GEAR
PRODUCT REVIEW
13 FISHING CONCEPT Z
F
52
or years fishing reel
manufacturers have
relied on stainless-
steel and ceramic ball bear-
ings to help promote
smooth, quiet operation at
critical rotation points such
as the spool, gears and
handles. Take these little
jewels away and just about
every aspect of perform-
ance would be sure to take
a grinding, squealing dive,
right? Not necessarily.
Florida-based 13 Fishing
claims its all-new Concept Z
baitcaster breaks all the
rules in that respect.
The reel has bearings,
just not the conventional
spherical kind. It has what
13 Fishing calls Concept
Zero Bearings (CZB), which
are disc-like and fashioned
from a proprietary polymer
material intended to reduce
friction and promote longer,
smoother and quieter casts
with less effort while elimi-
nating the corrosion and
wear that can cause con-
ventional bearings to break
down or fail over time.
First Impression
With its racy-looking
orange finish and black
accents, this reel won’t be
tough to spot in the rod
locker.
Low in profile and
ergonomically correct, the
reel isn’t the lightest in my
collection, but at 6.4
ounces it’s certainly not the
heaviest, either. Another
cool design feature is the
rapid-access side plate;
click the release le ver and
the plate pops right open,
providing access to the six-
way centrifugal brake
adjustment knob.
In Action
I played around with the
reel for more than two
months, and in the end I
hated to ship it back. There
is plenty to like about this
baitcaster, but I was partic-
ularly impressed by its abili-
ty to handle baits as light as
a 3/16-ounce shaky head or
drop-shot rig, and the con-
sistently good control it
provided when casting in
By Matt Williams
windy conditions, pitching
around bushes and skip-
ping under docks.
Once in tune with the
reel, you rarely get the feel-
ing that it’s about to get
squirrelly on you. It’s
smooth, quiet and feels the
same on every cast.
As casting distance and
overall performance go, the
Z performed just as well or
better than any ball-bear-
ing reel I own. I put it up
against two of my best
(and more expensive) bait-
casters and consistently
achieved equal or slightly
better distance with the
same or a little less effort
using the same line, rod
and bait.
My test bait was a 5-inch
Reaction Innovations
Skinny Dipper matched
with a 3/16-ounce swimbait
hook. The maximum cast-
ing distance achieved using
15-pound-test Seaguar Red
Label fluoro and a 7-3,
medium-heavy Team Lew’s
Custom Pro Speed Stick
rod was around 45 yards.
Final Thoughts
I’m always somewhat
apprehensive when a new
“game-changing” technolo-
gy comes on board, partic-
ularly one that receives the
amount of hype this one
did in the wake of its intro-
duction at ICAST 2017. But
make no mistake, the
Concept Z lives up to its
billing as a sweet little bait-
caster. It was truly a pleas-
ure to fish with.
While 13 Fishing didn’t
reinvent the wheel here as
far as baitcasters go, the
company appears to be on
to something very unique
with its high-performance
CZB bearing technology,
which provides smooth,
easy casting and overall
operation.
Only time will tell
whether the reel will even-
tually start showing signs of
diminished performance, or
how long it might take for it
to happen, if it does at all.
Regardless, I’m convinced
that it’s worth a $200
investment to find out.
FLWFISHING.COM I APRIL 2018