BEST reel for weightless fluke

Reels are the hottest topic for TackleTour. Everyone wants to know what the latest and greatest is and how they compare to the old guard. What's the best for light stuff, or what's your suggestion for heavy cover. Do we really need different retrieve ratios? It's all in here.
DrPerf
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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by DrPerf » Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:17 am

LowRange wrote:
Sat Oct 23, 2021 10:13 am
DrPerf wrote:
Sat Oct 23, 2021 10:01 am
LowRange wrote:
Sat Oct 23, 2021 8:16 am
DrPerf wrote:
Fri Oct 22, 2021 6:04 pm
DrPerf wrote:
Tue Oct 12, 2021 7:24 pm


I am planning to test this Pixzilla as a weightless fluke reel at my "casting park" tomorrow if the wind dies down a little.
Went out to my "casting park", where I have distances and targets marked, to compare the Alphas SV TW 800XHL and my Airy Red Pixzilla. Both reels were used with a Daiwa Steez AGS Compile X 7'2" 'Moving Bait Versatile'.

The first casting weight was 1/4 oz. (0.250).
(For reference a weightless Zoom Salty Super Fluke weighs 0.282 oz., slightly more than 1/4 oz.)
Alphas SV TW: 100 to 110 feet
Pixzilla: 90 to 100 feet

3/8 oz. (0.375 oz.)
Alphas SV TW: 140-145 feet

1/2 oz. (0.500 oz.)
Alphas SV TW: 175-180 feet

All casts were one-handed casts with moderate effort (smooth motion without "snap" at the end).

I did not test the Pixzilla after 1/4 oz. since it was clear the Alphas was superior with that rod and Alphas SV TW/'Moving Bait Versatile' is the combination I have and will be using for flukes.

Regards,
Doc
A casting weight and bait cast completely different. Also those casting distances are horrific. I can cast 80% of the 20# braid off my Airy Red spool with a 1/10 oz ned head and 3" of cut Hula Stick. That's right at 1/4 oz. I must be getting at least 140 ft. If raw distance is the goal definitely add that snap to the cast and put some speed in those spools. That while palming the reel when casting smooth casting is great for targets but if you want bomb a bait you have to bomb a bait.
I am well aware that casting a lure and a casting weight will likely result in different results. My tests are to establish a “best case”, which will let me know, when using a lure, how close to the “best case” a specific lure is working when casting distance is a factor.

Since you did not state what rod nor reel you were using, it is not possible to compare the distances you state with what I posted. Also, my experience is that most over estimate casting distance when using “Mark 1 eyeball”. That is why have distances measured with an accurate laser rangefinder for my tests.

I have several rods, if paired with the Alphas SV TW, would likely provide additional casting distance. But that was not the purpose of my test. It was to test the specific combination listed in my post.

As far as adding “snap” to the cast, I have found a smooth, consistent motion to be much more efficient when casting lighter weights than a “snap” cast. The speed of my spools/spool bearings is non-issue when casting at any weight. And OBW, I do not palm my reel when casting in any fashion.

Regards,
Doc
Very true. I'm going to me parent's acreage to dig potatoes and will bring a few rods to cast out some baits including weightless fluke to get idea of what sort of distances are possible. They have large open areas of land to fire off baits and record distances. Also my gym shoes are exactly 12 in from tip to heel so I can walk out my distances exactly.

This will be fun. Going to use a mix of 20# and 30# braid. The Alphas SV gets 10# flouro. I'm going to throw a weightless fluke, 4 1/4 Stick O, 5 inch
Senko and 1/10 oz ned heads with small floating plastics 3 inches or under.

Reels:
Revo3 Elite with Deez spool and IVCB conversion
Engetsu
Alphas SV with Ray's inductor and spring
Pixy with Airy Red spool
Pixy with Ray's spool
Representing the broke:
Fuego CT with Ray's Long Cast ($115 total reel+spool)
Spartacus with Elf shallow spool ($41 total reel+spool)

Rods:
Volkey BFS 268L
Zodias BFS 1610ML
Fantasista Deez 70MMH MGS whatever that is supposed to mean. It's a long ML.
Laguna 70MFB
Image
Cool 8-)
It will be interesting to see what you come up with.
Remember "heel to toe" in a straight line :big grin:

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LowRange
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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by LowRange » Sat Oct 23, 2021 5:43 pm

I added the Haibo Smart and Tatula SV with a Aliexpress spool
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Alright the results are in and I am surprised. I stuck to 2 rods. A 7" moderate Laguna for the weightless super fluke on a 3/0 hook and a 69L Volkey BFS for the 1/10 oz ned head and 2" Z man craw.

Weightless Fluke:
Image
Image

The winner of the weightless fluke was the Engetsu with 20# braid which was no surprise. That thing with that shallow heavy spool has been my bomber of 4 1/4 Stick Os for a while. It was casting the fluke 120 ft and running out of line. It wasn't full of 20# braid all the way but the bait was nearing the ground when the spool ran out and stopped. I think there is room to maybe hit 130+ ft with a high release. It really sucked casting into even a slight breeze though.

