New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

[jvelth74]

I think that's still unsure...

Still I'm thinking to buy Alphas Air spool to my Gekkabijin

There might be difference in magnets (not sure), but I never had used lowest end Magforce of GekkaBijin.

Neither will I buy another 28 mm Air Alphas, with regardless of Silver Creek's nice appearance...

[Hobie-Wan Kenobi]

Is GekkaBijin spool behave same in Alphas air tw, not sure if there is any difference between magnets of both reels. I thinking of just getting GekkaBijin spool for my alphas air instead of buying GekkaBijin reel.

I have not used the Gekkabijin spool in the Alphas AIR TW or vice versa. I have not tested if the magnets are different in the two reels either. I have only used the Gekkabijin spool and Roro AX24 Standard spool in the Gekkabijin. The AX24 spool perform about the same in the Gekkabijin and Alphas AIR TW for what it is worth.

[BFSmidwest]

Level wind dimensions (Alphas Air vs. Alphas TW PE) seems similar when comparing screenshots in Autocad. But worm gear can't be seen in screenshots. If there is difference in Level wind travel, it can be made by different worm gear...

I comparised dimensions of spools of Alphas Air vs. Alphas TW PE by screenshots in Autocad. Both are D28 mm spools. Diameter of spool bottom seems ~22 mm in TW PE and in Air it seems ~23 mm. Width of line stack is in TW PE ~15 mm and in Air it's ~19 mm. Seems there's ~8% bigger volume in Air.

Air vs. PE.JPG

Difference of spool volumes is smaller than I thought. But in Daiwa Japan site there is picture of spooled line in TW PE. IT's not spooled evenly. It looks like there is more line in the sides and less in the middle. => Less line volume. And Standard Alphas Air level wind? In this picture is shown how line spools and how near edge of reel frame level wind goes:


Air TW PE price in Japan site is 45,400 yen
ALPHAS SV TW 800 price in same site is 32,300 yen
In JapanTackle ALPHAS SV TW 800 price is $225.00

=> Air TW PE might be sold at ~$316?

Going back to this, in my experience with reels. When the side of the spool is spool unevenly where it concaved inbetween = the worm gear is long and not short. That means that even though the line touches the end of the spool, the worm gear stills continues the twing thus = piling of lines on the spool side. Imo the worm gear of the gekka will be the same as the alpha air tw.

[jvelth74]

Yes, I think also that level wind is same as Alphas Air. Yes, in GekkaBijin original spool it stacks line a little bit to the edges, but that's not issue. And when changing other spool (for example Chameleon) line is spooled normally.

[jvelth74]

I have a chameleon spool in my old Tatula SV and while it bests my Pixy spools, other than maybe the Ray's Pixy spool, it does feel a bit overbraked at the end of the cast and is prone to a sticky inductor. It could benefit from a stiffer spring. I'm going to leave mine stock for now and try finesse skipping with it.

Fished Saturday and Sunday with Chamelleon spool. In fact, comparing to GekkaBijin original spool, it's actually horrible Might be sticky inductor, not very good in short casts, not very good in long casts. I got a few backlashes in short casts, and found that I couldn't find good Magforce setting, and then added a little bit spool tension and turned Magforce to low setting, then it was OK. But still this Chamelleon spool is fully usable. I just don't like it currently.

It was sub 0 C on Saturday, so I spooled 0.20 mm Trilene XL fluorocarbon to Chamelleon, because it's bigger volume spool and I bought it for needs like this. Tensile strength of this line is 3.5 kg / 8 lbs. Not so much in my opinion... I snapped line couple of times when tightening a knot... But fishability in my opinion this line is a good mono line. It's a stiff line, which is good in my opinion in case of baitcaster. It's a really low stretch line, actually lower stretch than FC leaders which I have used... But tensile strength of it is low. Due to that I lost many jigs to rocks and to ice. But good mono line to BFS in my opinion. But still I don't like Mono lines, but sub 0 C there's no alternative...

