Not just for Saltwater, the Daiwa Zillion Coastal

Total Score: 8.25 - GREAT

Introduction: Daiwa continues to expand their popular Zillion lineup and the Coastal edition is designed for inshore anglers looking for an ultra fast low profile baitcaster with provisions to address the harsher saltwater environment. Though designed for these applications the Coastal is a natural replacement for the Zillion Limited Edition Hyper Speed reel and feels equally right at home in freshwater situations.

Ms. Casey with the Daiwa Zillion Coastal paired with a Zillion rod  

Impressions: Does the world need another Zillion? Let’s count them, there are two standard Zillions, the Winch and the Hyper Speed which is just going away, that makes four existing models that come in both left and right hand retrieve. I guess that you can argue that with the Limited Edition going the way of the dodo Daiwa needed a replacement at that ultra-fast 7.3:1 gear ratio speed and the Coastal reel which was based off the TD-A was really starting to get dated, so perhaps it was inevitable. If you look overseas there are still plenty of other variants including the Hyper Long Cast and PE Special.

The Daiwa Zillion Coastal features a blazing fast 7.3:1 retrieve ratio

The Daiwa Zillion Coastal looks just like the other Daiwa Zillion reels only the red, yellow or black highlights have been replaced by the same bright blue that can be found on Daiwa’s other new saltwater reels. Spec wise the Zillion Coastal is a step down from the Limited Edition which had 11+1 CRBB ball bearings (the new Coastal has 6+1 CRBB), but the Coastal does weigh in at only 8.6oz. while the LE weighed 8.9oz.

The Zillion Coastal is a natural replacement for the Limited Edition which is now gone

Daiwa also further tries to differentiate the Coastal with extra protection in the form of corrosion resistant components and treatments both internally and externally to better resist the elements. The drags on both reels appear to be identical as is the swept handle design and soft touch barrel grips, but exposed metal areas like the spool and handle have all been anodized. 

There are a lot of Zillion variants, is there room for more?

Overall the new Coastal looks like the other Zillion reels and yet is instantly identifiable as a saltwater reel because of the blue highlights that match Daiwa’s other heavier saltwater offerings. The color combination of the silver frame and blue spool and highlights is very attractive and actually matches up well with many rods both Daiwa branded and not.

The Zillion Coastal's blue highlights are not painted, they are anodized for improved corrosion resistance

Real World Tests: To test the Daiwa Zillion Coastal we targeted a variety of species ranging from shallow water rockfish off the Northern California Coast, Pacific run Stripers and a whole lot of bass fishing that took us from our home waters of the California Delta all the way to Falcon Lake, Texas. We tested the new Coastal alongside the other Zillion reels as well as compared it to the original Coastal Inshore baitcaster.

For saltwater fishing and Lake Falcon Texas we went with hollow braid and a Seaguar fluorocarbon topshot