Piscifun Inline

[IceAddict87]

Anyone have a hands on with one of these reels yet? Wondering how they compare to the 13 fishing black Betty. Going to try a higher end one this year but i want to make sure they are decent before i buy.

https://www.piscifun.com/collections/ice-fishing-reel/products/piscifun-icx-precision-ice-fishing-reel-2-6-1-inline-freespool-ice-reel-ultra-smooth-strength-7-1-shielded-ball-bearings?variant=31892378222661

[Junkie4Ice]

Anyone have a hands on with one of these reels yet? Wondering how they compare to the 13 fishing black Betty. Going to try a higher end one this year but i want to make sure they are decent before i buy.

https://www.piscifun.com/collections/ice-fishing-reel/products/piscifun-icx-precision-ice-fishing-reel-2-6-1-inline-freespool-ice-reel-ultra-smooth-strength-7-1-shielded-ball-bearings?variant=31892378222661

Thinking most people ordered them off Amazon and they were backordered last week. Website says mine should be here by Friday. I'm curious how it compares to the ghost. Pfleuger is also releasing two inline reels this year, I'm thinking those might top the list quality-wise if it's anything like their other reels. The quality of inline reels was really lacking prior to this year.

[jstdreamin]

Got mine from Amazon on Saturday. My opinion is they are a very nice reel. The spool and housing are probably close to half of the size of the ghost which could be interesting. I do not have the ghost free fall to compare it to but messed around with one in Scheel's last year and think this reel is nicer. The drag appears to be good, won't know for sure until on the ice in the cold. The star adjustment knob is nice and tight and doesn't slip out of adjustment like the cheaper Frabill 261s I have. Aluminum spool. Composite body, stem and trigger. Plenty of clearance with the stem to wear gloves if wanted. There is an open part of the spool if you choose to play the drag that way instead of using the star adjuster. The one thing that I'm not sure of is there is no free spool adjustment so it might take some getting used to if you had say a Frabill 261, 271 or 13 descent or similiar. I have all three of those and there is a little tension knob to keep the spool from dumping too fast causing backlash and rats nests of line.
If this reel is half as nice as the ICX spinning reel they had last year, it's a winner. Have to wait and see what it's actually like on the ice, at this point I say it's a top notch free fall reel for half the price of others. Almost tempted to buy a second to replace my Frabills with.

[Junkie4Ice]

Got mine from Amazon on Saturday. My opinion is they are a very nice reel. The spool and housing are probably close to half of the size of the ghost which could be interesting. I do not have the ghost free fall to compare it to but messed around with one in Scheel's last year and think this reel is nicer. The drag appears to be good, won't know for sure until on the ice in the cold. The star adjustment knob is nice and tight and doesn't slip out of adjustment like the cheaper Frabill 261s I have. Aluminum spool. Composite body, stem and trigger. Plenty of clearance with the stem to wear gloves if wanted. There is an open part of the spool if you choose to play the drag that way instead of using the star adjuster. The one thing that I'm not sure of is there is no free spool adjustment so it might take some getting used to if you had say a Frabill 261, 271 or 13 descent or similiar. I have all three of those and there is a little tension knob to keep the spool from dumping too fast causing backlash and rats nests of line.
If this reel is half as nice as the ICX spinning reel they had last year, it's a winner. Have to wait and see what it's actually like on the ice, at this point I say it's a top notch free fall reel for half the price of others. Almost tempted to buy a second to replace my Frabills with.

Thanks for the initial review, it sounds promising! One of the problems with the first year of freefall ghosts was the line getting caught inside the spool, they added a line guide to fix this. It doesn't look like this one has a line guide so hopefully they don't have the same problem.

[jstdreamin]

No line guide on the Piscifun. I have Frabill 371 & 261 and 13 Descent and have had problems, very minor problems, with the line wrapping around the knob that holds the spool on or getting between the spool and the main body then wrapping itself around the shaft. Not a huge problem but I'm not using these reels to fish any deeper than 20'. Just pull the spool off, slide the line free and reinstall the spool, back in business. The 13 descent is super easy as it's a pushbutton spool release. Not a fan of the 371 because of not being able to control the drag with my finger, the shroud covers the entire spool, so hopefully this little piscifun reel will replace that reel. Or I'll have to order another descent. I doubt any of these inlines are perfect, just like no spinning reel is perfect for everything.

