Tfg Reels

[Jon Hedges]

Hi All,

Anybody use or used the TFG baitrunner style reels. They look good enough, but not read any reviews anywhere

[Gaz51]

Never used or seen one used Jon.

They should be OK if Mr Hayes has put his name to them though.

[Jon Hedges]

I assumed the same ... but I'd rather know for sure !

[Anthony78]

Hi Jon,

Here is a review from this months IYCF:

TOTAL FISHING GEAR X3 BAITFEED 5000

Total Fishing Gear moved into the reel market last season with a range of keenly-priced fixed spool reels. The Baitfeed 5000 freespool was launched this season to attract budding carpers - it is very competitively priced. While you may see the reel's recommended price of £59.99 widely quoted, a few calls to mail order firms revealed it's currently available around the £40 mark.

Unless you can find an exceptional deal on either of the other two reels, the TF Gear X3 is likely to be the cheapest of the models on test here. With that in mind there are several things I like about the reel. For starters it has a compact and confortable double-handle design and freespool facility disingages within one turn of the bail rotor. The spool is a deep and fairly long nosed design with reasonable line lay. However, it was noticeable that the more fish I caught on the Baitfeed the more undulateing the line lay became. The TF Gear reel felt least smooth running of all the products on test here. As the handle is turned you can feel a slight churning sensation ripple through the reel. It is certainly nothing to be alarmed by, but it does make the reel feel less silky than the other test items.

The front drag releases line without any sticking, but I did find the freespool dial on the rear of the reel far too small. On my test session I used Peperami hookbaits and pellet free offerings - this meant my fingers were often quite greasy and gripping the tiny dial to fine tune the freespool became more tricky.

 

The other test reels were:

Prologic XLNT 50.

Tica Sportera SR 6007.

 

 

Personaly I would stick with the shimano reels as I think they are the best on the market.

Or you could try the Okuma Epix Pro Baitfeeder which Fishtec are doing at an amaizing £39.99. Take a look at www.fishtec.co.uk

[Jon Hedges]

Thanks for the review, very much appreciated. I might stick to the trusty Shimano's then.

 

I wouldn't touch the Okuma Epix Pro's with a bargepole - there is a known fault with the bale arms.