redmeansdistortion

Daiwa SS Tournament 1300 on a Gander Mountain Guide Series 9' 1/8-3/8 steelhead rod. I was fishing the flats at the mouth of the St Clair River throwing tubes at this time 22 years ago and was rewarded with a 7lb 3oz 23" female smallie. I chose to use the steelhead rod because it could cast very far and cover a lot of water.

This goes for a lot of companies across many industries. The founder has a vision, starts the company, the company earns much respect and reputation, founder(s) sell out because they're wanting to retire or do something else, parent company slowly dilutes the acquisition to the point it's only recognizable by name only. I can't think of any company that was bought out that ever retained the vision and reputation of its founders. It just doesn't happen, especially with many publicly traded companies that shave dollars any way they can to appease shareholders. In these cases, the value of the company is based solely on brand recognition and not the actual products. Products slowly start to decline in quality as bean counters begin to replace the engineers. Eventually, engineering and labor is sent elsewhere to maximize profit. That stuff doesn't happen overnight, it's a long and drawn out process that can take many years, if not decades.

Daiwa Millionaire. The CV-Z platform dates to 1998 with the most recent example being the CT SV released in 2019.

The exchange rate is still excellent no matter how you cut it. One yen is worth 0.66 cents. When the JDM craze took over fishing forums 4 or 5 years back, it was between 0.8 and 0.9 cents.

Round reels are often used to show the manufacturing prowess of a brand. Abu had the Morrum, Daiwa the Millionaire and Ryoga, and Shimano the Calcutta Conquest. For all intents and purposes, they are statement pieces and their MSRPs reflect that. Back when the exchange rate was less favorable to the US dollar, those reels commanded $500+ when buying from Japan and many never made it to the States as retail models. Low profile reels have dominated the market here for a few decades, while in Japan round reels are much more highly regarded. On that note, Daiwa and Shimano both sell more down-market products such as the Tatula and Curado because the bar for entry is far lower. Not everybody splurges and spends big money on a reel. Many people won't or can't spend on anything but budget offerings. In the case of the Millionaire, it's a blank slate as I said above. Daiwa engineered a versatile reel that they can configure any which way they choose due the the cross compatibility with other more modern offerings. The R&D has been completed for over two decades; it's just a matter of implementing parts from another model to get something "new". That said, we may never see a redesigned Millionaire because 1) it would compete directly with the Ryoga, and 2) it would require extensive engineering in the gearbox to accommodate faster gears without sacrificing durability. As far as palming, the Millionaire CV-Z platform is comfortable and unobtrusive, it doesn't palm like a reel with a higher foot like an Abu Ambassadeur or Penn Levelmatic. While it doesn't palm like a modern Calcutta Conquest, it's still quite excellent and palms comparably well with the first generation Conquest which was noted for its palming ability.

Honestly, it's like this for any popular reel model. There are far more Zillions, TD-Zs, and Steezs for sale on the used market than there are Millionaires. Use any one of those in a search query on Yahoo Auctions and you'll get hundreds, if not over 1000 hits. As far as the Millionaire is concerned, the 100 size is the most sought after while the 200 and 300 sizes tend to be more numerous and demand less money on the used market. New old stock Millionaire 103 variants often have asking prices in the $300 to $400 range, while more special models like the I'ze Light, Ringa SSS, and M-Ito are regularly over the $500 mark with some approaching the $700 range.

If you turn back the clock to when the Millionaire CV-Z was released, it palmed comparably well to the then new Calcutta Conquest. As I stated above, the Millionaire has gone through very few design changes, mostly relegated to spool, handle, gearing , and color. Since release, the Calcutta Conquest is now on it's 3rd or 4th generation with very little carrying over from previous models. Over that time Shimano has turned the Calcutta Conquest from a standard round reel to a compact round reel with an offset gearbox that feels more like a low profile than a round reel.