[defish]

Got mine from Amazon on Saturday. My opinion is they are a very nice reel. The spool and housing are probably close to half of the size of the ghost which could be interesting. I do not have the ghost free fall to compare it to but messed around with one in Scheel's last year and think this reel is nicer. The drag appears to be good, won't know for sure until on the ice in the cold. The star adjustment knob is nice and tight and doesn't slip out of adjustment like the cheaper Frabill 261s I have. Aluminum spool. Composite body, stem and trigger. Plenty of clearance with the stem to wear gloves if wanted. There is an open part of the spool if you choose to play the drag that way instead of using the star adjuster. The one thing that I'm not sure of is there is no free spool adjustment so it might take some getting used to if you had say a Frabill 261, 271 or 13 descent or similiar. I have all three of those and there is a little tension knob to keep the spool from dumping too fast causing backlash and rats nests of line.
If this reel is half as nice as the ICX spinning reel they had last year, it's a winner. Have to wait and see what it's actually like on the ice, at this point I say it's a top notch free fall reel for half the price of others. Almost tempted to buy a second to replace my Frabills with.

Thanks for the review.  An inline with a smooth drag sounds good!  Have you put line on it, and did it seem like it had a good retrieve speed?  If the listed specs on Amazon are right, it has a slow retrieve gear ratio and that with the smaller spool could mean a really slow retrieve. 

[maddogg]

Thanks for the review.  An inline with a smooth drag sounds good!  Have you put line on it, and did it seem like it had a good retrieve speed?  If the listed specs on Amazon are right, it has a slow retrieve gear ratio and that with the smaller spool could mean a really slow retrieve.

Just crank faster.

[slipperybob]

This one is way more interesting, but I'm not going to buy into to.  LOL.

I feel that it's a finger death trap.

[maddogg]

(Image removed from quote.)

This one is way more interesting, but I'm not going to buy into to.  LOL.

I feel that it's a finger death trap.

Looks like would weigh more than a 1/2 lb.

[slipperybob]

Looks like would weigh more than a 1/2 lb.

From the description I got, it's a small reel, less than 2 inch spool and 2.6 gear ratio, making it same size to the piscifun inline.  Since there's no stem it should have an even smaller profile that most inline reels.  Has something like 11 bearings total throughout the reel.

[Herms]

(Image removed from quote.)

This one is way more interesting, but I'm not going to buy into to.  LOL.

I feel that it's a finger death trap.

What kinda reel is this?

[Sylvanboat]

What kinda reel is this?

It has to be a gag.

[slipperybob]

It has to be a gag.

I think so too.

Apparently they're popular for raft fishing or dock fishing where one doesn't really need to cast.

[maddogg]

It has to be a gag.

Here it is it weighs 7 oz.

 google ebay.com --11BB-2-6-1-Fishing-Reel-Valve-Micro-Lead-Raft-Sea-Ice-Lake-Rod-Line-Wheel-Metal

[CO_Dinky]

I have one coming myself.  It's delayed, because they oversold the red left-hand retrieve on Amazon, so I had to settle on the gold instead. Oh well. Should be here next week sometime.

Got mine from Amazon on Saturday.
...
Aluminum spool. Composite body, stem and trigger.
...

Wait, what?  Are you sure about that?  The website clearly says the body and stem are aluminum alloy:





I can see the trigger being composite, but I'm going to be a bit ticked off if the frame/stem are composite when their website clearly says otherwise.

[Jimbow11]

I'm just the opposite, might be something to consider if it is composite. Not sure I want to hang on to an aluminum block in the cold temps.

I dont fish with gloves so would a wet hand from handling fish stick to the cold aluminum?

[Junkie4Ice]

Interesting, I'll have to look closer at mine tonight. I didn't even pay attention to the frame material.

Spooling my line everything seemed to run smooth. Re-lubed it just to be safe.

The retrieval rate is 2.6:1 vs 2.5:1 of the BB freefall - isn't that pretty much identical?

[CO_Dinky]

The frame is indeed all aluminum.  I just posted a thorough teardown of this reel HERE. 

[slipperybob]

The frame is indeed all aluminum.  I just posted a thorough teardown of this reel HERE. 

Awesome!

[jstdreamin]

My bad. Everything except the trigger is aluminum. Mine has some thin finish on it makes it look like a parting line from injection mold. Betting that I will end up breaking the trigger some how. Seems flimsy.

