QingYu Flight Feather FF01 30S: Best Chinese BFS Reel EVER?

You can't accuse the QingYu Flight Feather FF01 30S of being shy or lacking ambition. Let's find out if this radical-design BFS reel lives up to the bold claims and the Kingfisher cosmetics (PLUS the updated blacked-out "Cormorant" version which comes factory-installed drag-clicker & hardened gears...)

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QingYu Flight Feather FF01 30S:
Specifications & Tale of the Tape

Gear Ratio: 7.3:1 or 8.2:1 (review model was the 8.2:1)

Measured Line Retrieved per Handle Turn: 60 cm or 23.6 inches (spooled with 30m 4lb fluorocarbon)

Stated Max Line Retrieve (Full Spool): 69cm for 7.3:1 ratio and 77cm for 8.2:1 ratio

Spool Diameter: Tapered/variable (inner diameter) and 30mm (outer)

Spool Weight: 3.42g (without bearing) 4.04 g (with bearing)

Crank Length (measured between handle-knob centres): 80 mm

Line Capacity: 100m of #1 PE (0.165mm) or 120m of #0.8 PE (0.148mm) diameter

Casting Brakes: Magnetic, static, adjustable in the "MagTrax" style with continuous adjustment (no clicks or steps)

Audible Drag?: No

Max Drag Force: 5kg (7lb 12oz)

Line Guide: Conical Ceramic

Reel Body Material: Proprietary Metal Alloy

Bearing Number: 11 ball bearings plus one anti-reverse bearing

Total Reel Weight: 125g

First Impressions and Cast Testing Video Breakdown

Supplier Affiliate Links
(review continues after links):

New Information: The QingYu Flight Feather Kingfisher FF01 30S Mission Statement

Since I made the video above, I've found some more information about the manufacturers. According to the company website, this is the first fishing reel designed and produced by Superwheel (Suzhou) Fishing Tackle Co., Ltd. Although I wonder if the translation should be Super-reel?

The brand has a bold, stated ambition to be the premier Chinese fishing brand within 5 years and, following that, to compete directly with the very best Japanese fishing tackle companies. As part of that, they have a mission statement of:

From my experience of the reel so far, the engineering tolerances and what I've been able to find out about the reel - it seems like they are very serious about their goal. The website they've constructed - as well as two future products of a spinning reel and a bigger baitcasting reel - shows plans for fishing technique tutorials and angler knowledge exchanges. The founder of the company is also a keen and accomplished angler - which makes a huge difference to a tackle company's direction in my opinion.

In addition - I've discovered that you're not restricted to "Flight Feather" clicking drag kits - You can also fit well-known aftermarket drag clickers designed for the Daiwa Alphas Air TW 20:

Further Updates on the Kingfisher and Cormorant BFS reels

QingYu have now added their sleek blacked-out "Cormorant" version of the Flight Feather FF01 30S (below). As well as having a factory-fitted clicking drag "alarm", the gears (which are already excellent in the Kingfisher version) are also said to be armour-plated in the Cormorant. According to the manufacturers, this is the first example of a special semiconductor manufacturing process being used to make BFS reel hardened gears.

Another important update since my original "First Impressions" report is that I was completely wrong about the spool bearing being permanently fixed in place. In fact, it's completely removable as I show in the video demonstration below:

Unboxing and First Impressions of the QingYu Flight Feather FF01 30S

The box is a neat, very compact cardboard box and it came very neatly and securely packaged inside a second carboard shipping carton. The AliExpress supplier included a spool of Haibo braid as a free gift. Inside the reel box was the "Kingfisher" reel itself, a set of 3 extra casting brake magnets, a finesse spoon by Apada, a high quality (thick material) velvet reel pouch with drawstring closure and subtle "Flight Feather" logo, guarantee registration card and a well produced matt card promotional booklet showing the design inspiration and features of the reel.

The first thing you notice about the reel itself is the colour scheme! It's really bold and can't help but stand out from the crowd. Obviously it is inspired by both the lines and the colours of a kingfisher. For me, purely on a cosmetic front, I think the speckles of white were possibly not the best way to incorporate the white flashes of kingfisher plumage into the design. However, I actually admire the bold orange and hues of blue used for the reel.

