Castability
Once again, Shimano set out to change another
aspect of the reputation of lever drags:
Poor Castability.Due to how lever drags are constructed, they are
inherently poor casters. The drag washers, drag
plates, cooling shields and bearings are included
in the spool assembly. This increases the overall
weight of the spool.A heavy spool is bad for castability because it
takes much more energy to get the spool to
begin to spin. This is called startup inertia. Why
is this bad? Once the spool begins to spin, the
resistance drops rapidly. So there is a very
inconsistent spool speed and an excellent chance
for backlash.As a result of the typical lever drag design,the lob cast evolved. This casting style was
pioneered by the Long Range fishermen out of
San Diego to cast large baits to feeding
Yellowfin. However, for most other applications,
anglers were forced to use Star Drag reels when
they needed to cast small baits, due to their
excellent castability. With Torsa™, the tables
are turned. First, because of meticulous machining
of the Cold Forged Aluminum spool, the overall weight
of the spool was reduced to lower the startup
inertia. At the same time, most of the mass is
distributed outward. This results in the spool
spinning longer, just like a bicycle wheel, where
the tire and rim contain most of the wheel’s mass.
Secondly, Shimano added the Variable Brake
System (VBS®) which, since 1992, has proven
itself time and time again in their freshwater
baitcasting reels, such as the Calcutta®,
Chronarch® and Curado®, to help anglers with
castability. VBS uses centrifugal force to slow
down the spool at the beginning of the cast,
then reduces the braking force as the spool
slows. This gives a much more consistent
spool speed, which translates into a more
manageable cast.
And lastly, the handle side of the spool is taller
than the non-handle side. This extended spool
lip gives the angler a very consistent surface
to thumb during the cast. It has shown to
be valuable in testing, as it provides more
manageability than thumbing the inconsistent
surface of the line on the spool. |
Rapid Fire™ Quick Change
Drag Cam System
The amount of drag that is increased or
decreased when the drag lever is moved
can be easily described as the “drag curve.”
Most drag curves throughout the fishing reel
industry are very similar: a gradual increase
in drag pressure from the freespool position
to the full position.
While a standard curve is excellent for many
mainstream fisheries, the shape of the curve
is not adjustable (see sidebar “Understanding
Lever Drags”). Therefore, in order to “fish
outside of the box,” such as with light lines or
to target specific fish, anglers were forced to
evolve their techniques and style around the
tackle available to them.
No longer.With the new Rapid Fire Quick Change Drag
Cam System found exclusively on Torsa™, this
versatile reel can change to cater to specific
techniques. By simply putting the reel into
freespool and backing off the preset knob, the
angler removes the drag cam from the reel.
Then, by inserting one of 8 available Rapid
Fire drag cams, you completely change how
the reel is set up to fish within a matter of
seconds. No tools required, and no screws to
fall onto the deck of the boat.
On the next several pages, you will see these 8
different drag curves and the specific fisheries
they are applicable to. From light line world
record seekers, to braided line fanatics looking
to tackle huge fish on small tackle, to the
specific needs of chunk fishermen in the
Northeast, Torsa can do it all.
Torsa™ comes equipped with our L.R.S. (Long
Range Special) Rapid Fire Drag Cam, which
was made popular by reels in our Tiagra® line. There are 7 other cams
available depending upon your target fisheries.
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