Anyone have experience with both of these? They look pretty similar on paper (Zillion holds more line). Both have 7:1 gear ratio. Is there one that stands out? Thanks for any info. NCD.

no i have no opinion cor experience w/either. but this is a topic thats brings something to mind. why does shimano have such a huge market over daiwa? i can't recall when i saw a daiwa on the river.

Brewer -

Good question. I have always bought Shimano and continue to b/c they have been good to me. My buddy, however, fishes Daiwa and loves 'em. Says they have the smoothest drag out there. So...I am trying to see which one of these two reels might be better. I suspect they are comparable, and both awesome with the high speed retreive.

I have a Diawa Sealine 47 H levelwind that I bought at Costco 20 years ago and caught many ocean and fall river chinooks with it and finally last season I took it in to Ollie Damon's reel repair in Portland and had them go through it for 25.00 bucks. I had purchased it along with a BlackWidow Diawa graphite rod ( combo) for 78.00. Best investment I have made . It performs just like a new reel!!

I'm running Viento's in my boat for float reels with their "easy button". Very happy so far. The Zillionaire might be a decent option ... it weighs an ounce less than the Curado does.

i don't know why shimanos are so popular these days, daiwa knocks the socks off of them in the quality department.

i've got several 20+ year old procasters that still work like new.

try the shimano speed master on ebay.. Its the 200dshv but with a 300dsv spool. best reel made!!!!

I'll 2nd jv2333 comment. I have the Speedmaster 201. It's the same as the curado 301 which as far as I know is still not available.

I'll tell you why more people fish Shimano over Daiwa reels. Marketing. Daiwa is very popular in the bassing/saltwater department but steelhead and salmon enthusiasts primarily swear by Abu and Shimano. I like Daiwa a lot. They are a bit pricy,only drawback I can see. That zillion is a great reel. So's the fuego and viento....and the reel named after a very stalwart member of the PP fishing community here

I've been a Shimano guy for years, still love my 251. Tried the newer Shimanos, but was unhappy with their performance. My buddy reps Daiwa and said that they are really making some great reels right now, yes, a little spendy, but really nice. I checked some out at the Puyallup show and they are nice. Time to buy one and see for myself.

I have 2 diawa's I mainly use in the salt. They're just in the rotation depending on what I am doing, so they don't get a ton of use. First the inexpensive Diawa Millionaire, and then I picked up a Diawa Millionaire CVZ 300A just before they stopped making them. (replaced by the Luna, and this looks like a great reel)

The cheap Millionaire has been great for jigging, beach casting and on the downrigger. The 300A is fair and for me, not worth the extra $. I've got grinding noises when I retrieve with the spool tension backed off - not as smooth as it should be IMO.

John's Sportingoods in Everett doesn't work on Diawa's, they just mail them to Diawa in CA. That is a BIG downside for me.

I think the name Daiwa, sucks, Shimano is cool....Ambassaduer even cooler before 1980......Since I'm post '80 with all but my '73 5000D that I still have, it's Curado and ABU for me.... I've got 7 Curados in the mix, old, bsf, new DSHV....love em all. Not sure how you all feel but I don't like a tight drag, i'd rather let my educated thumb do the draggin, anyone else feel that way...baitcasters only, gotta have a great drag on a spinner....opinions?

I've checked the Daiwa's out they look like great reels, never fished one of the newer baitcaster thou...

This one seems to be getting some interest, its a dinky little reel good for those with very small hands & ladys under 110 lbs....


http://www.tackletour.com/images/picdaiwasol2.jpg


C/22.......

The Shimano rep at the Evergreen show said this summer for the 301's.

The Diawa Luna looks like a winner , too !

pflueger

zebco pushbutton

I can honestly say Ive never been disappointed by a Shimano reel--baitcaster that is. Ive had a spinning reel that didn't do it for me....

I SOOOO wanna try out this new Daiwa Zillion.

Anyone want to buy it and trade me for my (only used once) Shimano Calaias?

The Calais is a $400 reel, new. The Daiwa Zillion is about $225 new.

Seems like a fair trade to me.

Any serious takers?

Keith - you wanna take me up on this and add another Calais to your arsenal???

Pflueger's are nice out of the box but cannot withstand much use.