Brake settings are a bit safer with the Silver Creek AIR TW than other BFS reels. I found for trout minnows, brake settings 4-6 were pretty comfortable and offered plenty of control without being restrictive. I found the Silver Creek AIR TW cast very free and allowed be to have consistent and predictable casting. I will say that each click of the 20 setting brake dial does make a more noticeable difference than most other BFS reels.

Typical 80mm swept handle fitted with cork knobs

Retrieve: The Silver Creek AIR TW is not as smooth as my Gekkabijin AIR TW (which mine was incredibly smooth). TackleTour’s very own Cal had a less positive experience with his Gekkabijin AIR TW. There will be variations from reel to reel and also factor in people’s perceptions of a certain product. Still, the Silver Creek AIR TW felt fairly smooth on the retrieve without line. After fishing the reel on the water with braided line and monofilament, the Silver Creek AIR TW felt smoother than when initially unboxed. Oddly enough, Daiwa uses the same exact internals for the Gekkabijin AIR TW and the Silver Creek AIR TW.

The internals look very similar to the Gekkabijin AIR TW

The 80mm handle is pretty typical for BFS reels. The smaller handle will not provide the heavy winching torque needed in heavy applications but, does provide a short distance per rotation to help you speed up your retrieve. Most noticeably though, the shorter handle provides easy weight savings without compromising reel durability. The tight tolerances of the knobs adds to the smooth, refined feeling, even with only having only bushings in the knobs.

 
Perhaps the bushings are to allow anglers to take pictures of the with fish in the water

Power: This is an area that some people may look too far into for BFS reels. The gears are the same size (often the same exact gears) that are present in traditional low profile baitcasting reels. The Silver Creek sports a very welcome 8.5:1 gear ratio. I always opt for the fastest gear ratios with BFS reels. The torque needed to reel in big fish or large crankbaits is not needed. The ability to burn your lure back to fish specific targets or to make a quick follow up cast is more important that power. The spool is robust and if one decided they needed an easy pitching reel to power fish, I am sure the Silver Creek AIR TW would hold up as well as a traditional bass reel with similar features.

Daiwa has been “hype” with features lately 

Drag: The Silver Creek AIR TW's drag consists of one carbon matrix washer delivering up to three and a half kilograms in drag pressure or just under eight pounds. The clicking drag sound from Daiwa sounds more “refined” than Shimano reels sporting the Exciting Drag Sound. The Silver Creek AIR TW has more of that spinning-reel-fine-metallic-click sound to it. The drag is smooth and for those wanting to smooth the drag out even more, you can disable the clicking drag sound quite easily by removing the pin from the metal drag washer.

Hex (Allen) bolt provides better contact, less likely to strip during maintenance

Design & Ergonomics: The Silver Creek AIR TW shares the same frame as many recent reels from Daiwa. Although it sounds boring, I actually appreciate Daiwa keeping a common theme among reels. This allows for spool and other parts compatibility to truly customize a reel to make it your own. This also allows for replacement and tuning parts to be more widely available. Most discussed aspect of this is spool compatibility. The Silver Creek AIR TW can swap spools with the Gekkabijin AIR TW and Alphas AIR TW as well as aftermarket options from K.T.F, Roro Lure and others.

Without this pin, the drag is silent when pulling line

As far as ergonomics, The Silver Creek AIR TW is small and comfortable to palm. The transitioning from pitching or casting to palming is very smooth. The brake dial is recessed and easy to access without making accidental adjustments that can cause serious backlashing with BFS reels.

Silver Creek AIR TW and Gekkabijin AIR TW

With the Gekkabijin AIR TW and Silver Creek AIR TW being around the same price and being distinguishable enough from each other, you may be thinking “why does the Silver Creek have 6 bearings vs. 12 bearings in the Gekkabijin AIR TW?” The drag star and cork knobs I would assume increased production costs of the Silver Creek AIR TW over the Gekkabijin AIR TW.

Regardless of origin, the Silver Creek AIR TW is a solid reel

Price & Applications: Retail for the Silver Creek AIR TW is 45,400JPY or roughly $412 based on the exchange rate at the time of this writing. Shopping around, it is easy to find the Silver Creek AIR TW for around $300 USD at the time of writing this article. Being marketed as a technique specific reel, that isn’t quite a price for the casual angler.

Daiwa says braking is tuned for PE line…I agree

Ratings:

Daiwa 22 Silver Creek AIR TW Air TW PE Special Ratings (?/10)
Construction/Quality	Even at 6 bearings, the Silver Creek AIR TW feels refined and solid	8.5
Performance	Versatile casting with a smooth drag and retrieve	8.5
Price	The USD being strong over the JPY really helps	8.5
Features	Fixed-inductor that isn’t a one trick pony. Clicking drag is also a bonus. Bearing count us lower than most in its price range	8
Design (Ergonomics)	Easy to palm and feels great on various rods	8
Application	Although capable of open water fishing, short/mid range casting is better suited	7.5
Total Score		8.17
Ratings Key: 1 = terrible : 2 = poor : 3 = lacking : 4 = sub par : 5 = mediocre : 6 = fair : 7 = good : 8 = great : 9 = excellent : 10 = unbelievable! For More Details of the updated rating system visit our explanation here

 

Pluses and Minuses:

Plus	Minus
+ Forgiving casting while not being restrictive	- 6 less bearings than the Gekkabijin AIR TW
+ Handles braid, FC and mono well	- Low bearing count for price
+ Metallic sounding clicking drag
+ Spool options really can change performance

The Silver Creek AIR TW is a technique driven reel that is very capable

Conclusion: The Daiwa Silver Creek AIR TW proved to be more capable than I originally anticipated. The Silver Creek AIR TW braking being tuned for stream fishing also performs exceptionally well for open water finesse lures makes the reel more versatile than the name implies. Even if you finesse bass fish or cast lures for panfish, do not count the Silver Creek AIR TW out as a BFS contender.

Purpose built the Daiwa Silver Creek TW continues to be a good example of Daiwa embracing the BFS technique and delivering fashionable offerings for stream fishing and beyond

To see more action with the Silver Creek AIR TW check out Hobie-Wan Kenobi's complete YouTube playlist that he put together of the testing