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.
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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by DrPerf » Fri Oct 08, 2021 4:26 pm

LowRange wrote: ↑
Fri Oct 08, 2021 6:06 am
Please don't apply any spool tension to the Zillion. They made the dial hard to turn can called it a zero adjuster for a reason. It's to stop guys from cranking down on it and ruining they casting distance and then complaining to Daiwa like something is wrong. Every reel I own except my Zillion HLC is set up with no spool tension and then that knob never gets touched again.
The new Daiwa zero adjuster should be set so that there a very small amount of "play" in the spool when disengaged. You should barely feel it move from side-to-side.

Typically "out-of-box", the adjuster is too tight with absolutely no "play'. Once you get that adjustment "dialed in", the zero adjuster should require nothing further for spool tension adjustment. Any adjustments will then be with the brake setting.

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by new2BC4bass » Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:03 am

Can't say that it' the best, but probably the cheapest. :big grin: Can't comment on distance as I was casting directly into a rather stiff breeze. Strong enough to make small white caps. Small fluke on 3/0, braid that came on the reel, Daiwa 6'9" MF V.I.P. Smallmouth. Reel a Black Max 1600C. Only backlash was on a bomb attempt.

Haven't been out with it since (shame on me) as I've been amassing newer and better. :whistle: :?:

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by LowRange » Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:20 pm

Ok so this thread inspired me to do some testing and fishing with a weightless super fluke on a gamakatsu 3.0 hook. I have 3 setups I used from my arsenal

Old Tatula Type R with Ray's Long Cast spool with 12# flouro on a 72M Zodias gen 1.

A Casitas MGL with 20# braid on a Obei 6'6" ML

Alphas SV with a Ray's inductor swap with 10# flouro on a 610 Orochi xXx BE2.

The 72M Zodias and Tatula is my workhorse stout M rod. It is my go to weightless Caffine Shad, 5" Senko, 1/2 oz Jerkbait, Squarebill, 1/2 Lipless and 1/4 oz spinner/chattebait rod. I use this rod a lot. With flukes and other lighter soft jerkbaits I normally prefer a 1/16 oz belly weighted weighted screw in hook to cast better. The 72M Zodias is a bit too stiff and the 12# flouro too restricting to be ideal with a weightless fluke. It did good though but came in last in distance. It's not the reel's fault. That spool bombs but the rod and line was a bit too much.

The Casitas MGL on the Obei ML XF casts the furthest by a tiny amount compared to the super Alphas and Orochi but I really had to bomb it and force the distance out of it and eventually blew up the spool with a guide wrap. With normal casting it basically kept up with the Alphas. It did have braid which helps the fast spool of the SVS MGL. I have fished it before with flouro and mono and hated how the fast spool did not tame the coily line. With braid this is an excellent kayak beater rig for bombing weightless flukes. That XF tip and strong backbone for a ML also works the bait very well.


The Alphas with the Ray's inductor swap really impressed me. This was the 1st time using a Ray's inductor in an old SV spool and it really woke the reel up but still had that SV braking profile that allows the spools to tame coily high memory lines, deal with wind and some skipping even although the inductor swap makes skipping a less forgiving.

I'm really happy with the Alphas with the inductor swap. It matches a my MGL reel with 10# flouro while the MGL has braid. I also switched to a 1/16 flick shake type head and a BPS flick shake copy and this reel bombed that bait and landed to targets with precision at the scroll of the dial and was able to still skip decently.

I would just keep using the Met MGL and switch to braid with flouro leader. Maybe even drop down to a ML PA if those are anything like my gen 1 Zodias. I have both a 72M and 610ML. I definitely prefer the ML Zodias for weightless flukes and 4 inch Senkos. If you HAVE to go flouro than a distance tuned SV spool is great. I haven't kept up on the modern SV spools but my old one with a Ray's inductor swap is great.
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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by hoohoorjoo » Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:25 pm

LowRange wrote: ↑
Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:20 pm
Ok so this thread inspired me to do some testing and fishing with a weightless super fluke on a gamakatsu 3.0 hook. I have 3 setups I used from my arsenal

Old Tatula Type R with Ray's Long Cast spool with 12# flouro on a 72M Zodias gen 1.

