Tatulatard

Its not even a daiwa thing but let's assume it is for the sake of argument. All daiwas are basically zero adjust. I have reels from 2007 I set up the same as a modern daiwa. The "zero adjust" isn't new. They just put a hard to turn knob on in recent years to force you into doing what you were supposed to do all along.

Correct. Daiwa just got annoyed and put a hard to turn knob on the newer reels. If you want to pull your hair out read tw reviews about how hard it is to adjust the knobs. People still tighten it.

All my cc knobs are set and forget. Set for a smidgen of side to side play on all reels across all brands and leave there.

Also "tanso" is a company with many carbon products including a short stand carbon powder. I suspect this is the "tanso" in lews reels. They are using carbon from tanso in polymer used to make the reels. This is likely done for name recognition. At least they specify the carbon supplier instead of it being mystery plastic like zaion and ci4+. I belive the industry term is carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). Companies using this material love to drop the plastic off the end and use the phrase "carbon fiber" which conjures images of fighter plane wings and racing parts as if to imply that your fishing reel is made from the same stuff. Its not. It's plastic with carbon in it.

It is very simple to differentiate between carbon fiber and plastic with carbon powder mixed in. No one even remotely familiar with carbon fiber can confuse the two. Are you suggesting the reel is made from sheets of carbon fiber as opposed to injection molded? "Carbon fiber" fishing reels are made from a polymer with ground carbon/graphite mixed in. Its plastic with powder mixed in as we see here with Onyx. Explain to me how Tanso is different from Onyx shown here? Its clearly spelled out that polymers with short strand carbon powder primarily behave like the base polymer.

Yes. Its plastic with carbon mixed in. This is not a bad thing.

Its absolutely plastic with finely ground carbon mixed in. Tanso is likely the brand of the material used. It is molded like any other similar reel. Graphite is another term used for these reel although like "carbon fiber fishing reels" they are plastic mixed with graphite/carbon. Nothing wrong with this. Shimano does it and its ok with the chronarch. At least they tell us it's "Tanso" instead of whatever ci4+ is supposed to be. We clamp our reels into reel seats made from the same stuff. Think of it as a reel made from reel seat.

If you want to do crazy ultralight stuff with the alphas 800 then you have to get a chinease shallow spool for it. They call them diy spools.

I think that probably has to do with the spinning reel being below the rod and the baitcast reel being on top. I feel like when I use a baitcaster I use only my hand to turn the handle. I use my whole arm when using a left hand spinning reel. I had to retrain my left hand when using my 1st lefty baitcast reel. It wanted to do a jerky turn on the handle like you describe.

Shimano mgl reels, daiwa sv anything, tatula elite, tatula 80 and many more from other brands with light weight spools are all excellent. Lews lfs tp centrifugal, that new okuma reel, non mgl shimanos with a light weight spool like the regular slx. There are also cheap upgrades like a light weight sv spool from China that drops into a tatula ct and fuego ct that runs about $35. Really anything with a light weight spool and good braking system and you are set. Magnetic if you do a lot of target casting bank beating and skipping. Centrifugal if you primarily long cast or have no interest in skipping. Try to avoid the super deep spools. The addition of line really weighs them down.

Elimination of line twist. Typically lighter weight than an equivalent spinning reel. Better handling of stiff fluorocarbon lines. Reel in mounted on top of the rod and easier to work when seated in a kayak, float tube ect. For 12 lb flouro on a medium rod with "weightless" 5 inch plastics that actually weigh 3/8 oz I much prefer a baitcast reel. Light weight centrifugal spool for distance or a light weight magnetic spool for skipping and working cover.

Because you don't switch grips between casting and holding the rod with a spinning reel maybe?

It's a dexterity thing for me. I'm right handed so I prefer to to use my right hand for cranking the reel handle with moving baits and jigging with the rod when working worms and jigs with the left being used for slack line pick up. The exception is when using a small watercraft that needs my right hand to paddle and land fish by the boat. I need the rod in my left hand then. I can't lip land and unhook left handed.

Ok done some more digging. If it was me I would follow Phil's advice and get something that can also double as a big swimbait rod. His recommendation is excellent. If you want a cheap version of the same sort of thing but worse in every way I would gamble on a johncoo shot gun 2.28m xxh and a johncoo mt200 reel for $137. That's about as budgety big bait as I feel comfortable with. Anything cheaper is going to be a glass catfish stick and a plastic reel or a cheap ambassadeur knock off.

If you want the cheapest thing possible then that will probably be some sort of chinease swimbait or catfish rod and reel from ali. Type in XXH fishing rod and go with what has the most orders. Get a few swimbaits while you're at it. Might as well throw some big baits with your big bait rod too. I have no personal recommendation for a rod and reel but there are options. There is a large market for snake head and large predatory catfish in Asian markets so rods and reels made to throw 3 oz are abundant and cheap. Expect it to be a two peice and have no warranty. I like the looks and popularity of the 1st rod to pop up on a search. Keep an eye on the total cost including shipping. If it approaches jdm big bait budget rod territory then pass and buy the good stuff. For a reel maybe an alijoz 300. They are popular big bait budget reels.

What broke?

I like some additional braking with chatterbaits and do run 16 lbs flouro. I would lean zillion hd on this one. Chatters also add up with weight with big trailer. You could easily be throwing one ounce. If you were throwing weightless plastics and more long casting baits I would absolutely go regular zillion.

If you are function over form then pick the reel with the braking system that is best suited to your needs. You can get whatever handle you want with whatever knobs you want from a vast array. It's like buying a new car based on what tires and wheels it has. Between the zillion and zillion hd, the hd is the more aggressively braked reel of the two from all accounts. It is probably better suited with heavier baits and large diameter stiff lines than the faster zillion. As a rough ballpark I would use the zillion for 3/4 oz and below with up to a 16 lbs fluorocarbon and then the hd for the bigger stuff and heavier lines up until you run out of capacity for truly big baits. Now you can absolutely use the hd for baits under 3/4 oz and many do but don't expect the same casting performance as the regular zillion with the fast sv boot spool. The hd's magz boost is more aggressive in braking by all accounts.

There are actually a number of attempts out there already with a different approach to the same end. Doyo has two or more brakes that move the magnets closer to the spool on the cast. Achieving the same effect as moving the rotor closer to the magnets as daiwa does. The new flagship lews uses this system and cheap bps extreme does this with a rotating flat plate on the spool that extends as it turns like a cheap sv brake. The new kastking bfs reel and ark reels use magnetic holder that moves closer to the spool on the cast too. Shimano has had something similar with their ftb system but it resides within the inside diameter of the spool and is limited to shallow spool only applications.

ML based on those baits.

Thats jdm territory. Look there and you'll find a short swimbajt rod. They have many shorter awimbait rods to choose from.

You'll like the little alphas. You'll want a longer handle but thats an easy upgrade. Might as well get some bigger knobs for it while you're at it.

They should fit. Same tatula platform. If it's the coastal 200 then you'll need gears for the 150 or 200 tatula.

Flick the wrist and release the spool at the right moment. You'll know when you got it right.

It's a good rod for what you want it to do. There will be a slight adjustment in the release timing everytime you pick it up due to the xf nature. Ny fist few casts with it are off target until I adjust. Its a good little rod. The mojo 68xf is the "topwater" rod of the line but still does jerkbaits and plastics well. There are very subtle differences between the mojo topwater, jerkbait and plastics medium rods. They are all very similar.