New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

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Re: New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

Post by jvelth74 » Sun Nov 14, 2021 8:42 am

I still doesn't really have tested my GekkaBijin's distance casting capacity, just made 3 short trips to streams, and I have liked this reel and spool.

Because Spiderwire Stealth Smooth 8 is bad as it'ts thinner than 0.11 mm and it is actually much thicker than stated, I bought new lines:

- Morethan 0.12 mm / 22 lb / PE#1
- J-Braid x8 0.16 mm / 20 lb / PE1.2
-Daiwa 8 Braid EVO Tournament 0.10 mm 14.7 lb / PE#0.8

Which i choosed 30 m of Morethan as main line for Gekkabijin spool. (As backing there is thinner line 50 m+ so I think I have more than enough line in it.)

Last trip there truly not needed long casts...But in my opinion GekkaBijin is in these short casts as good as ct Alphas with K.T.F. spool is.
Softer rod I should have chosen, but I finally decided where to go when I was driving to destination.
My new stream fishing gloves for freezing conditions were wonderfull :D
Those are customized Nitrile Wondergrip Thermo Plus working gloves...
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Last edited by jvelth74 on Sun Nov 14, 2021 12:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

Post by Hobie-Wan Kenobi » Sun Nov 14, 2021 11:20 am

I found using Daiwa's recommendation of using 0.6 PE line halfway filling the spool got me the best results. Casts 3-6gr very well that way. Getting good distance with also a lot of unrestricted control. Usually more of a give and take with distance/control.

Line lay using walk-the-dog style baits was great too. I was purposely trying to make slack line and reeling in the line to get it messed up. No line was stacked odd and the extended spool edges did not adversely affect line lay on the spool.
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Re: New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

Post by jvelth74 » Sun Nov 14, 2021 12:46 pm

Easy to believe. I know that line is heavy and lighter spools behaves better, and full spool might be spooled not that nice.

My point of my line choose is that I have lost maybe 1 lure in a year when I was using 0.13 mm Spiderwire Stealth Smooth, and I believe that most people wouldn't love to loose lure and make new knots during fishing day :D ...And that line wasn't practically restricting my casting performance, because it's uncommon to me to cast below 3 g lures.

it may change if I make new spool purchases, but at least in this point I like to use line as much and as strong as it reasonably fits to GekkaBijin spool. Well, it doesn't fit too much. And because of that, I have much thinner backing of 50 m. I know that if backing saves rogue fish to me I'm incomprehensibly lucky. But it happens what it happens. But hoping that I will sometimes get that kind of experience :D At least I have much more fun with 80+ m line than 45 m line. But yes, GekkaBijin is more UL reel (than ct Alphas), therefore I wan't to use it.

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Re: New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

Post by Freddie » Thu Nov 25, 2021 5:52 pm

Hobie-Wan Kenobi wrote:
Sun Nov 14, 2021 11:20 am
I found using Daiwa's recommendation of using 0.6 PE line halfway filling the spool got me the best results. Casts 3-6gr very well that way. Getting good distance with also a lot of unrestricted control. Usually more of a give and take with distance/control.

Line lay using walk-the-dog style baits was great too. I was purposely trying to make slack line and reeling in the line to get it messed up. No line was stacked odd and the extended spool edges did not adversely affect line lay on the spool.
Ditto. After using both the Aldebaran BFS and the Gekkabijin back to back with the exact same setups(same lure and rod), I've been forced to admit that the Gekkabijin is the better caster every time...at least up to 6 grams. The difference isn't huge but still quite noticeable. I was throwing a 5 gram Cheburashka/TRD TubeZ and the Gekkabijin was giving me about 10' more distance. Not only does the Gekkabijin cast lighter AND farther(again, my only purpose for BFS reels is <6 gram baits) but it is also noticeably smoother all around. Lastly, the Alphas is a smaller framed reel and palms even better than the Aldebaran(at least for me). I don't intend for this to be an Aldebaran bash party; I'm simply laying out the cold, hard facts...mostly for myself. It's time to let the Aldebaran go...as much as I have LOVED fishing it. The Gekkabijin does give up 30 grams in weight(135/Aldebaran vs 165/Gekkabijin) but that also required the Aldebaran to have a Mg frame vs the Al frame of the Gekkabijin...which also translates into not being saltwater compatible.

Conclusion: I'm planning to eliminate the Aldebaran BFS from my arsenal altogether as it simply has no advantage anymore. Before the Gekkabijin(in reality, the PE spool), I felt that it was still on par in the casting department with the AATW, at least for the heavier side of BFS weights. But no more...the queen of the night is the BFS king.

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Re: New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

Post by Freddie » Thu Nov 25, 2021 5:55 pm

In defense of the 16 Aldebaran BFS...it is a 5 year old model.

It has held it's own as the top choice for a BFS reel for a long time.

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Re: New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

Post by Sore Thumb » Mon Nov 29, 2021 9:58 am

For anyone trying to keep up with Daiwa, there is a new Alphas coming up for release. The Finesse Air Stream Custom SS SLPW.

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Re: New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

Post by jvelth74 » Mon Nov 29, 2021 11:59 am

Sore Thumb wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 9:58 am
For anyone trying to keep up with Daiwa, there is a new Alphas coming up for release. The Finesse Air Stream Custom SS SLPW.
Yes it is. New colour, fixed inductor, with cork knobs, fresh water only version of GekkaBijin. But appearance of it is nice.

