BFS reels for flipping and heavy cover and skipping

[TN bassmaster]

I’ve always wondered about using shallow spooled reels for dock skipping and flipping…..

[WRB]

What about Bait Finesse do you not get?

You don’t Need a reel to flip cast. Skipping I get. Heavy cover = heavy strong line and rod, again not finesse.

Tom

[PhishLI]

25 minutes ago, TN bassmaster said:

I’ve always wondered about using shallow spooled reels for dock skipping

Here you go

Team Lew's Pro SP Casting Reel - Tackle Warehouse

 

Daiwa Tatula Elite Pitch/Flip Casting Reel - Tackle Warehouse

[TN bassmaster]

3 hours ago, WRB said:

What about Bait Finesse do you not get?

You din’t Need a reel to flip cast. Skipping I get. Heavy cover = heavy strong line and rod, again not finesse.

Tom

Oh no I just like the really compact feel of bfs I just like flipping and shallow water angling ! 

[FrnkNsteen]

3 hours ago, PhishLI said:

Here you go

Team Lew's Pro SP Casting Reel - Tackle Warehouse

 

Daiwa Tatula Elite Pitch/Flip Casting Reel - Tackle Warehouse

Yep,... Thats the whole concept behind the Lews Pro SP. I never understood using the centrifugal brakes for pitching and skipping though. In my opinion, magnetic brakes work better for those due to lower spool speeds.

 

I actually used my Pro SP for BFS before I sold it. Shallow spool with centrifugal brake worked great for casting light baits on a Dobyns Sierra 740c ultralight casting rod.

[stratos4me]

Yes. Many shallow spooled reels have the same or similar internal parts as the standard sizes. They are plenty strong. Capacity with heavy line is your only concern. So, forget about bomb casts with heavy line, but for short, power presentations I really like shallow spools and tiny reels. Lighter gear is just more enjoyable to fish. A big handle makes a difference.

[FishTank]

Shimano Metanium Shallow spool 8.x:1. Comes with a larger handle and can be found at most JDM sites. 

[stratos4me]

2 hours ago, FishTank said:

Shimano Metanium Shallow spool 8.x:1. Comes with a larger handle and can be found at most JDM sites. 

Bingo! That would also be my choice. In stock at Digitaka last I checked.

[TN bassmaster]

I found a killer deal on an alphas air how well would that work I would love a metanium but that’s a bit out of budget 

 

 

 

thanks everyone 

[FrnkNsteen]

One thing to watch out for,... Some of the BFS spools offered in the aftermarket warn against using mono because it can deform the thin legs of the honeycombed or drilled out spools. If they are that delicate, you may want to watch out for putting heavy line and loads on them too!

[FishTank]

4 hours ago, TN bassmaster said:

I found a killer deal on an alphas air how well would that work I would love a metanium but that’s a bit out of budget 

 

 

 

thanks everyone 

Anything with the word AIR in it from Dawia is designed for light duty/BFS. I would not use it for pitching/flipping unless it was a micro jig (1/8 oz) on 6lb line. Skipping to me is a skill acquired through practice. Some reels help but again this reel is meant for light lures. 

 

Another to look at would be the Daiwa Tatula Flip and Pitch if you can find one.

 

 

 

[FishTank]

One other I forgot about, the Daiwa Alpha 800S. I have not heard anything about this reel but it does have a shallow spool, 85mm handle and not bad price wise. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFwxT7nQTfc

[Munkin]

Spinning reel works for me.

 

Allen

[torm]

Hey OP, if you are really serious about getting into this please take note of the warnings given to ya. It is totally doable to flip and pitch with bfs reels with light pound braid like 10 or even 15. I've done this myself with a calcutta bfs but you need to keep common sense in mind. The setup will work well for finesse flip and pitch, NOT HEAVY. If you pair a bfs reel with heavy rod you run the risk of snapping off on hooksets. That is actually the good part, the other is you warp your spool eventually and spools are not cheap. If you use a bfs rod then you won't have the backbone for a good hookset if you fishing in heavy cover or getting them out of them especially if there are pads. A bfs flip and pitch use would be if you're fishing in low and light coverage. Good luck trying to horse a 2lber out of a dock before it wraps ya with a light combo as I've lost plenty of baits experimenting with this. Look for traditional baitcasters with a shallow spool if you wanna do heavy cover fishing and no it isn't cheap but that is the price if you wanna do that style of fishing. 

