Review: SV1000 Spool + H.Studio AIR Bearings

Just look at the amazingly smooth AIR bearings in the above video of my reel.
Feels like it can spin for an eternity.

Went to spot Mozzy with ZH yesterday first light to test it out.

Casting distance increased by around 10% with tossing big lures close to 1 ounce.
Smoothness is incredible!

Beats my previous TG Rocket Bearings hands down!

This combination of SV1000 spool and Hedgehog Studio's AIR bearings is perfect!

During casting, noise from the bearings is almost non-existant unlike the noisy Rockets.

Initial spin accelerates much much faster too which explains the slightly further casting.

Tossing half ounce lures proves to be outstanding as well.

Was enjoying every cast yesterday!  lol

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Lost a take with my Deps Basirisky Frog to a goalkeeper toman.

I've always been very unlucky with weedless frogs.

Never once have I gotten a solid hookup from these darn things!

Although frogs trigger snakehead strikes easily and there's no fear of snag in weedy areas, hookup rate is low due to the weedless placement of it's hook.

Or maybe it's just me... 

Got a bite from the tributary again.

Spot casted towards a gentle swirl and the take was almost immediate.

It's a violent one with about 5 mad dashes, all of which peels line on my tight drag setting.

Headshakes non-stop throughout.

My expression shows a hard time subduing this wild thing.

Luckily, one of the 3 trebles was firmly set into the snakehead's upper jaw.

When the fight was over, ZH helped to hold onto my rod while I boga'ed the mad toman, lifted it up from the water onto terra firma.

Fantastic coloration!

Giant Snakehead 8lbs @ 75cm

Almost lost a lure yesterday if not for ZH.

Didn't notice that my line had dug into the spool during the crazy fight with the snakehead.
My braided line snapped with the lure still in mid-air flight.

ZH managed to snag my lure's loose line before it sinks into the depth and reeled it back slowly.

Saved some bucks for me... Thanks!

Spent the next 10 minutes retying my fluorocarbon leader again.
Something which I absolutely hates doing while out on field...

No action for the next hour, we decided to wrap it up and go home...

Can feel that Spot Mozzy's bite rate has been deteriorating due to the netting activities by those fucking foreign workers...

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Had dinner with Bak Tiong's family at Telok Blangah Heights.

He suggested me learning mahjong as I seemed to be the only one in the entire world who doesn't know how to play. 

Since he recently shifted to just blocks away from my home, we went to his house after dinner.

Not addictive enough for me.

Good way to kill time with close ones though...

Ling loves mahjong.

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A couple of things arrived from Japan to my work address just now:

Hedgehog Studio's Alchemy Bearing Oil (Ultra Light)

Daiwa T3 MX 1016XHL

The Alchemy oil is for my reel's spool bearings.

The new reel belongs to my colleague whom I have recently succeeded poisoning with the fishing disease.

He has been fishing in paid ponds lately.

Got him to make the switch to baitcasting from spinning as well.

hehehehe.......

He bought the T3 MX under my persistent recommendation.

An excellent performing mid-range reel, imho...

As for me, I'm stuck with my fully tuned Ryoga until something better comes along...

Hedgehog Studio AIR Micro Ceramic Bearing

Been contemplating to get a set of Hedgehog Studio AIR bearings for my Ryoga 1016H.
Their new range of bearings are considered a breakthrough from conventional ceramic bearing.

It's the new 'Micro Ceramic Ball Bearing':

This set of bearings will cost me USD 43 inclusive of shipping fees from Japan.

I have been hesitating as my Ryoga's bearings has already been upgraded to TG Rocket Ceramic Bearings which are ABEC7 rated.

Seriously, how much better will the new micro bearings be?
Hedgehog Studio claimed to be able to exceed ABEC9 standards but since it's not America ABEC tested the micro bearings do not carry any ABEC tag.

Thinking, thinking, thinking...

Combing the web for reviews until I found out that a local tackle shop carries them. 

Happens that one of my friend William is currently working in Catchbay. 

