Do you generally find Daiwa’s reels to be of inferior craftsmanship when compared to Shimano?

[bulldog1935]

The trick, figure out what features from each maker work best in your niches, and stick to them.  

To me, both fanboy and stashed surplus reels are symptoms of not making this effort.  

 

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

2 hours ago, Tackleholic said:

No.

All my Shimanos are back in their original boxes and in the garage;  Daiwas are rigged and ready.

So what that tells me is  diawa equals expendable but shimanos are prized heirlooms 

3 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

The trick, figure out what features from each maker work best in your niches,  

 

 

Yep had a t3 collecting dust but per your influences ordered a roroX spool now it's getting use as bfs setup 👍 

[LonnieP]

No, I’m my experience the Shimano’s loose there smoothness faster than the Daiwa’s I’ve owned.

[evilcatfish]

I’m pretty much all daiwa but will say shimano makes fantastic products as well.  Both of these companies put out quality reels and offer good customer service

 

I recently did recently purchase the new shimano Calcutta 30 SE, and it’s impressive 

[bulldog1935]

2 hours ago, QUAKEnSHAKE said:

Yep had a t3 collecting dust but per your influences ordered a roroX spool now it's getting use as bfs setup 👍 

There's a new option for people who want to fish medium or light fluoro on their BFS-mod Daiwa.  

Avail just came out with their first Daiwa spool, 34-mm for Zillion/Steez, etc.  

I remain a Roro fan, but have Avail spools on all my Ambassadeur mods, and their effort will be designed strong.  

[F14A-B]

I have everything Shimano, although was an avid Daiwa user in the 90’s. I had a fleet of TDX then original Zillion but when they went all in on Twing I went all in on Shimano.

 

I tried a Daiwa this spring, a Tatula 100 with SV braking, not knowing exactly what that meant I spooled up some line and started to flip with it, hmm, turned brakes down to zero and still wasn’t even close to what I expected, turns out the reel design is such that it’s grossly overbraked . No worries, I returned it and bought another Shimano. I probably tried the wrong spool design.. oh well. 

[Cgrinder]

16 hours ago, king fisher said:

The fishing gods can throw all the lightning bolts they want.  I Think a Zillion on an Expride would be worth dodging some lightning.

 

Can confirm. New Zillions still reeeeal nice on the Shimano reel seat.

[Bullett]

i like all my reels which consist of Lews, Shimano, and Daiwa. But I ordered a Daiwa Zillion SV TW from Japan and its a totally differant reel from the rest of them. I put it on a cheap Lightening rod with 12 lb line just to cast out in the street after i got it and it can bomb a 1/4 oz weight a long ways, plus its way smooth and dont weigh nothing. Now i have to buy a decent rod to put it on, you dont want to put a reel like that on a crappy Walmart rod lol

I forgot I've got a 13 fishing original Concept C on a 13 Crankenstein rod that set up is not to bad, The reel is smooth when cranking and it casts a long ways and the rod isn't to bad either

[Aaron_H]

My only beef with Daiwa's baitcasters is how the T-wing system forces them to balloon out the front of the reel to accommodate it. It makes the ergonomics feel wonky in my hand, so it's Shimano for me. I have noticed zero difference in quality between the Shimano and Daiwa spinning reels I own.

 

IMO, they're the two top dogs for a reason. Doesn't mean they're perfect, but I personally consider them the best overall manufacturers.

[Texas Flood]

USA made? Yes

JDM made? No

[MN Fisher]

12 minutes ago, Texas Flood said:

USA made? Yes

JDM made? No

Are you talking made for the US market vs made for the Asian market? Neither manufacturer has facilities here in the states to make reels - they're all made in Malaysia, S. Korea or Japan itself. There is a difference between reels of the same model depending on the market they're designated for...but that holds true for both makers.

[ATA]

In most cases yes, But Daiwa have some veryyyy high end reel. In case of Shimano is the most of them are higher quality. Although if you want to have the best for every application, You need to get some Daiwa and sometimes Abu in case of bigger lures.

[Texas Flood]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

Are you talking made for the US market vs made for the Asian market? 

Yes sir. The USA ones were from TW and the JDMs were from a Japanese store on EBay. 

[MN Fisher]

10 minutes ago, Texas Flood said:

Yes sir. The USA ones were from TW and the JDMs were from a Japanese store on EBay. 

Well, the only main difference between them is usually JDM reels have aluminum alloy main gears and the USDM reels have brass main gears. JDM reels are lighter for this fact. Otherwise they follow the exact same assembly including virtually all the other parts.

 

Personally - I've been getting more reels JDM through Digitaka. Comparing the internals of a JDM Tatula 100 with a USDM Tatula 100 when I did cleaning...I really can't find a notable difference.

[Tackleholic]

On 8/17/2024 at 4:27 AM, Tackleholic said:

No.

All my Shimanos are back in their original boxes and in the garage;  Daiwas are rigged and ready.

Clever quote QuakeNShake, but IMO you are wrong.  

[Texas Flood]

7 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Well, the only main difference between them is usually JDM reels have aluminum alloy main gears and the USDM reels have brass main gears. JDM reels are lighter for this fact. Otherwise they follow the exact same assembly including virtually all the other parts.

