Up Close: Daiwa 20 Tournament QD Reels

Up Close: Daiwa 20 Tournament QD reels

When you’re fishing matches at any level, having good quality reels makes a massive difference to your set up, not just in terms of the cosmetics but the power, speed and control they can add to your overall performance.

While recently testing Daiwa’s Air Z AGS rods I also managed to get my hands on a couple of reels from Daiwa’s amazing collection in the shape of the 20 Tournament QD range.

The reels come in two sizes, a 3010 which was perfect for fishing the pellet waggler but will also be perfect for any short-range feeder fishing or other running line applications, and a 4010 which is well suited to feeder fishing and when extra distance is required.

A huge plus for me on opening the boxes after receiving these reels is each reel comes with three spools, which, when you consider the cost of spare spools, makes these more cost effective as well as offering more line options from a single reel.

The spools themselves are Daiwa’s Long Cast spools which are fitted with the line-friendly High Impact Line Clip system.

The Tournament QD’s are also very compact to pack away into ready rod sleeves and the one touch folding handle makes this process quick and effortless. For all of you out there who like double handles you’ll be pleased to know that the 3010 reels are available in both single and double handle versions.

One of the biggest features of the 20 Tournament QD reels is that they include Daiwa’s top-level Magsealed technology, this means that the internals of the reel are permanently sealed using magoil which is solidified using magnetic force, stopping any ingress of water and dirt getting into the reel which ultimately prolongs the life of the reel and gives that ‘new’ feel for much longer!

With many of Meadowlands’ carp cruising near the surface, I couldn’t wait for a chuck on the waggler, with the reel loaded with 6lb Hyper Sensor, it wasn’t long before the silky-smooth Quick Drag (QD) was called into action as some turbo charged carp headed across the lake.

The drag system on the Tournament reels is truly stunning and I cannot recall using such an effective drag in terms of both smoothness and control which requires minimal adjustment on the drag dial – I could perhaps be persuaded to lay off the backwinding with such amazing performance found on these models!

After a few hours of catching fish to double figures on the waggler, the weather had changed, and the fish had dropped lower in the water column so a change to the feeder was required, again the 4010 just felt ‘right’, the size of the reel and all of the elements you look for in a feeder reel were here and there is a noticeable difference in the winding power on the larger model which, when you’re cranking in feeders and catching bigger fish, makes all the difference.

The overall look of the reels ooze class and in typical Tournament branding will match Tournament rods perfectly in terms of colour schemes which will look extremely attractive to the tackle tarts among you.

After a day on the bank fishing with the 20 Tournament QD reels in both sizes, I couldn’t have been more impressed – feature packed with Daiwa’s high-level technologies, amazing cosmetics, and performance to match makes these an absolute joy to fish with.

One of the biggest things that struck me in a fishing scenario was how powerful and smooth the reels are, even on the smaller reel the speed and power that these models possess is unbelievable and I believe will land you more fish in the long run as ‘pumping’ the fish is a thing of the past and you have so much more control when the reel is under strain, this of course is all thanks to Daiwa’s Tough Digigear

The larger model is an awesome feeder tool – perfectly suited to bigger chucks, but to be honest I’m a massive fan of larger reels for all feeder fishing styles and the bigger size, power and size of spool speeds everything up massively – saving you a bit of time and maybe getting you an extra cast in the space of five hours.

As I mentioned previously each of these reels come with three spools, rare at the top end of the reel market so while these are not cheap models, there is more value for money in the package than there is with other high-end reels. The performance, unbelievable.

If you are in the market for some new reels and you’re deliberating on what to go for – pick one of these up in your local tackle shop and I doubt it’ll go back on the shelf…

X