Something I really, really liked was the handle knob design. It combines a really ergonomic 3-d shape (similar to Daiwa's Alphas Air TW stock knobs) which fits your grip very neatly with a hard central "tablet" of material - overlaid by a tough, rubberised grip. The overlay material is ported in a mesh-like texture and is firm enough to be robust while soft enough to provide excellent grip.

 The gaps in the mesh act to increase that grip and also the sense of touch. Overall, you get great sensory feedback along with great grip and a very comfortable shape which is easy to grab.

Lightness

The second thing you notice, after picking up the reel, is its extreme lightness for a metal-bodied BFS reel. Weighing in at a total of 125g is a remarkable feat of engineering. Although it's not possible to confirm by a casual inspection, the manufacturers do supply some electron micrograph images of the metal construction used in their reel bodies. Their claim is that the crystalline structure is finer and more consistent than that of typically-used alloys - giving strength along with lightness.

Of course, the Flight Feather team didn't stop at the reel body in their quest for lightness. The stock spool is made from aircraft aluminium and has a titanium (short) spindle. The non-ported yet crazily ultralight construction of that spool is likely to make up a big proportion of the reel's cost.

For context, similar "Avail" brand aftermarket spools for previous reels retail at somewhere around $115.

QingYu Flight Feather FF01 30S Spool Weight

The "30S" part of the model number comes from the outer diameter (30mm) and "Shallow" design of the spool. Supporting information about the reel suggests that other model spools and reels are also in development - including a slightly deeper spool option. 

In terms of this shallow spool - it is currently the world's lightest stock spool supplied as part of any BFS reel at 3.4 grams (without the bearing). That lightweight champion status is claimed by some margin also - getting on towards 2-g lighter than the next lightest stock spool contenders.

However, in trying to weigh the spool for myself, I discovered a really surprising design choice. The end "cap" to the titanium spool spindle has an intrinsic collar shape which keeps the bearing in place.

THIS HAS NOW BEEN CHANGED!

Now the spool bearing is easily removable - making cleaning easier and allowing you to choose whatever bearings you like.

As an aside, the spool pin is a perfect, tight "friction fit" into the titanium spool spindle. The manufacturing tolerances of this reel appear to be extremely accurate and consistent.

However, in terms of putting things on the scales, the best I could confirm was the "spool-plus-bearing" weight - which is still insanely light:

As I point out in the video - that permanent bearing previously set up an interesting contradiction for the QingYu Flight Feather FF01 30S. It is something that WOULD have driven you mad if you are someone who cannot leave any reel in its standard "factory setting".

However, now - if you like - you can slap on a set of, say Roro BFS ST bearings and see what happens...

On the other hand, if you're someone who wants things to perform brilliantly as soon as you take it out of the box (and worry that tinkering with the inner workings is likely to reduce performance) - the FF01 30S has already taken care of all that for you. 

I showed in the video how I was able to clean the spool bearing quickly and quite easily - but with the new removable bearing - this will be even easier.

Fishing Experience with the Flight Feather: Super Ultra Light Lures (0.5g) AND Heavy BFS Minnows (4g)

Here's a real-world application of what actually makes this reel quite outstanding in terms of "out of the box" performance. Keep in mind that the stock spool is around half the weight of the one in the Aldebaran 23 - and a number of anglers report that, while the Aldebaran is an excellent reel - it can be pretty prone to backlashes without frequent magnetic brake adjustments for conditions and lures. In the video below, I didn't need to change brake settings on the Flight Feather when swapping from the half gram to the four gram lure:

Gearing and "Feel"

Due to the small diameter spool, I was keen to get the 8.2:1 gear ratio. Sometimes there can be a concern that higher gear ratios might reduce the smoothness of reels designed to sit in the "premium" category. I can say that my QingYu Flight Feather FF01 30S that I rigged up for cast testing has an absolutely glassy smooth retrieve feel through the gears. It is noticeably smoother than, for example, my Daiwa Alphas Air TW 20.

