[big guy]

this is how i personally set my reels up.

i use the 2 tensioner knobs to centralise the spool the spool should have a tiny amount of sideways movement). then to control the speed of the spool firstly i'll use the thickness of the oil in the bearings to get the rough speed right. then you use a different amount and/ or different size brake block to get it running spot on. if it needs a small amount of adjusting then use the 2 knobs equally, but you shouldn't need to once you've found what blocks do what.

if you're just starting to use a multi i would suggest putting EP 80/90 oil in the bearings, this will really slow it down (as it's thick oil). then when you get used to it then speed it up with thinner oil til you get to the perfect set up for you.

hope this isn't too confusing.

[Plod]

Cheers Big Guy, I'll give it a go. Unfortunately my rod still hasn't arrived so the reel at the moment is a rather expensive ornament on my shelf......

Darren