Accurate Valiant Single Speed Reels

Accurate’s newest fishing reel is the Valiant, a very interesting micro small model with mega power. Overseas Micro-Jigging has become a popular method for catching fish. Small jigs, fished vertically on rods with VERY light action can produce a catch when other methods won’t do squat. In areas that have been “fished out” folks are catching fish they’d have missed without this method employed. Whether or not that’s a positive step in overfished waters is not the point, the method is important and useful even in abundant waters, and the innovations in fishing technology used can be applied to different applications. In Micro-Jigging the fisherman works very small jigs, similar to how one should fish knife jigs (and similar iron) on parabolic rods matched to the jig weight for best action. Then, once hooked up the angler points the rod directly at the fish and uses the reel’s power to crank in the fish. There’s a certain amount of finesse and a certain measure of raw power employed in fishing this method. All the stress of the fight is handled by the reel, not the rod. Here, rather than Asia, micro-jigging may not become the rage, however the concept of taking larger fish on smaller gear is something we have all learned to love, and no doubt Accurate wrote the book on that pursuit.  Taking that style of fishing, dropping down to much lighter jigs and rods is what folks are doing in this new method of catching fish. Having a reel small enough to balance out on the rod and yet powerful enough to fight the fish is the key. Power is critical, and the new Valiant from Accurate combines superior power to exceptionally light weight – 9.9 ounces!

For 2016/17 Accurate further develops the Valiant project with more sizes, the 400 in single and two speed versions, and 500 in standard and narrow widths – and again in both single and two speed form.  Accurate showed off the 600 sizes at ICAST 2017, and hinted at two additional models, 800 & 1000 – (all in stock now).

COLORS – This has been a hard one for Accurate to address. They’ve wanted to offer color selection, but it’s not an easy thing for the firm to accomplish given all the other time demands in the aerospace end of things.  They have now simplified things. Reels are available in silver with red trim as shown in most of our images. You can alternatively select the reel to be silver with blue accents similar to the red/silver shown on our site.  You can also order the Valiant in solid black as is shown below.

For 2017 Accurate expands upon the Valiant series reels. We’ve received the new 400 size in both single and two speed forms. These new reels are almost the same weight, use the same frame/housing for both models. Weight is 14 ounces. Drag comes in at 20 lbs., specs consistent with the smaller 300 size. except line capacity increases to 300 yds of 50# super braid.

For 2016/17 Accurate further develops the Valiant project with more sizes, the 400 in single and two speed versions, and 500 in standard and narrow widths – and again in both single and two speed form.  At the 2017 ICAST show Accurate showed off their new 600 size which is now available (three sizes, 600NN, 600N and 600). And, for 2018 we have already received the 800, 800N and soon the 1000 sized reels.

I must admit to some personal skepticism over the larger 800 and 1000 sized Valiants.  Those large sized reels made me a bit insecure, thinking folks would take advantage of the size and attempt to do things that really are best done on ATD 50’s. I was concerned about fishing 80-100 lb lines at appropriate drag settings, heavy loading. The large Valiants have the line capacity to fish heavier tests. Well, I may need to revise my thinking…  The folks at Accurate are boasting of a 424 lb yellowfin tuna taken off Loreto Mexico on a Val 800 2 speed! The fellow who landed the fish, fishing aboard a private charter boat, is no slouch angler. He’s a ringer, no doubt, and he knew what he was doing – not a random catch, it was targeted aboard a boat that could maneuver and chase the fish.  He was not overloading the reel, since he was running 50# P-line, he had very good line capacity to work with (also made use of 100# AFW Quattro Fluorocarbon leader and a Mustad 6/0 hook).  So, this is a far different situation than fishing aboard a Long Range sportfishing that’s dead in the water with 28 guys at the rail.  Nonetheless, a yellowfin over 400 lbs is a super catch on any gear, and to think it was done on such a light reel is nothing short of amazing! I’ll put aside my skepticism, that’s an incredible accomplishment by a very experienced angler. This is a pending IGFA world record for 50# line.  Congratulations to the angler and to Accurate! – Mark