Some highlights;

New Calcutta conquest DC

Conquest BFS limited

New scorpion DC

Redesign of the zodias rods

 

https://fish.shimano.com/ja-JP/product/new_product/2026ss.html

Extremely lazy releases, they're giving away the hype to Daiwa. Scorpion DC not even being coresolid built is weird. The only thing that i kinda liked to see is the limited conquest in a silver color, and that's only because i am tired of the same gold and gunmetal Shimano has been using for the longest time.

Interesting that they trickle down the new MGL 4 to a Scorpion first, not Metaniums. I guess they are planning a major change to the Metanium platform.

I’m really hoping the US releases include a revamped Metanium. It’s been 6 years.

7 hours ago, Maverick2017 said:

I’m really hoping the US releases include a revamped Metanium. It’s been 6 years.

 

I almost ordered another MGL with the little DC last month but held off exactly for that reason, but after seeing Shimano Japan's catalog I'm not holding my breath.

 

Edit: they just posted on IG - new Vanquish, new Tranx 400, new Nexave, and a bunch of saltwater stuff.

The Compre is back though, as "Lite", "Walleye" and "Muskie". And there's a new Zodias, which had already been announced in Japan.

PS never mind, just realised the Compre never went away, the line just continued for species other than bass.

I like the ocea pliers. I’m curious about the poison glorious. Is that going to be the top of the line? What’s the msrp?

Shimano has become lazy on baitcast development while Daiwa just continues to smoke them, particularly in gear design and spool development, even the clutch has become much improved.I’m interested in the Vanquish, but I’m pretty content with my Stradic’s & Vanford.

The new Zodias B are listed on TW now. I’ve been planning for a dedicated solid tip minnow shaker for this year and was debating between an expride and a PA (hadn’t decided on M vs M+) and now they throw in the zodias with a nice looking uplocking seat (my only complaint with the zodias A) at the price of a JDM stradic less than the PA…

12 hours ago, casts_by_fly said:

The new Zodias B are listed on TW now. I’ve been planning for a dedicated solid tip minnow shaker for this year and was debating between an expride and a PA (hadn’t decided on M vs M+) and now they throw in the zodias with a nice looking uplocking seat (my only complaint with the zodias A) at the price of a JDM stradic less than the PA…

Although they mainly made cosmetic changes to the zodias they didn’t up the price anymore than it already was and it looks better now. May get one for my Vanford. Let me know if you do get one

@Brycecover I think they actually dropped the price of the zodias line by $10 but also got rid of the SiC tip guide.

Barely any posts in this thread. Nobody cares about Shimano releases or what?

@Micro Module Police - most people can’t read Japanese nor have a browser translator so there’s that.

@Brycecover - will do. My only hesitation is that the medium solid tip is 7’2”. I have the 7’2” PA ML which has the same spec so there would be an overlap there. More importantly, I prefer a bit shorter for quick flick type casts which is half the time you’re chasing on FFS. I think I’m leaning expride 6’10” M but let’s see. Maybe I order both and return one.

30 minutes ago, Micro Module Police said:

Barely any posts in this thread. Nobody cares about Shimano releases or what?

40 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

@Micro Module Police - most people can’t read Japanese nor have a browser translator so there’s that.

@Brycecover - will do. My only hesitation is that the medium solid tip is 7’2”. I have the 7’2” PA ML which has the same spec so there would be an overlap there. More importantly, I prefer a bit shorter for quick flick type casts which is half the time you’re chasing on FFS. I think I’m leaning expride 6’10” M but let’s see. Maybe I order both and return one.

What reel are you pairing it with? Stradic? I had the 7’2 ml+ zodias paired to a 2500’stradic which balanced just slightly tip heavy but still good. I thought it was slightly long for what I do on the kayak but it was a great rod and did a variety of finesse techniques well. I may look into the expride too since I like 6’10 for my fishing.

@Brycecover stradic medium body (2500/3k size). That’s what i have on all of my spinning rods and I don’t see a reason to change now. For this use it will be the xhg and a 2500 since I’m putting really thin braid on it. the 7’2 ML PA balances great with it as does the 6’9” ML zodias and the 6’10” UL/M PA. My dad has the 7’ M zodias with a 4k vanford (same weight as the 3k stradic) and it balances well also. They are all close enough that the ~8 oz reels feel just right.

Bit sad to see they went with a foregrip on the zodias. Don't own any because I don't like eva but I'm hoping they don't do the same thing w/ the adrena at some point (they did the same with the expride a while ago). I'm all for rod companies trying out new things but wish they would just come out with new lines if they want to make drastic changes to things like the grip rather than updating an existing line and leaving someone that thought they were getting a lifetime warranty S.O.L. if they don't want to change their grip style to use the replacement they would be getting. Same reason I moved away from the mojos a while ago...

