Daiwa Zillion vs Shimano Chronarch OR! Shimano Curado K vs Daiwa Tatula SV TW

[cabled70]

13 minutes ago, NathanDLTH said:

Honestly, similar rod with similar line and lure, I’d say the Zillion and Curado K. Both for whatever reason throw lures better. I had a Aldebaran and that took little effort to throw a bait any distance, maybe just the way they are. Now my Tatulas are my workhorse reels, I own three of them. Use them for frogging/pitching, topwater/jigs, cranks and jerks. 

 

My reels go:

tatula sv 6:3

tatula sv 7:3:1

tatula sv 8:1:1

Zillion 6:3:1

Curado K 6:2:1

Chronarch 7:1:1

 

I’ve owned a Abu ProMax, Chronarch Ci4, Lews Tournament Speed Spool, Daiwa Luguna, A n C, and a Curado I. Didn’t care for Curado I. My Abu experience is meh, don’t like their reels. Ci4 wasn’t what I hoped for. Best bang for your buck was the Lews before I gave it to a friend. My A n C were good, but the Daiwa hype was good and I feel head over heals for the Tatulas. Really, I’m a reel junky, love trying stuff out and it gets bad when something catches my eye. Right now I have my sights set on a Steez A TWS, deeper spool then the SV and bigger knobs. 

 

Thank you again for the detailed info, it's very helpful.  I'm torn after reading everything but there is nothing SCREAMING that one company clearly has a distance advantage over the other.  So for now, I am leaning heavily towards Tatula SV.  I already have the other two Tatula Type R 100XS's and that would just play towards consistency.

 

I'm a reel junky as well and owned many types/brands during the 80's and early 90's but settled on Daiwa's baitcasters long ago.  I love the Shimano spinning reels.  If I could buy everything that came out and try it I would - but that's not gonna happen unless they all become free of charge!

 

As for Abu Garcia (mentioned that I have an ancient 4500 above) - Hank Parkers Outdoor magazine was the only fishing TV show on in MD back in (about) 1983 or !984 and Hank was throwing Abu Garcia.  Planted the seed right there... :-)

 

Thanks again for the feedback. 

[fishnkamp]

Let me say have been fishing over 40 years and tried all sort of reels.  Everyone has a different casting motion and personal preference so take it for what its worth. Several years ago a friend put a Diawa Exceler in my hand and I fell in love. I started using one of those and several Daiwa Tatula, Tatula Type Rs and Tatula CTs. I quickly sold off a bunch of Shimanos (including a Chronarch E7 and some green Curados). 

Before you spend big money on other reels I want to ask you how you adjusted your Tatula R. These reels do not work properly, or more accurately, work to achieve their best casting distance if you adjusted it the same way you adjust every other baitcaster.

Let me explain the difference a bit.  In most cases you spool a reel, run your line out the guides tie on a lure and adjust the spool tension according to how fast or slow you want the lure to drop. That will inhibit your casting distance big time with any Daiwa reel that has Mag Force  breaking in it, especially Mag Force Z breaking which most all the Tatulas have.

I am not sure how well you cleaned and lubricated your reel. I would suggest you send it out to someone like DVT to  have it's maintenance done professionally. You might also consider upgrading a few bearings and replace the bushings inside with a few bearings.  This has made some Tatulas run as smooth or smoother than reels much higher priced. 

Anyway back to its adjustment.  Here are two videos.  The first explains the break systems Daiwa has used. Your reel is the last one in the video(with mag force Z).  The other video explains how to properly adjust your reel. I will get some disagreement on this point,but I have heard this point from a few pros and I always follow this tip. I back of my drag ( the dial on the outside) before adjusting the spool tension. I then set the dial to half way, or 10 out of 20, after the spool is set correctly. Try this before you spend any money.  Give it a few casts the way you normally set your reel and then follow my method. Let us know the difference. Also, be sure the lure you are throwing is heavy enough to fall in between the spec of the rod. This is essential when testing this out.

 

Notice, Brent is talking about the newer Daiwa Tatula SV TWS.  All the Tatula family reels adjust the same way so you need to adjust it as he tells you. It will feel way to free to you and that is true if this were any other reel. Daiwas are not any other reel.  I hope this helps. If you think you might want to upgrade that reel just let me know, I have several friends that will lead you down the right path on those reels. They live and breath fishing reels, all brands and know all the tricks. 

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

13 minutes ago, cabled70 said:

Thank you again for the detailed info, it's very helpful.  I'm torn after reading everything but there is nothing SCREAMING that one company clearly has a distance advantage over the other.  So for now, I am leaning heavily towards Tatula SV.  I already have the other two Tatula Type R 100XS's and that would just play towards consistency.

 

I'm a reel junky as well and owned many types/brands during the 80's and early 90's but settled on Daiwa's baitcasters long ago.  I love the Shimano spinning reels.  If I could buy everything that came out and try it I would - but that's not gonna happen unless they all become free of charge!

 

As for Abu Garcia (mentioned that I have an ancient 4500 above) - Hank Parkers Outdoor magazine was the only fishing TV show on in MD back in (about) 1983 or !984 and Hank was throwing Abu Garcia.  Planted the seed right there... :-)

 

Thanks again for the feedback. 

You will be losing distance but gaining control. I have a Tatula100 and TatSV the Tat100 casts farther. Curado 70, Chronarch MGL both cast farther than the SV. Youtube vids show the K throwing lipless cranks farther.

The K would be my choice over the TatSV and the Curado K can be bought for $150 a smoother more refined farther casting reel.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/Shimano-Curado-200XGK-Bait-Casting-Reel-2017-New-Mode-Right-Hand-2221-/132460018883?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10

[cabled70]

13 hours ago, fishnkamp said:

Let me say have been fishing over 40 years and tried all sort of reels.  Everyone has a different casting motion and personal preference so take it for what its worth. Several years ago a friend put a Diawa Exceler in my hand and I fell in love. I started using one of those and several Daiwa Tatula, Tatula Type Rs and Tatula CTs. I quickly sold off a bunch of Shimanos (including a Chronarch E7 and some green Curados). 

Before you spend big money on other reels I want to ask you how you adjusted your Tatula R. These reels do not work properly, or more accurately, work to achieve their best casting distance if you adjusted it the same way you adjust every other baitcaster.

Let me explain the difference a bit.  In most cases you spool a reel, run your line out the guides tie on a lure and adjust the spool tension according to how fast or slow you want the lure to drop. That will inhibit your casting distance big time with any Daiwa reel that has Mag Force  breaking in it, especially Mag Force Z breaking which most all the Tatulas have.

I am not sure how well you cleaned and lubricated your reel. I would suggest you send it out to someone like DVT to  have it's maintenance done professionally. You might also consider upgrading a few bearings and replace the bushings inside with a few bearings.  This has made some Tatulas run as smooth or smoother than reels much higher priced. 

Anyway back to its adjustment.  Here are two videos.  The first explains the break systems Daiwa has used. Your reel is the last one in the video(with mag force Z).  The other video explains how to properly adjust your reel. I will get some disagreement on this point,but I have heard this point from a few pros and I always follow this tip. I back of my drag ( the dial on the outside) before adjusting the spool tension. I then set the dial to half way, or 10 out of 20, after the spool is set correctly. Try this before you spend any money.  Give it a few casts the way you normally set your reel and then follow my method. Let us know the difference. Also, be sure the lure you are throwing is heavy enough to fall in between the spec of the rod. This is essential when testing this out.

 

Notice, Brent is talking about the newer Daiwa Tatula SV TWS.  All the Tatula family reels adjust the same way so you need to adjust it as he tells you. It will feel way to free to you and that is true if this were any other reel. Daiwas are not any other reel.  I hope this helps. If you think you might want to upgrade that reel just let me know, I have several friends that will lead you down the right path on those reels. They live and breath fishing reels, all brands and know all the tricks. 

