I thought I had read somewhere that the Curado BFS reel is saltwater ready, but I contacted Shimano and they said it’s not.  What other BFS reel options are there for saltwater, if any? 

Alphas Air has a huge fanclub on the Gulf Coast.  

Zillion Silver Wolf.  

This has spool swap to AMO

Even better, buy SLP works Zillion w/o spool and handle, and add your own aftermarket spool and handle.  

29 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

Alphas Air has a huge fanclub on the Gulf Coast.  

Zillion Silver Wolf.  

This has spool swap to AMO

Even better, buy SLP works Zillion w/o spool and handle, and add your own aftermarket spool and handle.  

I bought an Alphas Air TW 5 years ago from Asian Portal. I moved and can’t find the box/specs from that vintage. Any idea if I likely have the correct model for salt?  How would I check to confirm… Thx

Any forged aluminum frame will be suitable.  I would say your Alphas Air TW will work fine.  

There are many Youtubes of folks fishing theirs on the Gulf Coast.  

I have a friend on TKF who bought his a few years ago and fishes it hard.  

 

He just reported a bobble with his clutch, but he also fixed it.  

https://texaskayakfisherman.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=256616

 

I fish my (forged magnesium) Steez part time in salt finesse, mainly dock fishing on a long rod, and don't take it on my kayak.  

My Zillion SV TW w/ Ray's Studio SV spool is fishing into its 4th year in salt kayak without a backlash or a hitch. 

I had an AMO spool bearing rust in Silver Wolf, got it removed, and had a zirconia salt-specific BFS bearing to replace it.  

The big upgrade on SLP Works Zillion is the clutch.  

I've fished a few of my curados in saltwater for the last ~3yrs and somewhat regularly, maybe 30-40 days per year. It's a must to take good care of it to prevent any issues. At the end of the day I cut all my lures off, mist my reel in every direction all while reeling to keep the spool spinning and engage thumb bar etc. Then remove the spool from the reel and mist it, dry it, then wipe it down with clenzoil and leave it to dry overnight. I also wipe my reel down everywhere with clenzoil as well, including the spool chamber. Once I started doing this, I didn't have any issues with fishing them in saltwater. I had one reel that acted up on me a few years ago when I wasn't taking the proper steps to care for it. If you do these things, it should be fine.