The Alphas SV with the rays inductor and spring was hitting 110 ft at the furthest. What I really liked about it was how well it does with 10# fouro and casting into the wind. The Engetsu like my other Shimano sucks with flouro.

The Fuego CT with Ray's Long Cast and 20# braid matched the Alphas SV with Ray's inductor and 10# flouro in distance

The Spartacus with Elf spool and 20# braid was hitting 88ft before I hit branch and blew up the spool.

The Silver Mica with Airy Red spool did horrible it was only managing 86 ft.

The Type R with stock spool and 10# flouro did horrible. Something is wrong with that spool. It wont cast 40 ft with the dial set to zero and no spool tension. Gotta look at this one

1/10 ned head and 2" plastic:

The winner of the light ned was the Tatula CT SV with the Nice Fish BFS spool and 20# braid. It was hitting 76ft with the tiny ned.

The Pixy with the Airy Red came in 2nd with a best of 64 ft

The Haibo Smart came in last with 60 ft at best

With a 1/10 head and a 3" plastic I have been casting nearly all the 20# line off with the Airy Red and Smart. These two don't like the lighter weigh ned apparently. I ran out of daylight to test the Pixt Type R with Ray's spool. I've thrown that one a lot and it seems like it should hit similar distance to the Ray's in the Tatula. Also ran out of daylight to test the Abu.
Image
Last edited by LowRange on Sat Oct 23, 2021 7:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by amso4 » Sat Oct 23, 2021 6:46 pm

Thanks for your work. Good information. Not surprised about the engetsu. It is a casting machine.

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by LowRange » Sat Oct 23, 2021 7:57 pm

amso4 wrote:
Sat Oct 23, 2021 6:46 pm
Thanks for your work. Good information. Not surprised about the engetsu. It is a casting machine.
Yeah these reels are neat. They are some sort of vertical jigging reel but unlike the Daiwa vertical jiggers that are worthless at casting the Engetsu reels have shallow but thick construction heavy spools that bomb baits despite that not being the intent. The Daiwa 1010 spools are similar in a way. They are shallow and look like an SV finesse spool or something but are heavy and Magforce Z. They bomb too.

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by LowRange » Sat Oct 23, 2021 8:10 pm

The big take always are:

The Airy Red did horrible all around. I'm just really surprised by the Airy Red Silver Mica. Maybe it is because I am distance testing rather than fishing but I remember being enamored with the thing and emptying the spool throwing basically the same bait I threw today but slightly heavier. Maybe the bearings need some attention.

The Engetsu is a distance monster of weightless zoom flukes and 4" senkos

The Alphas SV with Ray's inductor is a joy to use. Gets nearly Engetsu distance but does it with flouro and tames wind like a champ.

Having fished it and the Engetsu a bunch the level of control and precision in bait placement from the Alphas is superb and non existent on the Engetsu. At the click of a dial I can send a bait right to the end of a dock on a long cast with a normal muscle memory cast and only thumb to make teeny tiny correction to place in inches of my target. The Engetsu brakes and then it doesn't brake anymore and we're in free spool with this shallow heavy spool just a spinning at a million miles an hour. Great for bombing but when it comes to bait placement it's all thumb from beginning of the cast to the end.

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TravisNY
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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by TravisNY » Sat Oct 23, 2021 8:21 pm

20 lb with a 1/10 (which isn’t “tiny”) Ned ?

I couldn’t imagine driving a hook into a 5lb smallmouth at distance with much of what’s been mentioned unless nose hooking.

No doubt a fluke could be launched on a moderate whatever and a light BFS rod.

Distance is one thing, fish ability another.

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by LowRange » Sat Oct 23, 2021 9:56 pm

TravisNY wrote:
Sat Oct 23, 2021 8:21 pm
20 lb with a 1/10 (which isn’t “tiny”) Ned ?

I couldn’t imagine driving a hook into a 5lb smallmouth at distance with much of what’s been mentioned unless nose hooking.

No doubt a fluke could be launched on a moderate whatever and a light BFS rod.

Distance is one thing, fish ability another.
That 1/10 head and 2 inch craw is my go to green sunfish bait for short summer after work kayak trips. I have always found that bait difficult to cast compared to my other go to ned baits which really are the same head but with a longer shank hook and a 3 inch Z man plastic. Hook setting has never been a problem on any of my neds including the wire weed guard ones I exclusively fish. The BFS rods paired to braid do the trick. That's why I use BFS rods. They have a ton of backbone and hook setting power relative to their light weight casting abilities. Panfish and trout noodle rods? Absolutley not appropriate for a Z Man weedless ned head. Not enough hook setting ability.

I do notice some hooksettig issues with the long casts and 10# flouro when fishing a weightless fluke and I get bit on the cast. Especially so with the regular taper rod I was using. I got bit a few times on the cast after slash down and got some really poor hookests in where I hooked the soft parts of the mouth rather than punishing through. With the braid only use Engetsu this has not been an issue yet.

