A lot of anglers have been asking me about the new “orange reel” from 13 Fishing called the Concept Z. The Z is for Zero, as in the number of traditional ball bearings the reel boasts. But the reel is a lot more than a bright color and replacements for bearings. It was designed from the saltwater side where they were trying to solve the issues of needing a reel with beefy gearing and drag power to handle tremendous pressure and abuse while also withstanding more corrosive elements of saltwater. The result was a very long casting reel whose guts can handle a ton of abuse while still fishing like a compact low-profile bass fishing reel.

The Concept Zero Bearing is a proprietary design with polymer technology that eliminates the issues with bearing corrosion and loss of fluid operation after months and years of use. Because the “bearing replacements” are polymer, you get a different sound on the cast and effortless operation on the retrieve. I was surprised how well the Concept Z can cast. While maybe not outdistancing super tuned reels or a handful of bearing reels, the Concept Z definitely will throw even a light bait a tremendous distance.