Bigbox99

Here is the tiny vintage style round reel I bought next to an Alphas platform reel. Its the same reel as the Bass Pro Crappie Maxx. I have ordered a BFS spool and mag brake kit for it just to see what it is like to turn a crappie reel into a reel that can actually cast crappie baits

What is the smallest? I bought a tiny vintage style round reel recently and this got me thinking. What is the smallest baitcast reel? As often as people complain about reels being too big there must be some tiny offerings out there. I found this cheap reel, the Elf 2.0 branded as Cadence on ali. Just look at it next to an Alphas platform reel. Its microscopic. Could you even use a reel this small?

Rod 1 with reel 2 Rod 2 with reel 3 Rod 3 with reel 1 The centrifugal brakes of the Curado pair well with long bomb casts with braid and pair poorly to heavy stiff fluorocarbon unless you run a bunch of spool tension to slow the spool down. Because of that pair it with the frog rod and braid. 7:1 is fine for frogs. The Tatula will handle stiff fluorocarbon well with the t wing and magnetic brake so I would pair that with heavy flouro on a jig rod. 8:1 is plenty fast for bottom contact The Tatula SV skips well and is obviously paired to the skipping rod.

Both should be great but keep in mind that the Salamdura is a 34mm spool platform and the Tatula 150 (the new one) is a 38mm platform so it will palm a little taller than the Salamandura.

Also, with the expiration of the Shimano DC patent there is a flood of DC reels on the China market that will make their way to the US market. I would expect a DC Ark reel soon since Haibo has the Arise Cyber Z ( DC reel). There are already $50 DC kits to convert a Black Max 3 and there is a $40 plastic DC reel for sale. Goes to show how low the floor is to make a DC module. Expect a flood of DC reels on TW soon.

They have had DC reels for a little while. The only feedback I have seen says that their DC system comes with an app and beeps when cycling through the modes. There are a number of videos on YouTube of their round reel with the DC system. https://www.loongzefishing.com/product/loongze-fishing-reel.html

Lmao it sounds like caracal kitten. It that noise from the level wind synchro gears? https://youtu.be/xQ49jtlz_3I?si=zyZbG8FPqCct1Pt3

Leave the spools in the reels and swap side plates. It's possible one side plate is over oiled on the centrifugal brake race or is missing magnets or the magnet assembly is broken or incorrectly assembled.

No, grip material is preference. Also the "exposed blank" in the reel seat and handle is often fake on many rods. Some fake it by having the exposed area be a tube that the blank fits into and the blank is either glued in place or removable with a 2pc rod that joins at the handle. With these rods the "exposed blank" at the reel seat and split grip being a part of the handle construction and not actually the blank. The other way to fake it is like the Daiwa rods that just shape the reel seel with an area that looks like an exposed blank..

They're not out yet. 12/2025 and 2026 are the release dates

It's normal. You're going to get some more noise from removing the factory higher viscous oil and adding a light bearing oil. I usually don't recommend people do this because some people have a really adverse reaction to the noise and don't realize until it is too late. I grew up bombing centrifugal reels from the bank with little to no spool tension so I am used to the hum and vibration produced by bearings and centrifugal brakes as normal but some people expect a silent cast as normal. You just have to know your preferences. You can always go back to stock bearings or something similar.

Maybe these prices will come back once the tariff situation settles down. I already have an 80 but would like to grab a $100 100. At one point the 80 was $89 but I don't have a pic.

You used to be able to buy the Daiwa China Tatula 80 for $95 free shipping but now they are $120 plus $15 shipping. Buying reels from Daiwa China on Aliexpress was like a cheat code but that is over for now with the price increases.

Agree. It's a nice nod to the 1st gen Steez rods.

There is also a new JDM AGS Steez. https://www.daiwa.com/jp/product/ytqhwrs

A stock Black Max 3 spool weighs nearly 18 grams. I know you can cast 1/8 oz just fine with the stock spool but my idea of "just fine" is probably your idea of really good. The 1/8 oz tiny trap is one of my favorite pond hard baits and something I throw with this reel a lot. Spending $5 to $30 for one of these spools would greatly benefit the Black Max 3's ability to cast baits below 1/4 oz. The BFS spool weighs half as much as the stock spool. I added cheap micro spool bearings but you can just cut the goop that is in the stock bearings with some bearing oil to free them up. Also, that's a 2pc Black Max UL casting rod from the Abu Garcia China market. The spool, bearings, rod carbon handle and black/red spool tension knob were all purchased from Aliexpress a number of years ago.

You're going to need a reel cable of casting that light of a bait. Your cheapest option would be to get a BFS spool for your black max. Ebay wants $30 for them but there is one seller selling them for cheaper. They're all Aliexpress stuff bought and sold at high markup on Ebay. You could just buy from Aliexpress and save $10 but you do you. I was an early adopter of this spool over 5 years ago and have one in a BM3 for UL baits. It will handle a #5 Shadrap with ease.

That's probably because you learned with a left hand reel. Left hand reels allow the angler to develop the habit of casting and retrieving in a semi-palming grip. This isn't inherently bad and does have some advantages when pitching and flipping. I use both right and left hand reels and trained myself with my lefties to use a two finger in front of the trigger grip for flipping and short target casts. Right hand reels force you into having seperate casting and palming grip positions since you have to change hands to transition between the two. This is good skill to learn, even with a left hand reel, because it let's you have a casting grip that frees up wrist movement and have a palming grip that moves your hand closer to the center of mass of the rod and reel for balance. When long casting there is more than sufficient bait flight time to switch hands with a right hand or move the left hand up into a 3 finger in front of the trigger palming grip. There is a topic on this here: https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/267975-casting-mechanics/#comment-3184506

Found this on Aliexpress. It's a DC conversion kit for the max 4 reels. It looks like it replaces the magnet assembly and spool. The DC patent has expired and there have been DC Aliexpress reels for a few years now but this conversion kit is new. Any takers? It's around $50.

Just buy a pre twing reel like an old Zillion, Alphas, Steez or TD-Z.

The handles are short and the powers felt soft. They could make decent kayak rods.

Some Shimanos like the Sahara had an issue where the bushings would swell when wet and stiffen or even lockup the reel. I don't believe this issue still exists on any of their current offerings but i could be wrong.

Doyo also have chinease production lines. My 2012 Pro Qualifier came from a Doyo china based production line while my JM Signature series, based on the same platform, came from Korea. You'll see it with BPS. Lewss and Abu reels.

Bass guys use them. I like old Megabass rods and Ito has a thing for spiral wrapped guides on long heavy and extra heavy rods so I somehow have 4 Megabass rods with that guide wrap. The Seven Eleven 711X4, Destroyer 711 Fast Shooting Model, Destroyer Huge Contact Super Destruction and the Valkyrie 76 XXH. I'm not sure the wrap does a whole lot but it maybe reduces tip wrap with braid when pitching and flipping.

How big is the main gear on that? Cal complained of a lack of winding power on the 4600 review due to the miniscule main gear. Ryogas and Conquest use a large maingear in an offset gear box to get their effortless cranking power and high speed ratio options. Visually, think the gear box of the Ryoga looks sharp and is one of my favorite features of the reel. It is part of what makes the Ryoga look modern to me. Also, where are you getting that 40% increase in drage number? Comparing 1st and 2nd gen Ryogas to their low profile Steez and Zillion counterparts I see that they have the same drag numbers. If anything, it's the large main gear and offset gear box (like a low profile reel) of the Ryoga that allows for those numbers. https://www.tackletour.com/reviewabuambc3401.html