If you want to talk about ridiculous casting distance VS fishability you should see me fish a frog from the bank and throw a frog the entire length of 50# braid a TD Zillion will hold and squint to see the frog and set hooks on every blow up because I can't see my frog anymore.

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by adam lancia » Thu Dec 30, 2021 4:47 am

I've been using a tweaked OG Steez with a tuned SV105 spool to toss both unweighted flukes (3/0 light wire owner EWG) and 1/16-1/8 weighted, standard wire hook. I have an Alphas CT SV that I've thought using for flukes. I'm a braid to leader guy. Does anyone here use an Alphas CT SV for this application?

Thanks in advance!

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by goldrod » Thu Dec 30, 2021 6:55 am

adam lancia wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 4:47 am
I've been using a tweaked OG Steez with a tuned SV105 spool to toss both unweighted flukes (3/0 light wire owner EWG) and 1/16-1/8 weighted, standard wire hook. I have an Alphas CT SV that I've thought using for flukes. I'm a braid to leader guy. Does anyone here use an Alphas CT SV for this application?

Thanks in advance!
What’s your connection knot?
I break the braid to leader all the time
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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by LuS » Thu Dec 30, 2021 8:04 am

Hennessy wrote:
Sat Oct 02, 2021 10:20 pm
Recently fished a bfl in which I had to throw a fluke all day. Used a 2020 jdm metanium mgl & I was getting great distance but cast were inconsistent & backlashes was a problem, I do run my reels LOOSE. The 2 reels I’m considering are the Steez sv tw, it’s regular $540 but I can get it for $450. The other reel is the new Zillion sv tw, $300 jdm model. Wondering if the new “sv boost” puts the zillion in the same class(casting wise) as the older Steez model. Using the 1st generation 7’2 poison adrena & the Steez would match pretty good but is the performance worth the extra $150 over the Zillion. Finished in the top 10 in that tourney so I have a lil “house money” to play with. Any other lightweight reels that I should consider?
I’m pretty sure this discussion has covered most anything there is to be covered for other reels, but I had a great time this summer with a super tuned JDM met b hg on an nrx 853 throwing weightless flukes. Maybe all you need is a super tuning?
Only other disclaimers - I was running fresh 12 lb fluoro and I was using owner jungle hooks for the added weight but I’d be surprised if that added more that 3/32 oz over a standard offset work hook.
Luca :)

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by adam lancia » Thu Dec 30, 2021 8:32 am

goldrod wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 6:55 am
What’s your connection knot?
I break the braid to leader all the time
I use a knot that's a bit of a mutt. A friend of mine showed it to me. Basically, you tie a uni knot with the fluoro and snug it down, but not fully tight. Then with the braid you do what is basically a crazy Alberto with the first loop of braid being about 3/8 in diameter for the tag end to be brought back through one you wrap up and back with it. It's hard to describe (for me anyways) but the nice thing is that none of the tag end are facing forward, they're both facing the reel. And since I don't use super thick fluoro, the knot is still really compact.

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by adam lancia » Thu Dec 30, 2021 9:41 am

goldrod wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 6:55 am
adam lancia wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 4:47 am
I've been using a tweaked OG Steez with a tuned SV105 spool to toss both unweighted flukes (3/0 light wire owner EWG) and 1/16-1/8 weighted, standard wire hook. I have an Alphas CT SV that I've thought using for flukes. I'm a braid to leader guy. Does anyone here use an Alphas CT SV for this application?

Thanks in advance!
What’s your connection knot?
I break the braid to leader all the time
BTW, check your PM's.

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by SteveSchmelzle » Thu Dec 30, 2021 11:37 am

TravisNY wrote:
Fri Oct 08, 2021 1:45 pm
A differing view: A 902 Conquest or 902 NRX spin with a 4000 Exsence and braid will put a fluke into orbit. But I realize smallmouth guys are wired differently at times.
this is the correct answer.

but I understand spinning reels are not looked highly upon here.
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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by adam lancia » Thu Dec 30, 2021 12:27 pm

SteveSchmelzle wrote:
Thu Dec 30, 2021 11:37 am
TravisNY wrote:
Fri Oct 08, 2021 1:45 pm
A differing view: A 902 Conquest or 902 NRX spin with a 4000 Exsence and braid will put a fluke into orbit. But I realize smallmouth guys are wired differently at times.
this is the correct answer.

but I understand spinning reels are not looked highly upon here.
I love my spinners but the rod I prefer to use for flukes is a baitcasting rod so I had to find a reel for it. I don't have NRX money (or even IMX for that matter) but my baitcaster supply is solid so it made for a simple choice. As always, I like many others are always wondering if there's a better option out there.

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by SteveSchmelzle » Thu Dec 30, 2021 1:04 pm

understood.

but for a simple presentation like a weightless fluke a medium action 7' rod (or slightly longer) and shimano stradic ci4 would be very effective.

none the less I'm sure you will be set with the options provided.
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