BFS Reels - Daiwa Alphas SV TW 800 vs Daiwa Silver Wolf

[DaveT63]

What are the pros and cons of each reel, and is the Silver Wolf worth the extra $100 bucks?  Might be able to justify a reel for myself for Christmas, and these are my most likely options.

 

Thanks,

 

DAve

[softwateronly]

I'm sure others will fill in better details, but in general a silver wolf is strictly designed for thin braid, pe .8 being in the wheelhouse whereas the alphas 800s would struggle with line lay at that diameter.  My alphas are loaded with pe 1.5 and sit on medium power rods (and I love them) whereas I would add a silver wolf for BFS applications.  What I did for my bfs is get a roro x27 spool, loaded with pe 1, and swapped it into my zillion tw sv.  Allows me to work a solid tip ml rod from 2-20g.  In general they don't excel in the same things.

 

scott

[FishTank]

I have the Silver Wolf and after some soul searching,  I came to the conclusion that it's not a true BFS reel. I have better luck with a Steez CT with the same lures, line and rod. I contacted Daiwa Japan about the difficulties I was having casting lures around 3.5 grams. After a long wait, they told me it's true minimum was 5 grams but ideally 9 grams would be best and it's made for lures up to 20 grams.  They also said it's designed for light PE to handle black bream were thin diameter line is needed. It's a good reel but it has found it's home on a Med Fast rod that I use for 1/4oz jigs, 1/4oz spinnerbaits and weightless senkos. It works great for those baits and I'm happy with it. 

 

For a true BFS reel, I would look at Shimanos offerings, especially the Aldebaran.  

[bulldog1935]

My Silver Wolf sports a Roro X-27 spool, and it's a baddasss BFS reel throwing 2 g past 130' on PE#0.6 (smaller braid than most want to futz)

 

My stock 1000 SV Boost PE Special spool is a back-up PE#1.2 for my inshore ML reels.  

 

What you gain with Silver Wolf (Daiwa SS Air, Alphas Air, etc) is increased level wind pitch that prevents line dig using braid smaller than PE#0.8

(slot red on Silver Wolf)

 

@Tennessee Boy fishes Silver Wolf with the stock spool for BFS and has posted he's happy fishing braid.  

Here's the chart that gives PE# diameter and breaking strength:  

https://www.jpfishingtacklenews.com/japanese-line-size/

 

@DaveT63  Alphas 800 will do the job if you want to fish light mono. 

Aftermarket spools are readily available on ebay, JDM vendors, Rorolure (Hong Kong) and A/E if you want to later add a shallow PE#1 spool.  

[LonnieP]

The Alphas SV 800 is a really nice reel, but it’s not a BFS reel with the factory spool. 1/4 ounce lure weight is about the bottom end.