Asked him and turns out that they're selling it cheaper at SGD 45. 

USD 43 (3 days) versus SGD 45 (cash & carry)

It's a no brainer.

Went there asap to grab a set:

Reached home, proceeded to install the new micro bearings:

TG Rocket (left)
Hedgehog Studio AIR (right)

As you can see from the photo above, the ball bearings are really small. 

Small enough for me to have doubts on their claim that it can withstand casting lures up to 28grams...

Well, comes this weekend, it'll be put to the test. 

At the most, I'll switch back to the TG Rocket Ceramics if the new bearings turns out to just some marketing hype.
Sell it off on forum to some kids.

After all, it's free.

Yes, you heard me right.

It's FREE!

In a sense...

On top of it, I gained an extra $5.   lol

Never noticed it while reverse parking when I came back home after buying the micro bearings.
Until I stepped out.

Must have dropped off someone's pocket while getting on his/her car.

Looked around and saw no one else in the carpark.

Finders keepers I guess...



What luck!

RCS SV1000 Spool: The Arrival...

Announced by Daiwa on January 2013 at the annual Osaka Fishing Show, slated for release at June, delayed until this week.

Ordered mine on Monday and arrived yesterday afternoon via international EMS Express.

Japanese sure like to use large packaging for small items which is actually good thinking as small things tend to get lost easily.

Here's a photo comparison of the original RCS 1016 spool that comes stock with Ryoga 1016H (left) and the newly arrived RCS SV1000 spool (right):

Although the RCS 1016 is a wiffle spool (cutouts to reduce weight), it still weighs more than 15grams and that is without any line spooled onto it whereas for the SV spool, it weighs slightly less than 10grams.

Moreover, due to the lesser line capacity on the SV spool, it will weigh even more lighter than the original RCS 1016 after filling it to the brim with braided line.

A single gram difference on the spool can make a huge impact in casting distance.

Also, a lighter spool allows for smoother casting of smaller lures which are below the weight of 10grams.

On the other hand, it will cast a mile with bigger lures more than 15grams which I'm accustomed to using.

The SV spool is tuned to cast rigs from 4grams up to 80grams. 

A truly versatile spool. 

I suspect it has something to do with the newly designed induction rotor as well.

It's spring feels so much softer compared to the RCS 1016.

Due to it's light weight, it can accelerate faster during initial casting requiring minimal brake force and thus, resulting in a further cast up to 20%.

All these are just on papers, nothing concrete.

Comes this weekend, I shall put it to the test.

What a beaut!

Swapping my Rocket Bearing over to the new reel is made easy and safe using this specialised tool.

Took the chance to clean and lubricate the bearing too.

I usually put on a few meters of mono backing before I spool on the braided line to prevent line slippage.

However, with the much lower line capacity of the SV spool, I will have to put on an arbor tape instead.

This is something which I avoided doing all these while as the adhesive from the tape tends to remain on the spool after removal when changing line causing a sticky mess.

Not much choice here since a mono backing will further reduce the line capacity to a dangerous level...

2 rounds on the spool, then a tight arbor knot followed by the arbor tape.

The SV spool has a groove in the centre for this procedure.

Next is to lay the line manually by using fingers instead of the level wind..

Doing this manually will ensure that the line is laid more evenly and most importantly of all: tight!

A loosely packed spool will cause line to dig in resulting in backlashes during casting or even worse, line slippage in the middle of a fish fight.

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Koya Sonoda from Japan Tackle emailed me seeking my permission to use the above photos for his online shop.

He thinks that I'm the first one in the entire world to fit this spool onto a Ryoga 1016 and will like to post my reel's photo to let his customers know that this stunt is possible.    lol

To be honest, I'm not entirely certain that the SV1000 spool is compatible with my Ryoga 1016H in the very first place.

Based on what I researched on the internet and my hands-on with the Daiwa T3 MX reel in a local tackle shop, I took a leap of faith when placing my order for this spool.

And turns out that it fitted snugly without any freeplay whatsoever...    :)

T3 SV Spool Launched!!!

