Daiwa BFS Baitcasters

[WC53]

I like the silver wolf better than the gek. Both do distance ok, but much better line capacity. The Zillion with a roro spool is a very good bfs reel. For the money, it is tough to beat the Curado, although, my nephew did beat it out of me   The Gek will toss the lightest, but those teeny spools bother me

[Cody28]

Is the Silver Wolf actually BFS capable? Also to those who have had the reel now for a while is it worth the buy?

[ghost]

On 1/17/2023 at 1:23 PM, Robin said:

Wish I could find some old affordable Abu 2500s. The prices on these in good condition are nuts.

I was fortunate to have a supply of Curado 50es, Aledebaran 50s, and Scorpion XT1000s that I accumulated years ago. Converting them to BFS basically only required an Avail spool. The old school centrifugal only brakes work just fine for BFS. Just use the right rods and line and you are golden.

Hello, I have a Curado 51E; where can I find a shallow BFS spool for it?

[Robin]

Try Japan Tackle. I have purchased several Avail spools from them for use on my 50 series Curados plus a few Scorpion 1000XTs. They work great for lures down to 2 grams. These spools have really transformed the reels into full BFS. I still love the old style centrifugal brake systems

and they work fine for BFS. These spools are basically "drop-in" items and no modifications are required. You do have to add brake pins to the spools, but I had a ton of spares just laying around.

Giving new life to old reels that are still in great shape just adds to the excitement. The Avail spools only have four pins instead of the six on the factory Shimano spools. I start with one on and three off. Hope this helps.

 

[WC53]

21 hours ago, Cody28 said:

Is the Silver Wolf actually BFS capable? Also to those who have had the reel now for a while is it worth the buy?

The Silver Wolf has been very solid for me. I have been fishing it in the salt with 10lb braid and typically 4-4.5 gram baits of late. I like the line capacity of the Wolf/Zillion vs the smaller spools.

 

I can’t toss the small yozuri pins minnow with accuracy, sub 2gr, but no problems with the 38mm spearhead.  No Trout magnet , but a crappie ….

 

Typical bait lately is a 1/32 or 1/16 bonefish jighead with small plastic or hair jig.

Edited June 28, 2023 by WC53
Clarity

[Cody28]

25 minutes ago, WC53 said:

The Silver Wolf has been very solid for me. I have been fishing it in the salt with 10lb braid and typically 4-4.5 gram baits of late. I like the line capacity of the Wolf/Zillion vs the smaller spools.

 

I can’t toss the small yozuri pins minnow with accuracy, sub 2gr, but no problems with the 38mm spearhead.  No Trout magnet , but a crappie ….

 

Typical bait lately is a 1/32 or 1/16 bonefish jighead with small plastic or hair jig.

Oh wow that is exactly what I’m looking for thanks 

[FishTank]

2 hours ago, WC53 said:

The Silver Wolf has been very solid for me. I have been fishing it in the salt with 10lb braid and typically 4-4.5 gram baits of late. I like the line capacity of the Wolf/Zillion vs the smaller spools.

 

I can’t toss the small yozuri pins minnow with accuracy, sub 2gr, but no problems with the 38mm spearhead.  No Trout magnet , but a crappie ….

 

Typical bait lately is a 1/32 or 1/16 bonefish jighead with small plastic or hair jig.

 

 

On 6/27/2023 at 6:21 PM, Cody28 said:

Is the Silver Wolf actually BFS capable? Also to those who have had the reel now for a while is it worth the buy?

I hate to say but this has been the opposite of my experience with this reel. I have had nothing but inconsistent casting.  With that said, I love the platform. I have the Zillion SV  and the HD. They both have been fantastic.  

 

I have been unable to cast anything less than 3/16oz without it backlashing. Even with heavier baits around 1/4oz, I still get a blow up in about 1 in 10 casts no matter where the brakes are set. It's like they just stop working.  I have tried multiple BFS/light rods with the same result. I can then in turn put my Aldebaran BFS or the Conquest BFS on the same rod with the same lure and have no issues.

 

Its been a head scratcher for me. Strange thing is the Millionaire CT I have, is the same way.  On the other hand, the Steez CT I have is great at casting light lures. It leads me to believe that I am either spoiled by my Aldebaran or Daiwa hasn't figured the BFS thing out yet with these two reels. I have been thinking of getting the BFS bearings and spools from Roro but it seems an extreme thing to do. 

