What's the Fishband PW100 Plus All About?
Aside from the purple spool and cosmetics, what has the Fishband PW100 Plus Bait Finesse System fishing got going for it that the original model lacked? It's another reel described as a "CDM" or "Chinese Domestic Market" model in the current slang and is an affordable option...But is it any good?
The anodised handles and bearings come supplied in the box with the PW100 Plus reel
Well - as nice as the color-scheme and optional purple handles (with bearings) that come supplied with the reel - the big news is the weight of the spool. It's very light and there's a growing number of anglers who love the performance at this value. I'll get into the specs list below and also see whether the reel lives up to its reputation.
Unboxing and first impressions of the Fishband PW100
The reel comes supplied with a soft black fabric protective bag with drawstring closure - which is a nice touch since many much more expensive reels lack that accessory. As mentioned, it also comes supplied with the handle bearings and anodised purple handles for an optional upgrade - which I think is a unique offering for BFS reels.
It's very light in the hand and the spool spins very freely when the brakes are turned down to zero and spun in "free-spool". That lightness is also accompanied by a slight "plastic-y" feel to the reel - though the operation is smooth enough and the thumb bar snaps down and re-engages with a nice, positive feel.
Features I was really impressed with were the audible clicking spool tension AND drag clicker (as well as the clicking drag-adjustment star).
The drag clicker means when a fish runs you get audible feedback as to when the reel is paying out line - so you don't end up churning the reel handle against the drag unecessarily.
That feature is lacking on so many BFS reels as standard (including high end JDM offerings).
The drag itself could be smoother; although is still perfectly functional - particularly at this pricepoint.
Specifications of the Fishband PW100 Plus
Sourcing a PW100
This is becoming a little more difficult recently - however, they are still possible to track down on Aliexpress. The links below will earn Fishing Discoveries affiliate commission on qualifying purchases. This provides important support for Fishing Discoveries content, while not increasing the price compared to non-affiliate links with my great thanks.
Quick Reference Tuning Stats for Fishband PW100 Plus
PW100 Spool weight - without bearing
Although there are not currently aftermarket spools available, the stock spool is very light (above). However, it is possible to change the spool spindle and brake plate bearings to fit high-speed "micro bearings" rated for lures in the 1-10g or 1-15g range. Here are the bearing dimensions:
PW100 Plus Bearings (external diameter x internal diameter x width in mm):
11 x 5 x 4 (spool spindle)
10 x 3 x 4 (brake plate)
These are the same dimensions as the bearings for the Fishband Clamber Hyper Micro CR-HM06
For flip-casting, the combination of light stock spool and super-low inertia Roro micro (BFS) bearings are likely to be a very effective combination. You can order direct from Roro using my affiliate link (which doesn't add anything to your price, but helps support our site - thank you!) here:
Remember when choosing bearings for this reel, it will be worth picking the correct lure weights (1-10g or 1-15g) from the drop-down menu options on the Roro site.
Examining Major components
The line guide on the Fishband PW100 is an oval design with parallel (rather than conical) sides.
Both the EVA standard handles and the optional upgrade anodized aluminium handles feel good in the hand. There is a small amount of "play" in the handle, but nothing excessive to worry about at this pricepoint.
The spool "inductor" for the (static, but adjustable) magnetic brakes (both shown below) is designed and installed correctly on the left hand wind version of this reel. A problem that is reputed to happen for some budget BFS reels is that the brakes and inductor-surface are incorrectly aligned in the left hand wind models compared to the original right hand wind versions.
Spool (right), magnetic inductor surface (black plate on spool) and static, but adjustable, magnetic brakes (left)
The spool versus reel-body fit and tolerances mean that there is a small gap between the spool and the body. This means that taking care to avoid birds' nests will be necessary to avoid fine line sneaking behind the brake plate or crank-side plate of the reel.
Magnetic brake adjustment dial (foreground) and small gap between spool and reel body (background)
The internal spool spindle and its bearing (as well as the worm-drive for the line-guide, below) are quite heavily greased - though the bearings still seem to run pretty freely. As grease goes, the stuff used in the Fishband PW100 Plus seems to be relatively low viscosity (though, obviously, thicker than oil). It would be interesting to know how much this grease liquifies with increased shear stress (i.e. when the bearings run fast) and temperature (particularly when fishing on a cold day compared to hot, mid-summer).
Coating of clear grease visible on the worm-drive shaft (double-threaded rod which pushes the line-guide left and right)
On my scales (calibrated against standard 50-g weight) the spool (with the bearing) weighs in at 8.19g. This compares to a manufacturer-stated weight of 8.3g. At least in my case, then, it seems that Fishband are erring on the conservative side when stating spool weight.
Casting with the Fishband PW100 Plus
Out of the box
I recently completed a 5-way Cast Battle for unmodified "out of the box" condition BFS reels. It was a fascinating process (and took two full days of casting, measuring and filming to complete!). That's given me a great insight into how this reel performs out of the box.
