I'm having trouble dialing in the ACS braking system on my Smoke. I'll be fine for one lure, and then can't make a cast without having to fix a backlash. It doesn't always happen on the lighter lures, either. I throw weightless worms fine, then backlash on a lipless crankbait. It's got me a bit confused. Any advice?

quantums acs braking system can be very touchy. It isn't like shimanos "set it and forget it". I have one quantum reel with the new ACS braking and it took me a few minutes of solid casting of different baits to get it dialed in properly.  I've had the same experience you are having. I've thrown 5/16 oz swim jigs + trailer for 10 minutes or so then all of a sudden there would be an unexplained backlash using the same lure. I set the brakes on the side to one setting tighter than I normally would and just let the lure almost free fall off the spool with just a touch of tension instead of the conventional "lure just being able to stop when it hits the ground". This seemed to do the trick for me. I've read the smoke can be very touchy with brakes at first but after you get the hang of it it supposedly is a great casting reel. There are comments about lots of people just tightening the brake knob a little tighter than usual to fix the issue as well. good luck.

i had fits with mine when i first got it. i have the breaks set higher on it then all my other reels (about halfway) and set the tension knob just a touch tighter then what i set my other ones at. after i got the hang of it , it will really zip a lure out there.

I appreciate the help. I'll give the ideas you guys mentioned a try. Thanks!

On my Smoke 100 I have the ACS set on the first click from free spool, then all I ever adjust is the spool tension aka cast control knob. On my 150 I have it set on the 3rd line, it too stays there and then all my adjustments come from the spool tension aka cast control knob.

Before I was rescued from Quantums, the only setting I tended to use was the 3rd. It slowed down the spool adequately in the last part of the cast, and I simply adjusted the tension knob to fit the lure's weight.