...Hoping that my Roro spool will arrive soon. Currently it's +1 C in Finland, and BFS fishing is a lot of easier than in sub 0 C.

[BFSmidwest]

I have a chameleon spool in my old Tatula SV and while it bests my Pixy spools, other than maybe the Ray's Pixy spool, it does feel a bit overbraked at the end of the cast and is prone to a sticky inductor. It could benefit from a stiffer spring. I'm going to leave mine stock for now and try finesse skipping with it.

Fished Saturday and Sunday with Chamelleon spool. In fact, comparing to GekkaBijin original spool, it's actually horrible Might be sticky inductor, not very good in short casts, not very good in long casts. I got a few backlashes in short casts, and found that I couldn't find good Magforce setting, and then added a little bit spool tension and turned Magforce to low setting, then it was OK. But still this Chamelleon spool is fully usable. I just don't like it currently.

It was sub 0 C on Saturday, so I spooled 0.20 mm Trilene XL fluorocarbon to Chamelleon, because it's bigger volume spool and I bought it for needs like this. Tensile strength of this line is 3.5 kg / 8 lbs. Not so much in my opinion... I snapped line couple of times when tightening a knot... But fishability in my opinion this line is a good mono line. It's a stiff line, which is good in my opinion in case of baitcaster. It's a really low stretch line, actually lower stretch than FC leaders which I have used... But tensile strength of it is low. Due to that I lost many jigs to rocks and to ice. But good mono line to BFS in my opinion. But still I don't like Mono lines, but sub 0 C there's no alternative...

...Hoping that my Roro spool will arrive soon. Currently it's +1 C in Finland, and BFS fishing is a lot of easier than in sub 0 C.

I use chameleon spool as well. The spring it comes with is weaker than stock daiwa springs. Same time the inductor don't slide as well. So weaker spring = faster braking. What I did to mine that improves is take out the spring and stretch it then put it back it. It will increase more spring tension preventing fast braking = improve casting.

[BFSmidwest]

Yes, I think also that level wind is same as Alphas Air. Yes, in GekkaBijin original spool it stacks line a little bit to the edges, but that's not issue. And when changing other spool (for example Chameleon) line is spooled normally.

Yup. I thought so as well. My gekkabijin will come tomorrow. Well see how it is. I will most likely sell the spool though and use a roro or my chameleon spool.

[jvelth74]

I use chameleon spool as well. The spring it comes with is weaker than stock daiwa springs. Same time the inductor don't slide as well. So weaker spring = faster braking. What I did to mine that improves is take out the spring and stretch it then put it back it. It will increase more spring tension preventing fast braking = improve casting.

That's a real lifehack Another one hack is to add some washers to spring assembly.

[BFSmidwest]

I use chameleon spool as well. The spring it comes with is weaker than stock daiwa springs. Same time the inductor don't slide as well. So weaker spring = faster braking. What I did to mine that improves is take out the spring and stretch it then put it back it. It will increase more spring tension preventing fast braking = improve casting.

That's a real lifehack Another one hack is to add some washers to spring assembly.

But the washer add weight as well and prevent hub from extending. You still need the hub extension. Just not the super early braking. But it works like wonder.

[jvelth74]

But the washer add weight as well and prevent hub from extending. You still need the hub extension. Just not the super early braking. But it works like wonder.

Yes it does. I have ordered plastic washers from Aliexpress

[LowRange]

I guess more washers on top of the spring would prevent the inductor from traveling as far into the magnets. This would maybe limit the amount of max braking when centrifugal forces extend the inductor but have no affect on the end of the cast when the inductor is seated against the spool. The effect would be a spool that maybe feels very fast and prone to backlashes at the beginning and middle of the cast but still feels overbraked at the end of the cast. This is a mod to reduce inductor travel and probably best paired with other mods.

