Cutting down spool shafts on shimano BCs

[Martin Lo]

Over the last week, I have received queries and requests on the viability of cutting shafts of Shimano casting reels that have a retained bearing to improve its performance in casting lighter baits. The idea that the shaft will not rub against the BB/Bushing beneath the cast control cap has been raised time and again on other foreign forums and can be done on the reels such as the Calcuttas, Aldebaran 2015, Ald XG BFS and Calais.

It's something I don't advise on doing nor wish to perform on stated reels.

Simple reason being. The bearing/bushing shown does not touch the shaft,
minimal if any contact with pinion provides only a slight percentage of friction of the mechanical brakes, in other words, will not add to performance at a risk of permanently altering rather expensive parts.

Until a load is placed on the spool (more than that of finesse baits) the only points of contact on the spool is the side plate, CC cap, and the 2 bearings. Shown here

[kevin19870316]

They need to learn to catch fish not just mucking around with reels

[Sloth]

What sorts of light baits are they trying to cast? Pippies and bread dough ? If you used a decent bait like a whole prawn I reckon you'd get a fair distance.

[thor]

There is a difference between cutting down a shaft and polishing a shaft. Which is this discussion about?

[manno]

Originally Posted by Sloth

What sorts of light baits are they trying to cast? Pippies and bread dough ? If you used a decent bait like a whole prawn I reckon you'd get a fair distance.

Wouldn't you just use a bigger sinker?

[Slazmo]

Originally Posted by manno

Wouldn't you just use a bigger sinker?

And heavier line to add forward casting weight.

[Martin Lo]

Originally Posted by kevin19870316

They need to learn to catch fish not just mucking around with reels

I must admit, along with slow cooked bbq mucking around with reels is a hobby of mine.

Originally Posted by Sloth

What sorts of light baits are they trying to cast? Pippies and bread dough ? If you used a decent bait like a whole prawn I reckon you'd get a fair distance.

A single pippie on a circle hook can easily be casted with my setup, and pippies are the only flesh bait that seems to stay on my hook

Originally Posted by thor

There is a difference between cutting down a shaft and polishing a shaft. Which is this discussion about?

None, just a few questions messaged to me. However I have seen the same suggestion on TTF

Originally Posted by manno

Wouldn't you just use a bigger sinker?

or a bigger bait, or an aero bait.. plenty of ways.

In search for distance with a bait casting setup, finesse stuff in particular its hard to explain non-technically. I'll try to break it down.

1. For the lure to fly, energy is place on lure.
2. From there on 2 factors slow down the lure a: Air, & b:effect of spool braking.
3. However as a spool is heavier and experience less resistance to spin than the bait experiences from air in flight, a spool has to be artificially slowed down (Braking) so its rate of deceleration matches or exceeds the baits deceleration in flight to prevent over run.
4. For light baits to reach its optimum distance, the most important factor is a spool that can accelerate (in the time of the release of spool) quickly and decelerate easily (ease of control). For that to happen the a light spool (Line + spool) will yield easier casting and control.
Like any flywheel weight along the rim of the spool is more important than weight in the axis of the spool.

There are a few other factors that will attribute to the casting and control in a bait caster but these are the main forces in play for BFS reels.

[Martin Lo]

Originally Posted by Slazmo

And heavier line to add forward casting weight.

I found besides the total weight of line placed on the spool, how close to where the line sits on the rim and whether the line digs into itself or not the main factors in casting ability. I've casted a bait on 3,6,10lb FC and 10,30lb PE on the same spool, reel and rod and only minimal differences to its flight was seen, however thicker lines did get affected by crosswind.

From what I found, rod action, bait profile and spool depth are the main factors when casting light.



here a 1/16oz jig + a plastic was thrown on 30lb suffix 832 + 25lb leader, I usually fish this on 4-8lb FC. As you can see by the fall of shot there is little difference to distance and accuracy.