Lew's ACB (adjustable centrifugal brake) TP Pro LFS

[PhishLI]

I just picked up a Lew's Tournament Pro LFS. It's the one dodgeguy suggests often. By often I mean constantly. If someone here happened to inquire about a toaster oven there's no doubt he'd suggest this reel! "$139 at Sportsmens Outfitters, 27 position centrifi...It makes toast too". I kid dodgeguy. His marketing genius, belief, and PM testimonial worked on me. I bought the reel!

 

First thing I did was weigh the spool. Its 11 grams with the bearing still installed, so it's crazy light. There shouldn't be much issue casting light lures paired with the right rod. I spooled it up with 10lb Trilene XL last night and slobbered it up with KVD. I'm heading out with some 1/4oz jerkbaits and Neds. We'll see if the brakes and my thumb are up to the task. A review or two out in the ether suggests that it's best used with lures a half ounce and up, but others say just the opposite. Fish Tank's new thread "Reviewing a Few Lew's Fishing Reels" rained on my parade as it casts doubt on the ACB system. Dang internets. I suppose I'll find out soon enough.

 

Merry Christmas!

[new2BC4bass]

I wouldn't believe the half ounce up crap.  Cuz that is exactly what it is.  BS.  I've got 9 brands of reels in umpteen models including 3 Lew's models.  Every single reel will bomb 3/8 oz. on the right rod.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

A reel can’t really be judged until the first deep cleaning and bearing flush. A light spool with gummed up bearings won’t perform at its best. 

[mcipinkie]

Here's my 73 year old perspective:

 

Turn all the brakes off.  Learn to use your thumb.  Then it doesn't matter whether magnetic, centrifigal, digital, or what ever the latest give me your money gimmick is.

 

I've thrown every type of casting reel made from old red Ambassdeur 5000's (actually some old knuckle busters) to the newest Shimano and Daiwa wonders.  First thing I do is turn off the brakes.  In the old days, we used to rip them out of the reel to save few grams. 

 

I'm mainly a Lew's guy now.  Have 4 or 5 different models depending on what I use them for.    Couple Revo's, couple BPS Carbonlite's, some Quantum Tours.  Some are better than others, more bearings, etc. but the brake system doesn't matter to me. 

 

I can pick up any reel made, turn off the brakes, and in 5 - 10 casts, rockin.

 

As Swindle says, "years of excessive practice."  No short cuts.  You have to learn to cast.

 

I'll echo DTS, some maintenance is required, but minimal.  These modern reels don't require much.

PS:  I can't imagine weighing a spool.  My thumb will do that in the first 10 casts.

 

[VolFan]

That should cast just fine once its dialed in - the real question is: how is the toast?

[Shimano_1]

I apparently am not as skilled as someone who can turn all the brakes off and just roll with it. I run my reels a little more free than most people I've ever been around but I need the brakes. That tournament pro is slick and wilm absolutely cast lures lighter than half oz....but...I did find them to be a little finicky.  It wasn't a reel I could just set and forget like some of my others. If ur a guy who has particular reels to throw the same baits it should be just fine. To throw things like weightless senkos or lighter jerkbaits I had to turn the dial up a lot more than I do on most reels. Honestly not a huge fan of that particular braking system and it sucks cause most all of their higher end offerings have it. I may try the new tournament mp since it has the older mcb braking with adjustable pins plus the magnetic.  Still like that system.  Good luck

[PhishLI]

10 minutes ago, Shimano_1 said:

I apparently am not as skilled as someone who can turn all the brakes off and just roll with it. I run my reels a little more free than most people I've ever been around but I need the brakes. That tournament pro is slick and wilm absolutely cast lures lighter than half oz....but...I did find them to be a little finicky.  It wasn't a reel I could just set and forget like some of my others. If ur a guy who has particular reels to throw the same baits it should be just fine. To throw things like weightless senkos or lighter jerkbaits I had to turn the dial up a lot more than I do on most reels. Honestly not a huge fan of that particular braking system and it sucks cause most all of their higher end offerings have it. I may try the new tournament mp since it has the older mcb braking with adjustable pins plus the magnetic.  Still like that system.  Good luck

I tend to run my brakes on the hairy edge. Maybe not Mrpinkie's version of the hairy edge, but they're usually set very low. If it turns out that someday I'm that good, or even want to be, then great. So yeah, I'm on the lookout for a standard non BFS reel that will allow me to throw light weight baits too. When I night wade lakes I usually bring multiple rigs, but sometimes i'd rather have just one rod. If I can throw a broad range of baits, light and heavy-ish, I'm happy. My Chronarch does just fine actually, and honestly, my flushed and oiled Fuego CT isn't far behind if at all, in practice. My Curado K is really finicky with light baits, so I don't need another reel with that characteristic. Part of me thought I should just grab a Curado 70 and call it a day, but this Lew's was interesting. I'll give it a whirl anyway. I like a challenge. Maybe I can adapt to whatever it is or isn't, or maybe not. But I appreciate your detailed take on it.

[PhishLI]

4 hours ago, mcipinkie said:

PS:  I can't imagine weighing a spool.  My thumb will do that in the first 10 casts.

pink,

 

No need to imagine cause I'll explain. I bought a reel, a Pflueger Supreme XT.  I couldn't cast really light baits as well with it, regardless of brake settings, as I was able to with other reels. I wondered why. So I weighed the spool. It was 21 grams. I weighed my Chronarch and it was 13 grams. Startup inertia differences due to the weight difference was enough of an answer for me. There's a reason BFS reels have super lightweight spools. So I was encouraged once I weighed the Lew's spool especially because I'm looking for a reel that can do more regarding a range of baits. The external adjustment is an attractive idea too.

 

I suppose it's cool that you fish baitcasters with no brakes. I completely understand what you're trying to get across. I can split a line made by a sharpened No.2 pencil freehand with a circular saw for as long of a distance as you can imagine. But why would I when I have a track saw or straight edges at my disposal? Get my drift? It's not a perfect analogy, but a good accessory to a tool isn't necessarily a crutch.

[NYWayfarer]

You should have no problems with 1/4oz Neds and Jerkbaits with that reel and the right rod.

 

I have the Pro TI paired with a Lew's TP1 Black Medium/Fast rod for those applications.