TackleTour

2013 Bait-the-Finesse Finale : Shimano Aldebaran BFS



Introduction: When we left our Bait the Finesse shootout earlier this year, we had simply completed an in lab breakdown and analysis of Shimano Japan's Aldebaran BFS and Daiwa Japan's T3 Air. After comparing reel and spool weights, Sweet Drag performance, bearing placements, spool startup inertia, and ergonomics, we gave a slight edge to Daiwa. However, we promised that the final say was not yet done because as with all TackleTour evaluations, nothing is quite complete until we have a chance to get the products in question out on the water. So let's see how these two reels stack up against one another in real world situations.

Conclusion: http://tackletour.com/reviewbfsvt3airfinalpt1.html

very good review. cant wait for the tt review of the t3air so see how your impressions contrast mine. i have one, and its the most amazing reel ive ever fished.

Nice review but you must have gotten a dud reel
i have 2 of these reels and both have no free play in the handles what so ever
i have mated 1 to a Major Craft MSX bait finesse 64ul i can easily throw 4 gram lures
and though i have yet to try expect it to handle down to 2 grams

Out of the box I can throw SK bitsy minnows about 40 ft on 4lb mono and the Volkey 6'9 ultralight but it does require a nice deliberate casting motion. Those weigh about 2.4 grams on my scale and are not the most aerodynamic lure. I also throw 1/16 oz rooster tails at least 50ft.(and I consistently bombed out a 3.5 gram dropshot weight 110+ft measured with a line counter) Everyone's experience and what they consider a useable distance might be different but an entertaining article either way.:-). Can't wait to read about the t3 air.

I am so very happy that my BFS XG doesn't have the "loose" feel that your reel has.The BFS XG was my first JDM purchase. Had mine felt anything like what you described yours being I would have just cried or something.Also the exchange rate wasn't quite as favorable when I purchased mine.Mine actually feels quite a bit tighter than my core 50.

last month I used the exact same combo of a XG BFS together with a recon 682l-C with 7lb Sniper FC.
I found it casted very acceptably on KTF 1/16 offset micro jigs together with ecogear grass minnows and ecogear SX40s.

The upper ranges included vision 95s and bent minnow 106. very effective at control hard flat casts although I preferred magnetic braking by the likes of abu and daiwa. I like the use of 8 smaller weights as I varied it depending on the density and aerodynamics of the bait. I also like the new star drag design departing from the penta-star drag of the older aldebarans

One of the parts I liked least was also the need to separate the side plate to adjust the brakes. However my biggest dislike was the CC control, the recess is too small to access with even average sized hands.

Also it was a nice touch with the Jnr Staffers there. Reminded me of times with my own father in Sydney…except my reel was probably pushing 11oz!

And now Gen 3 also fishes!

Shouldn't a titanium coated conical shaped tapered level wind, corefit body that allows easier twitching of the 6 pt drag star be considered a feature?

Bootytrain wrote:Shouldn't a titanium coated conical shaped tapered level wind, corefit body that allows easier twitching of the 6 pt drag star be considered a feature?

The corefit body would be great if they made the CC knob a little easier to adjust! The star drag is great and… I can't be certain but isn't most shimano level winds the same?

Mcyl wrote:

Bootytrain wrote:Shouldn't a titanium coated conical shaped tapered level wind, corefit body that allows easier twitching of the 6 pt drag star be considered a feature?

The corefit body would be great if they made the CC knob a little easier to adjust! The star drag is great and… I can't be certain but isn't most shimano level winds the same?

No, the lower end models don't have a tapered levelwind. Shimano has been incorporating the tapered levelwind for a few years but I don't know the first model that it was used on. The new Antares has the most radical levelwind shape in the shimano lineup so far. Examples of this are the new Chronarch CI4 doesn't have a tapered one while the new Metanium does, the Chronarch 50 does not, the Core 50 does.

Ah got it. Thanks

Derek777 wrote:very good review. cant wait for the tt review of the t3air so see how your impressions contrast mine. i have one, and its the most amazing reel ive ever fished.

That review is now on the TT Home page also. Seems it carries on the tradition of Daiwa "wild child" spool backlashing issues some of their higher end reels suffer from. Cool looking and sounds like it's well made, if you can live with the price and backlash issues.

jeb wrote:

Derek777 wrote:very good review. cant wait for the tt review of the t3air so see how your impressions contrast mine. i have one, and its the most amazing reel ive ever fished.

That review is now on the TT Home page also. Seems it carries on the tradition of Daiwa "wild child" spool backlashing issues some of their higher end reels suffer from. Cool looking and sounds like it's well made, if you can live with the price and backlash issues.

I'm confused, the T3 Air equipped with the a similar inductor system as the SV and the KTF Finesse Alphas are all known as ridiculously easy casters. I'll go as far as to say they are skill set killers i.e. the narrow the divide between the skilled and unskilled.
It is anything but a wild child. None of the new generation finesse reels are especially the ones with this type of inductor extension mechanism

The review stated that he used the max brake setting. The other settings backlashed too much. Maybe on the other settings the brakes didnt come into play enough since he wasnt casting very far and the rotor didnt come out very much? I'm surprised by the outcome of the comparison, but not the performance findings head to head between the 2.

Bootytrain wrote:The review stated that he used the max brake setting. The other settings backlashed too much. Maybe on the other settings the brakes didnt come into play enough since he wasnt casting very far and the rotor didnt come out very much? I'm surprised by the outcome of the comparison, but not the performance findings head to head between the 2.

Even on the higher 10 settings on AIR mode, its a very easy caster. on this type of inductor Sawamura skips 1/16 swim jigs with it