[JediAmoeba]

On 2/12/2023 at 2:31 PM, TN bassmaster said:

I’ve always wondered about using shallow spooled reels for dock skipping and flipping…..

The shallowest spool I would use for this technique in a stock SV spool. Any of the shallow aftermarket spools will deform with a load on them - there is a reason BFS reels have a light drag; they are made for light line and light hook applications on Light rods. 

 

 

 

[Jrob78]

Another option for a shallow spooled reel that should hold up to the abuse of pitching would be a Daiwa reel with a PE spool. The Silverwolf and Morethan PE come to mind, as well as the Alphas 800 (for a small profile normal capacity spool) and Alphas 800s (shallow spool) that @FishTank mentioned. I would not buy a BFS reel for heavy fishing.

 

The thing that you will have to keep in mind though is many of these shallow spool reels won't hold much heavy line at all. So for pitching and skipping they will be fine but for any casting and you will be probably cast the line off, especially with heavier non braided lines. Many of them will take normal spools so you can always swap if need be.

[TN bassmaster]

I looked at the alphas and really like it! I just really like the feel of small reels and love flipping and skipping 

 

 

thanks everyone!!!

[Darth-Baiter]

BFS is kinda delicate.  my Shimano has such a gentle drag.  i dont think i have ever locked down the drag that tight.

 

the only reel i can skip is the Daiwa SV spooled ones.  the rest, i gave up on.  i dont have the skillset.  

[torm]

OP if you are looking at the alphas air that I'm thinking of, just know that the max drag on that is around 8lb ish. Open water you are solid, but in heavy vegetation you are gonna definitely wear out that reel faster than normal. What type of baits and weights are you trying to throw on it, also what rod do you plan on pairing with it. What type and pound line do you plan on throwing on it too? The new tatula sv in the 80 size would work perfect for what your trying to do. If you want a bit cheaper get the salamandura which is just a red version of it which you can get roughly around 150-180. Still small enough to palm like a bfs reels too but with a beefier drag, also comes with the drag clicker. Do you have any experience with a bfs reel? It seems to me you got your mind fully set on them regardless of the problems that will come. I hope your not planning to sling 65lb braid, into a 1 1/2 oz tungsten weight, into a heavy wired hook, and onto a heavy rod on that alphas air...

[softwateronly]

14 hours ago, FishTank said:

One other I forgot about, the Daiwa Alpha 800S. I have not heard anything about this reel but it does have a shallow spool, 85mm handle and not bad price wise. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFwxT7nQTfc

 

I bought the Alpha 800S in the early winter for a ML setup.  Throwing a 3/16 micro jig on PE.8 in a half frozen river has been good, but no bites before full ice in.  The reel feels solid and comfortable and seems like it might fit your criteria, but I don't know enough about the spool and drag for heavier applications.  Out of the box, it almost hangs with the zillion g in terms of smoothness, definitely my favorite sub $200 reel that I've tried.  I hope I'll say the same thing in a year or two.

 

scott

11 hours ago, TN bassmaster said:

I looked at the alphas and really like it! I just really like the feel of small reels and love flipping and skipping 

 

 

thanks everyone!!!

 

[TN bassmaster]

10 hours ago, torm said:

OP if you are looking at the alphas air that I'm thinking of, just know that the max drag on that is around 8lb ish. Open water you are solid, but in heavy vegetation you are gonna definitely wear out that reel faster than normal. What type of baits and weights are you trying to throw on it, also what rod do you plan on pairing with it. What type and pound line do you plan on throwing on it too? The new tatula sv in the 80 size would work perfect for what your trying to do. If you want a bit cheaper get the salamandura which is just a red version of it which you can get roughly around 150-180. Still small enough to palm like a bfs reels too but with a beefier drag, also comes with the drag clicker. Do you have any experience with a bfs reel? It seems to me you got your mind fully set on them regardless of the problems that will come. I hope your not planning to sling 65lb braid, into a 1 1/2 oz tungsten weight, into a heavy wired hook, and onto a heavy rod on that alphas air...