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Re: New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

Post by Freddie » Thu Dec 02, 2021 4:18 pm

jvelth74 wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 11:59 am
Sore Thumb wrote:
Mon Nov 29, 2021 9:58 am
For anyone trying to keep up with Daiwa, there is a new Alphas coming up for release. The Finesse Air Stream Custom SS SLPW.
Yes it is. New colour, fixed inductor, with cork knobs, fresh water only version of GekkaBijin. But appearance of it is nice.
Personally, the only thing that appeals to me on this new variant is the colors. I feel that the Gekkabijin is still the best 28mm Alphas available. Between Standard RORO X24, the Thicken RORO X24, and the original Gekkabijin PE spool I can cover all baits in the Gekkabijin from 0.8 grams--5+ grams effortlessly.

I'm really liking this Gekkabijin spool for the 2-5 g range of baits with light braid/PE. The casting distance and performance is very, very good. It's my go-to setup for the bass BFS fishing applications. For anything under 2 grams or in a stream setting, however, I think the RORO spools outperform. I'm curious to see how the spool in the Finesse Air Stream Custom compares with the RORO's. I'll be very surprised if it can outperform them.
Last edited by Freddie on Thu Dec 02, 2021 4:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

Post by Freddie » Thu Dec 02, 2021 4:32 pm

A bit more on the Gekkabijin PE spool;

As I said earlier the casting distance is very good when using 50M of 8-12# braid in the 2-5 g range of baits. When comparing the air rotor to the fixed RORO rotors I noticed that even when fully extended it is still not as extended as the RORO inductors which kind've surprised me. The thickness of the Gekkabijin rotor is somewhere between the thickness of the Standard and Thicken rotors of the RORO's. Maybe a bit closer to the Thicken. I think the shorter extending of the rotor partly contributes to why the Gekkabijin casts so well for distance.

Another thing I'v noticed about the Gekkabijin as compared to the AATW, is that the inductor spring is noticeably stronger. I believe this also contributes to better distance casting. Also, why it seems better with hard casts.

What I'm theorizing is that the AATW spool is a great all-round versatile spool. The Gekkabijin spool excels at distance/harder casts with the cost of performance at the lower end/softer casts and probably the new Air Stream Custom variant spool(fixed inductor) will excel at the lower end/softer casts but with the cost of performance at the distance/harder casts.

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Re: New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

Post by Freddie » Thu Dec 02, 2021 4:41 pm

I'm planning to utilize the AX24 Standard spool in my ultra finesse applications. This means 33M of 2# or 3# monofilament and 0.8-3 g baits in the stream setting. The AX24 Thicken(I've yet to put any time on this yet, I'm curious how the casting is) I'm hoping to use for a general purpose BFS spool with 50M of 4# or 5# monofilament. Probably it will be used mostly on 1.5-4 g baits for trout fishing. Of course, I'm planning to use the Gekkabijin PE spool with 50M of 0.6 PE/10# braid and a leader for those river smallmouth and lake largemouth BFS applications, 3-6 g baits mostly.

Although I no longer have the AATW, I just want to say that the all-around casting performance of it was very good in the 1-5 gram range.

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Re: New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

Post by jvelth74 » Fri Dec 03, 2021 6:44 am

I also like my GekkaBijin very much, however I haven't really tested casting performance of it...because it has been so cold in here and now it's 14°F ... So I'm not going BFS fishing in this weekend and have to really think am I going to fishing at all.
EDIT: No fishing:



I have used GekkaBijin almost all for casting 4 g lures in short and medium casts, with thick gloves on. But reel have performed perfectly good. I have tried Chamelleon spool to it, not big difference to standard spool, but standard is better in everything but does have a little less line space. I have ordered Roro spool with standard inductor for lightest lures.

I'm thinking Silver Creek Air TW's spool weights close to GekkaBijin's spool. Therefore I'm thinking that Roro's are better in lightest lures, but Silver Creek will cast longer if lure is not the lightest. Actually Silver Creek can be true casting machine in hands of excellent caster. I'm meaning that the caster needs to correctly fine tune braking by thumb also in power casts despite of BFS setup and light lure. Well, I can't but I'm thinking might that be worth of to try to learn :)

GekkaBijin's inductor: yes, it doesn't move too much. And that's good in my opinion, because in BFS it's not good if difference in braking force of inductor out/in is too great.

It's possible that GekkaBijin is not excelling in short casts, but I have nothing bad to say it if casting 4 g.

I'm unsure which line I'm putting to AX24 but I will try thin JBraid or Daiwa EVO Tournament braid. If those are not working, then I try 0.18 or 0.16 mm Stroft GTM or Trilene Fluorocarbon XL.

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Re: New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

Post by Freddie » Fri Dec 10, 2021 12:11 pm

Gekkabijin vs. Rainbows

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Re: New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

Post by Hobie-Wan Kenobi » Fri Dec 10, 2021 3:31 pm

Freddie wrote:
Fri Dec 10, 2021 12:11 pm
Gekkabijin vs. Rainbows
Gekkabijin 1, Rainbow 0
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Re: New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

Post by jvelth74 » Sat Dec 11, 2021 3:21 am

Protected my GekkaBijin foot:
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It's nor bad thing that Made in Thailand is not visible anymore :D

Not my video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ENn0gNok-0

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Re: New 2021 Daiwa 月下美人 “Alphas” Air TW PE Special

Post by Pastrmka » Sat Dec 11, 2021 7:35 am

Is GekkaBijin spool behave same in Alphas air tw, not sure if there is any difference between magnets of both reels. I thinking of just getting GekkaBijin spool for my alphas air instead of buying GekkaBijin reel.

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