On the other hand can't be too mad at Shimano as they are still my favorite spinning rod company by far...

@Brian11719 - to me, that’s the best improvement they could have made for this rod. I’m going to take a wild guess that you hold a spinning rod with the reel stem touching your middle finger (either in front of behind the stem)? I have the stem between my pinkie and ring finger which means that on my current zodias my index finger is rolling on the edge of the knurled part of the locking nut. Not comfy when fighting a decent fish and even wears a little when just fishing. This new reversed reel seat would be a great improvement for me.

1 hour ago, casts_by_fly said:

to me, that’s the best improvement they could have made for this rod.

Completely get that some people are going to prefer it that way and wasn't saying it's a bad design. Just saying it kind of sucks when you buy a rod because it was designed one way (and has a lifetime replacement warranty) and then it gets redesigned in a way that you wouldn't use the replacement that was offered and ended up paying for a warranty that isn't going to be usable for you.

Either way it's not the end of the world but if I had a rod company one thing I'd consider is offering rods with both options so that you don't limit your potential client base with the reel seat you went with. Suppose you might have to add a little weight to the butt section for the foregrip version to keep the balance the same but seems like it should be possible and not all that difficult to implement. Alternatively a design that works for both would be nice but I haven't seen too many that have been able to pull that off. Some of the newer fenwicks did a decent job of that but for the most part I realize I'm in the minority when it comes to spinning reel seats (although Jacob Wheeler and Gary Dobyns both seem to prefer them that way so at least I can say I'm in good company).

@Brian11719 I hear you. You pick the thing you like and the can’t get it in the future. That’s a fair criticism.

the issue with offering it both ways is complexity. It is easy enough for a custom or semi custom builder to offer it both ways. But for a major manufacturer and (more importantly) the retailers to offer it that way means double the number of items to stock. And you might think just take what you were going to stock, cut it in half, and then have two of them (with different seats) but it doesn’t work that way. I work in an industry where we make things that are sold at retail. And you’d have to stock 20-30% more individually than if you only had one of the two. That introduces excess stock when you don’t plan the right amount of each which means discounting/clearing the ones left over. That might be minimal if you’re talking about a 7’ M spinning rod where you sell two tons of them and a minimum order quantity at the producer isn’t that much (relatively) but if you’re talking about the 7’6” light that is pretty technique specific then the demand planning of how many to make vs how many to sell is pretty tough.

19 hours ago, Micro Module Police said:

Barely any posts in this thread. Nobody cares about Shimano releases or what?

Not really. I've been using Shimano for 30+ years they have always had a model that meets my requirements which is to cast and retrieve the bait and handle a Bass.

I suppose I've been in the game too long to get giddy about every new release.

It's definitely a.....

I'm not disappointed. I wasn't really looking out for something new and improved. I like what they currently have. But on the other hand, Shimano hasn't really done a great job with Limited Edition reels. The Conquest BFS seems a little conservative for a limited edition. Maybe it will be like Daiwa's limited reels. Completely identical but somehow an improvement over the original.

The Conquest DC is pretty cool though, if that's your thing. The previous version sold well for them.

On the darkside.... We need at least 10 more Tatula variants in 2026 (sarcasm implied). 😁

Are the Zodias and Expride the exact same rod blank just with different components?

12 hours ago, FishTank said:

It's definitely a.....

I'm not disappointed. I wasn't really looking out for something new and improved. I like what they currently have. But on the other hand, Shimano hasn't really done a great job with Limited Edition reels. The Conquest BFS seems a little conservative for a limited edition. Maybe it will be like Daiwa's limited reels. Completely identical but somehow an improvement over the original.

The Conquest DC is pretty cool though, if that's your thing. The previous version sold well for them.

On the darkside.... We need at least 10 more Tatula variants in 2026 (sarcasm implied). 😁

Funny & very true. Creates a lot of confusion in the Tatula line-up.

Im interested on the Scorpion DC MD, just for the new IDC5, 200 size spool with mgl IV. It will be ~ $250 at digitaka so its a good price.

On 1/12/2026 at 9:48 PM, Hulkster said:

Are the Zodias and Expride the exact same rod blank just with different components?

Definitely not... Exprides are the best bang for your buck in the shimano lineup...

On 2/11/2026 at 9:47 PM, MRQturbo said:

Definitely not... Exprides are the best bang for your buck in the shimano lineup...

Which isn’t saying much anymore. I guess with the cache they already have they can just milk their product lines. Fine by me, let others innovate and push the envelope.