Smallmouth Hunter Posted July 23, 2013 Posted July 23, 2013 I always see these videos on youtube of people spinning there reels which have been upgraded with ceramic bearings or supertuned, and on some the spool will spin for minutes! I have seen people say that the free spool time doesn't mean all that much in terms of distance. What's your take on this? Quote
Super User J Francho Posted July 23, 2013 Super User Posted July 23, 2013 I can mean smoother and faster startup, and so long as the reel is properly adjusted, it can mean longer casts, if you can harness the speed. For the average person, it won't change much. Quote
Smallmouth Hunter Posted July 23, 2013 Author Posted July 23, 2013 I can mean smoother and faster startup, and so long as the reel is properly adjusted, it can mean longer casts, if you can harness the speed. For the average person, it won't change much. Will I be able to cast further with less effort? Quote
Super User QUAKEnSHAKE Posted July 23, 2013 Super User Posted July 23, 2013 I just got me some Boca abec7 used about 14 hours so far. I put them in a Curado 50E replacing the stock bearings. I had the stock bearings cleaned pretty well and use very light REM Oil and one brake mostly. Im running the Bocas dry and the same brake setting didnt have to change anything. Right now Im not seeing much improvement on long distance with Palm Tree or 1/2oz Lipless cranks. Havent really tried lighter presentation so cant comment in that area. I went ahead took both seals off, the noise on the cast isnt really all that bad from what I was expecting but on the retrieve the noise is a bit more than I would like but bearable. Ill add that right now I am soaking them in acetone not sure if needed or will help any further but cleaning them anyway. Quote
Super User J Francho Posted July 23, 2013 Super User Posted July 23, 2013 Will I be able to cast further with less effort? That depends on your thumb. 1 Quote
Super User deaknh03 Posted July 23, 2013 Super User Posted July 23, 2013 I always see these videos on youtube of people spinning there reels which have been upgraded with ceramic bearings or supertuned, and on some the spool will spin for minutes! I have seen people say that the free spool time doesn't mean all that much in terms of distance. What's your take on this? It means a bigger backlash, unless your real good with your thumb. 2 Quote
Delaware Valley Tackle Posted July 23, 2013 Posted July 23, 2013 JF is right on when referring to harnessing the speed. A faster car doesn't necessarily mean it will win a race without the right driver input. Casting distance is way over rated IMO. The biggest advantage to a tuned reel with faster spool is easy start up and better accuracy. You wont get wild backlashes if you pay any attention to what you're doing. The car analogy works here too. A 400 HP car won't spin out of control unless you're careless with it. A lot of tuning and upgrade of reels is an enthusiast issue. Some stuff is just cool to have without there necessarily being an immediate tangible benefit. Quote
Super User roadwarrior Posted July 23, 2013 Super User Posted July 23, 2013 A lot of tuning and upgrade of reels is an enthusiast issue. Some stuff is just cool to have without there necessarily being an immediate tangible benefit. Funny you bring this up. Mike did some upgrades for me which I had to downgrade! I didn't like the noise from dry ceramic bearing so I added a drop of oil, The performance may not be 100% of potential, but it's WAY BETTER than just "good enough". Quote
McFurie Posted July 24, 2013 Posted July 24, 2013 How often does that extra couple of feet hinder you fish catching here in Florida 70% of my fish are caught within 25 feet of the boat if I didn't pitch it it's a long Quote
Hogsticker Posted July 24, 2013 Posted July 24, 2013 People, myself included like to use ceramic bearings not so much to improve casting distance, though it does some. But rather being able to cast and hit that spot with less effort involved. I love the sound of some noisy (well not really noisy) spool bearings. Similar to an exhaust in a Mustang Saleen. Well not really, but you get my drift. I install them because I don't have to rip one for all I've got to achieve the same reults. Don't run them dry. Just 1 small drop of oil on each side of each bearing. By all means if your happy with your reel as is don't do it. But you'll never know of you dont........................................... Quote
Smallmouth Hunter Posted July 24, 2013 Author Posted July 24, 2013 People, myself included like to use ceramic bearings not so much to improve casting distance, though it does some. But rather being able to cast and hit that spot with less effort involved. I love the sound of some noisy (well not really noisy) spool bearings. Similar to an exhaust in a Mustang Saleen. Well not really, but you get my drift. I install them because I don't have to rip one for all I've got to achieve the same reults. Don't run them dry. Just 1 small drop of oil on each side of each bearing. By all means if your happy with your reel as is don't do it. But you'll never know of you dont........................................... Will it make skipping under docks and other stuff take less effort? I also like the sound the bearings make as long as its a consistent noise, not a scratch and screech here and there. Quote
Super User WRB Posted July 25, 2013 Super User Posted July 25, 2013 Casting distance is relative to many factors, the rod has more to do with distance than fine running the reel with space grade bearings. Your typical medium heavy fast action bass rod is poor rod for casting distance for example compared to a medium moderate action crankbait rod. The more parabolic or more of the bank bends the slower the actions is, the better the rod will cast. The reason is the spool starts up slower and the rest depends of the lure aerodynamics or wind resistance. In the hands of a good caster, with trained a thumb, the highly tuned reel will cast further. Most skilled bass anglers that I fish have trouble casting my fast action jig rods because I have highly tuned reels and other anglers usually backlash if I don't add a little spool tension. Tom Quote
CountBassula Posted July 25, 2013 Posted July 25, 2013 a while ago i did a tune up on my shimano curado. the problem was that casting a hollow body frog on a 50lbs braid would not get very far. after cleaning up the bearings and oiling them, my casting distance nearly doubled! i imagine putting nicer bearing would have done the same thing. also, i'm a novice and only been fishing baitcasters for 6-7 months and i don't really know how to harness the spool speed etc. i just know that better bearings, with all other variables being equal (spool tension, # of breaks) significantly improved my casting distance. 1 Quote
Capt.Bob Posted July 26, 2013 Posted July 26, 2013 As others have noted, it's all dependent on how well the thumb is tuned, most try and and cast it as far as they can and realize the reel is now much smoother and faster than they are! I like mine super tuned because they are much more accurate smoother to cast than before, but gain very little noticeable distance, I am still working on super tuning techniques for my thumb!! once I refine that I am going to be rich rich rich!!!! Quote
Brian Needham Posted July 27, 2013 Posted July 27, 2013 when I got my reels back from supertuning and boca upgrades I had to run 3 or 4 brakes instead of 2 and had to set my casting control to slow creep fall instead of free fall. even with the ramped up breaking, distance felt the same. Quote
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