Daiwa BG 4000 Review – Affordable Premium Quality Spinning Fishing Reel
Super Value Daiwa BG
In this review, we’re going to be looking at the Daiwa BG 4000 spinning reel.
The Daiwa BG is our top rated reel out of 11 reviewed fishing reels on the market.
This reel was brought to the market several years ago now as it debuted in 2016.
This review is a while coming as it’s one of my favorite reels that you can currently get.
After spending so much time with it, I can say pretty confidently it may be just about the best saltwater rated value fishing reel out there.
We’re going to take a pretty deep look into the reel and cover its specs fair comprehensively.
Before getting into our deep dive, I think it would be helpful to provide some background history on the Daiwa BG.
History of the Daiwa BG - Daiwa Black Gold Series
Before we can talk about the current model it’s helpful to have some information on the BG’s forerunner, the Daiwa Black Gold series spinning reel.
If you’ve been seriously fishing over the last 20 to 30 years chances are you’ve used this reel or even owned it.
The Black Gold series really became the standard for spinning fishing reels.
Daiwa had developed a reel that was cost-effective, easy to maintain and use, and that had a huge inventory of replacement parts.
Because of the great success of the Black Gold series the reel was manufactured for more than 35 years.
Daiwa was so confident in the Black Gold series reel that they continued to produce it for a year after they released the newer BG series.
The primary complaint of the original Black Gold was that it wasn’t braided friendly.
The older line roller wasn’t designed to handle the stress and tensile strength of the newer braid super lines.
Despite that, many people were still able to use the Black Gold with a braided line, even for activities like crab snaring.
Despite the great success of the Black Gold, they retired it in 2017 to be completely replaced by the BG series.
These two reels both share the same black and gold design, but that just about where the resemblances end.
Daiwa BG 4000 Spinning Fishing Reel Overview
The Daiwa BG is a comprehensive redesign of the previous Black Gold series.
They really showcase the latest Daiwa technologies for a price that’s easily within most budgets.
There is a tremendous amount of value this reel brings and really showcases how far along the fishing industry has come over the last 3 decades.
The BG is available in 10 different sizes.
Small sizes:
- 1500
- 2000
- 2500
- 3000
- 3500
Medium sizes:
- 4000
- 4500
- 5000
Large sizes:
- 6500
- 8000
All model sizes are saltwater rated.
The model we’re reviewing in this article is the 4000 size.
This size provides great fishing utility and really will let you catch most anything from smaller freshwater fish to medium-large saltwater species.
BG Top-Down Feature Tear Down
Super Convenient Drag System
The BG features a nice large drag cap with it sitting pretty high above the spool.
It has a smart offset design that’s very convenient to adjust. If you’re night fishing or can’t see the reel and you’re fighting a fish you can’t miss the drag with the big cap on top of the reel.
The drag is equipped with an ATV (automatic tournament drag) system. This provides a little slip when a fish is on the line. It then goes to your preset drag setting.
The drag on this reel is sealed at the top using a large rubber seal.
This seal works incredibly well at providing great protection from water and in particular, saltwater from getting inside and causing corrosion inside of the reel.
Near the bottom of the reel, you’ll see a bushing that works to keep water from getting into the bottom of the reel.
The BG 4000 is rated at 17.6 lbs of drag.
It’s built with an all-carbon disc drag system and utilizes Daiwa’s proprietary drag oil which provides super smooth functionality.
It is remarkable how smooth and predictable the drag system is on this reel, particularly one in this price range.
It would be hard to do much better than this, even when compared to pricier spinning reels.
Oversized Spool With Braid Functionality Out Of The Box
The Daiwa BG has a well balanced all-aluminum spool.
The spool is braided line ready right out of the box. This is an improvement over the original Black Gold series that required you to start spooling with a mono fishing line.
By using a braid backing the band allows you to tie the braided line directly to the reel without the use of mono.
