Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

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Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

Post by goldrod » Sat Sep 07, 2019 8:22 am

In recent times I see that the Daiwa Z sells for less than the Daiwa TD-Z and that really blew my mind.
I am a big fan of the Daiwa Z reel and I have always said the Bantam MGL was Shimano's Z interpretation. I am not sure why the Daiwa Z was made but the only thing it was missing IMHO was a shallow spool option other than the 2014 spool. I currently have my Z's on deck for Big T-rigs and Im not sure what the other is as I haven't been home but a few days and about to go again.

What are you doing with your Z's? Have you retired them yet or have you went the Bantam MGL route? I have to be honest,
A bantam MGL with the Yumeya shallow spool is a good floro (20-30lb) Flippin freaks dream.. and its cheaper for me because I dont put backing on nothing.. I had a Z eat an entire spool of floro and I just sat there in disbelief. But it works for me
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Re: Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

Post by Fishing4Fun » Sat Sep 07, 2019 9:25 am

Depending on the gear ratio the Zs would be good for moving baits or frogs and lighter swimbait work. They would be too heavy to be an ideal worm and jig reel for me.

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Re: Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

Post by hoohoorjoo » Sat Sep 07, 2019 10:48 am

Fishing4Fun wrote:
Sat Sep 07, 2019 9:25 am
Depending on the gear ratio the Zs would be good for moving baits or frogs and lighter swimbait work. They would be too heavy to be an ideal worm and jig reel for me.
Ditto, that's a tank of a reel, and it weighs as much as a tank, too.
Try not to let your mind wander. It is much too small to be outside unsupervised.

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Re: Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

Post by Cranky » Sat Sep 07, 2019 11:34 am

Seems to be more popular for Swimbaits.

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Re: Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

Post by goldrod » Sat Sep 07, 2019 12:01 pm

I flip with it.
It has so much power.
It’s on a heavy rod for my big t-rigs and the casting is superb
I have one on and NRX rod that I use for paddle tail type swim baits. I can easily shift to a jig with this set up. The casting of this reel allows me great distances so I could see if I had one of those large hard swimbait setups. I’d love to travel and go snakehead fishing with it.
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Re: Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

Post by spencerinstl » Sat Sep 07, 2019 2:59 pm

I have one on my Punching and Swimbait Rod and one on my Power Versatile. I used to have one of them on my Dobyns Dx795 Flip. Good For bigger jigs/swimjigs and reasonable sized swimbaits and for punching with.
Thanks for the epiphany captain obvious

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Re: Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

Post by MardukFIN » Sun Sep 08, 2019 3:00 am

I'm using it for pike fishing with lures 30-200g. Havent even tried it with "lighter" rod than 7'10' up to 3oz swimbait rod.

I like it. Very much. Much more power than Curado 200E have.

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Re: Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

Post by goldrod » Tue Sep 10, 2019 1:08 pm

I know of some big time internet swimbait guys and one time I offered my own Z2020 to them to allow them the see what the reel had to offer. I wasn't taken up on my offer and I offered to pay for shipping to and from and when i look back at it, i was being stupid.
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Re: Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

Post by Teal101 » Wed Sep 11, 2019 10:16 am

Swimbaits for me, too heavy really for consistent use in much else. I wouldnt say the Bantam MGL is a replacement, but its a nice reel in its own.
I like TD-Z's
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Re: Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

Post by toddmc » Thu Sep 12, 2019 8:24 am

goldrod wrote:
Tue Sep 10, 2019 1:08 pm
I know of some big time internet swimbait guys and one time I offered my own Z2020 to them to allow them the see what the reel had to offer. I wasn't taken up on my offer and I offered to pay for shipping to and from and when i look back at it, i was being stupid.
This is not a very accurate portrayal of most "big time internet swimbait guys". Most swimbait fishermen that frequent sites like Swimbait Underground are anything but luddites. My team partner has two Z2020's. One mounted on a White Python and the other on a custom stick. I also fish with one of the owners of Swimbait Underground. He is a Daiwa staffer. A few of my other "big time internet swimbait guy" friends are Megabass staffers. Go figure! ](*,)
The main reason that the Z2020 was not popular with true big bait fisherman is they have often have a "go big or go home" mentality that requires more line capacity than the Z2020 has. That is why it could be found for 50% off shortly after its production run. It is a great reel, but it is just not in the wheelhouse of most true big bait fishermen.

