New Zillion - How well does it skip??

[STEEZMAN2]

In comparison to other Daiwa reels, namely the original Tatula SV TW.

[CFDoc]

For me, it depends on what I'm skipping.

It does really well for me skipping the big, heavy baits. Jigs with trailers at 3.4 oz. and up to 1.25 oz work great. Big swimbaits at an ounce of more were fine.

My only real niggle is at the lighter stuff like weightless senkos, 2.8 keitechs, etc. Those magnets still seem to overbrake some of the lighter baits and stop them from "running out" like some of the other braking systems. This is true even when I get the dial setting down into the lower numbers ~3-5.

One final thing I've noticed when skipping is that after casting, if I keep the rod tip pointed low, the line will stay up into the wide part of the T-wing system and never fall into the small crease. Then reeling back the bait gets the spool all messed up for the next cast.

[freelancer27]

Hmm, I just got my 2021 Zillion that I was planning to use with the Tachyon Shaft as my dedicated Skipping combo of 3/8oz - 1/2oz Jigs and creature baits.

Do you have a comparison point to another Daiwa (like a Steez SV, Steez CT, etc?) I agree that the brakes are strong on some of the SV models, but one can work around that by loosening the spool tention a bit from the factory settings.

For me, it depends on what I'm skipping.

It does really well for me skipping the big, heavy baits. Jigs with trailers at 3.4 oz. and up to 1.25 oz work great. Big swimbaits at an ounce of more were fine.

My only real niggle is at the lighter stuff like weightless senkos, 2.8 keitechs, etc. Those magnets still seem to overbrake some of the lighter baits and stop them from "running out" like some of the other braking systems. This is true even when I get the dial setting down into the lower numbers ~3-5.

One final thing I've noticed when skipping is that after casting, if I keep the rod tip pointed low, the line will stay up into the wide part of the T-wing system and never fall into the small crease. Then reeling back the bait gets the spool all messed up for the next cast.

[CFDoc]

Hmm, I just got my 2021 Zillion that I was planning to use with the Tachyon Shaft as my dedicated Skipping combo of 3/8oz - 1/2oz Jigs and creature baits.

Do you have a comparison point to another Daiwa (like a Steez SV, Steez CT, etc?) I agree that the brakes are strong on some of the SV models, but one can work around that by loosening the spool tention a bit from the factory settings.

I had a Steez CT but just sold it. It's not an easy comparison with the CT. That CT is dang near BFS so It would be tough to differentiate just the braking system from all of the other aspects of the CT that differ from the Zillion.

Having said that, a 3/8 oz jig with a Paca Chunk trailer comes in ~1/2 oz and skipped fine. Still just a tad over braked for my liking but I'm very picky about my skipping. The 1/2 oz jigs with a trailer are closer to 3/4 oz and skipped beautifully. I think you will ultimately like the zillion for what you want to use it for.

It's really the weightless stuff like senkos, flukes, and those smaller keitechs were I could just watch the braking system stop the bait dead in its tracks while it still had enough momentum to skip a skosh more.

[freelancer27]

Hmm, I just got my 2021 Zillion that I was planning to use with the Tachyon Shaft as my dedicated Skipping combo of 3/8oz - 1/2oz Jigs and creature baits.

Do you have a comparison point to another Daiwa (like a Steez SV, Steez CT, etc?) I agree that the brakes are strong on some of the SV models, but one can work around that by loosening the spool tention a bit from the factory settings.

I had a Steez CT but just sold it. It's not an easy comparison with the CT. That CT is dang near BFS so It would be tough to differentiate just the braking system from all of the other aspects of the CT that differ from the Zillion.

Having said that, a 3/8 oz jig with a Paca Chunk trailer comes in ~1/2 oz and skipped fine. Still just a tad over braked for my liking but I'm very picky about my skipping. The 1/2 oz jigs with a trailer are closer to 3/4 oz and skipped beautifully. I think you will ultimately like the zillion for what you want to use it for.

It's really the weightless stuff like senkos, flukes, and those smaller keitechs were I could just watch the braking system stop the bait dead in its tracks while it still had enough momentum to skip a skosh more.

Will report back, once I have some personal hands-on experience here. But the 3/8oz - 1/2oz + trailer specs hit the range that I was planning to use.

[freelancer27]

So, did a couple of skipping tests with my 2021 Zillion XH (#14 Shooter) on my NRX 804c.

Overall, I think this Zillion is not as great of a skipper as the previous Zillion. I bought this reel to be my dedicated skipping reel. After my tests I am not so sure anymore, that this is the technique where this reel shines.