A Casitas MGL with 20# braid on a Obei 6'6" ML

Alphas SV with a Ray's inductor swap with 10# flouro on a 610 Orochi xXx BE2.

The 72M Zodias and Tatula is my workhorse stout M rod. It is my go to weightless Caffine Shad, 5" Senko, 1/2 oz Jerkbait, Squarebill, 1/2 Lipless and 1/4 oz spinner/chattebait rod. I use this rod a lot. With flukes and other lighter soft jerkbaits I normally prefer a 1/16 oz belly weighted weighted screw in hook to cast better. The 72M Zodias is a bit too stiff and the 12# flouro too restricting to be ideal with a weightless fluke. It did good though but came in last in distance. It's not the reel's fault. That spool bombs but the rod and line was a bit too much.

The Casitas MGL on the Obei ML XF casts the furthest by a tiny amount compared to the super Alphas and Orochi but I really had to bomb it and force the distance out of it and eventually blew up the spool with a guide wrap. With normal casting it basically kept up with the Alphas. It did have braid which helps the fast spool of the SVS MGL. I have fished it before with flouro and mono and hated how the fast spool did not tame the coily line. With braid this is an excellent kayak beater rig for bombing weightless flukes. That XF tip and strong backbone for a ML also works the bait very well.


The Alphas with the Ray's inductor swap really impressed me. This was the 1st time using a Ray's inductor in an old SV spool and it really woke the reel up but still had that SV braking profile that allows the spools to tame coily high memory lines, deal with wind and some skipping even although the inductor swap makes skipping a less forgiving.

I'm really happy with the Alphas with the inductor swap. It matches a my MGL reel with 10# flouro while the MGL has braid. I also switched to a 1/16 flick shake type head and a BPS flick shake copy and this reel bombed that bait and landed to targets with precision at the scroll of the dial and was able to still skip decently.

I would just keep using the Met MGL and switch to braid with flouro leader. Maybe even drop down to a ML PA if those are anything like my gen 1 Zodias. I have both a 72M and 610ML. I definitely prefer the ML Zodias for weightless flukes and 4 inch Senkos. If you HAVE to go flouro than a distance tuned SV spool is great. I haven't kept up on the modern SV spools but my old one with a Ray's inductor swap is great.
That Alphas looks familiar....😜
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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by LowRange » Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:32 pm

hoohoorjoo wrote: ↑
Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:25 pm
LowRange wrote: ↑
Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:20 pm
Ok so this thread inspired me to do some testing and fishing with a weightless super fluke on a gamakatsu 3.0 hook. I have 3 setups I used from my arsenal

Old Tatula Type R with Ray's Long Cast spool with 12# flouro on a 72M Zodias gen 1.

A Casitas MGL with 20# braid on a Obei 6'6" ML

Alphas SV with a Ray's inductor swap with 10# flouro on a 610 Orochi xXx BE2.

The 72M Zodias and Tatula is my workhorse stout M rod. It is my go to weightless Caffine Shad, 5" Senko, 1/2 oz Jerkbait, Squarebill, 1/2 Lipless and 1/4 oz spinner/chattebait rod. I use this rod a lot. With flukes and other lighter soft jerkbaits I normally prefer a 1/16 oz belly weighted weighted screw in hook to cast better. The 72M Zodias is a bit too stiff and the 12# flouro too restricting to be ideal with a weightless fluke. It did good though but came in last in distance. It's not the reel's fault. That spool bombs but the rod and line was a bit too much.

The Casitas MGL on the Obei ML XF casts the furthest by a tiny amount compared to the super Alphas and Orochi but I really had to bomb it and force the distance out of it and eventually blew up the spool with a guide wrap. With normal casting it basically kept up with the Alphas. It did have braid which helps the fast spool of the SVS MGL. I have fished it before with flouro and mono and hated how the fast spool did not tame the coily line. With braid this is an excellent kayak beater rig for bombing weightless flukes. That XF tip and strong backbone for a ML also works the bait very well.


The Alphas with the Ray's inductor swap really impressed me. This was the 1st time using a Ray's inductor in an old SV spool and it really woke the reel up but still had that SV braking profile that allows the spools to tame coily high memory lines, deal with wind and some skipping even although the inductor swap makes skipping a less forgiving.

I'm really happy with the Alphas with the inductor swap. It matches a my MGL reel with 10# flouro while the MGL has braid. I also switched to a 1/16 flick shake type head and a BPS flick shake copy and this reel bombed that bait and landed to targets with precision at the scroll of the dial and was able to still skip decently.

I would just keep using the Met MGL and switch to braid with flouro leader. Maybe even drop down to a ML PA if those are anything like my gen 1 Zodias. I have both a 72M and 610ML. I definitely prefer the ML Zodias for weightless flukes and 4 inch Senkos. If you HAVE to go flouro than a distance tuned SV spool is great. I haven't kept up on the modern SV spools but my old one with a Ray's inductor swap is great.
That Alphas looks familiar....😜
It's such a nice reel to use. When I lift my finger off the knobs when fishing the knobs free spool. It's just such a precise buttery reel. Your working over of it transformed it into a timepiece. The Ray's inductor and spring on this one transforms the casting but is basically identical to the eye. The inductor is only marginally thinner than the already thin Alphas SV inductor and the spring is imperceptibly stiffer to the tug. It now casts like a deep Ray's Alphas spool and that's what I wanted. I have a stock spool in my other one that a dedicated skipper.
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hoohoorjoo
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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by hoohoorjoo » Sat Oct 09, 2021 8:12 pm

I missed that one, so I built another one. This one has a silver Ray's spool and is my dedicated BFS crankbait reel. It will launch 1/8 oz into low earth orbit on my custom UL Immortal. I sometimes use it for original flukes, also; nose-hooked with a #1 dropshot hook and it sets the hook just fine with the 15# X9 braid that's on it. Distance is excellent, also. Btw, the stock spool has a Ray's rotor swap, as well.
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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by Hennessy » Sat Oct 09, 2021 9:03 pm

Spent the day with the Zillion fluke fishing, same fluke, 12lb floro, 7’2M 1st generation Adrena. Braid is not a option for me, I’m a straight floro guy. I am convinced that the Zillion SV TW is the better option for fluke fishing over the JDM Metanium I was using. Cast were definitely controlled better, I’m sure that was due to the SV spool. The tension knob had no side to side play coming from the factory, so I did adjust it, brake setting on 4 for me. Casting distance wise, I could not tell any difference that one had over the other. The only advantage the Metanium has is that it palms a TAD bit better. The JDM Metaniums are my go to reels for all other applications, the Zillion will stay as my dedicated fluke reel. Casting wise, I was not β€œwanting” more distance & cast were very controlled. Reel is just as smooth as the Metanium, a tie in that category for me.

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by casterus » Sun Oct 10, 2021 5:06 pm

OG Steez 103 . You can find one these days pretty cheap.
I'm using GLX 843 + Steez 103 + 13 lb Defier Armillo. I can bomb flukes far far away.
Adam

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by chrisg_sdcf » Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:23 am

LowRange wrote: ↑
Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:32 pm
hoohoorjoo wrote: ↑
Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:25 pm
LowRange wrote: ↑
Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:20 pm
Ok so this thread inspired me to do some testing and fishing with a weightless super fluke on a gamakatsu 3.0 hook. I have 3 setups I used from my arsenal

Old Tatula Type R with Ray's Long Cast spool with 12# flouro on a 72M Zodias gen 1.

