Small Baitcasters

[redmeansdistortion]

On 4/15/2020 at 1:38 PM, Junger said:

I really like the Alphas platform, and just picked up a used, but mint condition/modded Alphas Finesse Custom. I plan to throw it 1/16-1/4oz lures for white perch/crappie. If you're not looking for brand new/mint condition, the finesse variants of the Alphas are attainable for $150 or less.

 

 

I just ordered one of those myself along with a Major Craft Troutino 4'10".  This will be my rig for panfish and stream trout.  Total combo ran me $360.

[redmeansdistortion]

4 minutes ago, BaitFinesse said:

I don't I know how light weight the stock spool is on the finesse custom.  It is an older reel.  If you want to upgrade the spool you can get super light weight ones made for casting UL off Aliexpress or Ebay.  This is assuming the finesse custom is an Alphas standard 33 mm spool. They're $54 on Aliexpress.  There is also the Megabass Zonda BFS spool that can sometimes be had under $100.  I have one and it is awesome for UL baits.

 

The spool on the Air Stream Custom is ~8.5g 31mm spool.  Should be plenty good for my uses.  From what I've read, the spool is interchangeable with the Pixy spools.  https://www.daiwa.com/jp/fishing/item/reel/bait_rl/alphas_air_stream_custom/index.html

[JediAmoeba]

18 hours ago, Junger said:

Reel Test on YT doesn't really understand the mechanics of casting. All he really does is weigh spools, measure distances and say "Oh, look Shimano reels win again on distance". He sets up his reels all the same way, when they are clearly different braking mechanisms and should be set up optimally for the the reel. Stopped watching his videos a while ago when I started to palmface while watching them.

Of anyone I have ever watched, he is the most infuriating.  He attacks people in the comments and he is truly terrible at using baitcasters.  He obviously has very little understanding of how reels work.  

[redmeansdistortion]

1 hour ago, BaitFinesse said:

Yes but the Pixy has a smaller diameter spool than the Alphas Finesse Custom.  Pixy is 31 mm and Alphas is 33 mm.  There would be a 1 mil gap top and bottom.  Unless you are thinking of the Alphas Air Stream custom?  That one does have a 31 mm spool.

My bad, I mixed up the Alphas Finesse Custom with the reel I bought, the Alphas Air Stream Custom.

[Bass Junkie]

   There’s certainly a lot of information being distributed in here, some good and some not. If you want a bait casting reel to throw that light of a lure there’s a lot to consider. Essentially what you’re wanting to do is commonly referred to as BFS and it’s the easiest it’s ever been. The basic things that are going to impact your success are as follows:

 

 Rod choice: You can have the best reel, line, and lure combo in the world and if the rod won’t load up properly with it you will struggle constantly. In your situation you’ve already decided what rod you are using and from the description you give it will be adequate, so you don’t really need to delve further into this right now.

 

  Reel choice: This gets a little trickier, because there’s several things that can impact the success of your combo here. Things such as such braking system, spool weight, spool line capacity, and whether or not you choose to upgrade bearings later on are all going to have a discernible impact on your final results. 
 

  Line choice: The lighter and more supple the better time you’ll have, right up until you backlash, which you will when learning a new style of fishing. I recommend braid if you’re used to it, or a good cheap mono that you’re okay with going though until you get used to the differences.

 

  Lure choice: This is a big one. Most “1/8 oz” presentations are going to weigh much more than an actual 1/8oz. In the BFS community it’s a very standard practice to weigh your total presentation weight and use that as a point of reference so as to be more accurate. The weight of a trailer on a 1/2oz flipping jig might not bear that much of an impact, but that same trailer fished alone on a 1/16oz jig head could effectively double the weight of your presentation. Knowing the true total weight of what you’re intending to throw will help inform decisions you make with your gear. 
 

  Pretty much all of the above is factual and agreed upon. Now I’ll delve into some more opinion based stuff based on my experiences.

 

 As far as rods, I like a bfs rod to have a soft tip. You don’t want to “whip” out or force a cat with such a small lure. That will backlash a lot. When you force the cast you generate a lot of initial spool speed or RPM, and the light and possibly aerodynamically ineffectual lure simply cant back that speed up. It doesn’t have the energy to pull the line off the spool that fast, and it usually slows down pretty quickly as well, both of which will result in backlashes. Having a rod with a soft tip allows you to load up the blank of the rod and lob a cast out there, which allows a much more linear cast. 
 