 

Personally - I've been getting more reels JDM through Digitaka. Comparing the internals of a JDM Tatula 100 with a USDM Tatula 100 when I did cleaning...I really can't find a notable difference.

Well to me the difference is quite noticeable. Every US reel went to crap fairly quickly where my JDMs are some of the best reels I own. 
 

The US ones were both Tatulas(300, Elite)

[A-Jay]

Do you generally find Daiwa’s reels to be of inferior craftsmanship when compared to Shimano?

 

Recently made a decent investment in both.

So that would be a hard No for me.

 

A-Jay

[king fisher]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Do you generally find Daiwa’s reels to be of inferior craftsmanship when compared to Shimano?

 

Recently made a decent investment in both.

So that would be a hard No for me.

 

A-Jay

I got up this morning, looking forward to a relaxing day off of work.  My wife fixed me a cup of tea, and I logged on to Bass Resource.  First thing I see is this tackle porn picture from A-Jay.  There goes my peaceful morning.  The Bait Monkey started nocking on my door, the dogs started barking, and now I have my wife chasing the monkey around the house screaming he is not buying any more fishing rods, and if he wants colored rod covers, they better be free including shipping.  The monkey just jumped out a window, so peace and quite should be restored.  I like the full cork handles, are they new rods?

[A-Jay]

33 minutes ago, king fisher said:

  I like the full cork handles, are they new rods?

Thanks,  me too ~

Yes most of the sticks sporting full cork are new.

Just never really liked split grips; especially EVA Foam. 

And although I still have a few, with the whatever time I have left on the water,

I am choosing to fish mostly what I like. 

So for the 2024 late summer/fall run there's been a few changes

in both my casting & spinning gear.

Replaced / rehomed some (but not all)

of the gear that had a few miles on it , with some new stuff. 

Not sure the bass care, but I do. 

Most notable changes are Quantum rods & reels have been replaced by

Daiwa Tatula MQ LT 3000 Spinning Reels, Daiwa DX Type-H Glass Reaction Casting Rods 7'3" Heavy,

Daiwa Tatula Elite 100 Casting Reels, Shimano Bantam MGL A 150 Casting Reels and the St. Croix Avid line of rods is represented here as well. Both spinning & casting.

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/211811-brown-bass-tools-~-questions-answers/?do=findComment&comment=3094040

A-Jay

[F14A-B]

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Do you generally find Daiwa’s reels to be of inferior craftsmanship when compared to Shimano?

 

Recently made a decent investment in both.

So that would be a hard No for me.

 

A-Jay

A-Jay.. I was close to this picture in about 2005 2010.. but I’m running really lean these days. But I’m feeling some pressure here, because I’m in a yard sale kinda mood as a buyer, I’d offer $50 for both those old school Stradics on the far left. 😁 come on ole buddy help a brother out! 🤣😂

 

As an aside, from right moving left, are those Avid rods (spinning) with a Fuji handle? Loomis uses that style on its GLX Models (some) I’m curious because like you I’m not at all a fan of split grips.. 

 

PS. I’d throw in 3$ for shipping 🤣😂🤣

 

PSS. That offer on 4 legend rods the other day, wow, I pondered that for 15minutes then realized the bait monkey was in the house.. I ran him off though haha. 

[A-Jay]

40 minutes ago, alonerankin2 said:

A-Jay.. I was close to this picture in about 2005 2010.. but I’m running really lean these days. But I’m feeling some pressure here, because I’m in a yard sale kinda mood as a buyer, I’d offer $50 for both those old school Stradics on the far left. 😁 come on ole buddy help a brother out! 🤣😂

 

As an aside, from right moving left, are those Avid rods (spinning) with a Fuji handle? Loomis uses that style on its GLX Models (some) I’m curious because like you I’m not at all a fan of split grips.. 

 

PS. I’d throw in 3$ for shipping 🤣😂🤣

 

PSS. That offer on 4 legend rods the other day, wow, I pondered that for 15minutes then realized the bait monkey was in the house.. I ran him off though haha. 

I got much of my newer purchases a bit less than MSRP.  Plus I sold gear to help fund the change.  Yes. I like the new Avid line, even over LTB and Victory sticks.

But remember I am brown Bassing it 99 % of the time.

A-Jay 

 

[Ohioguy25]

On 8/16/2024 at 4:03 PM, Susky River Rat said:

I’m a shimano guy but…… I would never hesitate to get a high end daiwa

Where does high end start in your mind 

[Susky River Rat]

@Ohioguy25 to me the high end reels are zillion, bantam, Metanuim, steez, I’d say the $250-300 and up reels. I generally get the JDM stuff now. Others may feel different. 

[Ohioguy25]

2 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

@Ohioguy25 to me the high end reels are zillion, bantam, Metanuim, steez, I’d say the $250-300 and up reels. I generally get the JDM stuff now. Others may feel different. 

Anymore it feels like veering south of that price range is a dice roll unfortunately 

[Susky River Rat]

@Ohioguy25 I try to look at my fishing equipment as investments now. I want it to last a long time and function.  I’m not trying to have all kinds of insane set ups but, I want quality in what I do have.