A Casitas MGL with 20# braid on a Obei 6'6" ML

Alphas SV with a Ray's inductor swap with 10# flouro on a 610 Orochi xXx BE2.

The 72M Zodias and Tatula is my workhorse stout M rod. It is my go to weightless Caffine Shad, 5" Senko, 1/2 oz Jerkbait, Squarebill, 1/2 Lipless and 1/4 oz spinner/chattebait rod. I use this rod a lot. With flukes and other lighter soft jerkbaits I normally prefer a 1/16 oz belly weighted weighted screw in hook to cast better. The 72M Zodias is a bit too stiff and the 12# flouro too restricting to be ideal with a weightless fluke. It did good though but came in last in distance. It's not the reel's fault. That spool bombs but the rod and line was a bit too much.

The Casitas MGL on the Obei ML XF casts the furthest by a tiny amount compared to the super Alphas and Orochi but I really had to bomb it and force the distance out of it and eventually blew up the spool with a guide wrap. With normal casting it basically kept up with the Alphas. It did have braid which helps the fast spool of the SVS MGL. I have fished it before with flouro and mono and hated how the fast spool did not tame the coily line. With braid this is an excellent kayak beater rig for bombing weightless flukes. That XF tip and strong backbone for a ML also works the bait very well.


The Alphas with the Ray's inductor swap really impressed me. This was the 1st time using a Ray's inductor in an old SV spool and it really woke the reel up but still had that SV braking profile that allows the spools to tame coily high memory lines, deal with wind and some skipping even although the inductor swap makes skipping a less forgiving.

I'm really happy with the Alphas with the inductor swap. It matches a my MGL reel with 10# flouro while the MGL has braid. I also switched to a 1/16 flick shake type head and a BPS flick shake copy and this reel bombed that bait and landed to targets with precision at the scroll of the dial and was able to still skip decently.

I would just keep using the Met MGL and switch to braid with flouro leader. Maybe even drop down to a ML PA if those are anything like my gen 1 Zodias. I have both a 72M and 610ML. I definitely prefer the ML Zodias for weightless flukes and 4 inch Senkos. If you HAVE to go flouro than a distance tuned SV spool is great. I haven't kept up on the modern SV spools but my old one with a Ray's inductor swap is great.
That Alphas looks familiar....😜
It's such a nice reel to use. When I lift my finger off the knobs when fishing the knobs free spool. It's just such a precise buttery reel. Your working over of it transformed it into a timepiece. The Ray's inductor and spring on this one transforms the casting but is basically identical to the eye. The inductor is only marginally thinner than the already thin Alphas SV inductor and the spring is imperceptibly stiffer to the tug. It now casts like a deep Ray's Alphas spool and that's what I wanted. I have a stock spool in my other one that a dedicated skipper.

Do the rays inductor kits usually come with a spring? All the ones I seem to find only show the base and inductor.

Thanks

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by hoohoorjoo » Mon Oct 11, 2021 5:27 am

No, the spring came separate. I dont think they sell them anymore. Lack of demand, I suppose.
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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by LowRange » Mon Oct 11, 2021 5:48 am

chrisg_sdcf wrote: ↑
Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:23 am
LowRange wrote: ↑
Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:32 pm
hoohoorjoo wrote: ↑
Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:25 pm
LowRange wrote: ↑
Sat Oct 09, 2021 7:20 pm
Ok so this thread inspired me to do some testing and fishing with a weightless super fluke on a gamakatsu 3.0 hook. I have 3 setups I used from my arsenal

Old Tatula Type R with Ray's Long Cast spool with 12# flouro on a 72M Zodias gen 1.

A Casitas MGL with 20# braid on a Obei 6'6" ML

Alphas SV with a Ray's inductor swap with 10# flouro on a 610 Orochi xXx BE2.

