Some scientifically minded person needs to build a Bifilar Pendulum to measure the moment of inertia of an empty spool and a spool filled with different lines so we can get a definitive answer to the question.  I wonder if you could even measure the difference.

 

Here's how to do it.  You would need a much lighter platform than what's shown in the video to be accurate enough to use on a spool.

 

 

There is some sort of equation to calculate the affect of mass and its location on a rotating object.  It was posted on TT when we were discussing spool weight and why the mass of the long spool shaft spools don't seem to affect the performance as much as the same weight on the spool further out.  TL;DR it was the radius component of the equation and the long stainless spool shafts had a mass with a radius placement on the spool that was effectively zero (its the spool shaft after all).  The inverse of this was that line weight, especially on large diameter spools (greater radius) greatly affected the spool startup/inertia.  

 

http://www.tackletour.net/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=67159&start=480

14 hours ago, Big Hands said:

 

Great question. I have three "BFS" reels for the tiny stuff, which is 1/16th oz and heavier. I have a Curado BFS for stuff just above the three BFS reels I have. I keep reading that this platform is great for throwing lighter (not BFS light) baits, and I have tried it for just about everything. I'd be very pleased with 1/4 oz or heavier AND just trying to find something it does well. If it lent itself well to skipping, that'd be a bonus as it is something I currently have neither the skill nor gear (that I know of) to do that. If it can't compete with a Fuego CT somewhere, I'll just try to find it a new home and move on. It's too nice not to have a purpose.

 

I'd thank this twice if I could.

 

TBH, I will be too, and I intend to do just that. Soon.

That 17 tat is a skipping machine.  Just make it your weightless plastics reel for 5" senkos and above and spool it with 12 to 14 pound flouro.  Go cast and skip plastics, Texas rigs and jigs to docks and low cover.  

19 hours ago, Big Hands said:

 

I am probably using "Temu AI".

 

16 hours ago, F14A-B said:

You should re-weigh that spool empty, I’d be shocked if that reel spool weighs only 7 grams.

 

Turns out it's more or less what I originally thought it would be: 13.5g

2 hours ago, Bigbox99 said:

it was the radius component of the equation and the long stainless spool shafts had a mass with a radius placement on the spool that was effectively zero

The equation is mass times radius squared.  Because the radius is squared it matters much more than the mass.   It’s the same principle that makes skaters spin really fast.  🤣

 

 

1 hour ago, Bigbox99 said:

That 17 tat is a skipping machine.  Just make it your weightless plastics reel for 5" senkos and above and spool it with 12 to 14 pound flouro.  Go cast and skip plastics, Texas rigs and jigs to docks and low cover.  

 

I would be THRILLED to have a combo dedicated to skipping, especially if it's able to rhythmically glide across the surface into the nooks and crannies of natural structure and cover. I was given a 660 yard spool of Sunline Shooter (I know, lucky me) and I've been wanting to find a good use for it.

1 hour ago, Big Hands said:

 

I would be THRILLED to have a combo dedicated to skipping, especially if it's able to rhythmically glide across the surface into the nooks and crannies of natural structure and cover. I was given a 660 yard spool of Sunline Shooter (I know, lucky me) and I've been wanting to find a good use for it.

They skip great.  I'd spool it with some cheap mono to get the hang of it.  You should be able to run it with no spool tension and high on the mag braking.  This is assuming nothing is wrong with the reel.  These early SV spools can shear off the SV ramp base feet that clamp onto the spool allowing the whole SV Air Brake assembly to rotate.  You can test this by turning the spool inductor until it pops out and locks.  If you can continue to rotate the entire assembly while the inductor is extended and locked then its broken.  It will take a little effort to turn the assembly because the assembly has some friction on the spool shaft but it shouldn't be an uncomfortable amount of effort. 

 

If this failure has occurred the symptoms are that the reel will backlash mid cast and turning up the brake to stop that mid cast backlash will also make it over brake at the end of the cast. Basically both backlashing early/midcast AND overbraking at the end.  When removing the spool you may notice the broken ends that sheared off the Air Brake base as two tiny little black plastic bits that fall out.  The fix is to disassemble the Air Brake and then super glue the broken base back on and then reassemble.  Be careful not to contaminate the area the top ramp/inductor side on with super glue.  I recommend super gluing the spool where the Air Brake base will go and then fitting on the base rather than gluing the base and sliding it down the spool shaft.  You can also play around with an inductor or spring swap to change the braking profile since you already have torn apart.  I did this to my stock spool and put a 15 Alphas SV inductor then lost the reel with a BFS spool in it so I never got to use the modified spool but still have it.