[CO_Dinky]

My bad. Everything except the trigger is aluminum. Mine has some thin finish on it makes it look like a parting line from injection mold. Betting that I will end up breaking the trigger some how. Seems flimsy.

Not as flimsy as you might think.  It's glass-filled nylon (composite), with a steel insert washer at its attachment point.  It'll be just fine unless you step on it wrong with all of your weight or something.

[Junkie4Ice]

Used the piscifun inline for the first time this weekend, everything worked great outside of the trigger location. The extended handle stem and location of the trigger causes the line to run the same path, it is a pain to weave through the line to grab the trigger each time. Pretty major design flaw, i don't know that i'll be able to continue using it on my rods until they fix it. Unfortunate because the reel otherwise had great feel, was smooth and the drag worked as expected.

[PIKE FISHERMAN]

Used the piscifun inline for the first time this weekend, everything worked great outside of the trigger location. The extended handle stem and location of the trigger causes the line to run the same path, it is a pain to weave through the line to grab the trigger each time. Pretty major design flaw, i don't know that i'll be able to continue using it on my rods until they fix it. Unfortunate because the reel otherwise had great feel, was smooth and the drag worked as expected.

That’s the only thing I don’t like about mine!! Terrible design flaw. Can’t believe they pushed them through like that

[Junkie4Ice]

That’s the only thing I don’t like about mine!! Terrible design flaw. Can’t believe they pushed them through like that

Right! It's almost like no one actually put on line and put it on a rod before distribution, it's the first thing you notice.

[Fry Flier]

I had mine apart the other day and something I might try later if I find it a nuisance is reverse the trigger. Looks like an easy done if memory is right. The trigger would be to the back of the reel with lots of room for my hand and easy to reach with my finger.

[Junkie4Ice]

I had mine apart the other day and something I might try later if I find it a nuisance is reverse the trigger. Looks like an easy done if memory is right. The trigger would be to the back of the reel with lots of room for my hand and easy to reach with my finger.

You might be on to something there...the reel stem is plenty long that you could still pistol grip the rod without the trigger getting in the way if it were backwards. Keep us posted!

[maddogg]

I had mine apart the other day and something I might try later if I find it a nuisance is reverse the trigger. Looks like an easy done if memory is right. The trigger would be to the back of the reel with lots of room for my hand and easy to reach with my finger.

Fry Flier let us know if this works.

Maddogg

[CO_Dinky]

I had mine apart the other day and something I might try later if I find it a nuisance is reverse the trigger. Looks like an easy done if memory is right. The trigger would be to the back of the reel with lots of room for my hand and easy to reach with my finger.

It CAN be done, I already tried.    However, unfortunately, not only does it block your ability to hold the rod in the pistol-style grip, which most people use for small jigging, due to the offset dogleg in the trigger, it hits the reel body prematurely and the spool doesn't disengage.     Bummer.

Since there is a keyed metal plate molded into the trigger stalk, there are only two ways it can go onto the actuator, 180º apart.  Also, keep in mind, installed like this, you would have to push down on the trigger (rotation direction of the actuator remains the same).

Without major modification or manufacturing a new part, the trigger isn't easily moved.   








Close-ups showing how the trigger hits the reel body almost immediately after activation.







PS - You don't need to disassemble the reel to remove and flip the trigger.  Just. Be cautious not to push the actuator into the reel body.  I screwed in the screw a few turns before pressing the lever on, just to be sure.

[Fry Flier]

Thank you, now I do not need to try this.... my other thought was to shorten the lever to 1/2 length in its original position

[maddogg]

It CAN be done, I already tried.    However, unfortunately, not only does it block your ability to hold the rod in the pistol-style grip, which most people use for small jigging, due to the offset dogleg in the trigger, it hits the reel body prematurely and the spool doesn't disengage.     Bummer.

Since there is a keyed metal plate molded into the trigger stalk, there are only two ways it can go onto the actuator, 180º apart.  Also, keep in mind, installed like this, you would have to push down on the trigger (rotation direction of the actuator remains the same).

Without major modification or manufacturing a new part, the trigger isn't easily moved.   








Close-ups showing how the trigger hits the reel body almost immediately after activation.







PS - You don't need to disassemble the reel to remove and flip the trigger.  Just. Be cautious not to push the actuator into the reel body.  I screwed in the screw a few turns before pressing the lever on, just to be sure.

We need a 3D printer guy to fix this.