This reel lacks the dynamic braking systems of - say - the Fishband GH100 or the Diawa Alphas Air.
All the same, it showed up some surprising and really important results when casting agains the measuring tape...
It massively out-performed the GH100 when it came to distance casting a sub-2g weight - and also when "flip-casting" using a 3-g weight
Cast Battle Contenders (and the unforgiving tape!)
The dynamic brakes of the GH100 were more forgiving when bombing out lures towards the heavier end of the BFS spectrum. However, when it came to casting light lures, the light spool of the Fishband PW100 Plus had a clear advantage. Now, both the Fishband Clamber CR-HM06 and (of course) the Daiwa Alphas Air TW 20 had higher overall performance than the PW100.
It must be remembered, though, that right now the Alphas Air is exceptionally good for light lure BFS casting (especially when it comes to out of the box performance). Also, the price of the Fishband Clamber CR-HM06 sits between the PW100 and the Alphas Air TW - which made the cast battle results extremely interesting!
Then again - for just a little bit more money than the PW100 - you can be looking at the latest version of the Black Knight 2 or Dark Wolf Ultra - both reels with phenomenal performance out of the box (and can even compete with the Alphas Air). Given the stock ceramic bearings and conical line guide - I may even lean towards the Black Knight 2 as the one to get for out of the box ultimate performance.
Compared to the higher performing (and higher priced) reels, the PW100 does feel more plastic and a little more "budget". Of course that's exactly what it is. Even after carrying out 50 or 60 consecutive casts with the PW100 across 3 different lure weights, I can easily see how it has gained a cult following as an affordable and yet surprisingly high performing BFS reel.
I'm also looking forward to finding out what happens when I clean and then very lightly lubricate the reel bearings (with high-performance/low viscosity oil). Beyond that I'm REALLY looking forward to what it does when I put some Roro BFS microbearings inside it...
If I had to choose between the Fishband PW100 Plus and the KastKing Zephyr, I'd say it would probably be a bit of a coin toss if I'm completely honest. The PW100 is a bit smaller - and maybe has the edge with distance casting in some of the lure weights. Yet, the Zephyr more than holds its own - even when flip casting at 3-g and distance casting the sub-2-g test weight (below).
The Zephyr - although also a carbon-bodied reel - feels like it has more robust internal gears and overall construction. It is a little larger in the hand - but not off-puttingly so (even for me and I have fairly small hands). Availability, absolute cost and cosmetics will probably make the final decision for you if you're choosing between the PW100 and Zephyr.
KastKing Zephyr BFS Reel
Both the PW100 and the Zephyr had instances of the 4lb fluorocarbon test-casting line getting between the spool and the reel-body. That is not unexpected at their pricepoints - and also not unexpected when pushing the reels to find their limits. In those conditions, you'd expect to create the odd birds nest (much more than during regular fishing conditions).
I'll update as soon as I can with further results for Casting with Cleaned and Upgraded Roro Bearings...
Fishing with the Fishband PW100 Plus
Casting with a soft, UL rod, the PW100 is very capable of delivering fun captures - even with lures around 1.7g. The drag clicker is a really welcome inclusion and, really, the only drawback would be the potential for fine line to get caught up behind the spool. Yes, higher-priced reels may last somewhat longer - but if you're careful to avoid back-lashes this reel will let you have a ton of fun on stream.
Reel Roundup
PW100 Plus - in Summary
Other BFS Reel Reviews:
Kyorim Black Knight 2
Tsurinoya Dark Wolf Ultra
Fishband Clamber Hyper Micro CR-HM06
KastKing Zephyr
Daiwa Alphas Air TW 20
Fishband GH100
Enjoy and please "have at it" in the comments!
Paul
PS - "PW" seems to stand for "Power Wind"...
Thank you! PW100 Vs Zephyr, which is better?
Oooh, good question.
They both actually perform in a pretty similar manner (and both have the same limitation, which is a tendency for loops of line from any backlash to end up behind the spool; however this is common to all but the top end BFS reels).
From the 5-way cast battle review, https://fishingdiscoveries.com/ul-baitcaster-review/ the main difference in the “out of the box” versions of each reel seems to be a slightly better flip-casting performance of the Zephyr.
However, I don’t know how consistent that difference would be if the inter-batch consistency is different for those reels.
Bottom line is that, especially for their price-points, you can definitely have a legit BFS experience with a very low price-barrier to entry. Obviously the top end reels are better, but that performance difference comes with a justifiable increase in price.
I hope that was at least somewhat useful!
Paul
[…] Fishband PW100 Plus: Cult Status Budget Ultralight Baitcasting BFS Reel […]
PW 100 vs Daiwa Air Custom
…ho win?
Rod 1.5 m.
Line 4 lb.
Lure ÷1g
My pw100.
I’ll have to do that test!
However, I am finding that comparing the five reels that I am testing right now quite a big job…
Maybe when I complete all those trials I can look at which different models to add to our investigations.
Paul