Another great feature of the BG’s spool is the line capacity rings. These rings are a great addition when you’re fighting a large fish as they give you an approximation of how close you are to the centerline of the spool.
The line capacity on these reels is massive.
Daiwas are generally larger sized reels when compared to other fishing reels on the market. This generally allows for greater line capacity.
The BG 4000 has a line capacity of 300 yards of 12 lbs monoline or 280 yards of 30 lbs braided line.
In comparison, the Penn Battle 2 only has a line capacity of 185 yards of 30 lbs braided line.
The design of the spool actually goes out from the bottom and tapers up. This is intentional by design to create a top-heavy spool.
The BG is designed with a line lay that is top-heavy. Daiwa believes that it provides a longer distance when casting we agree that does seem to be the case.
The BG 4000 provides a fantastic casting distance.
Super Smooth Air Rotor Design
The BG 4000’s rotor is equipped with Daiwa’s air rotor design.
The BG’s rotors are quite large and appear bulky, but on a closer look, there’s not actually that much materiel used in their rotors.
They utilize this larger design, using multiple cutouts to provide maximum rigidity while minimizing the weight added by the rotor’s material.
Daiwa claims that their rotors weigh up to 15% less than comparable rotors on other reels.
The BG’s rotor is made with plastic instead of Daiwa’s Zion carbon material. It seems they’ve saved their Zion rotors for their higher-end Daiwa reels.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though as it does keep the BG’s price point lower. Also, if you ever do need to replace the rotor, the plastic BG rotor is much less expensive to buy than their higher-end Zion rotors.
Out Of Place Bail Wire
The Daiwa BG’s bail wire is made of stainless steel, but it does seem a little weak to the touch.
The overall construction of the BG 4000 has an appearance of being rugged, and in comparison, the flimsy bail wire feels a little out of place on an otherwise rugged reel.
Many other comparable reels in the industry have started coming with more robust and thicker bail wires, which does add to the overall durability of the reel so we would have liked to have seen the same on the BG.
The bail wire utilizes a line drop design that’s a little older and functions with a single ball bearing.
The bail wire doesn’t extend back as far as some other reels and the spring could be slightly stronger.
The BG 1500 through the 4000 sizes are equipped with an automatic bail trip, while the 4500 through the 8000 sizes are equipped with a manual bail trip.
The bail wire definitely does its job, but in our opinion, it’s missing some of the quality that marks the rest of this reel.
Rugged Built Reel Body
The BG is designed with what Daiwa calls their hard body design.
It’s an all-aluminum build with the exception of a rugged plastic bottom plate to help add extra protection to the reel.
The body itself is quite rigid and firm.
It feels tough and is able to maintain its shape despite the wear and tear of heavy use.
The BG 4000 has a nice long aluminum reel arm and average size reel foot.
No complaints here.
Premium Ball Bearings In A Money Friendly Reel
The BG features a seven ball bearing system consisting of 6 ball bearings and 1 roller bearing.
The Daiwa BG’s ball bearing system is actually the same ball bearings featured in the 2013 Shimano Stella SW as well as the non MAGSEALED Daiwa Dogfight and Saltiga Expedition.
Those are all premium reels costing over a thousand dollars.
Fortunately for us, this same premium ball bearing system has found its way into the affordable Daiwa BG reel.
Heavy-Duty Saltwater Gear
Daiwa designed the BG for heavy-duty use, particularly in saltwater.
You can see the design emphasis of the reel through the large main gear. The main gear is much larger than other comparable reels like the Penn Battle 2.
The gear is made of cast zinc, but still feels great and should provide good durability through the life of the reel.
Due to the cast zinc construction, versus brass or aluminum, it should be much less expensive to replace if you ever find yourself needing to.
Cast zinc is pretty standard through the fishing reel industry within the median range reels. The main difference with the Daiwa BG, versus other reels in this price range, is that the main gear is so much larger which should provide greater durability.