A stiffer spring would push the inductor away from the magnets at higher spool speeds and effectively shorten the duration of time the inductor is fully extended. This produces a spool that is freer at lower spool speeds but unchanged braking with the inductor is fully seated.

An inductor swap can also have radical effects. Things like inductor thickness and length play a part. Exactly how and what shape does what I cant say for certain. Here are my observations on this:

TD Zillion Ray's spool: just your average Ray's long thin and tapered inductor spool but with slightly more capacity for the old TD Zillion platform. Best power finesse pitching spool I have ever used bar none. Butter smooth and controlled pitching with bonkers distance too. Pitching a 3/16 oz finesse jig or 5" senko is unreal. With no effort it shoots those baits off like a dart across the water nice and flat with 16# flouro. Go high on the dial and you can get some pitch skipping in.

IP68/IP79 spools: very thick but very short inductors with stiff springs on a lightweight spool. Oddly they are rather strong braking at the end of the cast despite the short inductor length and stiff spring. This must be due to the thick inductor or IP reels may have stronger magnets.

Zonda spool. This one always felt choked off at the end of the cast despite a short and tapered inductor. I put an HLC spring in and now it's a monster. Its effectively unusable with certain baits given the on/off braking profile but for baits that carry their momentum well like tail weighted topwaters, weight transfer jerkbaits, lipless cranks and 3/8 oz + cranks it is unstoppable. It will literally burn your thumb tip. It can hurt you it is so fast now.

[BFSmidwest]

I guess more washers on top of the spring would prevent the inductor from traveling as far into the magnets. This would maybe limit the amount of max braking when centrifugal forces extend the inductor but have no affect on the end of the cast when the inductor is seated against the spool. The effect would be a spool that maybe feels very fast and prone to backlashes at the beginning and middle of the cast but still feels overbraked at the end of the cast. This is a mod to reduce inductor travel and probably best paired with other mods.

A stiffer spring would push the inductor away from the magnets at higher spool speeds and effectively shorten the duration of time the inductor is fully extended. This produces a spool that is freer at lower spool speeds but unchanged braking with the inductor is fully seated.

An inductor swap can also have radical effects. Things like inductor thickness and length play a part. Exactly how and what shape does what I cant say for certain. Here are my observations on this:

TD Zillion Ray's spool: just your average Ray's long thin and tapered inductor spool but with slightly more capacity for the old TD Zillion platform. Best power finesse pitching spool I have ever used bar none. Butter smooth and controlled pitching with bonkers distance too. Pitching a 3/16 oz finesse jig or 5" senko is unreal. With no effort it shoots those baits off like a dart across the water nice and flat with 16# flouro. Go high on the dial and you can get some pitch skipping in.

IP68/IP79 spools: very thick but very short inductors with stiff springs on a lightweight spool. Oddly they are rather strong braking at the end of the cast despite the short inductor length and stiff spring. This must be due to the thick inductor or IP reels may have stronger magnets.

Zonda spool. This one always felt choked off at the end of the cast despite a short and tapered inductor. I put an HLC spring in and now it's a monster. Its effectively unusable with certain baits given the on/off braking profile but for baits that carry their momentum well like tail weighted topwaters, weight transfer jerkbaits, lipless cranks and 3/8 oz + cranks it is unstoppable. It will literally burn your thumb tip. It can hurt you it is so fast now.

I agree with the washer stacking. For the daiwa gekkabijin they claim to mod the spool to be special with less braking to better casting. Originally I thought they truly did something special until.....

20211216_232012.jpg (38.11 KiB) Viewed 4174 times

. They basically just stack washer on it. Lol. When you stretch the spring on regular sv, the spring imitate that of a HLC spring now. Low speed it cause more backlash especially for pitching. For long cast it does wonder at ease. I like ray studio. Their brake hub is thinner than stock and ported. I use their 28mm ray studio for 3-5 gram bait versitile long casting. I havent tried zonda or megabass yet. And the HLC spring i find it not as good for SV brake but if you put HLC spring in a magZ spool it is long bomb happy.

