bulldog1935

If it gets the job done, and you can fish it reliably, keep fishing. If you want more distance, a longer shore fishing rod might be useful.

I fish BFS from limestone creek to surf. If I'm fishing from a boat, I may be acting captain or guide, but it's someone else's boat. I fish kayaks, some limited reservoir fishing, where I go to wide-range MM baitfinesse in a flexible-use rod. In river kayak and coast kayak, I have limited MH niches, but progressive ML is bread-and butter. The math for me goes back to weightless Ambassadeur in the early 80s. If you get past spinning tackle for light-long cast, and can make the useful cast distance on BFS, the latter is always superior. (set-up right, BFS will outdistance spinning) The math - with baitcast tackle, you're in constant tension-contact with your falling bait, while spinning tackle requires line coils to straighten before you can get to where you start with baitcast. I do have 2 spinning tackle preferences - tandem jigs and complex float rigs.

@philbert1922 You should definitely try the 1016 stock spool - w/ 12-lb mono/fluoro, it will routinely cast 1/8 oz 85 to 90', which is plenty to fish. If you want supreme distance, Ray's Studio honeycomb SV spool gives you similar lure weight range, capacity for 6-lb mono and, better, fishes PE#1.2 braid, which is 25-lb breaking strength in Japan X-braid. I had to thumb to keep 1/8-oz casts out of my buddies across the tide pass, and from this side of the pass, I could fish the same broken grass where far-away Tony is fishing below.

A couple of backwards perspectives on this thread. In low-end reels, Shimano can sell smooth feel. In low-end reels, Daiwa builds tough. Where Shimano takes off is in their worm-drive reels, beginning w/ Stradic, for line management with fine braid.

@philbert1922 Mag-Z Boost 1000 G1 has slightly deeper capacity, and Jun rates it for casting no lighter than 1/4 oz. Steez/TD-Z Hypercast is Daiwa's deepest 1000 spool - Hedgehog shows discontinued, but Jun Sonada has stock.

My BFS reels always have fun and they don't rotate, they're full-time in all my niches, inshore/shore River kayak even surf

@Bazoo I will always remain a glass fan. Fishing close, exceptional skip-casting, big-fish tough. Also fish well below their rated low-end. you could always rebuild your favorite glass rod with new guides made for braid. Since I'm here, there's always "Japan Underground" - Bright River Rivermaster grip has small enough offset for a low-profile reel, and glass is king in rod blades made to match (nice IM6 blades also).

@Skunkmaster-k - also doesn't sting if you do what my buddy did. He left his Daiwa-BBB telescope with his Son-IL's Shimano Ultegra on the back seat of a rental car in Albany - now owned by a car-vacuum technician.

honestly can't say I ever met an LP reel that I loved

Seven-year-old tackle has definitely been discontinued. We've spoiled the tackle makers, buying into their planned obsolescence and N+1 marketing. When Daiwa wouldn't support parts for my 7-y-o Millionaire in 1984, I didn't buy another Daiwa until 2019, and then because their product defined my niche. Lew's was the last maker supporting decade-old reels, but even they don't do that anymore.

I posted on TackleTour that my BFS-mod Daiwas aren't allergic to fishing with low-grade JDM Abu Baitfinesse rods. I liked all the Abu rods I've tried so much I went back for seconds of two models. Xrossfield is closing out all over Japan. Snagged this 4-pc for $45, decided to put this in my kayak back-up dry bag, and add the 2-pc for full-time kayak niche. Make sure you don't rule out this rod for bass finesse and bottom contact. In reels, it was Tica, little Cetus micron that fished 7 hard years in salt finesse (still going, and retired from that niche). BTW, if you have a Daiwa with optional A/R switch, it was built by Tica.

@ATA no offense, I've placed 25 orders with JapanTackle, and always paid shipping. A few great things, Jun's knowledge base, his English, and he has the lead on all Avail production (along with Hedgehog Studio). His prices are not discounted, except when the manufacturer is closing out. He also has a killer archive. original listings of long out of production JDM reels.

