I think I was unlucky. Despite the line lay I have fallen in love with the reel so much that I have now bought the black version. I also do not believe it is as overbraked as some have said as I have cast down to 1.5gr with the reel after cleaning the bearings with acetone and adding one drop of oil to each. So yes I am happy with mine also😃
My pleasure mate. I tend to go in hard on kit with my reviews as I think it gives the manufacturers something to aim for. The main market for it is the American BFS market where most people are not fishing sub 1.5gr trout magnets but for Bass with typical 3gr and up lures. For the money they are a great reel
@@TheConstantAngler What do you think is the heaviest i should throw with the valiant eagle? I want to throw 13 gram twitch bait with it and a 7 gram jighead with a 5 gram trailer. But i don't know if i will damage the reel doing this or if casting lught lures will not be as smooth anymore. Or is this no problem for this reel? What is the heaviest i should cast with this reel?
As a footnote the line lay issue does not appear to effect the reels performance. It will cast lures as low as 2gr with the standard bearings and up to 10gr. To be honest I am thoroughly warming to the reel. It is nice to know that on days when the weather isn’t playing ball it will not birdsnests due to the strong brakes. A great reel to start BFS with
Excellent review , I appreciated the flipping test - as you said - its what we do most of the time . I also found , like yourself , that power casting leads to problems , a gentler , smooth power cast goes much better . Just got my second Dark Wolf as I heard they are being replaced by another model . Got their heavier duty FX150 on my wish list , just got a KASTKING rod , which is good , but for reels , I'm sticking with Tsurinoya .
I am deliberately tough on these tests. If it didn’t have the line lay issues I would have been very impressed. I need to do more flipping/pitching in the videos.
Great review adrian! Can’t wait to get mine to put it through the paces. Been hearing all sorts of manner of things about this reel so I’m not really sure what to expect…
Look forward to your review. I really hope your line lay is better because I think it has a lot of potential and may just be a QC problem. Trouble is the after sales service leaves a lot to be desired.
I just received my Valiant Eagle II, from Aliexpress this morning I am in the US , So far I like what I see, the lock button is crisp and positive and I am not seeing any of the side-to-side spool play at all. I am going to upgrade the bearings with ceramic RORO bearings they are the same as the Krestel Elite.
Great news. I was worried it wasn’t just a QC issue. Hope your line lay is good. I gave it a hard time but other than when really hitting it hard it did very well. I’m going to try mono on mine to see if the line lay is better. Going fishing tomorrow with it.
Great review.Was eyeing one of these with the recent sales and sort of glad I didn't commit. I have DWU and other reels . Best of the budget IMO are (and I fish them in real world scenarios,) DWU mk 1 with magnet upgrade Sheng he Lingl Kyorim bulletcast with 7 grm Lingl spool . All have got the dynamic brakes
Lightest luers ive used on my ve2 is a 1/16oz and think it does great. I have the brake at 3-4. Dont feel over braked at all. I got some 1/64 trout magnets to try out. We'll see how it does.i did upgrade the the bearings to roro ceramic micro bearings and i use 6# braid.
Think I was doing 1.7gr in video and it did it. I gave it a hard time on the review because I think to be credible I should with all gear, but to be honest the line lay has improved and I love fishing with it so much I have bought another.
As others have said, great video. Proper casting review, real conditions that we in the UK can face at anytime of the year 🤣. Fairplay fella 👍 👏. These reels are all great don't get me wrong but you hit the nail on the head by saying other reels do everything easier and I've found that with all CDM reels vs JDM reels. So you spend more time fishing rather than faffing.
