Professional Tool Reviews for Pros

As the job came to a close, our electrical crew agreed that the Angler can help drastically reduce the time you spend making pulls through any type of conduit, ultimately increasing productivity. The only hangup is how the weight of the tool makes you adjust to the way you're used to working. Once you get used to it, the time and fatigue savings are well worth the price.

Electricians depend on manual fish tapes to pull new wires through walls and electrical conduits. However, longer runs increase the chances of the tape binding up and require more strength to actually complete the pull successfully. The Milwaukee M18 Fuel Angler fish tape looks to shift this burden from your shoulders onto its strong brushless motor.

We teamed up with our friends Richard Hoar and Mandi Kikta at OAR Electric to get their first-hand impressions of the Milwaukee M18 Fuel Angler. The team had to make a series of 100-plus foot wire pulls during a residential in-ground pool build. It was an excellent opportunity to put this powered fish tape to the test.

As the team set in on the first 100-foot run, the weight of the Milwaukee M18 Fuel Angler was clearly more than Richard and Mandi were used to from a 120-foot tape. The route included three 90° bends, making the task a little tougher.

Using the variable speed trigger, Mandi carefully fed the 120-foot steel cable through the conduit with ease. Both Mandi and Richard noted that you lose some of the “touch” since you’re not actually feeling the fish tape travel through. It’s something to keep in mind especially when you’re making a run in PVC where gaps in the fittings are more likely to cause a snag.

You can use a combination of electric feeding with one hand and feeling the run with the other, but when you need to elevate the drum, you need two hands to support the weight.

When you can’t have your second hand on the tape, just keep a close eye on it as it feeds to make sure you can react if there’s a bind.

Once Mandi got the green light to start the pull, the Milwaukee M18 Fuel Angler only needed about 45 seconds to finish the run.

The rotating drum retracted smoothly and let us avoid the fatiguing repetitive arm motions of a manual tape. Combined with the drastically shorter feed and pull times, it requires just a fraction of the physical exertion.

The Milwaukee Angler’s brushless motor has a top-end speed of 37 RPM with 250 pounds of pulling force. With this level of power, Milwaukee tells us you’ll be able to pull wire through a 200 foot run with 360° of bends. We’re only using the 120-foot tape, but everything we experienced leads us to believe Milwaukee’s not pulling our leg with those claims.

One of the nicest things about Milwaukee’s design is the modular design. You can use one Angler powerhead and pair it with any of the drums you want. It’s a great way to outfit a service van with all the tapes the crew needs without spending the full kit price on each one.

The Angler’s profile is pretty similar to that of traditional fish tapes with the obvious difference of the handle and trigger.

As we mentioned, there is a significant difference in weight on account of the motor and battery. Milwaukee’s 120-foot steel fish tape weighs about 5.7 pounds whereas the Milwaukee Angler version weighs 16.25 pounds with a 2.0Ah battery installed.

One addition we’d like to see is a shoulder strap or even a collapsable to help to manage the weight of the Angler when you can’t set it on the ground.

In order to help prevent over-extending the fish tape, Milwaukee put a yellow-painted section about four feet from the end. Once you see this marking, you should immediately release the trigger to avoid over-rotating the drum.

Milwaukee utilizes a two-handed rubber over-mold grip in order to help maintain control of the Angler. Both grips are larger diameters than you find on the Milwaukee 2853 Impact Driver and other pistol group tools.

The variable speed trigger offers excellent control while feeding and retracting the tape and a thumb switch makes it easy to switch directions.

Two kits are available. One comes with a 120-foot steel tape drum, two M18 2.0Ah batteries, and a charger, while the other comes with a 240-foot steel tape drum, batteries, and a charger. The Angler is also available as a bare tool without a tape.

You can purchase the drums separately with prices ranging from around $115 to $185. Here’s a list of the current lineup:

As the job came to a close, our electrical crew agreed that the Angler can help drastically reduce the time you spend making pulls through any type of conduit, ultimately increasing productivity. The only hangup is how the weight of the tool makes you adjust to the way you’re used to working. Once you get used to it, the time and fatigue savings are well worth the price.

When he doesn't have his hands on tools himself, Chris is often the man behind the camera lens making the rest of the team look good. In his free time, you might find Chris with his nose jammed in a book, or tearing out his remaining hair while watching Liverpool FC. He enjoys his faith, family, friends, and the Oxford comma.

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Finally!!! Thank you Milwaukee! Can’t wait to try this out.

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