[Freddie]

I guess more washers on top of the spring would prevent the inductor from traveling as far into the magnets. This would maybe limit the amount of max braking when centrifugal forces extend the inductor but have no affect on the end of the cast when the inductor is seated against the spool. The effect would be a spool that maybe feels very fast and prone to backlashes at the beginning and middle of the cast but still feels overbraked at the end of the cast. This is a mod to reduce inductor travel and probably best paired with other mods.

A stiffer spring would push the inductor away from the magnets at higher spool speeds and effectively shorten the duration of time the inductor is fully extended. This produces a spool that is freer at lower spool speeds but unchanged braking with the inductor is fully seated.

An inductor swap can also have radical effects. Things like inductor thickness and length play a part. Exactly how and what shape does what I cant say for certain. Here are my observations on this:

TD Zillion Ray's spool: just your average Ray's long thin and tapered inductor spool but with slightly more capacity for the old TD Zillion platform. Best power finesse pitching spool I have ever used bar none. Butter smooth and controlled pitching with bonkers distance too. Pitching a 3/16 oz finesse jig or 5" senko is unreal. With no effort it shoots those baits off like a dart across the water nice and flat with 16# flouro. Go high on the dial and you can get some pitch skipping in.

IP68/IP79 spools: very thick but very short inductors with stiff springs on a lightweight spool. Oddly they are rather strong braking at the end of the cast despite the short inductor length and stiff spring. This must be due to the thick inductor or IP reels may have stronger magnets.

Zonda spool. This one always felt choked off at the end of the cast despite a short and tapered inductor. I put an HLC spring in and now it's a monster. Its effectively unusable with certain baits given the on/off braking profile but for baits that carry their momentum well like tail weighted topwaters, weight transfer jerkbaits, lipless cranks and 3/8 oz + cranks it is unstoppable. It will literally burn your thumb tip. It can hurt you it is so fast now.

I agree with the washer stacking. For the daiwa gekkabijin they claim to mod the spool to be special with less braking to better casting. Originally I thought they truly did something special until.....20211216_232012.jpg. They basically just stack washer on it. Lol. When you stretch the spring on regular sv, the spring imitate that of a HLC spring now. Low speed it cause more backlash especially for pitching. For long cast it does wonder at ease. I like ray studio. Their brake hub is thinner than stock and ported. I use their 28mm ray studio for 3-5 gram bait versitile long casting. I havent tried zonda or megabass yet. And the HLC spring i find it not as good for SV brake but if you put HLC spring in a magZ spool it is long bomb happy.

True, it appears that they did just add washers but I think they nailed it. Another thing is that the spring is stronger than the AATW Air Brake. In my opinion the shorter travel from the added washers is a plus not a bonus because there is less of a dramatic change of the braking profile mid cast. I am quite impressed with the long distance capabilities of the Gekkabijin compared to the other 28 mm spools. I've owned and used the AATW, both RORO(Standard and Thicken models), and now the Gekkabijin...I've not done conclusive objective tests but I definitely have been impressed with the Gekkabijin. It gives good distance and it is very controlled and predictable...I rarely ever have backlash issues with it even on hard casts. That's the power of a dynamic brake... It is true that I haven't been casting very light lures with the Gekkabijin(<2g) but for the 2g+ lures the performance is very good.

I now own just the RORO's and the Gekkabijin and I've been experimenting with them to see which gives me the best performance for different applications. Currently, the Standard RORO and the Gekkabijin are my favorites and they excel at opposite ends of the spectrum.

[BFSmidwest]

I guess more washers on top of the spring would prevent the inductor from traveling as far into the magnets. This would maybe limit the amount of max braking when centrifugal forces extend the inductor but have no affect on the end of the cast when the inductor is seated against the spool. The effect would be a spool that maybe feels very fast and prone to backlashes at the beginning and middle of the cast but still feels overbraked at the end of the cast. This is a mod to reduce inductor travel and probably best paired with other mods.