The gear has a 5.7 gear ratio.
This means that the rotor spins 5.7 times for every single handle turn.
The BG has a very smooth feeling as you turn the reel’s handle. This is likely due to the over-sized digigear system, in conjunction with the
WORD ball bearings.
All of this together provides a smooth and high-torque spinning experience.
It’s not the smoothest reel in the world, but for a non MAGSEALED reel, it’s about as good as it gets.
The feel of this reel is one of the main advantages of it, particularly that overall the tech on the reel is on the lower-tech side.
Once you start getting into the higher end reels, you start getting proprietary technologies built into the reels. This kind of technology, like the MAGSEALED tech, can provide great functionality and features, but on the downside, you’re handcuffed to the developing company to take care of any servicing for the life of the reel.
So seeing that you can get very comparable function and performance from the BG without the need for propriety tech, is an amazing benefit.
This allows you to easily service the reel or maintain it yourself without the need of hiring a professional.
No Escaping The Spring Loaded Anti-Reverse System
The Daiwa BG has a very solid infinite anti-reverse system.
There is hardly any play in the handle and it feels durable and very accurate.
A superior feature of the BG’s anti-reverse system is that the clutch utilizes individual springs for each cylinder brake instead of the more common plastic V clips that most other comparable reels use.
This is just more evidence of Daiwa’s emphasis on designing the BG for longevity and just to be extremely durable.
It’s likely something you wouldn’t have noticed, but it’s a great addition to the reel and adds to the long term life of the reel.
On the BG sizes 1500 through the 4000, there is an anti-reverse switch that allows you to enable or disable the anti-reverse system.
On the 4500 through the 8000 sizes, the anti-reverse system is enabled by default and isn’t able to be disabled.
Rubberized Super Grip Handle
The BG is designed with a single piece aluminum machine handle.
The handle is not collapsible, which is a design decision that Daiwa has chosen to implement in their mid-tier to high-end reels.
Much of that is a preference choice, but the lack of the pivot joint on the handle does remove another possible point of corrosion.
It also adds extra rigidity to the handle which is nice.
By not having the pivot joint, they remove another potential point of failure on the reel.
The handle features a t-shape end utilizing a rubber material for the grip. The rubber material provides a great grip to the handle.
Having used both this reel and others utilizing an EVA foam grip they each provide a different kind of experience. Depending on your preference, you may or may not prefer the rubber grip.
I personally don’t have a preference between the two types of grips.
Regardless of your preference though, the rubber grip works perfectly well whether your hands are wet or even covered in fish slime. The rubber maintains a good grip to it.
The handle is also easily interchangeable between the right or left side of the reel.
Pros and Cons List of the Daiwa BG 4000
- Budget-priced reel
- Designed for durability
- Fairly light at only 14 ounces.
- Greater line capacity than comparable reels.
- ATD carbon drag system
- Seven ball bearings
- Metal springs in the anti-reverse system instead of plastic v-clips
- Easy and affordable to maintain
- Thin bale wire could have been designed to feel more robust
- Bail trip spring is a bit thin and they could have used a thicker spring
- Reel is only offered in a 5.7 gear ratio. Could have provided a faster version of the BG.
Final thoughts on the Daiwa BG 4000 Spinning Reel
The Daiwa BG 4000 is an amazing reel that’s been 35 years in the making.
While it’s not the best reel on the planet, it definitely is probably the best at this price range.
There aren’t any other reels at a comparable price range that I know of that provides as much value as the Daiwa BG.
So if you’re in the market for a spinning reel that’s not going to cost you a fortune, but still provide incredible value and functionality, the Daiwa BG is definitely for you.
It’s a reel that should last you for years to come.
So if you’re looking to just purchase one reel, this is likely the one to look at getting.
It is designed to handle the needs of pretty much any angler, whether you want to fish from your boat or the shore, or you’re going after fresh or saltwater fish.
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