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Re: Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

Post by goldrod » Fri Sep 13, 2019 3:16 am

I have a 2020SH on a loomis nrx 894 rod and it’s super comfortable for me. I have the shallow spool in it for football jigs. After reading this post I took it off the rack and did some living room fishing while the wife was away. I don’t know what it is about that combo but I had that same feeling from before and it’s just two pieces of equipment that go well with one another in terms of balance and comfort to my liking. Maybe someone who has these two can chime in. I guess the point I’m trying to make is that it does a lot of things right when paired with the right rod. I tried one on a Faust and my hand started hurting and I never tried that again

I don’t swimbait fish much but I’ve gotten this SRD itch and would love to find that rod to close out my MB cache.

I’ve thought about selling one of the two that I own but resale prices force me to fish with it more and more.
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Re: Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

Post by DaisyZillion » Fri Sep 13, 2019 4:58 am

I have the 200sh with 50lb whiplash that I use for pulling Barra from dirty country on a xxx Spinnerbait Special that I got stripped and spiral wrapped, an absolute powerhouse of a setup!

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Re: Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

Post by Carlos Carrapiço » Fri Sep 13, 2019 7:25 am

toddmc wrote:
Thu Sep 12, 2019 8:24 am

The main reason that the Z2020 was not popular with true big bait fisherman is they have often have a "go big or go home" mentality that requires more line capacity than the Z2020 has. That is why it could be found for 50% off shortly after its production run. It is a great reel, but it is just not in the wheelhouse of most true big bait fishermen.
It takes 70m of 30lb FC.
I wonder what do you mean by "go big or go home" :-k as I have never seen a bass strip more than 10 meters of line and with 30lb no way it's gonna go far.

I have 5 x Z2020 all with 6.2:1 and 100 mm handles and they all incredible torque, smooth, fast and hold more than enough line for bass fishing either FC or PE (80lb).

In my opinion perception and group mentalities are just a nice way to ignore real facts :-#

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Re: Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

Post by toddmc » Fri Sep 13, 2019 7:52 am

Carlos Carrapiço wrote:
Fri Sep 13, 2019 7:25 am
toddmc wrote:
Thu Sep 12, 2019 8:24 am

The main reason that the Z2020 was not popular with true big bait fisherman is they have often have a "go big or go home" mentality that requires more line capacity than the Z2020 has. That is why it could be found for 50% off shortly after its production run. It is a great reel, but it is just not in the wheelhouse of most true big bait fishermen.
It takes 70m of 30lb FC.
I wonder what do you mean by "go big or go home" :-k as I have never seen a bass strip more than 10 meters of line and with 30lb no way it's gonna go far.

I have 5 x Z2020 all with 6.2:1 and 100 mm handles and they all incredible torque, smooth, fast and hold more than enough line for bass fishing either FC or PE (80lb).

In my opinion perception and group mentalities are just a nice way to ignore real facts :-#
Most of us are not fishing shallow waters in the West. Most of our waters are also full of huge stripers that will strip a lot more line than you suggest. More and more Western anglers are throwing baits well over three ounces (10" Hudds and bigger) long distances slow rolling them back to the boat in deep water. An 8" Hudd is considered small on my home lake. They are putting bigger and bigger trout in our waters forcing us to match the hatch.
The Z2020 has a greatly diminished gear ratio when you only have a few yards of line at the bottom of a spool. I can cast the 70m that you suggest with a bait over 3 ounces with the right rod. This is a reality that can't be ignored. As I said, they are great reels. They just aren't in the wheelhouse of a lot of guys out West. That added to the price tag and you can see why they were not flying off of the shelves. I would own one if I threw more 6" swimbaits.

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Re: Daiwa Z: Times Have Changed

Post by SSS » Fri Sep 13, 2019 6:19 pm

I use mine for musky with 50lb braid. Wouldn't want to trade it for any other reel.

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