A stiffer spring would push the inductor away from the magnets at higher spool speeds and effectively shorten the duration of time the inductor is fully extended. This produces a spool that is freer at lower spool speeds but unchanged braking with the inductor is fully seated.

An inductor swap can also have radical effects. Things like inductor thickness and length play a part. Exactly how and what shape does what I cant say for certain. Here are my observations on this:

TD Zillion Ray's spool: just your average Ray's long thin and tapered inductor spool but with slightly more capacity for the old TD Zillion platform. Best power finesse pitching spool I have ever used bar none. Butter smooth and controlled pitching with bonkers distance too. Pitching a 3/16 oz finesse jig or 5" senko is unreal. With no effort it shoots those baits off like a dart across the water nice and flat with 16# flouro. Go high on the dial and you can get some pitch skipping in.

IP68/IP79 spools: very thick but very short inductors with stiff springs on a lightweight spool. Oddly they are rather strong braking at the end of the cast despite the short inductor length and stiff spring. This must be due to the thick inductor or IP reels may have stronger magnets.

Zonda spool. This one always felt choked off at the end of the cast despite a short and tapered inductor. I put an HLC spring in and now it's a monster. Its effectively unusable with certain baits given the on/off braking profile but for baits that carry their momentum well like tail weighted topwaters, weight transfer jerkbaits, lipless cranks and 3/8 oz + cranks it is unstoppable. It will literally burn your thumb tip. It can hurt you it is so fast now.

I agree with the washer stacking. For the daiwa gekkabijin they claim to mod the spool to be special with less braking to better casting. Originally I thought they truly did something special until.....20211216_232012.jpg. They basically just stack washer on it. Lol. When you stretch the spring on regular sv, the spring imitate that of a HLC spring now. Low speed it cause more backlash especially for pitching. For long cast it does wonder at ease. I like ray studio. Their brake hub is thinner than stock and ported. I use their 28mm ray studio for 3-5 gram bait versitile long casting. I havent tried zonda or megabass yet. And the HLC spring i find it not as good for SV brake but if you put HLC spring in a magZ spool it is long bomb happy.

True, it appears that they did just add washers but I think they nailed it. Another thing is that the spring is stronger than the AATW Air Brake. In my opinion the shorter travel from the added washers is a plus not a bonus because there is less of a dramatic change of the braking profile mid cast. I am quite impressed with the long distance capabilities of the Gekkabijin compared to the other 28 mm spools. I've owned and used the AATW, both RORO(Standard and Thicken models), and now the Gekkabijin...I've not done conclusive objective tests but I definitely have been impressed with the Gekkabijin. It gives good distance and it is very controlled and predictable...I rarely ever have backlash issues with it even on hard casts. That's the power of a dynamic brake... It is true that I haven't been casting very light lures with the Gekkabijin(<2g) but for the 2g+ lures the performance is very good.

I now own just the RORO's and the Gekkabijin and I've been experimenting with them to see which gives me the best performance for different applications. Currently, the Standard RORO and the Gekkabijin are my favorites and they excel at opposite ends of the spectrum.

I believe the roro overall will outcast the gekka just because of sheer lightness. It will perform in the low range while 2grams + the gekka will do fine. I just wish roro would just do a gekkabijin spool with the narrow. Apparently they just use a aatw spool and call it a spool for gekkabijin. Kinda lazy imo.

[jvelth74]

I agree with the washer stacking. For the daiwa gekkabijin they claim to mod the spool to be special with less braking to better casting. Originally I thought they truly did something special until.....20211216_232012.jpg. They basically just stack washer on it. Lol.

Nice finding In my opinion it's OK that Daiwa don't make things too difficultly.

I heard idea of installing washer(s) to spring assembly from a Youtuber named djrmonix: