CFDoc

The XG should be fine. Just hang on tight when the big boy bites. Ha

Lower gear ratios help winching for sure.

Yes I have a whole bunch of Shimano metaniums. The bantam and metanium are fine reels but generally not available at $250. The bantam is well suited for heavy applications. The Lews pro TI is suited for heavy applications as well and available for $250.

I have two of these reels. And pro TI’s as well. The pro TI is a much better all around reel for $250. The custom lite is a 9 gram spool. Excels very much as a finesse reel. The Pro TI gears are much smoother, and the overall frame is built like a tank. Much better suited for wide array type fishing.

Lews pro TI from legacy American fishing. Switch legacy and American. $250 with shipping. Best deal on the market today imo. amazing reel.

You made a fine choice. Especially if you skip. Tuning a Met to skip is not easy.

Thats a good question. I don’t own a bantam but I know there’s a lot of similarities between the Mets and Bantams. My time with a bantam in my hands is maybe 5 minutes. The bantam is a tank. An absolute tank. I haven’t done any really heavy applications with the zillion but my guess is the brass gear version will be pretty stout itself. Casting is going to feel different between the two for sure. Now that I’ve casted this SV boost spool several hundred times with varying weights, I can say that Shimano SVS and Daiwa SV Boost braking systems feel and operate very differently. Which one is better depends on the application IMO.

They’re only available for pre-order in the US. All the major tackle shops are taking pre-orders. They’re made in Thailand and have brass gears which increases the weight by about a half ounce over the JDM. I haven’t seen anybody with a hands-on review of a US model yet.

Watched the first bit. I will say I completely agree with him on the solid and smooth feeling to this reel. I was blown away at the lack of any vibratory or hollow feel. It’s as close to perfection as I’ve ever felt in a baitcaster. Noticeably better than the Met and Steez CT. I would disagree in the statement that all Shimano’s have slop in the handle though. My Mets don’t have any but the gears aren’t near as smooth as this new zillion.

Thanks, I plan on spending more time with the reel apart tomorrow. My JDM Mets were completely dry when they arrived. Curious as to what I find on the zillion. probably should watch the tackle advisor YT video first. Ha

Just got mine in the other day. JDM version. First impressions: The great - smoothest reel Ive ever felt out of the box. Smoother than my Met B’s and even my Steez CT. The very good - the SV boost spool was a pleasure with 1/4 to 3/4 oz baits. Also 12, 15, and 20 pound line was handled nicely. Seems like a very good almost ‘do all’ reel. Skipping jigs was awesom The good - palms very well even though initial measurements had me thinking it would be bulky. One of the best Daiwas I’ve felt in hand. Only the Steez CT feels better. The ok - good long casts with medium to heavy baits. Well behind the Met B with light baits. Also seemed to be over braking when skipping light soft plastics. Never could get a senko to ‘run out’ on a long skip/ski cast. Always seemed to just die 5-8 ft. short of what other reels could do. Also light baits in general seemed to be over braked. Word on the street is a bfs spool will be available though. The meh - handle knobs are crazy small. USDM version should have bigger knobs. JDM knobs are unusable imo. I had to put a Lews handle on it just to make it bearable. Heres a pic of a nice one I caught in the backyard under the dock while testing out the skipping capabilities. Some of the baits and gear tried. Realized after I took the pic I didn’t have a Met in it. Maybe next time...

I can’t convince myself I need to buy one. But keep talking..... lol

Ive never held the new scorpion but it’s supposedly built on the K frame. If so, I’d say that the Met DC is probably going to sit a little lower and feel more compact. The Met is also a fairly light reel for DC standards at around 6.5 ounces I believe. Both reels are getting the I-DC5 which is my favorite DC version. Quality is going to be difficult to say at the moment. The Mets are built very well. But scorpions have always been better built to me than the Curados we get over here.

Metanium DC or new scorpion DC.

Oh that’s better. I misread your other posts. Still curious to see how they handle the PA.

lol I know who I won’t be contacting if I break one of my PA’s.

The 2021 zillion? Others can correct me that have more experience but you might want to look at the new 2021 scorpion DC. It’s built on the curado K frame but I believe has the more sophisticated DC internels. I think that would be the current best offer for a compact DC.

There are none. If Shimano ever DC’s an aldebaran, curado 70, or Met B frame you could maybe get in the ballpark. As of now, the Steez CT is one of the most compact frames out there.

Ive been as high as 18. I’m down to 10 now. So far I’ve done a good job keeping myself convinced 10 is enough. 1 - punching 1 - frogging 2 - skipping/jigs 2 - moving baits usually jackhammers 1 - worm/senko 1 - cranking 1 - shakey head 1 - fluke/ swim baits/ etc It works for me... ...for now.

I used to shoot a ton of registered NSCA clays. Ive dropped off considerably with the birth of my first child and I moved to a part of the country with less NSCA participation overall.

I buy them because of all the beautiful women in scantily clad bathing attire that flock to my boat when I put them out on the front deck.

I think you may have mistaken my attempt at a humorous non sequitur and judged it as a masters thesis. I enjoy everything you do about high end tools as well. But the ‘I am Tiger Woods’ effect is in all of us to some extent.

Great comments by PhishLi here. Ive been lucky enough to attend 2 classics and 2 Elite series events recently. And a couple of Opens as well. I got to see exactly what was laying on just about every front deck. There’s very little ‘high end’ gear on these boats. At least from what I was expecting. I don’t know if Bradley Hallman counts as a ‘big’ name or not, but I can 100% tell you his reels cost about $25 each, if not less. I don’t even think there’s a brand name on the reels at all. Just chineseum stuff he orders from lord knows where. His low riders all looked like the really old models too. To echo what PhishLi has said, I know we all want to believe our high end gear puts more fish in the boat, but there’s a huge diminished return when it comes to rods and reels. Now, I need to go check my tracking number on the Steez I just ordered.

Keep in mind, this is just my opinion. I do think it is shared by a lot of skippers, but this is by no means law. When it comes to skipping soft plastics, I think the spinning/casting rigs do the job equally well. So like senkos and flukes, I see both outfits putting the bait in relatively the same place. Those style baits I pretty much skip without touching the spool during the cast. It’s really skipping jigs where I feel the two setups differ. For some reason, I seem to be able to get more consistent/accurate skips with the bait caster. The thumb control helps when you need to slow the jig down. I feel like I have more control of the release point if I need more of a ‘bouncing’ skip or a ‘flat as a pancake’ skip that stays connected to the water. Finally, jig hook sets seem to be more consistent with the bait caster as I feel I’m in a better position for the hook set when the bite happens. Again, without rambling too much, this is not law. And spinning tackle is fine if that’s your bread and butter. But I do think it would be to your benefit to try a bait caster. Just so you can see/feel the differences.

Sorry to hear about the wife. Hopefully you get a chance to practice soon. Gravel can somewhat work but the street is the better option once the weather clears. And there are no cars in the street, ha.