Finesse/BFS reel for distance casting?

[dragon1]

Yeppers...when your oldest leaves for college and his room and presence that was always in your household is not there daily...

Well...the cat's in the cradle...

[Freddie]

Gekkabijin!! For 2-5 gram baits it is is going to be very difficult to find something that casts farther. I use light braid(8#) >FG> to a 25’ Tatsu 6# leader with excellent success. Wrecked the smallmouth on the river today including a 3.3# on a Zman Tubez+1/24 oz jighead. What a fight! Casting is very consistent and trouble free. I’m able to cast slightly farther than with my Zillion+Roro spool

[dragon1]

Gekkabijin!! For 2-5 gram baits it is is going to be very difficult to find something that casts farther. I use light braid(8#) >FG> to a 25’ Tatsu 6# leader with excellent success. Wrecked the smallmouth on the river today including a 3.3# on a Zman Tubez+1/24 oz jighead. What a fight! Casting is very consistent and trouble free. I’m able to cast slightly farther than with my Zillion+Roro spool

FWIW, I'll be adding a Ray's BFS deep spool to my Gekkabijin and then run 40 lb YGK X8 Upgrade on a Jackall Poison Adrena 7'0" Heavy Swimbait for 1/2-1 oz topwaters and other low resistance moving baits. I should have about 80-90 yards of line.

[Hogsticker2]

Gekkabijin!! For 2-5 gram baits it is is going to be very difficult to find something that casts farther. I use light braid(8#) >FG> to a 25’ Tatsu 6# leader with excellent success. Wrecked the smallmouth on the river today including a 3.3# on a Zman Tubez+1/24 oz jighead. What a fight! Casting is very consistent and trouble free. I’m able to cast slightly farther than with my Zillion+Roro spool

FWIW, I'll be adding a Ray's BFS deep spool to my Gekkabijin and then run 40 lb YGK X8 Upgrade on a Jackall Poison Adrena 7'0" Heavy Swimbait for 1/2-1 oz topwaters and other low resistance moving baits. I should have about 80-90 yards of line.

Is the Ray's deep spool you're referring to the one mentioned earlier in this thread?

[Hogsticker2]

FWIW, I ordered another Roro spool for my old Steez. After using the 1st spool for a few weeks, I liked it. I mostly use 3/8oz to 3/4oz baits, so I really don't need BFS spools, but I have 6 or 7 Steez reels that are 12 to 15 years old. It's about time to get some new spools. The lightest bait I've used is 1/8oz wacky jighead with Flick Shake, and the old Steez with the Roro spool (20lbs braid with 13lbs leader) casts "almost" as good as my old PX68 with 8lbs copoly. I feel more comfortable using 20lbs braid + 13lbs leader than 8lbs copoly, so the slight disadvantage isn't a big deal so far. Heck, I don't feel safe with 13lbs copoly, because of many little sticks in the water. I wish I could use thinner lines, especially this year, the water is clearer than normal. But, I just hate line breaks, especially when I hook a bigger bass.

Oh, I remember a funny thing that happened to me. One day in April, I caught only a couple of fish. It was tough, so I tied the Flick Shake with 1/8oz wacky head. I got a bite in the first cast, and I knew it was 6 or 7lbs, when I set the hook. After 10 seconds or so, I knew it wasn't a bass, but it's a big fish. It was a 8lbs copoly (PX68 reel). I was afraid of breaking the line, and I felt the fish and my line came through some sticks, which made me nervous. It was very exciting (big fish, thin line and sticks...), even though I knew it wasn't a bass. After about 2min, I finally landed it, and it was a 7lbs carp. I have caught crappie, catfish, trout and cutthroat by accident, but never a carp. It looked ugly, and I don't want to catch another one, but I have to admit it was exciting. About 20 years ago, I had to go finesse (not really finesse by today's standard) with a spinning reel, which I don't normally use, with 6lbs line, because I fished pond in a park in a city, where 1 million people live. The carp reminded me of catching 4 ~ 5lbs bass with the 6lbs line. At least, the pond didn't have sticks, but it still made me nervous and excited. Actually, the pond in the park was fairly big, and 10+ lbs bass lived there, but the fishing pressure was so high that I had to go finesse. I fished there 6 days a week for about 1yr. There were a few kids fishing there, probably about 14yrs old. I got to know them, just because I met them many times. I just thought about those kids, and realized that they're 30+ years old now. Man, speaking of getting old.

Which Roro spool are you running?

[dragon1]

Gekkabijin!! For 2-5 gram baits it is is going to be very difficult to find something that casts farther. I use light braid(8#) >FG> to a 25’ Tatsu 6# leader with excellent success. Wrecked the smallmouth on the river today including a 3.3# on a Zman Tubez+1/24 oz jighead. What a fight! Casting is very consistent and trouble free. I’m able to cast slightly farther than with my Zillion+Roro spool

FWIW, I'll be adding a Ray's BFS deep spool to my Gekkabijin and then run 40 lb YGK X8 Upgrade on a Jackall Poison Adrena 7'0" Heavy Swimbait for 1/2-1 oz topwaters and other low resistance moving baits. I should have about 80-90 yards of line.

Is the Ray's deep spool you're referring to the one mentioned earlier in this thread?

Yes it is

[MK49]

Which Roro spool are you running?

This one.

https://rorolure.com/collections/daiwa/ ... g-reel-x27

[Hogsticker2]

Which Roro spool are you running?

This one.

https://rorolure.com/collections/daiwa/ ... g-reel-x27

Have you tried using fluoro with it by any chance?

[MK49]

Which Roro spool are you running?

This one.

https://rorolure.com/collections/daiwa/ ... g-reel-x27

Have you tried using fluoro with it by any chance?

Sorry, but no. Being mostly a topwater guy, I've never used fluoro line in my life. For this roro spool, I've used only braided line with mono leader.

[MK49]

OK, I got a new BFS spool for my old Daiwa PX68. Ordered on eBay from a seller in Ukraine. It took about 3 weeks. Fished twice, and I'm fairly impressed. For what I do (I don't use super light lures), it's probably cast a little further than my Gekkabijin with the stock spool. The spool weighs about the same as the Gekkabijin's stock spool, but it holds a little more line. I'm quite happy with the spool.

[dragon1]

I received a Ray's BFS SV deep spool for my Gekkabijin this past Monday and have put it to the test a couple of times.

This past Tuesday I was casting a 3/4 oz OG Yozuri Sashimi lipless on a custom Vinnie built Lamiglas Infinity 873 (7'3" MH XFast) with 40lb YGK X8 Upgrade main line + 10lb Polyflex leader. I was able to make long consistent casts with the brake at 9-10 for hours and into some windy conditions as well on Old Hickory. I also managed to get into eight bass and a few skipjack, the biggest bass was 16.5" and about 2.25 lbs. This Gekkabijin and spool didn't skip a beat, had plenty of power and was extremely smooth...and long casts were had with just an easy flick of rod sidearm or overhand.

I also tossed 1/4 oz shallow cranks, 1/8 oz Beetle Spins, 1/4 oz Binsky blade baits, and 1/3 topwaters, all with ease, on this custom 873. And to note, this rod has an exceptional and special tip and top portion that allows for tossing 1/8 oz up to 1 oz without any issues, however it is nowhere near a BFS or mag-finesse rod.

The best thing is that even with the long 45-55+ yard casts with the 3/4 lipless, I still had several yards of mono backing left on the Ray's BFS deep spool.

Just wanted to leave some input for those that want to get more mileage from their Gekkabijin and other Daiwa BFS reels that have this same sized spool.

[MK49]

I received a Ray's BFS SV deep spool for my Gekkabijin this past Monday and have put it to the test a couple of times.

I have a feeling eventually, I'll buy the deep spool. Thanks for the info.

[dragon1]

I received a Ray's BFS SV deep spool for my Gekkabijin this past Monday and have put it to the test a couple of times.

I have a feeling eventually, I'll buy the deep spool. Thanks for the info.

I put it off for several months, placing ISO/WTB ads on a few sites, but no dice. Then it took roughly three weeks to arrive from whence it came...

Should have done it sooner then I would have had more time to use it. FWIW, this Gekkabijin/spool combo reminds me of the USDM Pixy Type R with more speed, better casting and drag, and more/smoother cranking power.

[MK49]

Should have done it sooner then I would have had more time to use it. FWIW, this Gekkabijin/spool combo reminds me of the USDM Pixy Type R with more speed, better casting and drag, and more/smoother cranking power.

Yeah, I think I know what you're saying. Gekkahabijin definitely has, how do I describe?, more sophisticated, refined fee; than my 15 years old PX68. So far, I haven't broken 8lbs braided line, but broken 13lbs leader that's tied to the braid. I feel more comfortable using a bit heavier line. I don't think I would use 3/4oz baits like you do with your Gekkabijin, but I would definitely like to use at least 15lbs braid with it.

[dragon1]

Also, "15 lb braid" is a broad statement. The 40lb YGK X8 UPGRADE is as thin or thinner than many other 20 lb braid out there and holds excellent body and form for casting. The SS112 is even more consistent body form and also casts great and is slick, but it is not quiet through the guides as the X8 Upgrade.

I may eventually go with 30lb X8 Upgrade, but with this spool and the performance/strength of a braid like X8 Upgrade in 30-40, I can snap off "10-14lb rated" leaders, that usually break well above their ratings. Also, too thin a diameter braid is best served IMO on a proper spinning setup. I really believe that baitcasters, even the "BFS" models, perform best with a braid that holds a more uniform and consistent body (read as not totally limp), in order to perform best overall.