The Millionaire is a highly versatile platform and has been in production since 1998 in the CV-Z which every Millionaire since is based on. It's a no frills design but can be tailored to whatever niche one chooses since it works with spools from 28mm to 34mm and gear ratios from 5.8:1 to 7.2:1. It shares many components with the '03-'19 Alphas/Pixy platform and some parts are a direct swap. While it isn't particularly exciting, that may have to do with the minimal marketing and hype put into it versus models like the Steez and Zillion. 5 years ago, hardly anybody knew the CT SV existed unless they looked at Daiwa Japan's website and saw it in the product line. The platform in general is a blank slate to make what you want. Here are a couple of mine. Millionaire Ringa SSS set up for BFS. Millionaire SW 103 set up for my Detroit River finesse niche. This one uses the spool from a Silver Wolf plus a few other goodies. Do I feel Daiwa is lacking in round reels? Absolutely, same thing with Abu. The commonality between both brands of round reels is that they are blank slates. If they don't make what you are looking for, you can always build your own. Round reels aren't very popular outside of the enthusiast level, the average Joe wants low profile reels so that's where companies spend more on R&D and marketing.

As @bulldog1935 was saying, proper tension is required when spooling thread line or dig-in can rear its head. I use a Daiichi Seiko line recycler which has a knob to adjust tension. I use my spring scale and set it for 2lb, just as if I were setting my drag. The Daiichi Seiko is a nice tool and runs about $35 to $50 depending on where you get it, or you can get the knock-off version from AliExpress to your door for $20. Once upon a time when I was less mindful of the tension used to spool a reel, I was getting dig-in with anything less than 0.235mm line. It wasn't bad dig-in, but enough to where I'd have a little "bump" every so often when casting. Another thing to think about is the line itself. Power Pro is a 4 carrier line which means it isn't very round, but more a square shape which will give more potential to hang up on itself. An 8 carrier or better would help remediate this since it is more round and smooth. Regardless of the number of carriers, line stiffness should also be taken into consideration. Stiffer lines aren't going to dig in as easily as the more limp stuff. There are some lines I do not use on a baitcast reel simply because they are too limp, those get used on spinning reels where the line doesn't feed straight into the spool. Daiwa J-Braid is the perfect example of this. It's a fine line, but the thin diameter stuff is a no go for BFS for me.

If you want distance with a SV spool, it's a good idea to tune the inductor. There are two ways to do this and both give different results. The first and easiest method is to add another shim or two under the E clip that secures the inductor to the spool. This maintains the factory braking curve but limits the travel of the inductor into the magnet assembly. Lures can still be skipped effectively but braking power will be less. If going this route, start with one additional shim and add another if necessary. The other way, and this does change the braking curve, is to use a stiffer inductor spring. The spring from a TD-Z Type R+ can replace the much softer factory spring. This changes the braking curve because the spool must spin at a higher RPM to actuate the inductor and move it into the magnet assembly. You may need to use a little spool tension for skipping with this setup, but if you're looking for raw distance, this is the way to go.

Whew, that had to sting.

I did a quick test with the Silver Wolf spool in my Millionaire Ringa and it was very wild when used with the Millionaire CT SV magnet assembly. I'll be sticking with the factory SW 103 magnets with this spool.

That was about the time I purchased my first Daiwa SS Tournament 1300, ran me $99.99 from Sports Authority. That was a fortune to 13 year old me. I worked for my neighbor that summer and saved up for that reel. Sadly, I lost it along with all of the other tackle I had acquired up to that point when my friend's boat was stolen. That happened about 20 years ago.

My target weight range with this reel is the 3-14g range, so it should do pretty well for my uses. Most baits will be between 5g and 10g or so.

I haven't, but I use the inductor spring from that spool on some SV spools to make it a little more free. The SV spools turn into bomb throwing machines with that inductor spring.

