bulldog1935

Glad to see this thread on topic. My heavy-ish Bright River bakelite rod grip matched with Isuzu BC420SSS made the rounds - I first matched it with Bright River 5'6" Quatre 1-power for 3" weightless senko, then with Kuramochi Synapse 5'11" ML/L for finesse distance. But I dialed-in both rod blades and niches with Badger and Sabre BFS combos. So my best reel with coolest grip out of service, I wanted a heavier (weight) ML to balance it for river kayak finesse-spinners and plugs. I bought Bright River's top-grade rod, Satori, 5'6" 2-power composite - UD glass wrapped with 4-axis carbon skeleton in clear resin. I cast it first with 3 g. Perfect skip casts, 90' bullet casts, perfect loading, perfect accuracy. Yeah, I like it, and like the way this looks.

@torm - thanks, identified that JLS ships by UPS. Aug 1 is when de minimus exemption disappeared, and all couriers backed-up with paper trail. I imported two rods at the beginning of September with UPS shipping (both Yahoo buys shipped together by broker). I've had UPS log-in for a long time (DHL, FedEx), mostly so I could track and route work-related shipments. I get e-mail notifications from the couriers on everything coming my way. The two rods in September, I received and paid UPS duty + brokerage invoice before they ever left Japan. Flat 21% duty + $15 brokerage charge - COD was deducted from the invoice when I paid online. No delay - straight to my house. UPS and DHL with log-in make this easy, and FedEx +Digitaka make it easy on their end. Since August, I've been comparing notes with a friend who literally buys four times as much as I do. He has shipping brokers in Japan and UK to store and send out his volume. He had one shipment stall with FedEx - Customer Service contact sent him the CN23 form - he filled out the form and returned it, and his shipment moved right along, no more questions. He described somebody has to fill out the paper, and they don't care who or what's on it. It's funny how the couriers evolved since '20 postal crash, getting goods across the Pacific to the front porch. At one time or another, each one has ranged in service and delivery times from best to worst. DHL began best even delivering on Sunday morning, but became the worst when local delivery routes overloaded. FedEx took the speed title with nonstop flight from Sennan-Shi to Memphis. UPS business alliance with Amazon staffed them up, and Teamsters were zipping import through Anchorage to take the speed title. Amazon and UPS reduced staff recently, and local delivery routes are overloaded. For me, locally, DHL is back on top with quick, personal service.

@little giant Swapping spools and bearings to measure and compare distance on Steez, Zillion and Silver Wolf, increased level-wind pitch on Silver Wolf actually costs about 5% distance with everything else constant. Zillion and Steez will cast that extra distance down to PE#0.8 - below 0.14-mm braid diameter, then you need increased LW pitch to prevent line dig, but I catch redfish and snook using PE#0.8 on Steez without any line dig problems (18", hopping off the table, and went right back into the channel) Even on Silver Wolf, decided I didn't want to mess with #0.6 any more on B/C, and fish #0.8.

Tough find right now, but Ray's Studio honeycomb SV keeps all the big-weight versatility of the stock spool, perfect capacity for PE#1 and #1.2. Ray's copied the limited-run KTF Kahen spool, which invented SV and let Daiwa copy it. Ray's improved on KTF and Daiwa with a tapered inductor, which makes SV act like SV Boost. Ray's spool weighs 8 g, vs. 11-13 g for most Daiwa S (shallow) spools. Ray's are the black and blue spools in my previous post. If light-lure distance is a priority, fixed inductor spools are down to 4 to 5 g, and turn MagForce braking into linear mag, giving up weights over about 3/8 oz. The very best is AMO and Roro, but again, these are getting hard to find. I use these in salt shore to cast 2 g past 130'. An easy Ali Express score that I haven't tried, but others give good report is KKR.

I don't think you can go wrong with any of those. In the case of Z-SV-TW, you'll improve it for BFS if you find aftermarket spool and swap the palm plate bearing. Though this holds true for every reel on your list. Daiwa probably builds their spools stronger than needed, because people are going to fish mono on them, and they provide maintenance-free shielded bearings. The Saltist is a big reel, with 200-m PE#3 capacity. The only place I would need a reel that big is offshore jigging. But it would make a great Big swimbait reel. I stick to 34-mm spools, nominal PE#1.2, but Alphas Air has made a mark in Gulf coast inshore fishing.

Another DHL datapoint - paid a rod import duty + brokerage online this morning for delivery tomorrow (quick trip). The algebra worked out from the total charge, $17 brokerage and 15% import duty on the rod. Since I bought this rod through ZenMarket, paying UPS and DHL directly during transit is cheaper than pre-paying ZenMarket's duty calculation and exchange rate, and both are $20 cheaper than paying COD. Also, if you're not getting free Digitaka shipping, keep in mind DHL has the lowest courier charge across the Pacific - especially for rods.

yeah, I can't get past short Studio Composite handles on low-geared reels, and thought gunmetal trim made the big bright reel look more symmetric - ZPI drag star, and original Zero cap from my Steez

toe to toe, my Zillion your Elite - I'm from Missouri (not really, but you'll still have to Show Me) Throwing 1/8-oz loaded jighead across a tide pass, I have to thumb the spool on the fall to keep it out of my friends. (photo is 100-mm 4x zoom) I can explain the different brake profiles of SV, MagZ and Boost, but even casting heavy weights, Zillion HD comes with a Floating MagZ Boost spool - a faster spool than on Elite. If you want to out-cast yourself, try one of these spools in your Zillion.

Careful, Doyo is a major parts supplier for both Daiwa and Shimano, but the map linked above was specifically Daiwa suppliers. USM Zillion G is not made in Japan - JDM Zillion is made in Japan. Tica builds many Daiwa reels, including all spinners with optional A/R switch.

Yeah, I just replaced stock alloy gearset in my 5-salt-year '21 Zillion SV TW - bought 5 years ago this month, and fished hard. I didn't have to, and wouldn't have thought about it until fished it side by side with new SLP Works Zillion (based on '22 HD), and noticed a Slight difference in drive smoothness. Wouldn't have noticed that if I hadn't been picking up and putting down both reels. Five salt years, looked like this when the drive cover was first removed. Other than inspection and gear lube last fall, I hadn't removed the drive cover in 5 years. Been too busy. One thing I didn't have to fix - a single backlash - nary in 5 years.

maybe start a Shimano 2026 thread And while you're there, write a simple why and how to set up Shimano casting brake.

horse hockey https://www.digitaka.com/items/4/4/2/ZILLION+SV+TW

The problem with reels is adding aluminum- and steel-derivative tariff. Rods ship with straight 15-21% import duty.

How do they ship, FedEx, UPS, DHL? With UPS log-in and DHL On Demand log-in, you get invoiced import duty and CN23 brokerage before your package leaves Japan. Pre-paying the invoice also saves COD charge, up to $20. DHL delivered for me last week, one delivering tomorrow, and another shipping tomorrow (tonight). Ain't complaining.

ahh......

Completed one more project to show. I was impressed with Reply Badger from Japan, which perfectly dialed into 3" weightless senko niche. When it became clear this reel was the same platform as Sabre sold on A/E for $50, I started up a new project to move around my Kuramochi Synapse L/ML rod blade, which is a surprising para-distance taper in a short, light package. . Ordered the reel, JH100, and a CDZ grip blank from A/E - they sent me a silver-finish grip blank instead of the gunmetal I ordered.... Still, nice grip, machined from barstock, very light, and an upgrade from Aioushi grip. Didn't like the offset weight and length of the alloy handle, threw in ArtSea 85-mm carbon handle, and SiN spool bearings. Neat about this reel, floating spool only needed two bearings, and the drive pancake mostly copies Daiwa, though I found the drag star and clicker were right off Revo. Japan orders included Bright River 16-cm cork, IOS sealed salt knobs, Varivas line, and back-ups of my favorate Imakatsu suspend baits. Not a great photo, but you get the idea. I swapped the heavy alloy drag star for the original that came on my ZPI Alcance. I'll primarily fish this for salt L/ML in winter channels, throwing my favorite 7-8-g Ima K-Ta and Koume to seatrout, and maybe surprise winter pompano. Lining and setting it up, it's a joy to cast the light-in-hand combo. The Sabre reel does not have the bench tuning of Blue Badger. It won't cast lighter than 3 g at max mag brake, and the drag number is good, but nothing smooth and over-qualified like Blue Badger drag. But the short rod combo was casting 3g past 120', and 1/8-oz loaded jighead would have gone into neighbor's back-acre with effort. . I can always improve the low-end with stronger/thicker magnets, but works great as is for my niche. The little para-pocket-rocket rod is pretty amazing, rated 1/8 to 1 oz.

I'm quite sure it's fair to be impressed by design, execution and function, as logic to stick with a favorite platform. You don't become a fanboy until brand name alone causes you to exclude everything else in spite of logic. (even refer to logic as brainwashing...hmm...) Knowing why something is best for your use never precludes having room for other fun toys.

@Banned User The HD gearset from Plat was $38 with parts handling charge , but DHL courier was $20, and tariff charge was 15% import duty plus $17 CN23 brokerage - no COD, I pre-paid through DHL On Demand. I made it worthwhile by ordering favorite JDM PE lines (on sale), also 15% import duty. Compare to Zillion G gearset (I got the last 8.5) from Tackle Trap at $78 + $6 first class mail. The Plat purchase works out a little cheaper, even without my JDM PE lines offsetting the brokerage and courier charge. I have a long small-item-list order arriving from JapanTackle next week, $112 in items, and I prepaid $19 to DHL for tariff charges today - that seemed like a good deal for stuff I need and can't get here. DHL is probably better at this tariff stuff, because they're experienced with it based in Germany - also, their speed has picked up, and local delivery is better, both probably because of smaller volume, My favorite Teamsters, UPS, has really been over-worked between CN23 and recent staff reduction.

@F14A-B - not just those two, the alloy main gear in Steez SV TW, Silver Wolf and '21 Zillion SV TW is also matched with stainless pinion - no worry about 8.5 gears and pinion life.

I'm back, Plat and DHL delivered my '22 HD 8.5 gearset today. Direct comparison, USM Zillion G brass gearset bought from Tackle Trap are identical to the '22 HD brass gears, including teeth profile and stainless pinion. It's also noteworthy '21 SV TW with alloy main also came with the same stainless pinion - people on TT forum argued with me when I made this observation last fall. (but it makes sense, because modern hard-anodize is as hard as run-in stainless). And yes, there's a smooth-operating difference between new brass HD gears and 5-years-in-salt stock alloy gears - but you can't see it by looking - yes, first photo below is the drive cover first removed - stock gears after 5 hard salt years, then new brass gears installed and ready to put the drive cover back on.

Can get worse - there's red trim that fits Ryoga (and Zillion)

@AVGuy - they're talking about handle Pitch (radius) rather than handle length (diameter) 5-geared Zillion P has pick-up rate of 59 cm/t, and comes with a 90-mm handle. 6-geared Bantam has pick-up rate of 68 cm/t - 42 mm has to be handle pitch = 84-mm handle length. My smallest low-geared Shimano small-frame spinner has 37-mm handle pitch = 74-mm length on this tiny double. Closest in current stock reporting (35-mm) handle Pitch is '22 Stella

I can tell you this, if Bates goes out of business, Roy's in Corpus will buy up the parts spares so they can support the reels they sold. That's what they did when Lew's changed hands, and Roy's continued to support original BB-1 and BB-25 for another decade after Lew's stopped. I bought one more A/R dog and replaced a bent handle on my BB-1NG c. 2010 - I bought the reel in 1984. Roy's wouldn't sell them randomly, unless they first vetted Bates for their ability to provide repair parts.

@ATA Check ebay - there are a few examples already in US, and there's SDS Customs in Ukraine, who I believe gets a bye on aluminum-derivative tariff. That said, if I wanted Roro or AMO Daiwa spool, wouldn't hesitate to spend $120.

@Brycecover '22 Zillion HD has brass hyperdrive gears and MagZ Boost spool. '21 Zillion SV TW has alloy gears and SV Boost spool. USM Zillion G has brass gears and SV Boost spool - I'm not sure if they're hyperdrive, but I have a '22 HD gearset arriving soon to compare. I'll come back to this post and edit-in photo. My 5-yr salt Z-SV-TW is getting a brass gearset, and I'll have both G and HD new gearsets. Down the line, my Silver Wolf will get the 2nd gearset. G gearset, btw, has fine-toothed stainless pinion.