I like ur review. BTW, why u use j braid. I heard a lot bad review thats saying it easily break. My personnel braid im currently using is sulfix and power pro. So far so good
Does it always get stuck (frap up on side of reels) on heavy casts? Having some worry cause i use a bit heavier lures (5g - 9g) and use lighter braid (3-4lbs braid)
Nice video and review. I guess the QC on some reels are not that good. I been lucky with mine, I have different Tsurinoya and Kastking, and hadns down mine are fine. You pro got a bad one. Sometimes we need to modify cheap reels (DWU breakes come to mind) . Keep it up. Cheers
Totally agree. I gave it a hard time and if it wasn’t for the line lay I would have really liked it. Can only go on the reel I have. To be fair all companies can have QC issues.
Hello, Thank you for this video :) ! I would like to build a light casting setup but, I'm a beginner in casting, i already have a bigbait and medium bait setup, but i'm still struggling to estimate the suitable range lure weight range of some casting reel. I read the description, and also heard you in the "casting 6.2g" part of the video ? You're speaking about 9g and not going further, is it cause this is the ree safe limit ? Or could it throw 10-12g without pushing the internal parts or would it be too much ? I asked Kastking directly but the response was totally off :/. Thank you in advance :)
It’s not that a (50 size) as we call them, BFS reel will not cast them, but more to do with the rod. The rod needs to have a rating that reflects this. Obviously the better the build quality of the reel the easier it will handle the pressures. Something like the kestrel with it’s stronger frame or the Shimano Calcutta might be more suited. It depends how light you wish to go and wether you are dragging texas rigs in that weight range etc. I’d be happy fishing jerkbaits in that size. The spools are very light so may distort over time. You might find a 100 size reel more suitable.
@@TheConstantAngler Thank you fot your explanations ! Sorry for the dumb question :). So may I ask what would you recommend (aliexpress) for lures from 2g to maybe 10g max ? Anyway thank you for having taken the time to answer me :) !
Now if your looking to throw these weights a BFS reel will be great. I would go for Tsurinoya Genius, Dark Wolf Ultra or you could try the Acura HICC 50 which also has a spare deep spool. I’ve not used this reel much but others highly recommend it and it could actually be the solution you are after. It’s deeper spare spool would stand up to the pressures more
It wasn’t getting many views and I was going to cover it with my main video. Felt at the time it was cluttering up my channel. I sometimes do this with my “shorts” videos. It had also served its purpose. Sometimes people see an unboxing video and buy on the back of watching it. I was worried people might do so rather than wait for my full review.
So the catch was a QC problem easily solved. The line lay is another problem entirely. I saw a video ages ago, that I can't find now, that compared the line lay with braid and mono. 2lb to 4lb mono was OK, but 0.6mm to 0.10 braid did the same as your reel. As the Americans tend to use mono perhaps this was never checked.
@@TheConstantAngler curiously enough, it's much more pleasant for lures in the 2-5g range than for those that weigh ~8g or more, unless they have that long-casting moving ball inside. I have already lost a couple of heavier lures (that I loved), and it happened with a 14lb braid. I wonder if there is something that can be done to improve the reel in this regard.
@@s_s-g4d to be honest I was using a soft tipped rod that may have caused a judder in the cast. I have found adding a little more end tension will help. It’s not the done thing but who cares if it gets you fishing. The problem is we want a lure that does it all i.e sun 1gr up to 10gr. Not many reels will do both well.
My valiant eagle 2 does not have these issues. I am really happy with mine!
I think I was unlucky. Despite the line lay I have fallen in love with the reel so much that I have now bought the black version. I also do not believe it is as overbraked as some have said as I have cast down to 1.5gr with the reel after cleaning the bearings with acetone and adding one drop of oil to each. So yes I am happy with mine also😃
Kastking Valiant Eagle 2 Black!! BFS REEL
ruclips.net/user/shortso0iMq35Yv1A?feature=share
@@TheConstantAngler Gonna do the same with the bearings of my reel for sure. Thanks for letting me know!
