19 Antares for stream trout?

[ras]

I noticed that an angler from Hitotoki works, maker of grips and blanks for modular stream rod assemblies, uses 19 Antares in combination with a very light glass rod for stream fishing with small sinking minnows. My knowledge of baitcasting and BFS is limited, so I wanted to ask if this kind of fishing was within capabilities of a stock 19 Antares. Thanks in advance.

[Aquaftm45]

I noticed that an angler from Hitotoki works, maker of grips and blanks for modular stream rod assemblies, uses 19 Antares in combination with a very light glass rod for stream fishing with small sinking minnows. My knowledge of baitcasting and BFS is limited, so I wanted to ask if this kind of fishing was within capabilities of a stock 19 Antares. Thanks in advance.

I don't think it would have a problem at all with 5 gram lures and the right rod. I have seen him use it with what looks like the stock spool with just 40 or 50 meters of line on it. But...they just came out with this shallow spool.

https://owned.hitotokiworks.com/blog/5852/

[Dalleinf]

I have thrown 5 gram lures with the standard spool, which worked fine given plenty of room to maneuver.

I have purchsed the DIY spool for the Antares 19, and it helps quite a bit with the light lures down to around 3 gram. As the reel is relatively heavy and large, I mostly pair the reel with longer rods (8+ feet).

You can also find a spool for the Antares at GranBlue Link.

[ras]

Thanks for the replies. I'm really just curious about the capabilities of the reel. I noticed that spool descriptions for 19 Antares and 20 Metanium are the same – dimensions, weight, MGL III, SVS Infinity. Do these reels use the same spool? Does it mean one could get Yumeya Metanium Shallow spool to use with 19 Antares?

PS. Sorry, this has gone a bit off topic...

[Dalleinf]

No, the spools are not compatible although they are very similar. There are small differences in spool/shaft dimensions. The reels cast very much the same in my hands, but I did find it just a tad easier to throw 5-7 gram lures with the Antares.

[ras]

Thanks, good to know. I wish there was a shallow spool option for 19 Antares outside of the Hitotoki Works model, which costs about half the Antares and not easy to find. I recognize that Antares is not the first (or second) choice for stream trout fishing, but I just put mine on my just arrived Cardiff Stream Limited travel rod, and they look incredibly well together, to my taste. The angler from Hitotoki Works notes in his blog article that he is comfortable with lures as light as 4 g with the Antares. I'm certainly not that skilled, but I'll be trying 5-6 g heavy sinking minnows on my setup. The rod feels like it will do extremely well in the upper range of its lure rating (up to 7 g).

[dennis_rf]

Thanks, good to know. I wish there was a shallow spool option for 19 Antares outside of the Hitotoki Works model, which costs about half the Antares and not easy to find. I recognize that Antares is not the first (or second) choice for stream trout fishing, but I just put mine on my just arrived Cardiff Stream Limited travel rod, and they look incredibly well together, to my taste. The angler from Hitotoki Works notes in his blog article that he is comfortable with lures as light as 4 g with the Antares. I'm certainly not that skilled, but I'll be trying 5-6 g heavy sinking minnows on my setup. The rod feels like it will do extremely well in the upper range of its lure rating (up to 7 g).

You mean like… this one?
https://a.aliexpress.com/_EwtsEhx

I’ve got the Metanium version of this, it’s around 10g with the bearing and 12 something spooled up with braid. Meaning it won’t turn it into a true stream caster, so accuracy will be an issue giving the circumstances but it‘s still lighter than the Yumeya shallow for the Met. At that price worth giving a try

[ras]

Thanks. I'm not familiar with Ray's Studio spools – is it a reputable brand? Maybe a naive question, but my experience with baitcasting gear is limited.

P.S. Maybe when I get 23 CC BFS, I'll stop asking these questions altogether.

[Dalleinf]

The Ray’s spool is the DIY spool I wrote about.
It is a nice spool for the Antares. You have to install brake shoes yourself, i.e. remove two shoes from the spool you own and put them on the Rays/DIY.
Do not put much more line on the spool than absolutely needed, e.g. 50 yards, and you will do fine with light lures.