Since receiving my Akios Fireloop many months ago when it was first released, I’ve used it on a regular basis and is my go to reel when I’m looking to fish lighter.

But make no mistake this lightweight reel can handle some heavy-duty stuff and has taken constant abuse from me over the past two years.

My first impressions were that it is aesthetically pleasing to the eye with some very nice styling featured throughout the body and the spool and doesn’t look out of place on any rod available today. Looks aside the reel itself is extremely lightweight and can easily be used when touch ledgering without fear of your arm cramping after holding it for some time.

What I love about this little reel is how fantastic the line lay is, it features super slow oscillation insuring your mono and braid is perfectly laid evenly around the spool be it on the very smart looking lightweight red and black anodize drilled spool or on the secondary deeper graphite spool, straight from the box I didn’t need to add or remove washers the reel was exactly as it should be.

Another awesome feature on the Akios Fireloop is it instant drag system with a quarter turn of the drag cap you can go from full lock to virtual free spool which offers much more control when playing in a large fish that is hell bent on heading back out to sea.

The retrieve on this reel is reassuring the smooth and I’ve had no issues with the gearing locking or grinding even when deliberately bullying fish out of mix ground in an attempt to push the reel to its limits.

The Fireloop is A fantastic casting reel the line purrs off the spool and great distances can be achieved once again due to the super slow oscillation and the unique spool design that this reel features allowing the cones of line to flow from the spool with very little resistance.

For a reel that is sub £90 I really don’t think you can fault it considering it offers so much for very little money so if your new to the sport or just want A lighter alternative to what you might already have in your arsenal I certainly would consider having A look at one.

Tight lines.

Paul

The Akios Airloop R8

The Airloop series of reels are fantastic value for money and offers all the bells and whistles that other much more expensive reels on the market offer.

This time around I would like to focus on the Akios Airloop R8 the smaller brother to the fantastic R10 but by no means living in its shadow. The R8 offers all the same features to the R10, but has A shorter shaft and is more suited to fishing over rough or mixed ground than its larger counterpart in my opinion.

The R8 comes with two anodized spools one deep and one shallow. The shallow spool holds a sufficient amount of low diameter mono or braid and tends to be the one I favor. The other deeper spool is ideal for higher diameter mono’s.

The drag system is smooth and very responsive allowing you to control the run of the liveliest of fish with little effort.

The Airloop series is renowned as a casting reel due to its long cone spool and its SSO feature providing perfect line lay and is ideal when needing those few extra yards.

In my experience of the Akios Airloop R8 its A reel you can truly rely on and has never been found wanting.

Thanks For Taking The Time To Read This!
Tight Lines, Paul