North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

Need some retail therapy so I'm looking at buying new baitcaster for Christmas .
Anyone using the daiwa zillion TWS 1516. Had the zillion type r for 3 years and love that.
Budget 500-600.

Appreciate your feedback on this model , from daiwa stable or any other brands in this price range.

I'm in exactly the same boat at the moment.

From my reading, the T-wing on the latest Zillion was a bit 'clunky'. Earlier this week I played with the Zillion 1516, Zillion TWS, Tatula Type R and standard Tatula.....all have the same T-wing and I tend to agree with the feedback I read. I think the system is neat, but I'm not sure how functionally worthwhile it would be.
The Zillion was definitely a nicer reel than the Tatula, but I'm not sure if the $500 mag sealed reel is really worth it for the T-wing feature. If they had released a mag sealed version without the T-wing, I wouldn't hesitate......but this feature is making me think twice. I guess it's only in-effect really when casting, so may not be such a bad thing

My comparison is being made based on my current reel of Zillion type R and J-Dream.

I also have the daiwa t3 1016 with the t wing system . Does cast a long way but after 12 months of using it I'm still not 100% on the TWS system .

215g for the zillion 1516 which is so light.

The T3 T-wing is actually different to the current Zillion system.

The T3 had the shroud that popped up where as the Zillion doesn't have a shroud, the t-wing clicks into place by rotating forward 90 degrees. Hence the 'clunky' nature of this model.

Got one, been using it for the last month. Love it.

Cheers for the feedback...anyone else thinking of buying a new bait caster for Christmas or rate anything else.

Balou

I recently had the pleasure of using a mates Shimano Exsence DC - silky smooth, actually sacrificed a couple of lures to the tree gods....maybe too smooth. Probably around the same dollars you're looking at. Overall a very nice bit of kit.

Personally I find it difficult to go past a Chronarch 200e7, sub $300 it's hard to beat.

To sum up; if it's a Christmas Pressie for yours truly buy the Exsence.

I've got a Tatula. Haven't used it too much, but it casts well. My bugbear with it is the 'gap' in the T-wing when retrieving is too small to wind an Albright through. I like to start with a long leader and also wind all of the line (leader included) onto the reel when not in use.

I've been running a 200 E7 chronarch with carbon fibre drag washers for 3 years now and a slim beauty on 45lb and 55lb schnider fits no worries through the line guide it runs 55lb whiplash n stops metre plus fish including big queenies n milkies no probs.

never had a drama with it and so easy to work on /service.

Just purchased a new Quantum Smoke 200HD. Waiting on delivery. Will report on performance after a few sessions and hopefully fish!

Exsence.

Casts very well. No clusterf..ks. 8:1 ratio.

No flashy bits. Easy to clean. Very quiet to use.

I have 2 carrot sticks used for different purposes on trips (plastic or lure). Got an Exsence for 1 and used another reel on the second one. Daiwa HRF (old type but extra reliable). Like chalk and cheese to swap rods.

So bought a 2nd Exsence so both rods now match when swapping over..

Chronarch E7 100