I have Legit Designs Wild Side 5-pc MM (kiwi purchase) that fits in this bike half-frame bag - only way to get to this famous fishy tidal boundary is by bike or a half-day kayak paddle. (yeah, there's a 15-l Ice Mule and West Coast IPA in the front bag). I also just added a great Yahoo snag, Daiwa Black Label ML, $190 for the patient and persistent Yahoo hunter. This 5-pc fits in the same bag, gives me a choice, or a loaner for a friend who makes the pedal and doesn't have a pack rod.

I have paid $40 in the past - the discount is that good, but every kiwi order I've placed since last April including a rod has not been above $20. @NorthernBasser - adding this ps - if you reply to an e-mail from kiwi with a question, Kirill will field your question, and you can get in a Very Friendly e-mail swap with him. I've replied with an "oops - left this out of my order", and he canceled my order so I could start over. Also a reminder with kiwi, only Buy in stock items - "preorder" will tie up your order waiting for an OOS item.

@NorthernBasser It will take a week to confirm your order. You'll then get a payment e-mail from Kirill, which you can pay, or reply no thanks if you don't like the total. I have never used the PIN, but go go straight to my logged-in account page and click on payment link there.

Asian Portal always bills in JPY. Your credit card may add a separate fee for currency conversion. My past purchases with Asian Portal included Vanquish that came in 10% lower than their list price, and my Zillion came in 3% higher, both due to currency exchange fluctuations after the website listing was posted. Never enough difference to matter. Asian Portal does not have a good courier contract, which affects their shipping rates. Before '20 when Japan Post and USPS ISC Customs both worked, Asian Portal was free post on $100, 4-day delivery, and even a below-$100 cart only received a $12 post charge. (Throw in a $12 lure to get to $100). Reliable is a cultural thing for the Japanese - you're not going to find bad customer service, though there are some scam sites operating from China with .jp web addresses. What you will find is an extreme language barrier, requiring e-mails forwarding back and forth to a contract interpreter before they can get you an answer. I've used Masamichi at noppin.com for a broker, buying from Yahoo (Yahoo is not for the lame, but for the patient and persistent), Rakuten, and especially shops that don't market direct to US - the remaining 99% of Japan. When I began buying in Japan 18 years ago, a broker was the only way you could buy. The list of Masamichi's extra effort to earn his 6% brokerage fee can only be abridged - he baby-sat a custom inshore S-glass fly rod rolled from scratch on order, finds stock, hunted down a Yahoo seller when a reel I was following through 2 reduced-price auctions didn't come back for a 3rd, gets questions answered we never could from this side of the big pond, and always knows the scam websites when I ask. The broker stores small orders from around Japan for up to 60 days gratis, and combines them into one FedEx shipment. Brokerage also gets me into other Japan discount stores, such as Naturum, which is kinda their version of Academy.

Answering out of turn. 1016SVBoost is the 16-lb mono-capacity spool that comes with Zillion SVTW - the spring returning the SV inductor is tuned for casting heavier weights farther. 1016SV is the spool that came stock with Steez SVTW, and the SV spring is tuned for casting both lighter and heavy weights more reliably. Other Daiwa spools that fit 34-mm Steez/Zillion platform are 1012SV, which is shallower 12-lb mono capacity (you can hunt down a JDM model delivered stock with 1012). 1000SVBoost PE Special is the spool that comes stock with Zillion Silver Wolf - it has 8-lb mono capacity and is a better choice for fishing light braid (PE#1.2 and thinner). There's a whole range of aftermarket spools for Steez/Zillion 34-mm platform. Roro-X on the right is the lightest of these, for casting 1/16 oz on PE#1 threadline braid.

The best place I've found for discounted rods and lures, Meiho lure boxes, is FishingShop.kiwi. They've recently improved their courier contract to US, and lowered their UPS Express charge to $20. Excluding rods, free shipping on a $200 order. Also doesn't include large Meiho tackle boxes because of the large-box shipping charge. Kirill is in Miami and handles US customer contact on our clock. They're not quick out the door, because they have to confirm your order with their distributors, and takes them about a week to get it together. But their prices are the best you'll find. adding a ps - if you have a logged-in account, your cart stays indefinitely, and you can mull over it that long putting a $200 free-shipping cart together.

