Dream Fishing Tackle's Aftermarket Air Spools

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Introduction: One perspective that sets our readership apart from that of your typical fishing industry publication is the devotion of our readers to the gear. No where is this more evident than with fishing reels, so whenever there's an opportunity to discuss aftermarket components for fishing reels supplied by a 3rd party vendor we get excited. Handles, knobs, bearings, it's all good, but when that 3rd party manufacturer in question is making replacement spools, that's when the enthusiasm builds. Here's a look at a new manufacturer on the block supplying aftermarket spools for some of your favorite Daiwa and Shimano branded reels.

Air Spool: Dream Fishing Tackle (DFT) out of Florida is offering aftermarket spools for a handful of Daiwa and Shimano reels. The difference between this company and the majority of 3rd party manufacturers offering reel tuning components is DFT, for the most part, is targeting components for affordable reels.

That's right, while their flagship spools (STZ109 & STZ105) are intended for the Daiwa Steez, they are also offer a spool for the Daiwa Exceler and Tatula! Their lone Shimano spool, for now, is made for the Chronarch/Core 50 platform (this spool will also fit the Curado 50E).

EX103: Dream Fishing Tackle's EX103 is made for Daiwa's Exceler and Lexa 100 fishing reels. Stock spools on these reels typically weigh in around 18 grams. The EX103 tips the scales at 13 grams (with bearing). That 5 grams may not seem like much, but coupled with a slightly shallower spool capacity, the EX103 opens up the potential of your affordable Lexa and Exceler reels for better casting and pitching performance.

TA103: The TA103 is designed to extend the utility of Daiwa's very popular Tatula and Tatula Type R reels. The TA103 weighs in at right around 12 grams as compared to the Tatula Type R spool at 16 grams and the standard Tatula's spool at 18 grams. Coupled with the reels' TWS line guide the TA103 has the potential to make the Tatula serviceable in finesse applications.