My pleasure mate. I tend to go in hard on kit with my reviews as I think it gives the manufacturers something to aim for. The main market for it is the American BFS market where most people are not fishing sub 1.5gr trout magnets but for Bass with typical 3gr and up lures. For the money they are a great reel
@@TheConstantAngler What do you think is the heaviest i should throw with the valiant eagle? I want to throw 13 gram twitch bait with it and a 7 gram jighead with a 5 gram trailer. But i don't know if i will damage the reel doing this or if casting lught lures will not be as smooth anymore. Or is this no problem for this reel? What is the heaviest i should cast with this reel?
As a footnote the line lay issue does not appear to effect the reels performance. It will cast lures as low as 2gr with the standard bearings and up to 10gr. To be honest I am thoroughly warming to the reel. It is nice to know that on days when the weather isn’t playing ball it will not birdsnests due to the strong brakes. A great reel to start BFS with
Excellent review , I appreciated the flipping test - as you said - its what we do most of the time . I also found , like yourself , that power casting leads to problems , a gentler , smooth power cast goes much better . Just got my second Dark Wolf as I heard they are being replaced by another model . Got their heavier duty FX150 on my wish list , just got a KASTKING rod , which is good , but for reels , I'm sticking with Tsurinoya .
I am deliberately tough on these tests. If it didn’t have the line lay issues I would have been very impressed. I need to do more flipping/pitching in the videos.
Great review adrian! Can’t wait to get mine to put it through the paces. Been hearing all sorts of manner of things about this reel so I’m not really sure what to expect…
Look forward to your review. I really hope your line lay is better because I think it has a lot of potential and may just be a QC problem. Trouble is the after sales service leaves a lot to be desired.
I just received my Valiant Eagle II, from Aliexpress this morning I am in the US
, So far I like what I see, the lock button is crisp and positive and I am not seeing any of the side-to-side spool play at all. I am going to upgrade the bearings with ceramic RORO bearings they are the same as the Krestel Elite.
Great news. I was worried it wasn’t just a QC issue. Hope your line lay is good. I gave it a hard time but other than when really hitting it hard it did very well. I’m going to try mono on mine to see if the line lay is better. Going fishing tomorrow with it.
@@TheConstantAngler Many tight lines Mate!
@@draidt you to.
Great review.Was eyeing one of these with the recent sales and sort of glad I didn't commit.
I have DWU and other reels .
Best of the budget IMO are (and I fish them in real world scenarios,)
DWU mk 1 with magnet upgrade
Sheng he Lingl
Kyorim bulletcast with 7 grm Lingl spool .
All have got the dynamic brakes
To be fair in a fishing scenario it’s not too bad. If it wasn’t for that line lay it has the potential to be a great reel.
Lightest luers ive used on my ve2 is a 1/16oz and think it does great. I have the brake at 3-4. Dont feel over braked at all. I got some 1/64 trout magnets to try out. We'll see how it does.i did upgrade the the bearings to roro ceramic micro bearings and i use 6# braid.
Think I was doing 1.7gr in video and it did it. I gave it a hard time on the review because I think to be credible I should with all gear, but to be honest the line lay has improved and I love fishing with it so much I have bought another.
@@TheConstantAngler I noticed when the line is new and fresh it takes a few casts for it to loosen up and lay better in the spool.
As others have said, great video. Proper casting review, real conditions that we in the UK can face at anytime of the year 🤣. Fairplay fella 👍 👏. These reels are all great don't get me wrong but you hit the nail on the head by saying other reels do everything easier and I've found that with all CDM reels vs JDM reels. So you spend more time fishing rather than faffing.
They do a job but just not as smoothly or easily. Glad you liked it
I like ur review. BTW, why u use j braid. I heard a lot bad review thats saying it easily break. My personnel braid im currently using is sulfix and power pro. So far so good
It’s what I had. I do like suffix or Sunline normally.