My upgraded Alphas (wooden handle knobs with bearings, 3.65g Roro X spool, Sagisi drag clicker) is a reel I absolutely love for throwing ultralight baits. This does add some extra context of course, since the stock version of the Alphas weighs in at 160g (though to be honest, total reel weight isn't actually much of a deal for me - though I do appreciate some people like to have rod/reel combos that are as light and balanced as possible).

The Alphas stock spool is a little over 6-g in weight and has a 6 + 1 ball bearing count (versus the 11+1 count of the Flight Feather) - as well as the excellent T-wing line guide system (versus the conical line guide of the FF01). With all that said, the Alphas Air retails normally at somewhere around the $300 mark for the stock-issue specification (which is also WAY less than the Steez Air).

To get closer to the stock spool weight of the Flight Feather, you're looking at around a $96 Roro spool upgrade for the Alphas - and whatever you want to spend on handle knobs with internal bearings.

Both reels have silent drags as standard - and both have aftermarket drag clicker kits available...

That puts some serious context onto the price tag of around $180 to  $200 for the QingYu Flight Feather FF01 30S "Kingfisher".

Silent Drag System on the Kingfisher BFS Reel

While adjusting the drag star on the FF01 feels (and sounds) similar to a clicking dial on a Swiss Watch, the drag itself shares something in common with the Stock Alphas Air TW 20. It is silent when paying out line.

Again, in the video, I acknowledge that clicking drag ring mechanisms would add weight - and I accept that for some people that is the most important thing. At this point in the review I feel that we know each other well enough for me to just come out with a blunt personal opinion here. When it comes to BFS reels, you are literally holding the reel in the palm of your hand. 

Because of that, it does very little to counterbalance the tip weight of the rod...which, let's be honest (even in a glass rod) has very little weight and is also a LOT shorter than most fishing rods. We certainly aren't talking 15-ft double handed salmon rod here...So what little weight there is at the rod tip has a much lower "moment of force" compared to the long lever of rods longer than even the longest BFS blank.

With all that in mind, who is actually getting tired from carrying, casting and fishing with a reel that weighs even 200g (about the weight of a bag of pistachio nuts)?

OK, rant over...

With Dankung supplying the KingFisher reel with a clicking drag kit, the "Cormorant" model with factory-fitted clicking drag OR the option of using an Alphas Air Clicker kit - all of the above gripes are taken care of...

It's clear that I like a clicking drag on my BFS reels - so it's great that Dankung stepped up with their offering. However, I do have to acknowledge that the "tooth and clicker-pawl" design will introduce at least some vibration into the paying out of line. The drag on the Kingfisher is silky, silky smooth. It also does a very nice circus trick of adjusting right down to basically the tension set by your spool tension when you turn the drag star right down to zero...

I was also surprised by the 5kg maximum drag setting - given the weight of the spool. However, the end result is an extremely consistent spectrum of drag pressure across all settings. I'm forced to admit, it's a very impressive drag (but I still hold onto my desire to hear it OK!).

Casting Performance

The supporting booklet suggests that the FF01 30S can handle baits of lower than 1g (judging from the graph, they're suggesting down to somewhere around 0.5 to 0.6g - which I found to be absolutely true in the "fishing experience video above). Interestingly. they also feel that you have to get into baits above 12-g before you need to think about a different reel. At this point in time, I've yet to cast a bait that heavy - but I will say that it throws regular and super-ultralight BFS-weight baits extremely well. If you're looking for a super-flat, horizontal flip-cast trajectory, it's got you covered.

You'll also see from the first impressions video that it threw a trout magnet over 50-feet (and let's be honest, there are much more aerodynamic 1-g baits than this soft plastic grub that tends to spin like a propeller when you throw it hard). What's also worth bearing in mind is that the 50ft 6" cast with the Trout Magnet was also done using a 4ft 7" long rod.

Basically, it's an insane level of UL lure casting performance in a baitcaster.

For that tight, instant control on the aggressive spool start-up rpm - the "magtrax" style brake seems to work very well in this reel. For throwing the lightest baits at maximum power, I preferred having the extra comfort of the three supplementary magnets.

