I’ve been fishing Daiwa Fuego and Exceler spinning reels for a few years now and love the design. Thought I’d get another one for a crappie rod. I knew they had updated the designs some but I’m seeing the new ones don’t have the air bail anymore. They’ve gone back to a wire. This seems like going backwards. Why would they do this? My $40 Pflueger has a wire bail. I would think at $110 for a Fuego it would have something nicer. I love the air bails on my older models. Looks like Sheel’s and Bass Pro Shops housebranded Daiwas still have it so I guess I’ll look at them. 

Daiwa gives an explanation here. 

 

https://daiwa.us/products/23-fuego-lt

 

 

Thanks! That’s the answer I needed, and also didn’t need. Cause now, not only do I still need a crappie reel, but now after reading that I also need to sell my current bass fishing Daiwas and upgrade to the new ones, LOL! 😂 They said that change also helps make the handle easier to turn. It’s hard to imagine reels being any freer and smoother than the ones I have now though. Just this morning I was playing with them and noticing how slick they felt.

I think Daiwa makes a great reel, but IMO Shimano has better feeling bail, in terms of crisp articulation.  

I haven’t tried a Shimano in years. Had a Sedona and a Symetre once and thought they were really nice. I need to check out some of the new models. 

Thats Daiwa US.  Don't believe anything they say.  They aren't real Daiwa.  They get whatever Daiwa Japan says they can have and they make up their own sales jargon without any real understanding of what was done and why.  Their hot take on Zaion being totally not plastic with carbon in it and actually carbon fiber is in direct opposition to what real Daiwa has been saying for over 10 years.  This is not to mention the time they got the description of Magforce Z completely backwards or when they stated that the 20 Tatula CT had Magforce (it has Magforce Z).  The changes where almost certainly made to save costs and/or move the Air Bail into an exclusive of their high end platforms.  Daiwa Japan mentions Air Bail as part of their Air Drive Concept so its probably the latter.  This may sound egregious but they have done things like this in the past.  We are only now getting back to aluminum frame, handle side plate and set plate with the Armed Housing Concept.  Something that you used to just get on bog standard Daiwas 20 years ago.  It's not just Daiwa.  A lot of this has been going on over the years with the removal of features sold to you as a new and improved.  

3 hours ago, Bigbox99 said:

Thats Daiwa US.  Don't believe anything they say.  They aren't real Daiwa.  They get whatever Daiwa Japan says they can have and they make up their own sales jargon without any real understanding of what was done and why.  Their hot take on Zaion being totally not plastic with carbon in it and actually carbon fiber is in direct opposition to what real Daiwa has been saying for over 10 years.  This is not to mention the time they got the description of Magforce Z completely backwards or when they stated that the 20 Tatula CT had Magforce (it has Magforce Z).  The changes where almost certainly made to save costs and/or move the Air Bail into an exclusive of their high end platforms.  Daiwa Japan mentions Air Bail as part of their Air Drive Concept so its probably the latter.  This may sound egregious but they have done things like this in the past.  We are only now getting back to aluminum frame, handle side plate and set plate with the Armed Housing Concept.  Something that you used to just get on bog standard Daiwas 20 years ago.  It's not just Daiwa.  A lot of this has been going on over the years with the removal of features sold to you as a new and improved.  

 A lot of this is truth - look at their Tatula Spinning reels now - the newer MQ are heavier than the former LT. They moved some features to more expensive lines and they also removed the anti-reverse switch. 

 

 

On 3/4/2025 at 3:04 PM, Bigbox99 said:

Thats Daiwa US.  Don't believe anything they say.  They aren't real Daiwa.  They get whatever Daiwa Japan says they can have and they make up their own sales jargon without any real understanding of what was done and why.  Their hot take on Zaion being totally not plastic with carbon in it and actually carbon fiber is in direct opposition to what real Daiwa has been saying for over 10 years.  This is not to mention the time they got the description of Magforce Z completely backwards or when they stated that the 20 Tatula CT had Magforce (it has Magforce Z).  The changes where almost certainly made to save costs and/or move the Air Bail into an exclusive of their high end platforms.  Daiwa Japan mentions Air Bail as part of their Air Drive Concept so its probably the latter.  This may sound egregious but they have done things like this in the past.  We are only now getting back to aluminum frame, handle side plate and set plate with the Armed Housing Concept.  Something that you used to just get on bog standard Daiwas 20 years ago.  It's not just Daiwa.  A lot of this has been going on over the years with the removal of features sold to you as a new and improved.  

I looked at this a little closer and my opinion has changed. Normally I don’t even glance at reels above my price range, but I did this time just to see what they had. I read Daiwa’s explanation of why they removed the air bail and went with the wire on the under $100 reels. Seemed to make sense, but then why leave it in place on the reels above that price, all the way up to $900 reels? It seems a $100 reel would now have the advantage, and this makes no sense at all. So I guess I just have to wade through the crap marketing hype and look at each reel individually and decide if it’s right for me or not. Currently I’ve found an under $40 Lew’s Laser SG reel that is actually more desirable to me than the current $100 Fuego. It weighs more, but it seems well built, and it doesn’t weigh any more than other similarly sized reels so it’s not heavy for its class. Daiwa is just lighter than others in that class, which isn’t always a good thing to me since rod balance beats overall weight reduction every time.
 

Curiously the $40 Laser SG has a sealed drag just like the $100 Fuego does, while other lower priced Daiwa’s that are still a lot higher than the Lew’s do not. That’s what I mean by examining each reel individually. The sealed drag means nothing to me one way or another. I just found it interesting that it was a selling feature when I bought my Daiwas 4 years ago, to pull people up to the Fuego over the Exceler (clerk in the Cabela’s store tried that on me anyway) when a reel less than half that price now also has the same thing. 

 

I’m not saying the Daiwa reels aren’t good. But previously I wouldn’t have considered anything else. My first response here shows that. I was ready to just swap over to the newer design. But thinking on it a bit and realizing the explanation of the changes sounded like a pile of manure when wondering why they didn’t do the same thing for the more expensive models caused me to see it for what it is. A straight lie. 

I just recently bought a BPS Johnny Morris Platinum spinning reel in the 2000 size and it has the thin nail wire and while I haven’t fished it yet I will say the salesman at BPS said it’s a different colored Fuego which made me happy enough and if it lasts 1/2 as long as my Daiwa Hard bodyz Laguna 1500 which is still going strong I’ll be thrilled.

They may have changed the bail on the newer Legalis based reels but I think they added something to make you forget about it.  When the new gen JDM Legalis came out, I watched I_fish's videos on it and I noticed a really distinct click when opening and closing the bail.  I kind of liked it in the videos, but thought it would probably sound different in real life.  But actually, it sounds just as good in real life.  When I open and close the bail on my JDM legalis, it has such a satisfying click.  My new gen Exceler also has the same click.  I lucked out around my bday and was able to pick up an Exceler for the same price as the JDM Legalis from MidwayUSA.  I would like the air bail on these reels, but I'm fine with just the upgraded click.  

Still don't know what an air bail is. 

1 hour ago, Alex from GA said:

Still don't know what an air bail is. 

I believe its a hollow tubular bail as apposed to a solid wire bail. 

Thanks.

I actually like the air bail design over the thin wire.

Kinda wish Shimano used it. But oh well.... Love my

Stradics.