Does it always get stuck (frap up on side of reels) on heavy casts? Having some worry cause i use a bit heavier lures (5g - 9g) and use lighter braid (3-4lbs braid)
Not always but it can happen. I think using such light line will increase the chances. Happens more when trying to cast as far as possible
Nice video and review. I guess the QC on some reels are not that good. I been lucky with mine, I have different Tsurinoya and Kastking, and hadns down mine are fine. You pro got a bad one. Sometimes we need to modify cheap reels (DWU breakes come to mind) . Keep it up. Cheers
Totally agree. I gave it a hard time and if it wasn’t for the line lay I would have really liked it. Can only go on the reel I have. To be fair all companies can have QC issues.
Hello,
Thank you for this video :) ! I would like to build a light casting setup but, I'm a beginner in casting, i already have a bigbait and medium bait setup, but i'm still struggling to estimate the suitable range lure weight range of some casting reel.
I read the description, and also heard you in the "casting 6.2g" part of the video ? You're speaking about 9g and not going further, is it cause this is the ree safe limit ? Or could it throw 10-12g without pushing the internal parts or would it be too much ?
I asked Kastking directly but the response was totally off :/.
Thank you in advance :)
It’s not that a (50 size) as we call them, BFS reel will not cast them, but more to do with the rod. The rod needs to have a rating that reflects this. Obviously the better the build quality of the reel the easier it will handle the pressures. Something like the kestrel with it’s stronger frame or the Shimano Calcutta might be more suited. It depends how light you wish to go and wether you are dragging texas rigs in that weight range etc. I’d be happy fishing jerkbaits in that size. The spools are very light so may distort over time. You might find a 100 size reel more suitable.
@@TheConstantAngler Thank you fot your explanations ! Sorry for the dumb question :).
So may I ask what would you recommend (aliexpress) for lures from 2g to maybe 10g max ?
Anyway thank you for having taken the time to answer me :) !
Now if your looking to throw these weights a BFS reel will be great. I would go for Tsurinoya Genius, Dark Wolf Ultra or you could try the Acura HICC 50 which also has a spare deep spool. I’ve not used this reel much but others highly recommend it and it could actually be the solution you are after. It’s deeper spare spool would stand up to the pressures more
@@TheConstantAngler Many thanks for your kind advices, I'll look into it :)
May I ask why you deleted the very first video you released on this reel? The one with the side plate and line lay issue comments
It wasn’t getting many views and I was going to cover it with my main video. Felt at the time it was cluttering up my channel. I sometimes do this with my “shorts” videos. It had also served its purpose. Sometimes people see an unboxing video and buy on the back of watching it. I was worried people might do so rather than wait for my full review.
So the catch was a QC problem easily solved. The line lay is another problem entirely. I saw a video ages ago, that I can't find now, that compared the line lay with braid and mono. 2lb to 4lb mono was OK, but 0.6mm to 0.10 braid did the same as your reel. As the Americans tend to use mono perhaps this was never checked.
Could be the reason. It’s a shame as it could be such a good reel. But for the line lay it was good to use and achieved good distances
@@TheConstantAngler Maybe there'll be a MKII
@@jorvikangler I’m sure there will.
Adrain, I think I am not going to pull the trigger...😜
Yours might be fine mate. I enjoy using it even with the line lay as it is. I think I could cast lower than 2gr with the right rod and line.
@@TheConstantAngler curiously enough, it's much more pleasant for lures in the 2-5g range than for those that weigh ~8g or more, unless they have that long-casting moving ball inside.
I have already lost a couple of heavier lures (that I loved), and it happened with a 14lb braid.
I wonder if there is something that can be done to improve the reel in this regard.
@@s_s-g4d to be honest I was using a soft tipped rod that may have caused a judder in the cast. I have found adding a little more end tension will help. It’s not the done thing but who cares if it gets you fishing. The problem is we want a lure that does it all i.e sun 1gr up to 10gr. Not many reels will do both well.
No drag clicker?
Yes it has a drag clicker.
I must be honest a bfs reel scares the hell out of me!
Sure, i can appreciate the benfits,but they appear too complicated for my simple brain!
😂🤣😂
🎣🤣🎣🤣🎣 Spinning is easier
@@TheConstantAngler for me yes
😂