Daiwa Tatula-R100XS Reel Review

Daiwa is a prestigious Japanese brand that has become a leader and a reference within the fishing world. They build from the most basic standard equipment to the highest cutting-edge technology, all in service to fishing activities. On this case, the Daiwa Tatula series gather both of these characteristics, delivering a great product at a low price as a result.

Daiwa Tatula fishing reels are built with a design that ensures the performance and the durability desired by a pro angler.

This fishing reel will amaze you immediately after checking out how far and great it casts. With the feel being very similar to the one provided by the Daiwa Steez models, the Tatula provides a smoother action at a lower price.

The Daiwa Tatula-R100XS is a baitcasting reel. Even though it can be used both in fresh or saltwater, if you’re using it on saltwater you will need to clean it with fresh water after every use. The Daiwa Tatula fishing reels are perfect for skipping docks, pitching or making long bomb casts, due to the T-Wing System.

Baitcasting is a fishing technique that consists on throwing a bail with a fishing line out over the water using a flexible fishing rod. There are many different techniques that can be used by anglers as an attempt to cast further, making this kind of fishing challenging and exciting. The most common technique is to shift the body weight towards the front foot in correlation to the forward movement of the rod. For salt water fishing, rods and lines are usually heavier.

Rotating reels used to be built for catching bigger species, so they were not totally adequate for this kind of fishing. During the last years, reels with up to 10 bearings (Daiwa Tatula has 7 bearings) have been designed, allowing a functioning so soft that allows a way out for the fishing line as agile as the one that would be obtained with a frontal reel.

The Daiwa Tatula R100XS is painted with dark grey and a metallic finish. It all puts together in a very solid way and doesn’t have any alignment problems or unusual spaces between the parts. As a matter of fact, Daiwa has made it very clear that they have worked hard to ensure that the adjustment between the aluminum handle sideplate and the aluminum frame is as accurate as possible. The space between the handle of the reel and the knobs is also reduced to the minimum.

In summary, the Daiwa Tatula R100XS is extremely well built and the reel body and frame are according to what one would expect from a fishing reel that sits above the Lexa in Daiwa’s lineup.

Equipped with Daiwa’s ultimate tournament drag system, the Daiwa Tatula R100XS guarantees an amazing fishing experience.

Adjusted to finger tight lockdown, the Tatula has been proved to work at a max of even 16.13 lbs of pressure by some expert users, maintaining a very smooth and consistent performance also.

The Daiwa Tatula R100XS features an advanced Casting System called T-Wing, that brings great casting possibilities for precision and distance, while also providing a natural fall in the lures. This new system is perfectly easy to handle, while also allowing the sideplates and frame to keep rigidity.

The latest implementation of Daiwa’s T-Wing level wind is another one of its top features. The T-wing level has two modes, and each one is specific to one of the two reel’s functions: casting and retrieving. While casting, the level wind is enabled in wide mode in order to get rid of sharp angles when the line is peeling off the spool, which generate some friction that usually reduces the casting distance. And during retrieve, the level wind is enabled in narrow mode in order to distribute the line back into the spool.

The level wind rotates internal to the reel flipping from wide mode (during casting) to narrow mode (while retrieving).