Stiff Casting Brake Adjustment Dial

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about the near immovable/nail-breaking stiffness of the good old GH100 reel here. I also accept that having a brake dial that is so loose it can't hold a setting during casting/fishing is equally useless. I can also report that, after several fishing trips, the mechanism becomes much better - less stiff but still firm enough to hold a setting while fishing.

Overall, I just mention this characteristic in the context of transparently reviewing what is undeniably a premium reel.

The manufacturers have gone to the trouble of labelling each major division on the dial with the cumulative number of individual minor divisions (note, there is no click for any of those graduations - it is a smooth, continuous operation dial for very fine adjustments).

While I don't love the use of plastic for the dial control - it's also not the end of the world (the central mount of the dial is metal - it's the collar and the attached cog-wheel that are plastic). No, for me, it's more the combination of the initial stiffness with the occasional variation in pressure needed to turn the dial that takes away just a little bit from the super-premium feel of everything else.

I suppose if this is the worst thing I can find to complain about (since, being as dispassionate as possible - the other things I've flagged up as potential negatives will also be seen as positives by a significant proportion of anglers) - then you have to commend the manufacturers on this, their first ever reel.

So far it's the one thing I've found that I don't think anyone would flag up as a positive.

With that said - is it terrible? No, it works well from a functional perspective. It's possible to create very fine adjustments and these stay locked in place. You also don't find yourself messing with the brakes too much once you've done some initial tweaking to suit the rod and wind conditions. I actually prefer a non-clicking adjustment dial - as long as the number divisions are clearly marked so I can reproduce any particular brake setting easily (and this dial fits the bill in that department). It does, also improve with a little use and time on stream.

Instead, the plastic dial is just something that stands out as "less premium" than the rest of the user experience - completely at odds with both the spool tension (non clicking, ultra smooth) and drag star (very premium, purring clicker adjustment) operation.

Should I Buy One?

Here's my best attempt to break down the question of whether the QingYu Flight Feather FF01 30S is worth buying:

• There's no doubt that the "Kingfisher" cosmetics will immediately rule in or rule out some buyers (and you don't need my help with that). It's definitely a reel with swagger and also with big ambitions to take on the upper echelons of BFS gear.
• BUT - the sleek black "Cormorant" version looks super cool - and comes with specially hardened gears AND a factory-fitted drag clicker
• The people who should not buy one would include folks on a budget that doesn't stretch to $200 reels ahead of life's actual necessities - BUT, see my comments below on the pricing of this reel.
• If a clicking drag is a "must have" - then you'll currently need to order in a suitable clicker kit or order the one which comes with the Dankung Kingfisher (don't forget to get $5 off with the coupon code ReelPG) OR the "Cormorant" version; where the ReelPG coupon code also works).
• I also expect that this reel will only appeal to anglers who don't mind going a different way from the main herd - a large proportion of anglers just won't be able to accept that a reel produced in a country known for its much cheaper reels could even hope to produce a reel that's as good as a lot of much more expensive Japanese reels.

If you're still reading at this point, some things you might want to consider are:

• The stock spool alone is worth somewhere around $100 (or let's be super conservative and only give it $40). By that logic, the kingfisher reel body you're left with sits somewhere in the $100 to $160 range
• What are its competitors in terms of smoothness, engineering tolerances and casting performance? Well, they start around at least $250 - since this feels, to me, to be a better executed reel body than the Haibo Arise Air FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN SO FAR.
• The gears are smoother and the lack of "play" in the crank/main shaft system are both better than the Daiwa Alphas Air TW 20 (which I love)
• Then, to get a spool (assuming an aftermarket one is available) that can compete with the stock spool weight - you are looking at a minimum of around $60

In short, despite the slightly complex drag clicker options, I'm forced to admit that this is a high-performance, premium reel available at a lower price point than its realistic competitors.

With all that said, of course, fishing kit choices and preferences are incredibly personal things - which vary with individual personalities as well as the target species and situations you'll be fishing in. All I can do is try to pass on how it feels and performs in the situations I've explored.

If you'd like to find out for yourself, you can check global pricing and availability from the range of suppliers below: