Bass Rutten

I assume no warranty when getting a jdm megabass rod?

Surprisingly good compared to the previous gen. Last outing I was swimming the smaller speed worm T rigged with 3/16 weight and had no issues with distance, the new spool helps a lot (I believe it inherited the tat elites spool), excellent for pitching too but haven’t skipped with it as I use the alphas sv for that.

The new 23 tatula 100 is highly underrated imo, it was upgraded with the hyper drive gearset, side plate, lighter spool, better ergos last year. I haven’t used the other reels listed but I’d take it over the SVTW in a heartbeat. I’ve been using it for frogging, punching, and c-rigging and it’s been super solid so far, and can be had for under $120 if budget is a concern.

What happened? I wound up returning it for a helium.

X zone adrenaline craw, it happens to also be one of my favorites for swimjigs.

The newer tatula seems to be distance tuned as well as it bombs noticably better with less effort than the previous gen tat, I can send a c-rig a friggin country mile. I heard through the grapevine that the lighter spool upgrade was just implementing the same spool used in the tat elite which makes sense as it fits it and uses the same frame. I plan on getting a spare tat elite spool for testing soon to see for myself.

I’m speaking of the new 2023 tat 100 (which I got brand new for $115) which now does have the hyperdrive gearing, and metal side plate too (hyper armed housing), after a year of use is still nearly as smooth as my jdm zillion.

It looks like simply a tatula 100 variant with a bigger handle and faster level wind, which is unnecessary with the larger braids used for frogging. With the ‘23 tat 100 available for under $120 plus the cost for an aftermarket handle, I feel you’d have a more suitable frogging reel for still less money considering you’d get the hyperdrive gearing as well. Mine has been stellar this year throwing frogs and c-rigs and a few other heavy duty applications, it’s likely daiwas most under appreciated and best value reel.

Hard pass on this one. It does not come with the ability to adjust the spool tension just like the new steez svtw. I can’t understand why daiwa is going this direction in their reel designs but I hope it ends here.

I had and used one for a full year, and unless the new ones are different I found it to be a terrible caster unless using at least 3/8oz, it had a way stiffer tip than I expected. I’d call it a medium, and a powerful one at that. I wound up selling it because its stiff tip made it difficult to cast really light lures/rigs. I once heard it was designed for the senko but I have no way to confirm that though it makes sense. I ended up using it mostly as a 1/8-1/4oz mojo rig rod (usually with a senko), neko rig, and finesse jigs. I used a tatula 3000 reel and it balanced fine, it's very lightweight but it ain't no fragile fairy wand (again the new ones may be different) mine was from about 5 years ago.

Kistler Z-Bones are 50% off retail at $249.99

FYI I just tried that code and it did not work, got message that the coupon has expired.

The 2020 tatula sv and the coastal sv are the most overbraked daiwa reels I've used, they will mitigate backlashes as good as any reel out there, it will also mitigate improving your thumbing technique more than any reel out there. You're not getting a black and white answer because your thread title and your stated goal of improving thumb technique are contradictory, you can’t have both. Your other thread has 2 pages of great advice from some very knowledgable folks, you should go back and read and heed the information that was given to you there as you will not get better advice anywhere on the internet.

The 2017 steez a uses magforce z, I don't see why you couldn't just plop that spool into a zillion to make a magforce-z zillion. Spool link https://www.hedgehog-studio.co.jp/product/3765

Just getchya 3 jdm zillions and be happy #analysisparalysis

Did they send you a link you can share?

My “cranking” stick is a relatively soft tipped st croix 7’ med/fast, used primarily for squarebills and dt6’s. On occasion I’ll tie on spooks, traps, jerkbaits, dropshot (weedless), shakeyhead, neko rig, mojo rig. About as versatile a rod as I’ve ever owned.

I had to return the kistler klx, it was faster in action and more powerful then I anticipated. Exchanged it for another helium, a 7'3" mh/f, paid $198 #winning

I do not, just going off my current and past experience with medium-light rods and weight ratings, my ml/f kistler is rated 1/16-3/8 yet it begins to struggle loading at 1/8oz (total weight). If you know that blank can go lighter then I guess the only question is how light can it go?

It does for spin, so why not for BFS? A rod rated for 1/8-3/8 will very likely not load the tip enough to cast 1/16 or 1/32oz (total weight) well, at least in my experience, assuming that’s the weight range on the rod you mentioned above.

I've got zillions, alphas, ss air tw, just sold off my bfs slx/curado. Knowing what I know now if I was starting from scratch I would stay away from out of the box bfs reels unless you are planning on trout or panfishing or going really light, like under 1/8oz which that rainshadow blank won’t handle anyhow. I have one of my alphas svtw’s setup with a kkr spool (I have a rays studio sv spool enroute too) and roro bearings that I like as much and performs just as well on a medium light/fast rod as the one trick pony, albeit a very good trick, ss air tw which will cost you at least a hundo more. I’ll dabble with converting a zillion to bfs at some point too which bulldog has proven is a formidable bfs platform. My point is that the alphas and zillion is much more versatile and fun overall with the plethora of parts, spools, and high performance bearings available, and can be returned to stock should the need arise. Of these the alphas svtw 800 (my favorite) is the most compact even over the the ss air despite what daiwa implies. I was surprised when I received it to find that it feels a smidge taller and fuller in hand (steez based frame) than the alphas, but in terms of weight the ss air is the featherweight champ with the zillion even bigger and heavier than both. I’ll be perfectly content with the alphas and zillion one-two punch for the foreseeable future, which between them can be setup to handle everything from bfs to punching.

Can't go wrong with the Lucky Craft LC 1.5, comes in multitudinous colors (125). Has standard rattle and drs versions too, drs is deep rattle sound, more like a clackin or knocker sound. Great all around squarebill.

DIY Microcast SV spool for my Alphas 800.

After a short scrap with a little hairy midget I managed to escape walmart with my wallet mostly intact, found some big game in an interesting coastal brown color which might help for Floridas tannic colored waters, we shall see.

For any one interested there's a brand new LH 7:1 smoke s3 on ebay right now for $82.50, thought about it for a new froggin reel, but think I 'll stick to the new tatula which can be had new for $120