[redmeansdistortion]

3 hours ago, FishTank said:

Strange thing is the Millionaire CT I have

Have you cleaned the bearings?  I mean really cleaned them?  I'm not sure what grade of oil Daiwa uses from the factory, but a very thorough cleaning and an ISO 10 or 22 oil will get them moving well.  I use a Bearing Blaster and CRC QD Electronics Cleaner, gets every little bit of crud and oil out.  I apply my low viscosity oils with a 22awg dropper so I get the right amount.  Most of the oils out there come with an 18awg so it can be easy to overdo it.  That reel should cast 3g easy.  Aftermarket bearings can be hit or miss with a SV spool in the Millionaire.  When I initially tried Roros in mine the brake was all or nothing; either too much or not enough.  If you do go that route, you may want a TD-Z Type R+ inductor spring or else the inductor comes on too early due to the increased startup speed of the spool.  With the softer factory spring most of the braking is going to be applied the second your thumb leaves the spool.  The stiffer spring evens it out and makes for a fantastic reel.  I run the SV 700S in mine.

[FishTank]

12 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said:

Have you cleaned the bearings?  I mean really cleaned them?  I'm not sure what grade of oil Daiwa uses from the factory, but a very thorough cleaning and an ISO 10 or 22 oil will get them moving well.  I use a Bearing Blaster and CRC QD Electronics Cleaner, gets every little bit of crud and oil out.  I apply my low viscosity oils with a 22awg dropper so I get the right amount.  Most of the oils out there come with an 18awg so it can be easy to overdo it.  That reel should cast 3g easy.  Aftermarket bearings can be hit or miss with a SV spool in the Millionaire.  When I initially tried Roros in mine the brake was all or nothing; either too much or not enough.  If you do go that route, you may want a TD-Z Type R+ inductor spring or else the inductor comes on too early due to the increased startup speed of the spool.  With the softer factory spring most of the braking is going to be applied the second your thumb leaves the spool.  The stiffer spring evens it out and makes for a fantastic reel.  I run the SV 700S in mine.

The first thing I did was clean and lube this reel when I ran out ideas. I have an ultrasonic cleaner that I used for the bearings and I used Shimano's BFS oil. It made the bearings faster and smoother.  It also may have increased my problems. I can set the brakes almost all the way with an 1/8oz lure, cast it well for a bit (maybe 9 casts), and then for no reason,  it backlashes multiple times. It has been this way since I got it. I have also changed the line a few times, thinking it's slipping on the spool. I am using #0.8 Varivas Dead or Alive Ultra Finesse.

[redmeansdistortion]

7 hours ago, FishTank said:

The first thing I did was clean and lube this reel when I ran out ideas. I have an ultrasonic cleaner that I used for the bearings and I used Shimano's BFS oil. It made the bearings faster and smoother.  It also may have increased my problems. I can set the brakes almost all the way with an 1/8oz lure, cast it well for a bit (maybe 9 casts), and then for no reason,  it backlashes multiple times. It has been this way since I got it. I have also changed the line a few times, thinking it's slipping on the spool. I am using #0.8 Varivas Dead or Alive Ultra Finesse.

It sounds to me that you may have a sticking inductor.  It does happen from time to time on SV spools.   You can get a new set of ramps for them.  Tackle Trap carries them I believe.

[WC53]

On 6/28/2023 at 7:04 PM, FishTank said:

 

 

I hate to say but this has been the opposite of my experience with this reel. I have had nothing but inconsistent casting.  With that said, I love the platform. I have the Zillion SV  and the HD. They both have been fantastic.  

 

I have been unable to cast anything less than 3/16oz without it backlashing. Even with heavier baits around 1/4oz, I still get a blow up in about 1 in 10 casts no matter where the brakes are set. It's like they just stop working.  I have tried multiple BFS/light rods with the same result. I can then in turn put my Aldebaran BFS or the Conquest BFS on the same rod with the same lure and have no issues.

 

Its been a head scratcher for me. Strange thing is the Millionaire CT I have, is the same way.  On the other hand, the Steez CT I have is great at casting light lures. It leads me to believe that I am either spoiled by my Aldebaran or Daiwa hasn't figured the BFS thing out yet with these two reels. I have been thinking of getting the BFS bearings and spools from Roro but it seems an extreme thing to do. 

 

If you mean the standard 2021 zillion, I would agree. I have a roro (I think) spool in it, which changes the calculous 

[ska4fun]

On 1/14/2023 at 8:14 PM, Jeffrey Walker said:

How do these Daiwa BFS reels compare?  I don't understand the differences and where one would be preferred.  Just looking for an all around BFS baitcaster

Alphas
SS Air 
SV Lite
 

Alphas series have a lot of reels, you need to be more specific. SV lite is a custom Alphas-series based reel, under the usual partnership Daiwa-megabass. Casted one some 2 years go, felt like an Alphas CT SV.

 

I never used the SS Air.