Tatula 300 or Antares DC MD

[VanillaThund3r]

Hey guys! Debating between these two reels, don’t know if the Antares is work the extra cash. Would love to hear anyone’s thoughts who have use either or both of these reels.

[pragmaticfishing]

Both great reels. In my opinion, Tatula 300 punches way above it's price when it comes to performance. You'll find short distance casts with the Antares to be more accurate versus the Tatula. Casting distance will probably rival each other pretty closely. Gotta ask yourself if the cost of the Antares is worth it's lower profile (feels like a 200 sized reel) and more accurate short casts.

I'd also consider what rod you'd be pairing this reel with and debate which would balance better on it. The Tatula feels a tad heavier than it looks at 11.5oz whereas the Antares sits at around 8oz.

Edited October 29, 2023 by pragmaticfishing

[AnthonyCatlow]

I recently swapped the reel out my daily setup from a Costal 200 to the Tatula 300 and I gotta say I’m bummed I didn’t start using it more often sooner. Previously I was only throwing baits like the K9, Hoog Trout and 250 on a Dobyns 867 paired with the Tatula 300. Recently I switched it onto a F5 Ghost Code 1-6 and it has became my favorite reel. It casts extremely well, super super smooth on the retrieve and feels solid in the hand. I can’t speak for Antares since I’ve never owned one but I’d say for the price point the Tatula is an excellent buy. 

[Fried Lemons]

I'm going to differ from probably everyone else here and say having owned both, I would pick neither. Both cast really nice and both got rough on the retrieve within 2 months of hard fishing. The tatula was bad enough that I sent it in for service which helped but it is still not smooth. It has what I would describe as a geary feel where you can feel the teeth meshing. Also it gets quite noisy especially when retrieving a bait with some resistance like a crankdown. I made the switch from a conquest and while the tatula casts better I feel the smoothness, ergonomics, and robustness was better on the conquest. 

I can say similar things about the antares md. The main difference is in that size of reel you have a lot more options to choose from. If you want a dc reel the conquest dc is cheaper, has better ergonomics and is much smoother. The only thing it lacks is a high speed which imo is overrated.

[VanillaThund3r]

24 minutes ago, pragmaticfishing said:

Both great reels. In my opinion, Tatula 300 punches way above it's price when it comes to performance. You'll find short distance casts with the Antares to be more accurate versus the Tatula. Casting distance will probably rival each other pretty closely. Gotta ask yourself if the cost of the Antares is worth it's lower profile (feels like a 200 sized reel) and more accurate short casts.

I'd also consider what rod you'd be pairing this reel with and debate which would balance better on it. The Tatula feels a tad heavier than it looks at 11.5oz whereas the Antares sits at around 8oz.

I will be pairing it with a megabass blackjack. Appreciate the feedback!

[VanillaThund3r]

3 minutes ago, Fried Lemons said:

I'm going to differ from probably everyone else here and say having owned both, I would pick neither. Both cast really nice and both got rough on the retrieve within 2 months of hard fishing. The tatula was bad enough that I sent it in for service which helped but it is still not smooth. It has what I would describe as a geary feel where you can feel the teeth meshing. Also it gets quite noisy especially when retrieving a bait with some resistance like a crankdown. I made the switch from a conquest and while the tatula casts better I feel the smoothness, ergonomics, and robustness was better on the conquest. 

I can say similar things about the antares md. The main difference is in that size of reel you have a lot more options to choose from. If you want a dc reel the conquest dc is cheaper, has better ergonomics and is much smoother. The only thing it lacks is a high speed which imo is overrated.

I was considering the conquest 200 DC. Great feedback! 

[JacksonF]

If you can swing it, the antares dc md is amazing. I’ve had mine for over a year now and it’s still butter smooth. It casts like a dream too 

[Ravelthus]

I've had my 2018 Antares DC MD for 2 years now and have fished it heavily, still smooth. I also religiously service my reels once a month myself, but that really isn't needed, just twice a year will do.