When the clutch engages in the middle of a cast

[progressive816]

I have a Tatula 100HS. I got overconfident trying to sqeeze out the most distance out of the Tatula and as a result the motion tripped the handle and engaged the clutch. The lure came to an abrupt stop from full speed. It hasn't felt the same on retrieve and casting since.

Below are my observations before and after the accident.

Casting ability - loss of max distance (about 10-15% loss of distance)
Casting noise - high pitch whizz when casting very hard, where it did not have that noise prior. Noise is not that loud, but it became present after incident. Pitching is not affected at all.
Retrieve feel - Not rough and not smooth, whereas prior it was butter smooth. I can feel the gear now.
Retrieve noise - If I need to burn my lure back to the boat or bank, I can hear it and it is noticeable. Before I could hear it but it was quiet and not noticeable. The change is enough to bother me.

My observation leads me to believe that this is a result of the pinion engaging and hitting the spool pin when the clutch tripped, but I was unable to visibly see any damage to the spool pin or the area where the spool pin and pinion gear meet up.
The high pitch casting noise also has me thrown off.
Am I looking at spool bearing damage, pinion gear bearing damage, and pinion gear and main gear damage all at once?

Any feedback or diagnostic methodology would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Tavery5]

I recently had a similar experience. I did a lot of troubleshooting and ended up changing a gear set and spool pin. My advice is even if you can see no damage to the spool pin, remove it and replace it. The spool pin is cheap and very easy to change with the correct tool. If that does not fix your problem you need to start looking at bearings and gears.

Good luck

[MidTNKayakAngler]

Just had this on a customers reel. I noticed significant wear on the pinion gear, and damage to the spool pin. I ended up replacing the spool pin, pinion gear, and main gear and no more issues. There was no damage to the main gear, but I always suggest replacing both gears at the same time for fitting issues.

[progressive816]

It's starting to smooth itself out now, but nowhere near as it original. I'll take her apart in the winter when I do cleaning.

Thanks

[masterbass]

Chances are you need a new pinion and main gear if want it to be smooth reeling again.