Conquest BFS 2023

[ras]

Out of curiosity: would replacing stock spool and brakes in 21 Conquest 100 with Avail shallow spool and microcast brakes allow the reel to cast lures in 4-5 g range? If yes, how would it compare with Conquest BFS?

[reason162]

cast with my right hand and retrieve Bait casters with the right hand, retrieve spinning gear with my left hand. Currently, retrieving a bait caster with my left hand feels extremely awkward. but retrieving spinning gear with the left feels normal.

I will never, ever understand this - I do everything right handed, including retrieving both baitcasting AND spinning

Why would there be a difference? There must be since most people do the switcheroo when it comes to spinning reels!

[LowRange]

cast with my right hand and retrieve Bait casters with the right hand, retrieve spinning gear with my left hand. Currently, retrieving a bait caster with my left hand feels extremely awkward. but retrieving spinning gear with the left feels normal.

I will never, ever understand this - I do everything right handed, including retrieving both baitcasting AND spinning

Why would there be a difference? There must be since most people do the switcheroo when it comes to spinning reels!

Its because there is no changing of hands with spinning reels. You reel in the same position you had just cast the reel in. With baitcast reels you typically use a different grip between casting and palming the reel. This switcheroo of grips encourages hand swapping so you can reel right handed. I use both and all my cranking retrieves are done with right hand reels. I use my leftys for slack line recovery techniques where the rod is the primary mover. I have one lefty reel I use to just crank with and I hate how awkward it is.

[LowRange]

Maybe this is the time for me to learn left hand retrieve, so I can get my paws on one early.

Anyone else make the switch after right hand retrieving your whole life? How did it go?

Are you right handed in general? Do you cast with right?

For me, baitcasting reels are either or. Spinning reels...they just gross me out when retrieved with the right hand. I think it is a combination of not enough time with them and, spinning reels never necessitate the singular use of LH/RH.

I write with my left hand, play all sports with my right hand hand, cast with my right hand and retrieve Bait casters with the right hand, retrieve spinning gear with my left hand. Currently, retrieving a bait caster with my left hand feels extremely awkward. but retrieving spinning gear with the left feels normal. I don't understand it. Like you said, just maybe more practice.

I had the same issue. Basically you trained your left hand for a spinning reel. Spinning reels have a different cranking dynamic to then then a baitcaster. If you ever watch yourself you'll notice that when using a spinning reel there is a forearm and wrist motion that work together to make a fluid rotation of the spinning reel handle. This is likely due to the position of the reel suspended below the rod.

With a baitcast reel you'll notice that your forearm and elbow is locked to your side and only the wrist makes the rotation of the handle likely due to the placement of the reel on top of the rod. If you had trained your left hand to use the forearm and wrist to turn a left handed spinning reel then the transition to a baitcast reel will have you only relying on a portion of the muscle memory and muscle memory is wrong for the task. I found I was making an oval shape with my wrist while making a circle with my forearm. Once the forearm was locked with a baitcast reel the oval wrist rotations made for a jerky start and stop retrieve with LH baitcast reels.

I basically had to get a LH reel and play with it like a fidget spinner to retrain. I also made sure to train my palming grip with a split grip or semi-palming grip that leaves two fingers behind the trigger instead of just one like normal. I wanted train myself to be able to target cast while palming the reel with this grip because if you are changing grips after the cast then that defeats the purpose of a LH reel. Just change hands then.

So far it has gone well. RH reel and one finger behind the trigger palming for all my moving bait stuff moving my hand down the rod in a normal casting grip to bomb cast then switching to palming. LH reel with two fingers behind the trigger in a casting while palming grip for close up jigging and worming work.

My once exception is kayak use. I have to use RH for the following reasons:

I need to control the fish with my left hand and use my right hand to lip land. I need to be holding the rod with my left hand palming the reel ready to hit the clutch and pay out line under thumb pressure if that fish dives under the kayak.