  As far as reels go it’s very common to see BFS reels with a magnetic braking system. There are even kits to change Abu’s and Shimano’s to magnetic systems instead of the centrifugal systems they use. It allows for a more finely tuned, less invasive or restrictive braking profile in my opinion, and with the aid of a decent thumb is still manageable. 
  
  One of the most common mods you will see in bfs reels is a shallow spool. Not too long ago a bfs spool would set you back in excess of $100 and some spools still cost double that to get your hands on. There has been an absolute flood of Chinese bfs spools in the last few years, however, and some of them are pretty decent. The beauty of this is that, depending on your platform, you can try one out for ~$20 and see if you like it. Why do the spools matter? Well there’s several things about them that are advantageous. First of all they’re lighter. Lighter spools require less energy to start up, meaning they require less lure weight to achieve and maintain usable RPM during the cast. They are also shallower than a stock spool, which reduces line capacity and moves more of the spools weight further from the spool shaft and closer to the outside edge of the spool. This translates into momentum being maintained longer than of the weight was closer to the spool shaft, resulting in a longer cast. The reduced line capacity also means less overall weight for the spool, reducing the startup inertia of the spool. An aftermarket spool for a Daiwa reel can also have a modified inductor, either fixed for more control or tapered for less overall braking from the magnets. They are definitely worth the investment in most cases.

 

  As far as line I’ve used both light braids and light fluorocarbon. I like the braid for it’s increased line capacity and resilience to being picked out of a backlash, but the fluorocarbon is good as well. The only caveat is that it’s petty much shoot if you backlash badly with it. I still use both. A way of achieving the best of both worlds is to use braid with a “top shot” of fluoro, essentially a long leader. This allows the use of a clear, abrasion resistant line with shock  absorbing qualities while maintaining a good line capacity, and in a worst case scenario you’re only out 20 feet of fluorocarbon, instead of a full spool.

 

With your budget there are several interesting options to choose from. Here’s what I personally would do. 
 

  Option A: Look into a Daiwa Pixy. They’re affordable, light, cool, and still extremely relevant to BFS fishing in a lot of ways. You’ll be buying used, so be sure to break down the reel and clean it. While you’re in there install some Carbontex drag washers (none of this is any harder than changing the oil on a car, don’t worry) and you are good to go. This also sets you up with the ability to make several supporting mods to the reel later if you want. Shallower spools, 6.8:1 and 7.2:1 gear swaps, and a bunch of handle, drag star, and other swaps are possible. Not necessary, but possible. 
 

 Option B: Grab a Daiwa T3 1016 off eBay and swap a BFS spool into it. Either the T3 1016 or the MX would be great choices, but the stock spool in the silver 1016 is the RCS 1016 and it’s a gem of a spool for heavier lures. It can also be retrofit to a ton of 34mm Daiwa reels (TD-Z platform, Steez, T3’s, etc) and can be sold for a nice little bit (~$50) if you want to get some of the purchase price of the reel  back. The T3’s are a “love it or hate it “ platform so be aware of that. I personally love them, and the common complaints about them flexing or not feeling solid are mute points in this application. The benefits of going this route are that you have a really cool, unique reel that’s very BFS friendly and has a great stock drag. It also has MagForce 3D, which is far and away my favorite breaking profile. The line guide is not leader friendly however. I have this exact setup and it works very well for me. I also have the Pixy setup listed above with lot of supporting mods. Both are great fun, and should be able to do what you’re asking of them. I also have 3 of the original Team Daiwa Fuego’s mentioned above and they are the exact opposite of what you want. I love the reels and fish them extensively, but anywhere below ~5/16oz I feel they don’t do well, at least stock. 
 

   If you have any further questions feel free to message me. 

[fishwizzard]

1 hour ago, redmeansdistortion said:

My bad, I mixed up the Alphas Finesse Custom with the reel I bought, the Alphas Air Stream Custom.

Daiwa’s obsession with making their product line as confusingly named as possible will always frustrate the hell out of me.

[JustJames]

@Bass Junkiethank you that is a pretty good BFS 101 for all the beginners. Too bad, I can’t like you twice lol. 

[Bass Junkie]

22 minutes ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

@Bass Junkiethank you that is a pretty good BFS 101 for all the beginners. Too bad, I can’t like you twice lol. 

Appreciate it!

[Junger]

4 hours ago, fishwizzard said:

Daiwa’s obsession with making their product line as confusingly named as possible will always frustrate the hell out of me.

Especially awesome when they release a new product based on a prior product but change the name, e.g. Tatula150.