Saltiga 3500 or Morethan Branzino

[nato13]

hi im looking to purchase a saltiga 3500 game n matchin rod.. or branzino with saltwater 20lb rod. ill prob b runnin 20lb braid as well. ill b usin it for big plastics n bit of bottom bashing but more lure work.. wats ur views??? plz reply..

[smoked]

Branzino is a hybrid reel. It has the Certate, Exist and Saltiga parts all in one. The Saltiga is alot more of a heavy duty reel hence "Saltiga Game". The Branzino 3000 weighs 280grams to the saltiga 3500 390grams. Saltiga has 14 bearings and Branzino has 11. Same Drag rating, ratio pretty much the same too. Priced around the same. I have the branzino matched with the Salterwater Med/Heavy, used for bigger plastics. Both reels are awesome wich is better? i cant decide. Im saving up for the Dogfight! I just love Daiwa.

smoked

[nato13]

yeah i no ive spent so much time thinkin bout both of dem but im leaning 2wards da branzino with the saltwater rod cos of the weight.. but u cant get better than saltiga so im not sure..

[breamnut]

ive seen a few branzino's $hit themselves and would go the saltiga or certate hyper

[aussiebasser]

ive seen a few branzino's $hit themselves and would go the saltiga or certate hyper

How many is "a few" and what has broken. I just bought a Branzino for Barra and find it to be an awesome reel. I was intending to take it to New Guinea next month.

[Roo]

A branzino could well shit itself if you fished it hard at well above its rating. 20lb braid is not really a problem for a branzino. we fished 20 and 30lb pretty hard on 2500R certates with no dramas in the tropics. if you want to fish 30-50lb lines regularly then the saltiga is the pick. either way max drags for these reels is around 8kg. You wont run those numbers in the drag if you are fishing 9kg (20lb) so the branzino would probably be fine and a whole lot more comfortable to use. I've got a 3500HD that so far has been used twice......I should have stuck with the 2500R, I would use it so much more often.

Cheers Roo.

[2manylures]

Roo & others, the max drag figure manufacturers give is to "lock-up" not actual usable drag which has misled a lot of anglers.

Like you say roo you won't run those numbers but some do & this is where the problem lies with reels dying.

For usable drag you should check the line class recomendations and 1/3 the class. This should then be safe to use constantly without damage.

Hope that makes sense to all & if in any doubt check with manufacturers not dealers.

[aussiebasser]

Roo & others, the max drag figure manufacturers give is to "lock-up" not actual usable drag which has misled a lot of anglers.

Like you say roo you won't run those numbers but some do & this is where the problem lies with reels dying.

For usable drag you should check the line class recomendations and 1/3 the class. This should then be safe to use constantly without damage.

Hope that makes sense to all & if in any doubt check with manufacturers not dealers.

So have you had many problems with the Branzino?

[wheezer]

how will a certate be any stronger than a branzino when a branzino is the body of a certate stuffed with saltiga spec gears??

[2manylures]

So have you had many problems with the Branzino?

NO, I don't own any. I use the another brand.

[Leighton]

had my Branzino for a while now, love it
I have never fished with a Saltiga but do own a 3500HD, the Branzino and the 3500 should not be compared IMO
The 3500 is way more ballsyer than the Branzino, I can only imagine the Saltiga being the next level up from the 3500.
IMO thet are 2 different reel with 2 different purposes

[breamnut]

How many is "a few" and what has broken. I just bought a Branzino for Barra and find it to be an awesome reel. I was intending to take it to New Guinea next month.

3 branzino's stuff up the first ones was a mates reel and he had 20lb castaway braid on it, after a few trips out getting squire on placcies it started getting very rough(he takes very good care of his gear and didnt have water or sand inside it) he sent it back to daiwa but they didnt say what the problem was. the 2nd was to a guys reel when he came into work, he bought a branzino and hooked a nice tuna and the drag suddenly got very sticky. the 3rd one was to another friend and the drag went all silent

[Roo]

Roo & others, the max drag figure manufacturers give is to "lock-up" not actual usable drag which has misled a lot of anglers.

Like you say roo you won't run those numbers but some do & this is where the problem lies with reels dying.

For usable drag you should check the line class recomendations and 1/3 the class. This should then be safe to use constantly without damage.

Hope that makes sense to all & if in any doubt check with manufacturers not dealers.

the Branzino' 8kg drag would be quite usable. if you have the line to do it you can use it. You'd be surprised just how strong these reels are. that said, don't expect to hand it down to your grand kids under that sort of pressure all day. Like you say tho' 1/3rd of line class is the recommended drag pressure but you can go for it when you need to....small doses are quite alright.

how will a certate be any stronger than a branzino when a branzino is the body of a certate stuffed with saltiga spec gears??

never said it was.

had my Branzino for a while now, love it
I have never fished with a Saltiga but do own a 3500HD, the Branzino and the 3500 should not be compared IMO
The 3500 is way more ballsyer than the Branzino, I can only imagine the Saltiga being the next level up from the 3500.
IMO thet are 2 different reel with 2 different purposes

What i was comparing was the difference between the 2500R and a 3500HD Certates. the relevance is to do with weight and bulk of the relative sizes. the branzino is similar in size to the 2500R and the 3500HD similar to he bulk of the 3500 Saltiga.

3 branzino's stuff up the first ones was a mates reel and he had 20lb castaway braid on it, after a few trips out getting squire on placcies it started getting very rough(he takes very good care of his gear and didnt have water or sand inside it) he sent it back to daiwa but they didnt say what the problem was. the 2nd was to a guys reel when he came into work, he bought a branzino and hooked a nice tuna and the drag suddenly got very sticky. the 3rd one was to another friend and the drag went all silent

First one sounds like a gear alignment issue. Between our 2 2500R's there was a noticeable difference in smoothness when just free winding....under load it dissapeared. I reckon as good as they are at making precision machines, Daiwa will still get the odd one that doesn't quite make the grade. not really a quality control issue, more a case of minor variations within tolerances of separate parts "stacking up" to give a combined poor result.
second is due to the drag material Daiwa use. replace them with carbontex and its no longer an issue.
third one is a mystery. what do you mean silent. no clicker? or just no drag performance?

Cheers Roo.

[breamnut]

First one sounds like a gear alignment issue. Between our 2 2500R's there was a noticeable difference in smoothness when just free winding....under load it dissapeared. I reckon as good as they are at making precision machines, Daiwa will still get the odd one that doesn't quite make the grade. not really a quality control issue, more a case of minor variations within tolerances of separate parts "stacking up" to give a combined poor result.
second is due to the drag material Daiwa use. replace them with carbontex and its no longer an issue.
third one is a mystery. what do you mean silent. no clicker? or just no drag performance?

both no drag performance and no clicker, none of these should happen with a $700= reel
i havent seen or herd and bad reports about the certate,saltiga or certate hyper

[hooknose]

Hey guys I am very interested in this thread, particularly the input on the quality of the Branzino. I have a couple of mates that own them and love them and I am keen to buy one myself ( putting it on a Loomis bsr803 GLX, 15 lb braid ). This thread has put me in 2 minds and I am thinking maybe a Certate. Check out this link for more depth on the reliability issue .



http://www.tackletour.net/T3Forum/viewtopic.php?t=26346


Cheers !!!