Off topic; Regarding skipping something I am not doing anymore do in part to fishing a steep rocky lake with sparse cover. When my late friend who lived at West Lake we skipped under floating docks that had small openings between the floats. In the beginning I tried to hit the small openings a few feet in front with little success. My friend John was very good at skipping and watching him he started the skip cast half way between the boat and dock about 10’ to 15’ away from the docks.

I started to skip the lures in open water to get the start point down. Like a rock you don’t start skipping far way from you, closer works better! After several outings with John my skipping became more natural cast motion. We only skipped unweighted  Senko’s because that was all you needed at West Lake*.

Tom

* West Lake is a man made lake designed with dozens of finger coves that have about 20 docks , 1 for each home.  Hundreds of docks to target with aggressive bass.

18 hours ago, Big Hands said:

I have three "BFS" reels for the tiny stuff, which is 1/16th oz and heavier. I have a Curado BFS for stuff just above the three BFS reels I have. I keep reading that this platform is great for throwing lighter (not BFS light) baits, and I have tried it for just about everything. I'd be very pleased with 1/4 oz or heavier AND just trying to find something it does well. If it can't compete with a Fuego CT somewhere, I'll just try to find it a new home and move on. It's too nice not to have a purpose.

Have you tried spooling it with about 120' of light braid to leader? It'll lighten the spool a bit. More importantly, it'll perform better on its useful lower end. I really don't know why they consider this a BFS reel. MY Alphas 800s spooled up with 120' of braid to leader somehow performs as well with a 12 gram spool while being less touchy, and the ARK BFS spooled with braid to leader smokes it, especially with plastic baits down to 3 grams. It just might be that FTB is not a great system when mated to an unladened 9 gram spool. 

 

Anyway, I wanted to use straight light fluoro or mono on my SLX BFS, but it was simply too tedious with those mainlines. This was also true with the ARK and true BFS baits below 3 grams. #0.8 Varivas braid to leader made it a pleasure.

31 minutes ago, Bigbox99 said:

They skip great.  I'd spool it with some cheap mono to get the hang of it.  You should be able to run it with no spool tension and high on the mag braking. 

X2

The Tat SV (especially the 17 version) aren't distance reels.  You sacrifice distance for the enhanced control.  Hence all the marketing and publicity as a "skipping" reel.  

 

IMO the the standard Tatula is a better overall reel than the SV because it's essentially identical except the spool so you get all the same features without being limited by the SV training wheels.  Plus it's cheaper.  

 

The standard Tatula right out the box is a BOMBER with most baits.  

 

The SV is also ideal for baits like spinnerbaits with a lot of air resistance...

 

It's probably not you, you've got a great reel, just not for bombing long distance.  You should've referred to some actual Angling Intelligence instead of a computer 😂.

3 hours ago, Logan S said:

IMO the the standard Tatula is a better overall reel than the SV because it's essentially identical except the spool so you get all the same features without being limited by the SV training wheels.  Plus it's cheaper. 

 

I already have a 2018 (standard) Tatula, and a Fuego CT. That's how I know the Tatula SV TW is. . . . not like the others.

 

3 hours ago, Logan S said:

You should've referred to some actual Angling Intelligence instead of a computer 😂.

 

I have previously consulted two tackle shops, and several bass angling friends, along with hours of online research and queried the issue(s) with this reel six ways to Sunday and hadn't received the insightful feedback I have here in this thread.

 

3 hours ago, Logan S said:

It's probably not you, you've got a great reel, just not for bombing long distance.  You should've referred to some actual Angling Intelligence instead of a computer 😂.

 

I certainly don't rely solely on any form of AI, but use it as an additional resource. It's far from perfect, but often does lead me to verifiable information and ideas. I will often pose the same query in several ways, especially if I have doubts about the veracity of it's findings.

 

I don't find that it harms me to look at it as a "me problem". In fact, I think it empowers me to use all resources available, to be vulnerable to others knowing I don't know all the answers, and to be cognizant myself of the fact that although I may know a bit about some of this, I certainly don't know everything.

====================

Thanks to all that have responded. I think I have renewed hope that I can develop this visually striking right fielder into a first string shortstop and have a plan in place to do it, which is exactly why I started this thread.

The 17 Tatula SV is easy to skip with.  When the reel came out they did a Project T video that was basically "its so easy to skip, even a woman can do it" as an official promotional video.  

 

 

4 hours ago, Bigbox99 said:

The 17 Tatula SV is easy to skip with.  When the reel came out they did a Project T video that was basically "its so easy to skip, even a woman can do it" as an official promotional video.  

 

 

 

Wow, I think that's what young folks call a "hot take" in the year 2025, LOL.