The 72M Zodias and Tatula is my workhorse stout M rod. It is my go to weightless Caffine Shad, 5" Senko, 1/2 oz Jerkbait, Squarebill, 1/2 Lipless and 1/4 oz spinner/chattebait rod. I use this rod a lot. With flukes and other lighter soft jerkbaits I normally prefer a 1/16 oz belly weighted weighted screw in hook to cast better. The 72M Zodias is a bit too stiff and the 12# flouro too restricting to be ideal with a weightless fluke. It did good though but came in last in distance. It's not the reel's fault. That spool bombs but the rod and line was a bit too much.

The Casitas MGL on the Obei ML XF casts the furthest by a tiny amount compared to the super Alphas and Orochi but I really had to bomb it and force the distance out of it and eventually blew up the spool with a guide wrap. With normal casting it basically kept up with the Alphas. It did have braid which helps the fast spool of the SVS MGL. I have fished it before with flouro and mono and hated how the fast spool did not tame the coily line. With braid this is an excellent kayak beater rig for bombing weightless flukes. That XF tip and strong backbone for a ML also works the bait very well.


The Alphas with the Ray's inductor swap really impressed me. This was the 1st time using a Ray's inductor in an old SV spool and it really woke the reel up but still had that SV braking profile that allows the spools to tame coily high memory lines, deal with wind and some skipping even although the inductor swap makes skipping a less forgiving.

I'm really happy with the Alphas with the inductor swap. It matches a my MGL reel with 10# flouro while the MGL has braid. I also switched to a 1/16 flick shake type head and a BPS flick shake copy and this reel bombed that bait and landed to targets with precision at the scroll of the dial and was able to still skip decently.

I would just keep using the Met MGL and switch to braid with flouro leader. Maybe even drop down to a ML PA if those are anything like my gen 1 Zodias. I have both a 72M and 610ML. I definitely prefer the ML Zodias for weightless flukes and 4 inch Senkos. If you HAVE to go flouro than a distance tuned SV spool is great. I haven't kept up on the modern SV spools but my old one with a Ray's inductor swap is great.
That Alphas looks familiar....😜
It's such a nice reel to use. When I lift my finger off the knobs when fishing the knobs free spool. It's just such a precise buttery reel. Your working over of it transformed it into a timepiece. The Ray's inductor and spring on this one transforms the casting but is basically identical to the eye. The inductor is only marginally thinner than the already thin Alphas SV inductor and the spring is imperceptibly stiffer to the tug. It now casts like a deep Ray's Alphas spool and that's what I wanted. I have a stock spool in my other one that a dedicated skipper.

Do the rays inductor kits usually come with a spring? All the ones I seem to find only show the base and inductor.

Thanks
I also converted an Alphas Ray's spool to fixed inductor with their glue on inductors and used the spring out of that spool with the new inductor.

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by Just_Bass » Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:54 pm

The Alphas SV TW get the job done right for me. I used to use Curado 70 pair with crucial d-611m gen 2. Lost the rod and lost interest in Fluke fishing. Lately pair alphas SV TW with Zodias 6’10 ML and the result are not bad.
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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by LowRange » Mon Oct 11, 2021 6:00 pm

Just_Bass wrote: ↑
Mon Oct 11, 2021 3:54 pm
The Alphas SV TW get the job done right for me. I used to use Curado 70 pair with crucial d-611m gen 2. Lost the rod and lost interest in Fluke fishing. Lately pair alphas SV TW with Zodias 6’10 ML and the result are not bad.
I like that 610ML. Nice powerful and versatile ML. Maybe a bit too stiff for some but I like the power. I have an Engetsu on mine. I would shame you for having a Daiwa on a Shimano but I am doing the same with my Tatula and 72M.

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by runmax08 » Tue Oct 12, 2021 3:32 pm

Daiwa Fuego 1000 spinning with 7' ugly ultra lite stick.

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Re: BEST reel for weightless fluke

Post by goldrod » Tue Oct 12, 2021 6:30 pm

Anyone using a Pixy?
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