Daiwa need no introduction to anglers regardless of length of time that the angler has been fishing. So when Daiwa released a revolutionary catapult to the market, anglers sat up and took notice instantly. With almost every catapult on the market being almost identical other than the actual look, Daiwa thought it was about time the catapult market was shaken up. Enter the Hydropult.

Product Recall & Updated Product

The launch of the Hydropult created a buzz in angling circles, but the buzz of the launch was just the start for Daiwa as anglers started uproar with problems that they were experiencing with the pouches not being up to the task on the original Hydropult. But Daiwa responded and announced a total product recall on the Hydropult – which to our knowledge is an industry first for an angling product, and is totally commended.

Daiwa’s Marketing Director, Stephen McCaveny made the following statement

“When it became apparent from market feedback that the Hydropult had a fault, we had no hesitation to conduct a product recall. This involved contacting all dealers who had bought stock and going into print in Angling Times.

For the duration of the recall process we also decided to offer a free packet of Hydrolastic as a gesture of goodwill for each catty returned. The supplier set about a redesign of the pouch, creating an improved design.

As the main problem was with the stronger red and brown versions the new, improved pouch was applied to these. We have now completed the recall and the stock and free Hydrolastic has been sent to dealers and consumers.

We wish to thank our stockist's and the anglers who cooperated, giving us the chance to fix the fault. The recall process is now complete the free Hydrolastic no longer available.”

Press Release - Hydropult product recall   [below]

“The quality of our products and their performance is of paramount importance to us at Daiwa. That is why we are taking the following action regarding the faulty batch of new Hydropults. Every Hydropult returned will be replaced and supplied with a complimentary packet of Hydrolastic as a goodwill gesture.”

We are asking every customer who has bought one to return it to our Service Dept by some traceable means; registered post, special delivery or similar. They will also be required to include their details and address plus indicate their choice of Hydrolastic.

At present we are making an improvement to the design and replacements will be sent out in due course. We want apologise in advance for inconvenience caused and ask customers to be patient while we remedy this fault.

Although the Hydropult was put through rigorous testing it is only a slight weakness that has led to this unfortunate problem. Sometimes these things occur when you move to mass production. What is more important is what a company does about it. We sincerely hope that anglers are happy to trust Daiwa to solve the problem and maintain that quality they are right to expect from us.

Although it appears to be predominantly the red and brown versions we are cutting no corners. We will replace everything.

Stephen McCaveny Marketing Manager”

The Product Recall was distributed via Angling Times magazine and through Daiwa’s retailers, and as a goodwill gesture, Daiwa upon receipt of the faulty Hydropult’s generously offered each angler a free pack of Hydrolastic of their choice. UKMA have many years of angling industry experience between the team, but none of the team can recall anything on this scale happening before. Anglers are always the first to moan about a product that has flaws, and in the vast majority of occurrences, the company does nothing about it. Daiwa have set precedence here with the Hydropult and how they handled the issue, and UKMA hope that other companies will sit down and take note. Top marks Daiwa!

Hydropult Pouch

This is where UKMA was most impressed with the Hydropult. The pouch is manufactured from semi-rigid plastic and has a superb finger grip that enables the best grip from any catapult pouch we have used over the years. The way the pouch has been designed always means that it remains open for fast and efficient loading, and does not over compress up when the elastic is tensioned. This allows much better aerodynamics through the air once the pouch is in motion, even when full of bait.

The elastic does not actually attach to the pouch but runs through 4 small plastic rings and under the actual pouch itself. This means that the elastic will not come away from the pouch when it is pulled back halfway through the match. It also means that the pouch is always going to sit centrally when loading. The most important factor is that the length of the elastic either side of the pouch and frame is always going to be the exact same length, meaning that the bait will fly from the pouch in the exact same line that it is aimed at every single time (unlike traditional catapults using traditional pins or cable tie attachment that if the elastic is a few millimetres longer on one side, the bait can fly all over the place due to one side of the pouch having more power placed on it).

UKMA Conclusion

When Daiwa announced the original Hydropult, we were a bit dubious regarding the radical changes made from the traditional catapult and the initial problem with the pouch, but once we got our hands on the updated version, we cannot fault it for what it has been designed to do. The grouping of baits was the best that we have seen, and with the adjustment of the elastic facility, it meant that the bait went straight down the same hole every single time without having to even think about what we were doing. During one of the tests that we carry out – which entails firing out a couple of hundred boilies to a marker at around 40 metres range – we were flabbergasted to the accuracy even with a brisk crosswind blowing, with over 90% of the baits landing within a couple of feet of the marker (the ones that didn’t were not perfectly round and did veer off course because of this). We did discover though that with the elastics shortened, the distance was lessened and the grouping of the baits when they hit the water was spread out a bit more, but this was to be expected with the faster acceleration of the pouch from the shortened elastics. We also listened to Daiwa and experimented with the way it was designed to be used – when sat down extend your arm holding the catapult and hold pouch with other hand at the waist, then tension the elastic until it is bottomed out when the Hydropult is held in this position – and as long as the right grade of elastic was chosen for the size of baits, it was literally a case of stretching the elastic and letting fly, with the baits landing in the same spot – even without looking at what we were doing!

UKMA must say that this is the ultimate catapult for the match angler, and even though it is nearly £20 RRP, the savings that the angler will make in not having to replace pouches or elastics frequently (especially when fishing the pellet waggler or up in the water on the pole) will pay for the catapult in less than a full season. We wouldn’t suggest that this catapult will put boilies to the horizon, but then again it has not been designed to do so, but we would have no hesitation in recommending it to the specimen angler for feeding the margins with pellet or particles.

Top marks all round here from UKMA on this product Daiwa, for more info visit the Daiwa Website