Let’s talk other JDM Daiwa reels…

[Cbump]

Lots of talk about the Zillions. Let’s talk about some of the others. 
 

What are each of these for and which one do I want ?

 

Alphas Air

Alphas SV

Alphas SV 800s

Basara

Catalina BJ

GekkaBijin Air TW PE

HRF PE Special 

KOHGA TW HYPER CUSTOM
Kyohga

Millionaire CT SV

Morethan PE TW

Ryoga

Saltiga BJ

SILVER CREEK AIR TW STREAM CUSTOM
Silver Wolf

Steez A

STEEZ A TW HLC

SV Light LTD

Z Black LTD 

Zillion 10

Zillion HLC

[newapti5]

Not sure what you're going to use them for, but some of them are jigging reels with no brakes, only spool tension/mechanical brake: 

 

Basara

Catalina BJ

KOHGA TW HYPER CUSTOM
Kyohga

Saltiga BJ

 

[Cbump]

Thanks! I wouldn’t use any of those then lol

[QED]

Daiwa Steez AIR TW 500XXH for BFS/finesse.  4.75 oz!

[FrnkNsteen]

The only one I have is the Alphas SV TW. Its a smaller framed reel with a smaller spool that I believe was intended for lighter lures. I have it on 7' Techna AV throwing light twistlock weighted hooks with Rage Craws and Chigger Craws

 

Looked at the Alphas Air and it appears to be a BFS finesse reel also.

[newapti5]

55 minutes ago, Cbump said:

Thanks! I wouldn’t use any of those then lol

 

No problem. I am sure others have more experience than me, so I would just be brief, and tell what I know. 

 

As you may have already known, for Daiwa reels, "Air" usually means super light shallow spool for BFS/finesse lures. "PE" usually means it's designed for braided lines, with shallow spool, specially tuned Magforce brake, and often faster level wind. "LTD" means limited edition with tweaks and tune-ups, often designed by some gurus/celebrities. "HLC" means hyper long cast, usually with lighter spool and special brakes of less force, to cast heavier lures a long way. 

 

GekkaBijin Air TW PE - "Beauty under the moon," upgraded version of Alphas Air, designed for braided line. 

 

HRF PE Special - It's originally designed for Hard Rock Fish. It usually uses Tatula platform. Hard gears and extra fast gear ratio so you can winch the fish back quickly before other big predators hijack it. The last version has a shallow spool, but the new version has a deeper one.  It also has a faster level wind to avoid braided line dig-in.

 

Millionaire CT SV - Round reel for finesse and BFS. 

 

Morethan PE TW - Saltwater version of Steez, designed for braided lines. 

 

Ryoga - the 18 Ryoga round reel is a tank, also the only reel with Hyper Mesh Gear - Daiwa's small gear teeth design. For cranking and other general purposes. It has two different spool sizes, 1016 and 1520

 

SILVER CREEK AIR TW STREAM CUSTOM - tweaked trout fishing reel, designed for finesse/BFS. 

 

SV Light LTD - a limited edition of the old Steez, designed by Japanese angler 並木敏成,  super shallow spool for finesse/BFS.

 

[Cbump]

16 minutes ago, newapti5 said:

 

No problem. I am sure others have more experience than me, so I would just be brief, and tell what I know. 

 

As you may have already known, for Daiwa reels, "Air" usually means super light shallow spool for BFS/finesse lures. "PE" usually means it's designed for braided lines, with shallow spool, specially tuned Magforce brake, and often faster level wind. "LTD" means limited edition with tweaks and tune-ups, often designed by some gurus/celebrities. "HLC" means hyper long cast, usually with lighter spool and special brakes of less force, to cast heavier lures a long way. 

 

GekkaBijin Air TW PE - "Beauty under the moon," upgraded version of Alphas Air, designed for braided line. 

 

HRF PE Special - It's originally designed for Hard Rock Fish. It usually uses Tatula platform. Hard gears and extra fast gear ratio so you can winch the fish back quickly before other big predators hijack it. The last version has a shallow spool, but the new version has a deeper one.  It also has a faster level wind to avoid braided line dig-in.

 

Millionaire CT SV - Round reel for finesse and BFS. 

 

Morethan PE TW - Saltwater version of Steez, designed for braided lines. 

 

Ryoga - the 18 Ryoga round reel is a tank, also the only reel with Hyper Mesh Gear - Daiwa's small gear teeth design. For cranking and other general purposes. It has two different spool sizes, 1016 and 1520

 

SILVER CREEK AIR TW STREAM CUSTOM - tweaked trout fishing reel, designed for finesse/BFS. 

 

SV Light LTD - a limited edition of the old Steez, designed by Japanese angler 並木敏成,  super shallow spool for finesse/BFS.

 

This is great info. Exactly what I was looking for. 
What’s a hard rock fish? 

[newapti5]

3 minutes ago, Cbump said:

This is great info. Exactly what I was looking for. 
What’s a hard rock fish? 

 

I never caught one, but it's a popular fish in Japan. Here it is:

https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/bottomfish/rockfish

[bulldog1935]

What you left out is spool diameter. 

 

CT reels (compact), all the Alphas and Millionaire CT are 32-mm dia spool. 

 

Steez, Zillion, Ryoga and GekkaBijin are all 34-mm dia spools. 

Zillion Silver Wolf essentially replaces the latter. 

 

The Air and Silver Wolf reels are for small diameter braid (smaller than PE#1), and have increased LW pitch to prevent line dig with the lighter braid. 

Adding a ps here -

probably the best description you will find on individual reel models will be at JapanTackle - Jun Sonada has about the best English you'll find in Japan. 

https://japantackle.com/casting-reels/daiwa.html

Don't expect to find stock on all the reels, especially not the limited run reels. 

 

[Revival]

As you already know, purchasing JDM reels/gear can be addicting.

[redmeansdistortion]

8 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

CT reels (compact), all the Alphas and Millionaire CT are 32-mm dia spool. 

The Millionaire CT and Alphas CT use 30mm spools.

[new2BC4bass]

Double Geez.  I see my Daiwa collection is sorely lacking.    And I've already got more than I can use.

[Cbump]

Which JDM model would be best for C-rig? My c-rig setup is a Dobyns Champion 804c, 20lb fc, one ounce tungsten, 2 Carolina keepers, and hook. It doesn’t deviate from that ever. Usually brush hog or lizard. 

I’m thinking the Zillion HD?

[Jrob78]

6 minutes ago, Cbump said:

Which JDM model would be best for C-rig? My c-rig setup is a Dobyns Champion 804c, 20lb fc, one ounce tungsten, 2 Carolina keepers, and hook. It doesn’t deviate from that ever. Usually brush hog or lizard. 

I’m thinking the Zillion HD?

The HD seems like a good choice to me. ?

 

The regular Zillion SV, the Zillion 10 (if you like really high lpt reels) and the Steez A would also be good choices from the list above. The Morethan PE and Silverwolf are also sweet reels but they have spools designed for braid use. I've never used one but the HLC spools are supposedly super fast and wild and hard to manage for anything but bomb casts with heavy baits.

[bulldog1935]

I went through a series of casting trials with 3 different reels, 3 different spools, and 3 different bearings.  It's summarized on this post

@Jrob78

The HLC spools are not near as fast as a Roro-X, and compare favorably with Ray's Studio SV honeycomb spool. 

Certainly not wild and uncontrollable, and very easy to modulate with SV brake system. 

I've fished faster Roro-X on Steez for a year and a season now, and without a backlash on fine braid. 

The trick is set the mag brake for the lightest thing you plan to throw - SV takes care of the heavies and you add up to 2 more notches of mag for wind with the light lures. 

[Cbump]

12 minutes ago, Jrob78 said:

The HD seems like a good choice to me. ?

 

The regular Zillion SV, the Zillion 10 (if you like really high lpt reels) and the Steez A would also be good choices from the list above. The Morethan PE and Silverwolf are also sweet reels but they have spools designed for braid use. I've never used one but the HLC spools are supposedly super fast and wild and hard to manage for anything but bomb casts with heavy baits.

I did some reel shuffling today and slowly upgrading to all “higher-than-CT-end” reels. Had a 17 Tatula SV I just acquired on a Chatterbait rod that I put on a spinnerbait rod. The spinnerbait rod had a Tatula CT that I sold today. 
Last night I ordered a Tatula 150, which is going to go on that Chatterbait rod. 
 

I also had a Tatula CT on a punching/frog rod that I sold today. Currently on my c-rig rod is a Tatula 200. I also have a Elite P/F on a backup pitching rod. And I’ve acquired an Elite long cast spool and hedgehog zr bearings. 
 

So my options are:

Leave the Tat 200 on the c-rig rod and purchase a frogging/punching reel. 
 

Move the Tat 200 to the frogging/punching rod (I like this idea), and for the c-rig get a Zillion HD (or other reel) OR put the long cast spool and bearings in the P/F and use It. 
 

If I do that, then I’ll need to purchase a reel for the backup pitching rod. Probably another P/F because I like It. 
 

Why not just get a regular elite for the c-rig rod you might ask? I really, really like the power type handles on the p/f and the zillion hd. 

So many options. 
 

[Jrob78]

10 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

I went through a series of casting trials with 3 different reels, 3 different spools, and 3 different bearings.  It's summarized on this post

@Jrob78

The HLC spools are not near as fast as a Roro-X, and compare favorably with Ray's Studio SV honeycomb spool. 

Certainly not wild and uncontrollable, and very easy to modulate with SV brake system. 

I've fished faster Roro-X on Steez for a year and a season now, and without a backlash on fine braid. 

The trick is set the mag brake for the lightest thing you plan to throw - SV takes care of the heavies and you add up to 2 more notches of mag for wind with the light lures. 

That is good to hear. I've been contemplating a Steez HLC but was scared away by some of the reviews I've read. In typical fashion I should probably just buy one and find out for myself. ?

8 minutes ago, Cbump said:

Move the Tat 200 to the frogging/punching rod (I like this idea), and for the c-rig get a Zillion HD
 

That's probably what I would do but I also try to keep in mind what rods I end up using the most and put the best reels on those rods. The Tat 200 would honestly probably make a good c-rig reel because it will hold a lot of heavy line. You could always try out a Silverwolf with braid on the frogging punching rod.

[ska4fun]

I have the Millionaire CT SV. I'm a old Conquest 51 series fanboy, deeply disappointed with the newer ones like the Conquest BFS (how someone call this reel a workhorse???).

 

The Millionaire CT SV has a astonishingky refined built, a real workhorse, one step above my beloved CQs51. Concerning gearing, it's the acclaimed Alphas CT SV in a round profile Body, and a all-around finesse and M/L - M/H capable reel. With a shallow spool, easily found in the market, it becomes a full-fledge BFS reel. The Mag Z dial has less steps than the Alphas CT SV. The reel superbly buttery, showing that a decent CNC machining and brass alloys is better than tiny micromodule gearing, in this matter.

[Cbump]

29 minutes ago, Jrob78 said:

That is good to hear. I've been contemplating a Steez HLC but was scared away by some of the reviews I've read. In typical fashion I should probably just buy one and find out for myself. ?

That's probably what I would do but I also try to keep in mind what rods I end up using the most and put the best reels on those rods. The Tat 200 would honestly probably make a good c-rig reel because it will hold a lot of heavy line. You could always try out a Silverwolf with braid on the frogging punching rod.

After I posted that I actually looked up line capacities and realized the HD is only like 80 yards with 20lb line. I’ve really liked the 200 on my c-rig setup and caught a lot of fish with It. 
 

I’m like you though and like to put the best reels on the rods I use the most and I rarely frog/punch. 
 

Maybe I just save a little money and just get another 150 or 200 for the frog/punch setup. 

[Cbump]

Ohhh I’ve got It. Another 150 or 200 for the frog setup and a power handle for the c-rig 200. Any recommendations on that, bulldog?

 

Ill save the spool and bearings for another project. 

[Jrob78]

5 hours ago, Cbump said:

Ohhh I’ve got It. Another 150 or 200 for the frog setup and a power handle for the c-rig 200. Any recommendations on that, bulldog?

 

Ill save the spool and bearings for another project. 

So the 150 and 200 both have 100mm handles, same as the HD. If it's those knobs you're after pm me your address and I'll send you my HD knobs, I don't use them. 

[Cbump]

26 minutes ago, Jrob78 said:

So the 150 and 200 both have 100mm handles, same as the HD. If it's those knobs you're after pm me your address and I'll send you my HD knobs, I don't use them. 

You are the man! Pm coming!

[FishTank]

On 8/28/2022 at 4:14 PM, ska4fun said:

I have the Millionaire CT SV. I'm a old Conquest 51 series fanboy, deeply disappointed with the newer ones like the Conquest BFS (how someone call this reel a workhorse???).

 

The Millionaire CT SV has a astonishingky refined built, a real workhorse, one step above my beloved CQs51. Concerning gearing, it's the acclaimed Alphas CT SV in a round profile Body, and a all-around finesse and M/L - M/H capable reel. With a shallow spool, easily found in the market, it becomes a full-fledge BFS reel. The Mag Z dial has less steps than the Alphas CT SV. The reel superbly buttery, showing that a decent CNC machining and brass alloys is better than tiny micromodule gearing, in this matter.

 

I was going to start a thread on the Millionaire CT SV but I found this....

 

So how do you like it? I was looking into the a new small round reel and was hoping to find a used Calcutta 51 or get a new Conquest BFS. I didn't care for the Conquest BFS when I held it in hand and no luck finding a mint Calcutta 51. So I narrowed it down to the Millionaire CT SV. I want to use it for small cranks and small jerkbaits. Not sure yet which rod I will put in on but I will figure it out. 

[ska4fun]

1 hour ago, FishTank said:

 

I was going to start a thread on the Millionaire CT SV but I found this....

 

So how do you like it? I was looking into the a new small round reel and was hoping to find a used Calcutta 51 or get a new Conquest BFS. I didn't care for the Conquest BFS when I held it in hand and no luck finding a mint Calcutta 51. So I narrowed it down to the Millionaire CT SV. I want to use it for small cranks and small jerkbaits. Not sure yet which rod I will put in on but I will figure it out. 

 

The millionaire CT SV basically is the smoothest reel I ever used, one step above my Calcuttas/Conquests. Casts well and at the same time is a astonishing workhorse.

If you are going for it, buy a third party BFS spool, the same one used on the Alphas CT SV.

[FishTank]

Thanks.  Good to know.  I may not go completely BFS on this real but having the option would be nice. I might also look into a longer handle. I think I read that it is 80mm. We'll see what my Christmas Bonus is this year and I will decide if I want to pull the trigger. 

1 hour ago, ska4fun said:

 

The millionaire CT SV basically is the smoothest reel I ever used, one step above my Calcuttas/Conquests. Casts well and at the same time is a astonishing workhorse.

If you are going for it, buy a third party BFS spool, the same one used on the Alphas CT SV.