my friend made me a rod. it is stunning and flings a 3/4oz anything like a catapult. that is the sweet spot for sure.

I got home and thought.."great, now I need a reel". big top waters, soft swimbaits, maybe even big bottom contact. I struggled between buying my 3rd Zillion SV, or trying the HD. hope I chose correctly.

my BIL flies out to Tokyo in a bit..just sent him a screenshot of the Z-HD.

I’m getting one HOPEFULLY in the mail today.

I’ll let you know my thoughts if I remember.

Mostly throwing swimjigs on it.

You chose wisely

Its the most nobrainer purchase on the market. The reel is arguably better than the steez, and costs singificantly less.

You definitely won't regret it!

Had mine a couple months now paired to a GLX 844 MBR and I absolutely love it. Still think my Metaniums are slightly better but this is a close second.

4 hours ago, WetBlanket said:

It’s the most nobrainer purchase on the market. The reel is arguably better than the steez, and costs singificantly less.

Just curious, but what makes this better than the steez?

7 hours ago, Peacedivision said:

You chose wisely

That’s a nice swim bait. What is it?

@woolleyfooley it's a savage gear RTF trout, unfortunately discontinued I think.

On 4/22/2026 at 7:22 PM, woolleyfooley said:

Just curious, but what makes this better than the steez?

That’s a nice swim bait. What is it?

Torque under load, more comfy to palm compared to the 2016 steez frame. That's it. If you don't swap handles, the original HD handle+knobs are also superior for larger baits than what's on a steez.

So I mentioned I would come back with a review.

I went to a local small lake the other night to try it for the first time.

It sends baits a LONG ways. I was using a 1/2 oz jig with a pretty large trailer FYI.

Very smooth, looks great, casts wells.

The handle is definitely large but you get used to it.

The HD and new Daiwa Steez rod handled a 3 pounder with ease.

I’m going to love this combo as it’s my go-to bait.

On 4/24/2026 at 9:14 PM, WetBlanket said:

Torque under load, more comfy to palm compared to the 2016 steez frame. That's it. If you don't swap handles, the original HD handle+knobs are also superior for larger baits than what's on a steez.

Thanks! By torque under load, do you mean it’s easier to reel in fish with the zillion hd?

1 hour ago, woolleyfooley said:

Thanks! By torque under load, do you mean it’s easier to reel in fish with the zillion hd?

Yea, high resistance baits are easy to retrieve. The difference is not night and day because the Steez A is pretty good at it as well, but the HD does have the edge. The Bantam is also good at this.

2 hours ago, woolleyfooley said:

Thanks! By torque under load, do you mean it’s easier to reel in fish with the zillion hd?

1 hour ago, WetBlanket said:

Yea, high resistance baits are easy to retrieve. The difference is not night and day because the Steez A is pretty good at it as well, but the HD does have the edge. The Bantam is also good at this.

The Steez A and Zillion HD both have aluminum frames, which gives them good rigidity when reeling high resistance (deep crank) or heavy ( swimbait) baits. The Zillion HD has brass alloy main gears, which makes it a little heavier than the Steez A, but also, theoretically, means it will hold up better over time than the Steez Duraluminum Alloy gears. It definitely is smooth. The soft-but-tough nature of brass lends itself very well to high wear gearing.

That said, I have both reels, love both reels, and don’t plan to get rid of either one. The newer Duraluminum alloys used in Steez stay very smooth for a very long time, despite what some assume. You made a great choice with the Zillion. Enjoy!

It's not just in the steez that the gears stay smooth when made of duraluminum. All reels using Daiwa's new gear cutting tech with massive teeths stay smooth and silent for a long time. My 21 zillion that i got late Spring of the same year, used for a bizillion of hours since, is like 85% as smooth as new if i were to give it a smoothness grade. You simply couldn't get em to last this well before. If i was Shimano, i'd ripoff their tech, and only use the micro module on their finesse/bfs reels, which would make so much more sense.

Best frogging and punching reel ever. It really shines winching big girls out of slop.