Thank you a ton FNK,

That was a tremendous amount of information and I can tell you are just as passionate (if not more) than myself when it comes to getting into the gritty details!  I also watched the vids and they are very informative so thank you for that.

 

I did a very basic maintenance which involved cleaning, oiling (where required) and greasing (where required) per videos I watched and the free spool on the first one I cleaned compared to the second one (before maintenance) was ridiculous.  After cleaning both they were equal, so I feel the cleaning was effective. I'm assuming DVT is a member here and will look more into professional maintenance for sure.  Thanks for that info too.

 

As for my settings, it's funny because my reels are generally at 10 but range from 8 to 12 depending on lure size and weather conditions (wind).  So that was reassuring to see Ehler's setup.  I do keep the brakes adjusted per lure too but feel that they are NOT set as light as you and the video recommends so I am excited to try that out!!!

 

And when i am ready to buy I will definitely ask for your contacts and hopefully I can pick a couple up.

 

Tatula SV TWS looking like a clear leader at this point.  Thanks again for all the great information and help.

12 hours ago, QUAKEnSHAKE said:

You will be losing distance but gaining control. I have a Tatula100 and TatSV the Tat100 casts farther. Curado 70, Chronarch MGL both cast farther than the SV. Youtube vids show the K throwing lipless cranks farther.

The K would be my choice over the TatSV and the Curado K can be bought for $150 a smoother more refined farther casting reel.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/Shimano-Curado-200XGK-Bait-Casting-Reel-2017-New-Mode-Right-Hand-2221-/132460018883?_trksid=p2385738.m4383.l4275.c10

Thanks QnS!   I saw some vids of casting differences but there were comments on a couple videos questioning if it was the same rod/line setup.  Either way, those videos are what started my questioning.  Thanks again for the advice and link. 

[fishnkamp]

Once you set the free spool on the Daiwa line of reels you no longer adjust them fro lure weight, at least I never need to. Think about the Mag Force Z as a lawn mower's governor.  It works without your input. The dial on the outside I rarely need to adjust but if I were top be trying to horse something or had bad wind conditions then I might bump it up a notch or two.

[npl_texas]

On 1/8/2018 at 8:40 AM, fishballer06 said:

My Chronarch MGL's will bomb a crankbait out there with the new MGL spool, but I also use my XG MGL for pitching jigs, so that reel is very versatile if you have the right ratio for your needs. The Zillion SV doesn't hardly give you an advantage over the Tatula SV, in my opinion.

I've sold all of my Daiwa's but one and i can tell you I never knew when I was holding the Zillion SV or the Tat SV.  They felt pretty much the same all around to me.

[cabled70]

1 hour ago, fishnkamp said:

Once you set the free spool on the Daiwa line of reels you no longer adjust them fro lure weight, at least I never need to. Think about the Mag Force Z as a lawn mower's governor.  It works without your input. The dial on the outside I rarely need to adjust but if I were top be trying to horse something or had bad wind conditions then I might bump it up a notch or two.

Well, once again, much appreciated.  This and others info has been incredibly helpful.

[Choporoz]

23 hours ago, cabled70 said:

How about my fishing line question above - furthest casts with what line?!? Mono, Fluoro, or Braid?

If distance is the ONLY consideration, then Gliss is the way to go.  There are tradeoffs, but if I put 12# Gliss on ANY of my combos, it will cast much farther than any other line I have ever used.  It isn't necessarily going to be best for lots of other reasons, but for distance alone, Gliss, (or other fine, slick braid) is the way to go, IMO.

[Boomstick]

If you are trying to get the max casting distance, then get a Tatula CT and save the extra money from the SV. The SV spool improves the breaking, but reduces the casting distance slightly. I can justify the sacrifice in casting distance with the knowledge that over the course of a day, with a fewer backlashes, I will end up casting for more yards over time instead of pulling out a backlash.