@Big Hands it's either that or put down the $100 that says I can cast 1/8 oz farther on deep-spool linear-mag Super Duty, and any Lew's centrifugal brake will dial down to backlash before it reaches my cast distance. This difference showed up on the water one day, then I took it home and measured it on the casting range (and sold my Lew's centrifugal brakes). Linear mag excels at casting light where mid-cast (wind) backlash is the bad guy. Centrifugal brake is for solving start-up backlash with heavy lures and heavy hands. This is BFS-magnesium-spool Alcance, also Doyo-built to ZPI design. ZPI reports the 7-g mass of their shallow BFS spool (titanium spindle) - Lew's doesn't report theirs.

@PaulVE64 - if you've ever been in a "shad run" - a white bass run where the shad are pushed up the river channel ahead of the white bass, hybrids and stripers, the river bottom turns black, and a white footprint opens up for every step you take. One Easter like that, I caught the same largemouth 7 (seven) times. Couldn't miss him, he had a scar on his head.

the OP turned out to be a rod question

$80 will get a Steez/Zillion swap-in spool that will cast 1/16 oz to 130' My spools are zero-set with 1 mm end-play in freespool. If you're set up like this, and getting start-up backlash, it's because your cast stroke has wrist snap either at the beginning or end - ala spinning cast, which rewards cast jerk with distance - with B/C, that same amount of jerk energy has to be absorbed by centrifugal or SV brake to prevent start-up backlash, so it adds ZIP to cast distance. Without wrist snap, light lures don't have enough spool jerk to create start-up backlash. You set mag dial to prevent mid-cast (wind) backlash using the lightest thing you ever intend to throw. While I pick my own BFS bearings for salt use, AMO spool even comes with the palm-cap BFS micro-bearing (for freshwater). And if you want to cast a few g into the wind, you add a couple of mag-dial notches. For stock Zillion/Steez 1016 SV spool, 12-lb fluoro, routine cast distance w/ 1/8-oz JH +plastic is 85 to 90' - plenty to fish.

c. 70s Vince Cummings Water Witch glass and c. 30s Pflueger Medalist. the fly?....doh......cat's whisker

I'm the opposite here, I prefer wide-range baitfinesse rods, both for reservoir and inshore kayak Xrossfield is closing out in Japan, and I went back for a second $70 rod. Abu named this rod for "crossing all fields" seabass to bass finesse. amazon listing google search None of these rods feel tippy, they all cast their rated 1/16 low-end with accuracy, and to 130' on the right reel set-up. They're all light-in-hand, good bottom-contact feel, and fish their full-weight range with aplomb. They also have the butt power to horse big fish at the boat. A TKF friend moved from PNW to TX coast 2 years ago. He went fish-less the first year, and saw the advantage to BFS for inshore (he watched a lot of Gulf coast youtubes). His first BFS combo included Alphas Air and Dobyns Sierra 69L baitfinesse rod. He couldn't get the distance he wanted, and said he was terribly under-gunned on the fish he started catching (especially from kayak). On my recommendation, he snagged Omen Green ML, and has been tearing them up ever since. He and I each went back for one more of these on recent half-price closeout.

@Basshunter_ adding the pss about Silver Wolf spool capacity - the 3.5-mm-deep Boost PE spool will hold a working capacity of 8-lb mono/fluoro - it holds more line than Daiwa rates it. Another advantage to Silver Wolf, it has increased LW pitch, which prevents line dig with the tiniest threadline (rated down to 0.11-mm-dia). Cal at TackleTour recently gave kudos to Abu Garcia baitfinesse rods https://www.tackletour.com/reviewabugarciazenonbfsrods.html While I don't have these exact rods, the JDM Abu salt versions are stacking up around my house. http://www.tackletour.net/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=90459#p728306