So I palmed one and I really like them I’m 14 with rlly small hands even a curado 150 is a bit big and I will be putting it on my brallist with 20 lb Fluoro and mainly 1/2 jigs 

[Tatulatard]

It used to be a thing.  When the alphas sv came out it was the cheapest sv reel at the time and people were using it to skip 1/2 ounce jigs and even weedless hudds despite it having the shallower sv spool.  Seemed a little weird but it was cool to see people adding carbon drags and longer handles to the reel and use it in that power application.  The little reels held up real well.  We even got them in the states for a while as the "sv 105".

15 hours ago, TN bassmaster said:

I looked at the alphas and really like it! I just really like the feel of small reels and love flipping and skipping 

 

 

thanks everyone!!!

Depending on how cheap it is you can spool swap the air and come out ahead.  It really depends on price.  There ray's studio 28 mil spools that fit the 28 mil air reels and give you an sv spool basically.  I would also upgrade the handle to something longer than 84 mil.  Still I can't imagine any of that being cheaper than a tatula 70 which uses the same platform as the alphas air without the super free and already comes with an sv spool and longer handle.  

[TN bassmaster]

2 hours ago, Tatulatard said:

It used to be a thing.  When the alphas sv came out it was the cheapest sv reel at the time and people were using it to skip 1/2 ounce jigs and even weedless hudds despite it having the shallower sv spool.  Seemed a little weird but it was cool to see people adding carbon drags and longer handles to the reel and use it in that power application.  The little reels held up real well.  We even got them in the states for a while as the "sv 105".

Depending on how cheap it is you can spool swap the air and come out ahead.  It really depends on price.  There ray's studio 28 mil spools that fit the 28 mil air reels and give you an sv spool basically.  I would also upgrade the handle to something longer than 84 mil.  Still I can't imagine any of that being cheaper than a tatula 70 which uses the same platform as the alphas air without the super free and already comes with an sv spool and longer handle.  

Oh I mean the alphas sv tw! I looked into that so the thing with the 70 is that brake dial just gigs into my hand and I want one really nice rod and reel that feels perfect ! 

[T-Billy]

On 2/12/2023 at 2:55 PM, PhishLI said:

Here you go

Team Lew's Pro SP Casting Reel - Tackle Warehouse

 

Daiwa Tatula Elite Pitch/Flip Casting Reel - Tackle Warehouse

 

On 2/12/2023 at 6:50 PM, FrnkNsteen said:

Yep,... Thats the whole concept behind the Lews Pro SP. I never understood using the centrifugal brakes for pitching and skipping though. In my opinion, magnetic brakes work better for those due to lower spool speeds.

 

I actually used my Pro SP for BFS before I sold it. Shallow spool with centrifugal brake worked great for casting light baits on a Dobyns Sierra 740c ultralight casting rod.

100% agree on the centrifugal brakes. I would much prefer magnetic on this reel. That said, the Pro SP is very good at it's intended techniques as is, and it's very compact and palmable. Hindsight being 20/20 and all... I'd probably roll with a shallow spool Daiwa if I were in the market for another pitching reel.

[FrnkNsteen]

2 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

 

100% agree on the centrifugal brakes. I would much prefer magnetic on this reel. That said, the Pro SP is very good at it's intended techniques as is, and it's very compact and palmable. Hindsight being 20/20 and all... I'd probably roll with a shallow spool Daiwa if I were in the market for another pitching reel.

Agreed. I went with the Tatula Elite Pitch & Flip model to replace it. I have a SV on another rod that works great for skipping. Haven't tried skipping with the P&F yet.