Shimano Torsa High Speed Lever Drag Reel

How Shimano takes an idea and develops a revolutionary new reel
Six years ago, Shimano American Corporation's Executive Vice President, Dave Pfeiffer ,first saw the need for a small, high speed, high power lever drag reel, with excellent castability.
He wanted to catch big fish with a small reel that had the power and drag of a big heavy large reel. Star drag reels were not the answer since you can't adjust the drag with heavy line like you can on a lever drag reel. Small lever drag reels were slow bulky reels you could not cast. So Pfeiffer had Shimano go out on the water to develop a better lever drag reel. Shimano put one of their top engineers on the job, Kenichi Kawasaki, a fishing fanatic. With the help of Shimano's product manager Jeremy Sweet, they designed a reel to meet the needs of fisherman. At last in February of 2004, the Shimano R &D team put the Torsa to the test on sailfish off the coast of Guatemala with Captain Ron Hamlin, renowned for his record number of tagged and released sailfish. Fishing for sails on light tackle, the team could test the speed of the reel, how fast it could pick up line and the adjustability of the drag. The fishing technique is to tease the fish up and drop dead bait to it on a circle hook. The sail takes the bait, turns the opposite way while you set the hook gradually with the drag locking the circle hook in the corner of the sail's mouth. When the fish takes off, the boat backs down and you must wind in the line as quickly as possible. Torsa delivered by hooking almost 100 sails in the 75 to 100 lb. Range. They put the lever up to full drag and fought the sails without a harness. No fish took longer than 10minutes. They learned how to increase the power even more by lengthening the reel's handle shank. In April, Torsa was jigging on wrecks in KeyWest with Pfeiffer and ESPN'S Jose Wejebe. Reels were loaded with 100 lb. PowerPro & 100 lb wind-on leaders. Wreck fishing requires full dragpower and fast retrieves. This would test Torsa's power. Pfeiffer caught 50 and 80 lb amberjack at full drag without a harness. They checked the drag and found an amazing 34 pounds. Not only could Torsa take up the slack with a high retrieve rate to bring sailfish in quickly, it could deliver the brute force to crank bottom fish out of wrecks. No other reel has this versatility. Rapid Fire was developed with the input of many anglers out on the water. As people start to use Torsa, they will come to Shimano with new ideas for more cams and techniques.





Speed and Power
1. Extremely smooth cranking helically cut drive gear is the largest in Shimano reel history, and provides unbelievable power along with a high speed retrieve.
2. Because of the oversized sideplate and spool, Torsa is able to accommodate an extremely large drag washer in relation to the size of the reel. This washer, made of the same proven material found in Tiagra, provides an incredible range of drag pressures ,while providing low startup inertia for an extremely smooth drag.
3. The ergonomic Power Grip provides comfort and reduces fatigue, while the extremely long handle shank increases torque. Also, by bending the shank at strategic locations, the grip moves closer to the reel to reduce wobble during fast retrieves.
4. Just like when trying to jack up a car, a longer lever means more power. Increasing the size of the gears effectively gives the anglers a longer lever, which results in a High Speed reel with unbelievable High Power.

Castability
1. Intricate machining of the spool reduces the overall weight of the spool for lower startup inertia. This means it takes less energy to get the spool spinning for less chance of backlash.The machining is more drastic at the center of the spool, which effectively distributes the mass outward. The result is similar to a bicycle wheel, where most of the mass is in the tire. This allows the spool to continue to spin longer.
2. Torsa is equipped with a 4-weight Variable Brake System(VBS). These weights are driven outward by centrifugal force at the beginning of the cast to slow down the spool's rotation.As the spool slows, the brakes retreat, allowing the spool to continue to spin. This provides the anglers with a more consistent spool speed, which means a much more manageable cast.
3. The spool lip on the handle side of the reel is higher than the non-handle side of the reel. This aids in castability by giving the angler a smooth, consistent surface to thumb the spool, ratherthan thumbing the line itself, which results in a more manageablecast.

Rapid FireTM Quick Change Drag Cam System
The amount of drag that is increased or decreased when the drag lever is moved can be easilydescribed 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.
With the new Rapid Fire Quick Change Drag Cam System found exclusively in 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 setup to fish within a matter of seconds. No tools required, and no screws to fall onto the deck of the boat.

A-RB (Anti-Rust Bearings)
Our A-RB bearings are made of Stainless Steel that has been through the A-RB process and are at least 10 times more corrosion resistant than standard Stainless Steel ball bearings.

Super Stopper with Assist Stopper
Super Stopper uses a one-way, stainless steel roller bearing that eliminates backplay. The Assist Stopper is the back up system to the Super Stopper that consists of the traditional pawl and ratchet.

Forged and Machined Aluminum Components
The frame, sideplates and spool are made from aluminum, which is first cold forged and then machined for the ultimate in tight tolerances, rigidity and durability.