Tatulatard

If you don't run any spool tension (you shouldn't) then there really isn't any drag on the spool and hitting the thumb bar will allow the bait to fall and take off line if your spool is light weight enough any anything claiming to be a "BFS" reel is going to have a light weight spool. From my dabbling in this I can get a bfs spool to pay out line and let a bait fall easier than it can pull the line over the lip of a spinning reel spool. You can probably spin the handle backwards on a spinning reel to pay out line but that's some old timer hack we newer anglers haven't unlocked yet. We lose our minds when spinning reels go backwards. It's like it causes an existential crisis or something. The guys that do a lot of creek fishing also like to use bfs baircaster so they can apply pressure to a spinning spool to slow and stop a bait with high accuracy instead of sticking a finger on the line to stop it more abruptly with spinning gear. We're talking 1/32 oz baits here. Sticking a finger on the line is going to stop it dead. Yeah, there are some really cheap ones out there. A quick Google search of "cheap bfs reel" will yield quite a bit of food for thought and many videos to watch.

I see them for $176 on the chinease Amazon place. If you are going to spend $250 then get a JDM Zillon 1000 for around $280 shipped. Neither reel at these prices will have a US warranty but the cost savings make it worth while.

Get the Eite for sure. Shop around though. No need to pay $250 for one.

You talking about a Tatula or the Daiwa SV103?

I stopped swining in fish and my rod breakages disappeared. What is weird is that all the ones I broke actually broke on the cast or hookset but it was the bringing in of fish that did the damage. Stopped doing that with the rod and the problem went away.

Is the pad of your palm pressing the thumb bar on a jerk?

I always thought it was more of a issue with us repair centers not having parts for non us market reels rather than some arbitrary restriction placed on were reels were purchased. If I buy a Tatula Elite for $176 from a chinease site on usd, Daiwa US won't warranty it because I didn't pay $250 usd for it from TW even though it is the same reel. There might be some sticker on it that they will only honor the repair if I was chinease. Sad but I belive it.

The warranty issue is a concern from some for sure. On some reels I don't think they can tell. If I buy a Tatula Elite overseas for $80 less than msrp and I send it to a US Daiwa service center for warranty how can they tell it wasn't bought in the US? Its the same reel.

Exchange rate aside it just seems like Japanese sites or really, non American, sites, like to more heavily discount reels. I don't know what is going on in the US but not even Amazon has deals these days. Its like everyone is Hank Hill and pays sticker.

I would take the Shimano. I like to make long casts with jerkbaits and SV spools aren't wining any distance competitions unless they are SV boost which the Tatula does not have. Use the Tatula SV on a worm rod and skip senkos.

Might be a good time for new casting gear if it is struggling with 3/8 oz.

Above

Drop a Zillion spool into the Steez SV and see if it really does perform better in that reel. I was reading that on another forum about this reel. I guess it casts further or something than it does in the Zillion.

I think the Steez CT, Alphas and Zillion all share the same type of gears. They are supposed to be the smoothest things out there right now. Cheapest point of entry is the Alphas at $210 and is basically the same size as the Steez CT too but heavier.

The old one is a little longer.

The steez is much lighter and just as smooth. The spool is worse but you can put the Zillion spool in and I read that it performs even better in the Steez that it does in the Zillion.

Just set the reel up as a centrifugal and turn the magnets off unless you need them to help with control at the end of the cast.

The shiny one is the 2017 model. It's bigger and brakes harder.

Keep in mind that the JDM models get an 84 millimeter long handle. The cost savings is significant enough you can probably find some cheap carbon fiber handles at eBay or that chinease site and still come out ahead.

Basically a reel is smooth until you pickup an even smoother reel and your definition of smoothness changes. Basically you keep unlocking higher levels of smoothness as you move up in the progression of smooth reels and you standard of what is and what is not smooth becomes more jaded. This is how some can say that a Tatula is smooth. They haven't felt the new Zillion, Steez, Alphas, original Zillion, Antares ect so a Tatula feels pretty darn good. I own a bunch of Tatulas and they are all smooth enough. The new hyper gear tatulas might go a long ways to bring higher levels of smoothness to Tatulas but it will be a while before that trickles down to the 100. I think the people who think tatulas are smooth do not own the new zillion. For those that have both it has been made very clear that the new zilllon is on another level. The new new new Tatulas I haven't heard much feedback yet because they are so new. Only a "Like the Alphas" which would put it really close to the new Zillion because the Zillion and Alphas share gears.

I don't know. If you can turn the handle and feel the vibration of gears under load then its geary. Pretty much all reels but a few are like this when not mounted to a rod so I guess "geary" is the norm. Take a reel off a rod, palm it and press down on the spool to simulate heavy load while turning the handle and you will feel the gears. Very few reels can pass this test and the only one that can be had for as "cheap" as 3 bills is the newest and oldest Zillons. The new 80 and 70 tatulas use the new hyper gears but are not double supported so MAYBE they will have this level of smoothness at $200 and under. Honestly, if geary is normal then as long as it's not offensively bad then its fine.

Price is a bit high on that one. If a black zillion is what you're after then get the 2022 HD. Its a zillion but black with a magforce Z boost spool instead of an sv boost. No us release yet but why would anyone pay the markup they charge anyways. Buy JDM.

Too thin and you risk the line getting between the frame and spool. 10# is as low as I would go.

You can get Tatula Elites for under $200 if you know where to look. They handle light weight baits as well as the SV but cast further I find. They skip pretty well too but I haven't pushed the limits and have stuck with easier to skip baits like senkos and dark sleepers. The ned rig requirement is going to be difficult. The Elite, SV and MGL reels can handle them but you need the right rod. For a M or MH using your primary baits all of the reels you listed are fine. If you are willing to spend $250 then I highly recommend getting a JDM Zillion from Asian Fish Portal of other vendor and especially if you value smoothness. They are basically the smoothest thing out there right now. They are a significant step up over a Tatula.

Yep. 3/8 oz should be no problem for many reels. A short list of affordable reels in no order would be Curado 70/150 MGL, SLX MGL, Lews LFS TP, 20 Tatula SV, Tatula Elite, Fuego CT with spool swap (Elite, SDS/Rays). The new Okuma Hakai also looks good with the very light weight dream tackle designs spool. Also back off that spool tension! Every reel I have come across can be set up "like a Daiwa" and have ZERO spool tension. Also try to avoid the heavy flouros and monos. The difficulty in line management can really negatively effect the castability. I like 10-12 flouro for weightless super flukes.