I cast from right to left when seated in a kayak and the prevailing winds typically blow me to my left on the lakes I fish. If I use a LH reel the rod is in the right hand pointed at the bait. I want the rod tip perpendicular to the line and bait when kayak fishing. I want the tip to load rather than tug through the guides to the spool. It really awkward like I have to hold the rod out in front of me and turn my body weird when in the kayak. This is a weird one that will require retraining how I fish to make LH reels work in the kayak

[reason162]

Its because there is no changing of hands with spinning reels. You reel in the same position you had just cast the reel in.

But the act of rod manipulation and turning the reel handle is the same regardless if you're using spinning or casting gear. I can't work the rod tip with my right hand, and I can't reel with my left hand - not comfortably anyway, and I swap hands after casting for both (yes I cast with my right hand).

I think it comes down to levels of ambidexterity - everyone probably falls on a continuum while I have 0% lol.

[LowRange]

Its because there is no changing of hands with spinning reels. You reel in the same position you had just cast the reel in.

But the act of rod manipulation and turning the reel handle is the same regardless if you're using spinning or casting gear. I can't work the rod tip with my right hand, and I can't reel with my left hand - not comfortably anyway, and I swap hands after casting for both (yes I cast with my right hand).

I think it comes down to levels of ambidexterity - everyone probably falls on a continuum while I have 0% lol.

I think we all start out at zero and just trained ourselves over time. With US anglers I think the preference for RH baitcast came from using spincasting reels where you had to switch hands after the cast unless you could cast left handed. That switching of casting right to reeling right I think carried over into baitcast reels. This ingrained into generarions of US anglers when we were just kids. I think this is also why it is not as prevelant outside of the US and with younger generations. Spincast reels aren't as prevalent as they used to be and a lot of anglers make the leap to LH spinning reels as their 1st fishing reels instead of Zebo 202s.

[Aquaftm45]

I basically had to get a LH reel and play with it like a fidget spinner to retrain.

This seems like a really good idea.

I like your explanation of the mechanics of what might be happening. Although I would have to put some things in hand to see if the same applies to me. Thinking about it, I can't remember even trying to use a left hand BC. Maybe when I was young and walking around a fishing store, but I don't rememeber. I have tried casting with my left hand and that was a complete shed show.

[DirtyD64]

I will be waiting for the right hand version. Every single person I fish with is right handed. They all cast with the right hand/arm, then hand the reel to palm it in their left and start reeling with the right hand. I am left handed, cast with my left, then reel with my right. So much faster and feels way better for flipping and roll casting (any short techniques really where you need to engage fast). Regardless, I need to build up my fishing fund, even though I have enough for this Conquest.

Did we for sure confirm brass gears on the new Conquest BFS? Wonder if they will switch into the Aldebaran. I kinda feel bad for the Aldebaran. Still a black sheep in the Shimano lineup. They could have made another ugly reel where it wouldn't be lonely...

[City17Banner]

I will be waiting for the right hand version. Every single person I fish with is right handed. They all cast with the right hand/arm, then hand the reel to palm it in their left and start reeling with the right hand. I am left handed, cast with my left, then reel with my right. So much faster and feels way better for flipping and roll casting (any short techniques really where you need to engage fast). Regardless, I need to build up my fishing fund, even though I have enough for this Conquest.

Did we for sure confirm brass gears on the new Conquest BFS? Wonder if they will switch into the Aldebaran. I kinda feel bad for the Aldebaran. Still a black sheep in the Shimano lineup. They could have made another ugly reel where it wouldn't be lonely...

I too will be waiting for the right-hand version in April. As LowRange alluded to, I initially learned how to fish using a Zebco 202 spincast reel and from there I progressed to an ABU Ambassador 4600 then a 5500 for muskie fishing long before I became interested in smallmouth bass fishing with bass casting gear. The cast with right hand/arm, then swapping over to palm with the left hand is how everyone in my extended family has fished for generations and it's the way I learned how to fish.

I don't know that we can ever be definitive about anything these days, but the official Shimano Conquest BFS certainly seems to indicate that it is using the same frame as the existing 2020 Conquest 100 DC model with the silver metallic finish and has brass micro-module gears along with an entire host of other marketing speak regarding features for the new 2023 model. Please review the product page at your leisure.