More details:

Test 1: 1/2oz Zman elite chatterbait with a Yamamoto Zako. (Total weight: 0.86oz)

Skipping worked fairly well. I was able to skip almost 30feet with this set up. I did not have to be as precise with my angle and speed to get a decent skip. Thumb was only engaged at the very end of the skip. The brakes were set between 18-20.

At this weight, I would think that most upper class reels should be able to do a decent job.

Test 2: 3/8oz dobyns football jig with trailer (0.67oz)

Skipping worked okay. I had to set the brakes to 20 and also had to ensure that both angle and speed of the skip-cast were on point. When the stars aligned, I was able to skip around 15 feet. But in most cases it was more of a poor skip.

I was a bit disappointed, since I hoped that the reel would do much better in this weight range than what it actually did.

Test 3: 1/4oz Jig with trailer (total weight 0.46oz)

Basically impossible to skip. I set the breaks to 20 and also further tightened down the spool tension.

Total failure!



Had my travel combo (Daiwa BBB MH rod with Alpha CT SV, #25 braid to #15 mono leader) handy and compared all the above lures with it.

This combo was much easier to skip with, as well was more forgiving when a skip cast was not executed as well.



Summary:

I will probably have to assign a different reel for my skipping tasks (thinking here of the Steez A with Steez SV spool).



Side note: I also did not think that the Zillion was particularly impressive on distance casting. I tried to throw the ZMan Chatterbait as far as I could (on the NRX) but did not get more than 40-50yards. While I can easily go to break settings of 4-6 on my Steez SV TW, the Zillion became quite bitchy at around
8.

Reel is smooth, has a solid feel and looks good, so for 280USD shipped, I will not complain, but I would not buy it again for the 350USD retail price.

[CFDoc]

I’d say your experience lines up well with mine.

I cannot get that spool to keep momentum with light baits that I’m trying to skip like I can with other reels. I find myself preferring the SVS infinity system in my Mets over the zillion

However, I do enjoy it for skipping the big stuff. Carries the momentum well for long skips.

[LowRange]

I’d say your experience lines up well with mine.

I cannot get that spool to keep momentum with light baits that I’m trying to skip like I can with other reels. I find myself preferring the SVS infinity system in my Mets over the zillion

However, I do enjoy it for skipping the big stuff. Carries the momentum well for long skips.

Sounds like the opposite to me. You think it over braked and he appears to think its under braked compared to other SV spools.

[CFDoc]

Sounds like the opposite to me. You think it over braked and he appears to think its under braked compared to other SV spools.

You may be correct and I could have misread his post.

I would be surprised if he's saying this spool is underbraked on 20, but then also states distance was underwhelming on a chatterbait. Heck, it's chatter baits that I like to skip with this reel because it's so over braked, lol.

But yea, for me, as the lures get lighter, the spool brakes too much. Even for skipping.

[DirtyD64]

Wonder how the new Alphas fits in? I don't think it has the "boost" technology, might be the same spool as the old SV105 had...

[Hobie-Wan Kenobi]

Wonder how the new Alphas fits in? I don't think it has the "boost" technology, might be the same spool as the old SV105 had...

I have only done a few tests with the Alphas SV TW and it seems to skip just fine. I tried some jigs and also a chatterbait. All around 1/2oz to 5/8oz dressed. I have never used the Zillion SV with Boost.

[LowRange]

Sounds like the opposite to me. You think it over braked and he appears to think its under braked compared to other SV spools.

You may be correct and I could have misread his post.

I would be surprised if he's saying this spool is underbraked on 20, but then also states distance was underwhelming on a chatterbait. Heck, it's chatter baits that I like to skip with this reel because it's so over braked, lol.

But yea, for me, as the lures get lighter, the spool brakes too much. Even for skipping.

Compared to other SV spools which are famous for their ability to skip effortlessly and pretty much thumb free the new boost spools may be too fast in comparison and not as easy and trouble free to skip with.

[hoohoorjoo]

Wonder how the new Alphas fits in? I don't think it has the "boost" technology, might be the same spool as the old SV105 had...

Definitely not the same spool as the SV 105. The Alphas sv tw spool is narrow like the spools from the steez ct, alphas ct and millionaire ct.

[CFDoc]

Compared to other SV spools which are famous for their ability to skip effortlessly and pretty much thumb free the new boost spools may be too fast in comparison and not as easy and trouble free to skip with.

Yeah I had a Tat SV for a bit that was like that.

But referring to the new zillion, when that knob is on 20, baits go nowhere. You can ‘Happy Gilmore’ a lead ballon and it still won’t go anywhere on 20. Which is why I’d be surprised if anybody is blowing up a spool on that setting.

[Johnny A]

I was just knockin’ about with skippin’ a 1/2 OSP jig w/Chigger Craw trailer and it was good enough for the time I used it. I think if I spent a bit more time, I think it would be quite acceptable.