[fishnkamp]

Hey Cabled70. If you ever feel like coming back down to the Upper Bay I would be happy to meet you in the town of North East ( at Anchor Marine) and help you with those reels. We could meet, play a little with the gear and then hit the water in my boat.  I have no idea if you are interested but it would be about a 3 hour drive for you. You said you are originally from MD. but maybe you have never fished the Flats and the North East River before.

[cabled70]

3 hours ago, Boomstick said:

If you are trying to get the max casting distance, then get a Tatula CT and save the extra money from the SV. The SV spool improves the breaking, but reduces the casting distance slightly. I can justify the sacrifice in casting distance with the knowledge that over the course of a day, with a fewer backlashes, I will end up casting for more yards over time instead of pulling out a backlash.

Thanks Boomstick!  I have two Tatula Type R 100XS's so will most likely jump to the SV TW reels to try em out.  I appreciate your feedback.  

1 hour ago, fishnkamp said:

Hey Cabled70. If you ever feel like coming back down to the Upper Bay I would be happy to meet you in the town of North East ( at Anchor Marine) and help you with those reels. We could meet, play a little with the gear and then hit the water in my boat.  I have no idea if you are interested but it would be about a 3 hour drive for you. You said you are originally from MD. but maybe you have never fished the Flats and the North East River before.

Thanks FNK, I'll definitely take you up on that offer.  The last tourney I fished in MD was the Upper Bay out of Havre De Grace.  Have fished the Upper Bay a fair share but don't know it too awfully well so would love to get out there with you.  Hopefully we can do that this season!  Thanks again!

[fishnkamp]

I look forward to it. The nice thing about  launching at Anchor Marine in the North East is that it is located on your side of the flats so you will not have cross the bridge to Harve De Grace.

 

That should save you probably 20 to 30 minutes drive time.

[kschultz76]

7 minutes ago, fishnkamp said:

I look forward to it. The nice thing about  launching at Anchor Marine in the North East is that it is located on your side of the flats so you will not have cross the bridge to Harve De Grace.

 

That should save you probably 20 to 30 minutes drive time.

That’s some great fishing right there. Fished the NE one time with a guide and took of from Anchor. We boasted several 4lb fish and at least one 5ln that day. It was fantastic. Going to try to get down there with our boat sometime. 

[Human torpedo]

I agree with FishnKamp.  I found out a long time ago that I could only cast with a loose spool tension.  Sometimes the spool would slide back n forth (side play)on my old gold Chronarch.  But bait casters have came so far since I started in the mid 90's.  Just got back into fishing and these newer reels are so much easier to cast.  I have Tatulas, a Curado I, and a lews tournament Lite and they all cast really far.  FWIW, I can l cast the Curado I slightly farther.  But I can cast a 1/16 oz texas rigged culprit worm and a 3/8 oz jig far enough without having backlash and not adjusting the break on the tatulas. Hope this helps

[cabled70]

14 hours ago, fishnkamp said:

I look forward to it. The nice thing about  launching at Anchor Marine in the North East is that it is located on your side of the flats so you will not have cross the bridge to Harve De Grace.

 

That should save you probably 20 to 30 minutes drive time.

Sounds great and I hope we can get out!!!

 

11 hours ago, Human torpedo said:

I agree with FishnKamp.  I found out a long time ago that I could only cast with a loose spool tension.  Sometimes the spool would slide back n forth (side play)on my old gold Chronarch.  But bait casters have came so far since I started in the mid 90's.  Just got back into fishing and these newer reels are so much easier to cast.  I have Tatulas, a Curado I, and a lews tournament Lite and they all cast really far.  FWIW, I can l cast the Curado I slightly farther.  But I can cast a 1/16 oz texas rigged culprit worm and a 3/8 oz jig far enough without having backlash and not adjusting the break on the tatulas. Hope this helps

Thanks HT, I appreciate the feedback and will follow up once I make a purchase!