Shimano Conquest BFS Product Page: https://fish.shimano.com/ja-JP/product/ ... sxqa0.html

[Hobie-Wan Kenobi]

Of people getting the 2023 Conquest BFS, do you plan to bass fish or go trout fishing with it?

[John2204]

I will use it for bass fishing as well as inshore for redfish, looking forward to it

[tincanary]

I'm still on the fence whether to buy one or not. As it stands now, it doesn't do anything that I usually do with my '17 model. Additionally, I'm not one that's overly concerned about retrieval speed, pretty much a non issue to me. If I do, I'll wait a year or two for the price to drop, that early adapter tax can get expensive. I'm sure somebody will have a Christmas sale later in the year.

[John G]

Out of curiosity: would replacing stock spool and brakes in 21 Conquest 100 with Avail shallow spool and microcast brakes allow the reel to cast lures in 4-5 g range? If yes, how would it compare with Conquest BFS?

Since no one is willing to answer your question, I'll give it a shot. Keep in mind I have absolutely no experience with either of the reels that you are talking about but I do have a lot of experience with BFS spools from Avail. My educated guess is that yes, a BFS spool from Avail will help the 21 Conquest 100 cast lighter weight lures. Keep in mind, I said that I have no experience with this reel so I don't even know if it has a problem casting those weights now. I went to Hedgehog's website and I checked out the spool that you mentioned and I do not think you are going to be able to go as low as the new or the old Conquest BFS. I do have a new 22 Aldebaran BFS and I personally don't think that your 21 Conquest is going to match the performance of it's spool and magnetic braking system. I will also like to add that I am a big proponent of shallow spools in general just for the line capacity alone. My 07 Metanium has a Yumeya shallow spool and I'm pretty sure I'm using 16 pound Sniper FC on it. I also have shallow Yumeya spools on one of my 09 Aldebarans, a 13 Met and my 18 Bantam and that is strictly for line capacity purposes because I don't like wasting line and seeing as though I fish freshwater in Florida for largemouth bass for the most part, I don't need a lot of line capacity.

[2por]

Can someone explain the hype for the Conquest BFS reels? From what I understand, the gear, drag, level wind, and break systems are basically the same as the current low-profile reel designs. The only difference I see, really, is the frame shape and material.

In contrast, the older Abu round reels I’ve seen on some of the Japanese stream fishing videos seem to function differently, specifically the level wind moving as the line feeds out on a cast and the way spool gets put into free spool. I’d imagine the breaks and drag function differently as well.

I didn’t grow up fishing round reels so pardon the ignorance. Just going by what videos I see. Is the hype on round reels just due to the old aesthetics?

[ras]

Out of curiosity: would replacing stock spool and brakes in 21 Conquest 100 with Avail shallow spool and microcast brakes allow the reel to cast lures in 4-5 g range? If yes, how would it compare with Conquest BFS?

Since no one is willing to answer your question, I'll give it a shot. Keep in mind I have absolutely no experience with either of the reels that you are talking about but I do have a lot of experience with BFS spools from Avail. My educated guess is that yes, a BFS spool from Avail will help the 21 Conquest 100 cast lighter weight lures. Keep in mind, I said that I have no experience with this reel so I don't even know if it has a problem casting those weights now. I went to Hedgehog's website and I checked out the spool that you mentioned and I do not think you are going to be able to go as low as the new or the old Conquest BFS. I do have a new 22 Aldebaran BFS and I personally don't think that your 21 Conquest is going to match the performance of it's spool and magnetic braking system. I will also like to add that I am a big proponent of shallow spools in general just for the line capacity alone. My 07 Metanium has a Yumeya shallow spool and I'm pretty sure I'm using 16 pound Sniper FC on it. I also have shallow Yumeya spools on one of my 09 Aldebarans, a 13 Met and my 18 Bantam and that is strictly for line capacity purposes because I don't like wasting line and seeing as though I fish freshwater in Florida for largemouth bass for the most part, I don't need a lot of line capacity.

Thanks for the reply. Does it take into account that Avail makes magnetic Microcast brakes for 21 Conquest? I'm curios about performance with those brakes installed.