Re-released in 2018, this model of the Daiwa Alphas Air Stream Custom is a really stylish and effective BFS reel.
It feels as if the more famous UL BFS reels (e.g. the Daiwa Alphas Air TW 20) perhaps steal the limelight from the Air Stream Custom – but is that entirely fair?
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What is the Daiwa Alphas Air Stream Custom like to Fish with?
If you just want the greatest hits/raw specs, click here to jump straight to the numbers.
If you want to get under the skin of the Daiwa Alphas Air Stream Custom and get a real feel for the reel, carry on reading…
Right out of the box, the hints of a metallic version of British Racing Green, silver spool and funky cork handles that give a kind of retro-chic feel. To complement that, the construction feels wonderfully solid. Turning the crank has that classic high-end Japanese buttery smoothness.
It also sends a light lure out really smoothly – handling some of my favourite 1.65-g / 50-mm (1/16th oz / 2”) suspension jerk baits with ease:
How Does the "Out of the Box" Daiwa ASC Compare to the Shimano Aldebaran (tuned)?
Although it is hard to pinpoint exactly, I’d maybe even say it felt easier to be accurate with the above bait on the Alphas Air Stream Custom compared to the mighty Shimano Aldebaran BFS HG 16 with the Avail UL spool…At least at that lure weight…
Sharp intake of breath?
Well, I’d follow that up by saying I felt it was also a touch less likely to blow up on me if I suddenly faced a gust of headwind or slightly over-cooked a casting flick. That being said, the difference is a small degree – and all the reels mentioned so far are genuinely excellent to fish with.
The folks at Daiwa say (fairly obviously) that this reel is based on the older Alphas Air platform and modified from there. It seems there was a limited run of Stream Customs in 2014 which rapidly sold out. Their stated aim – carried through to the current 2018 incarnation - was to create something that was specifically suited to small streams.
Availability
This specialist niche means that availability can be a bit patchy - while I found some bargain-priced Right Hand Wind in stock on the USA Amazon site (e.g. Amazon button below). Both Left Hand and Right Hand wind were tracked down on Aliexpress and available globally with a higher price tag (red button):
As part of the small stream vision, Daiwa took a bold step to fix the brake inductor in place on the spool in a deliberate prioritisation for shorter range control. So instead of the spring-loaded inductor that eases up and squeezes the last drops of distance beyond the middle stages of a long cast; you have immediate control acting on the spool for those zippy, accurate, fairly close-quarters casts.
The black inductor cup (upper left) is permanently fixed in the "out" position
Perhaps that fixed inductor contributes to the slightly lower tendency to fluff up compared to the Aldebaran’s FTB dynamic brakes? The idea is that there it completely eliminates lag between the spool beginning to spin and the braking force being applied. On short flip casts, that initial acceleration can be uncontrollably fast as the rod-blank rebounds to a straight position. Daiwa suggest that waiting for a dynamic brake to kick in can increase the potential for back-lashes while fishing in that style.
When playing strong fish, the drag does kick in nice and smoothly – something I got to experience in the heat of battle on my first trip out with this reel when a big old bruiser of a wild brown trout hammered my defenceless suspension minnow.
Adjustment of the casting brakes is very nice, positive and precise too – with the “toothed” outer-edge of the (clicking) dial providing good grip:
Similarly, the drag star is precisely made and the mechanism clicks smoothly when adjusted.
Any Downsides?
For my personal taste, having a drag clicker does give useful feedback when playing a larger fish and keeping your drag setting just right. With a near silent drag, I find it can become distracting trying to judge exactly when the reel begins to pay out line.
Once you know the trick it is straightforward to remove the brake-plate and take out the spool. However, it isn’t all that obvious until you see how it works and it still requires some screw-turning (albeit an oversize screw that you could loosen with the edge of a small coin). It doesn’t make me want to try that anywhere near the stream though (in case of emergency).
First use a coin (or similar) to loosen the retaining screw until it pops out on its spring
Then you need to rotate the side-plate quite a long way before it will pop out
Strangely, given the clicking adjustment on all other controls, the spool tension is modified via a non-clicking dial. However, if you prefer a completely continuous/analogue control – then this would avoid your perfect setting falling between two clicks! The equivalent of how the place you’re looking for in a map-book always being in the fold between two different pages…
If you’re a fan of finesse lure fishing in the sea, the bearings on the Daiwa Alphas Air Stream Custom are stainless steel and anglers are specifically warned not to use the reel in salt water.
While I don’t think it drastically harms your distance casting to have a fixed inductor – you may feel more reassured when launching for the horizon with a dynamic braking system. It might not be someone's first choice for fishing a lake from the bank for that reason.
At the same time, I’m told that there’s always a degree of variable braking force, due to some weird physics of magnetic eddy currents with faster-spinning spools… That’s getting into the voodoo territory of quantum mechanics though.
Don’t let any of this suggest to you that the Air Stream Custom is anything but a great reel. It’s really lovely to use – particularly in its sweet spot of the small stream environment that it was designed for.
18 Daiwa Alphas Air Stream Custom Specifications
Find Stock & Check Prices
In addition to the links below on the product image and buttons, you might have luck in searching Japanese tackle websites and using your browser's "translate" function:
Round up of the Daiwa Alphas Air Stream Custom
From looks, feel and casting accuracy with light lures the Daiwa Alphas Air Stream Custom is clearly a serious BFS reel. If you’re looking to target fish on small to medium-sized rivers with ultralight and light Bait Finesse System lures – I firmly expect it to leave a smile on your face.
Yes, having the drag click when a fish takes line would be ideal for many anglers. Perhaps having an even lighter spool could be another choice you could wish for? Similarly, your preference might be for dynamic rather than static brakes. All that being said, there are Bait Finesse Reels out there already providing those alternate choices.
Instead, the Air Stream Custom deliberately (and unapologetically) seems to stand by the options it represents; and it comes across as being very comfortable in its own skin.
I like its style.
Paul Gaskell
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Thanks for the review, purely from a looks stand point, the reel looks “retro” and I love the cork handles, it’s on the list for me, also it nice to have an alternative choice, how do you find it works with the glass rod, or would it be better on a carbon/graphite option?, tight lines
Hi Jason, in terms of performance it works wonderfully with the glass rod. Because of the cosmetics, I also quite like the look of it on glass too. Kind of proves that you don’t only need to run a round reel on a glass rod… although I think that looks really cool too ha ha ha.
In terms of carbon rods and the ASC, I think the fixed inductor cup makes it very suitable for faster-actioned rods and firing flat, accurate casts at high speed. I imagine that is exactly what the engineers had in mind when they were trying to eliminate any lag at all before the brakes kick in at the start of a cast.
Paul