Released today!!!

But with ultra limited stocks.

Only 3 pieces...

Placed order and paid immediately with Jun's Japan Tackle.

Waited months for this...

Read: Previous Post

USD 98.

Quite cheap for an optional spool in my opinion...

Can't wait to get my hands on this gem!

Hedgehog Studio's Spool Bearing Removal Tool

I'm impressed...

Arrived in less than 3 days from Japan via EMS.

Tracking shows that it was shipped out from Tokyo within hours upon payment on Wednesday afternoon.

Wrench feels solid and sturdy.

Frame made of machine milled steel.

Comes with a couple of extra pins as well.

On top of it all, it was on sale for a limited time and quantity!

Check it out if anyone's interested: Hedgehog Studio Japan

Will be able to clean my spool bearing properly with this tool from now on.

英雄本色 (A Better Tomorrow)

Back in the mid/late 80's there was this Hong Kong gangster movie which was such a big hit back then.

It was directed by the famous Director John Woo.
 

I remembered watching it on TV when I was still a small kid.

 

One of the characters left a deep impression on me：

Mark (小马哥）／ Ken (Ken哥）

First part of the show, Mark died heroically in a gunfight towards the end.

Likely the most bullet wounds in the history of movie making.

Ken is Mark's identical twin brother who appeared in part 2.

Both are portrayed by Chow Yun Fatt.
 

  

 

I was so facinated by him back then...

 

He 'taught' me that real men can cry, must not show pain, death is nothing, smoke cigerattes and also, sport side-parting hairstyle.

Apart from the Alain Delon sunglasses and dust coat that is...

I bought the DVDs and still rewatch it every now and then.
Till date, countless times I've watched it...

 

There was once when I watched it with Ling and she seemed amused by the characters' corny dialogue and actions.

 

I guess the movies are so old-fashioned that not many generation 80's know how to appreciate them...

 

Who knows?

If not for this show, I might grew up to be a sissy now.

If I'm fortunate enough to have a son in future, will make him watch it as well.

It's a really good educational movie.

Shows what honor and loyalty is all about, something which people these days seriously lack. 

 

Theme song of part 2 by a pianist fan:

 

 

Oh, there's a part 3 as well.

Director John Woo and Producer Tsui Hark fell out during the making of part 2.

 

This led to Tsui Hark directing part 3 which is a prequel to the entire story.

 

Not worth mentioning as Tsui Hark basically ruined everything.

Feel is not there anymore...

 

 

 

 

List of Snakehead Species

Commonly found in Singapore are the Haruan and Giant Snakehead with the latter being most aggressive and largest of all.

The Bujuk (forest snakehead) is lurking in our local freshwater although extremely rare.

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Video featuring professional japanese angler Toshinari Namiki nicknamed 'The Machinegun' due to his rapid casting skill with incredible accuracy.
Makes casting look like an art...

Enjoy!

Spool Bearing Removal Tool

Hedgehog Studio Spool Bearing Removal Tool

Bought myself this today from it's Japan website.

It's on sale for a limited time.

The package comes with extra pins as well.

With this tool, I can remove the pin on the spool shaft of most baitcasting reels, enabling me to extract the entire spool bearing for cleaning and lubricating.

Below pic shows how the pin looks like on a baitcasting reel's spool.

Notice how the pin is 'blocking' the bearing?

Will need this tool to transfer my Rocket Ceramic Bearing from my current RCS 1016 spool to the new SV Spool when it comes.

Soon I hope......

Daiwa T3 SV Spool

To be released in June 2013.
Yet, still no news till today!

Daiwa T3 SV Spool...  *drool*

The only upgrade left for my Ryoga...
Originally meant for the Daiwa T3 SV 2013 reel, but based on papers and my research, I think it'll have no problem fitting my Ryoga 1016H.

Went searching the net everyday.
Finally found someone who managed to get his hands on it.

Sent a message to him asking where he got it:

He's a real lucky fella...

I know that good things are worth the wait but this is killing me......