The last of my parts finally arrived today for a Millionaire SW 103 I acquired with the intention of building a finesse reel for use on the Detroit River. For those not in the know, the Millionaire CV-Z 103 platform dates to 1998 and shares parts with the '03-'19 Alphas/Pixy and spools with the Steez and Zillion. My intent with this was to build a reel that Daiwa doesn't, from parts taken directly from the Daiwa parts bin. The only exception was the drag clicker which was never offered on more contemporary Daiwa reels until just a few years ago. A little rundown of the parts. SLP Works SV Boost PE 1000. This is the spool used in the Daiwa Silver Wolf TD Sol 5.8:1 bronze gear set. The longer pinion gear is needed with SLP spools since the shaft is slightly shorter than factory Millionaire CV-Z spools. Alphas pinion shaft. This is needed when using spools not original to the Millionaire. While the Millionaire uses a 34mm spool, the shaft is about 1mm longer than those used in the Steez and Zillion. The longer Alphas pinion shaft is required to center the spool when using a SLP spool. Alphas SV105SH worm gear. A worm with a wider pitch will be best when running thin braid. This does come at a small expense to distance, but I'd rather not chance potential line dig-in. Alphas Air handle and SS SV star wheel. Not really required, but they give the reel a nicer more modern touch. SLP micro bearings. These are best for a faster spool startup. The factory bearings in this reel are Daiwa CRBBs, but they aren't conducive to my end goal. The crank side bearing required a little shimming to take out the slop so the spool fit correctly. Drag clicker. Definitely not necessary, but they make for bigger smiles when a fish is on the run. My end goal was a reel that would be right at home fishing smallmouth and white bass on the Detroit River. I chose 5.8:1 gears due to the very fast current of the river, they have a fair amount more torque than the 7.2:1 gears on this platform. This reel should bring in about 24" per turn with a full spool, plenty enough for me. Here it is all finished up. Pretty soon I'll be filling it with #1.2 YGK X-braid and enjoying the white bass slam fest on the Detroit River next month. This was a fun project and further cements my opinion of the Millionaire being nearly as blank of a slate as the Ambassadeur. What a fine reel.

All finished! Here's a rundown of parts. TD Sol gears, Alphas SV105SH worm gear, Alphas Air handle and nut, Alphas pinion shaft, Alphas SV105SH worm gear, Alphas CT SV spool cap, SLP micro bearings, and a drag clicker to finish it off. This is made from all Daiwa parts except for the drag clicker.

A little mock-up.

Time to turn some screws.

Absolutely. Bass rods are much better for fishing the slop. Back 25 years ago, people thought I was crazy fishing Lake St Clair smallmouth with my 7'6" 4-10lb 1/8-3/8 Lamias G1000. I was able to hang on to them as they tried to lose me in the reeds, plus with the more lively tip I was able to cast to targets that weren't reachable by the guys I was fishing with. I miss that rod, it was from when Lamiglas made truly great rods. I lost it a few years back when my friend's hard tonneau cover slammed shut and snapped it on a steelhead trip.

If I remember right, the factory Sol spool weighs around 16g. My Sol wound up a parts reel for a Millionaire SW 103 I'm building out soon. Most parts will be here tomorrow and the rest next week hopefully. Here's what I have so far. The gears are from my old TD Sol.

The Sol also has bronze gears, a brass level wind idler gear, and heavier star wheel and handle. The Alphas 103 uses a plastic idler on the level wind, duralumin drive gear, and has a lighter star wheel and handle. The spools are the same between both models.

I've landed plenty of Erie steelhead on my Kuying 6'6"L. If you aren't one of those people that regularly fishes with a locked down drag, a "trout wand" will surprise you. I fish lake run rainbows, browns, coho, and Atlantic salmon on BFS, they make your drag scream. Most of these fish approach the 30" mark and can weigh in excess of 10lb. A 24" fresh silver coho from Lake Michigan is a force to be reckoned with, seriously. "Trout wands" have no trouble with them, because that's what they're made for. They're designed to keep hard fighting fish pinned so they don't throw the hook, something they can do easier on a para taper bass rod. Once the line goes slack, you're fighting a losing battle. This is because the tip on the bass rod is overly stiff by comparison so there isn't constant tension on the line when the fish charges or shakes its head. If you're having trouble setting hooks, using sharper hooks or sharpening your own works wonders. If you aren't sure if a hook is sharp enough, gently drag it across your fingernail. If it bites, it's sharp. If not, replace or sharpen it. In Japan, BFS isn't just used for stream trout, but also steelhead, coho, and cherry salmon. Rods for them are in wide use in the northern prefectures such as Hokkaido. They typically come in ML, M, and MH power.

Yes it will be, getting pretty excited over here 😀

Slowly acquiring parts for a new build. The reel itself should be here next week, and the rest of the parts the following week. Sure I could've gone aftermarket, but my objective is to build a reel that Daiwa doesn't with all Daiwa parts. It'll be a slick reel for fishing the Detroit River and piers in my neck of the woods. @bulldog1935 knows what I'm building, but outside of him, it's a secret 😏