Daiwa Zillion 741 MHRB - What would you use it for? 2025

gilkeybr reply :

I recently purchased this rod, a 741 MHRB as said in the title. I had a particular usage in mind when I bought the rod, but as i've used it a bit i'm afraid I may have bought the wrong rod for my intended purpose.

What would you use this MH-Regular action rod for? (I'm trying not to lead the witness by saying my intended use, or what I think the rod is best suited for...)

Choporoz reply :

No clue, really...guess I'd try it with a 5XD and maybe 4-5" swimbaits - heavy spinnerbaits, too -- sounds like what I need for ledges using heavier spinnerbaits and med spoons

Junger reply :

I have the Zillion 7'2 MHRB and 7'4 HRB, and both rods are pretty stout. I think the "regular" flex on the Daiwa SVF X45 rods are outstanding and I do not like fishing broomsticks. I would use the 7'4 MHRB for jigs/trigs up to 1.5oz's (weight + trailer), and also spinner/chatterbaits.

LionHeart reply :

A Diawa MH/R rod in my opinion can do just about anything. I have that power/action in a Tatula and love it for plastics and jigs around 3/8 oz. Just the right amount of flex. Kind of a fast-mod-fast.

Junger reply :

On 9/17/2018 at 10:26 PM, LionHeart said:

A Diawa MH/R rod in my opinion can do just about anything.

This is so true, I just got the ZIL721MHRB and if I got this rod about 8 months ago, I would not have bought 3 rods that currently sit on my rod rack.

webertime reply :

Moving single hook baits and potentially jigs

gilkeybr reply :

Thanks for the replies. I bought this rod with the intent of using it as a T-rig/Jig rod. I must have been mistaken, as I thought it was a Fast action instead of a Regular...at any rate, it still was a good deal.

After using it a few times since I got it, I feel like it is a bit "parabolic" for jig fishing, IMO. There is a lot more bend in the rod than I was anticipating on a big hook set.

I really like the rod. Its impressively light and sensitive. Wondering if it would better suit me as a squarebill/light crank/spinnerbait type rod...

As others have said it does feel pretty multi-purpose, as many MH rods are known to be. I think it would suit my preference to have something with some more backbone for jiggin'

Junger reply :

Please don't take this the wrong way, but you might be focusing too much on bend shape. That rod has plenty of power for a stout hookset. Are you having issues with hooksets with that rod?

I started with XF/F MH jig rods and found I was losing a good amount of fish when they breached the water and head shook. Someone on this site linked this video from Matt Allen, and I switched to MBR rods and have lost a lot less and prefer a moderate fast rod for almost everything now.

fishwizzard reply :

Yea, the more powerful the rod the softer I want the action. I have a few XF rods but they are all Light power or are for a very narrow applacation.

I used a XH/R rod for most of my frogging this year and my hookup to landing ratio shot way up.

.ghoti. reply :

Daiwa's R rated rods, what we call mod-fast, are some of the most versatile rods you can own.

There's a reason so may of those high end JDM rods feature regular action.

Matt_3479 reply :

I owned the 7’2” mh regular and after fishing it a few times I’d say it would work nicely for a few different things and could be used for certain others in a pinch. To me I thought it would make a nice deep diving crank rod, chatterbait, spinner bait rod. Small-medium swimbaits and paddletails. I used it once for frogs in a pinch in light cover and it had loads of power but a little slow, and used for jigs and t-rigs as well but didn’t like as much as my current setups.

RickD reply :

Awesome rod for a very specific use. Bass Patrol football jig 3/8 and 1/2 for spotted bass. The regular bend is perfect for the small hook and i like the power for those thick lipped feisty bass.

LionHeart reply :

Keep in mind my rod is not a Zillion, but still a med-heavy, 'Regular Diawa. Honestly, it feels like a fast action to me. Depending on the vintage, I think the Tatula rods used the same blank as Zillion but of course I could be mistaken.

Personally, I happen to think a good spinner bait rod power and action would also work well as a Texas rig Ang jig rod. Most 3/8 and 1/2 jigs I use have 3 or 4/0 hooks and I have never had a problem getting the rod to set the hook. Bad hook sets are usually user error on my part. It doesn't take a broom stick the get a sharp hook through the mouth of a bass.

If it doesn't fit your style or technique, I ain't here to convince you, but still, I'd use it for bottom contact.

Big-Bass reply :

I have a Zillion 73MH that I love! Just recently though I picked up a Steez XT 7' MRB which hopefully will be a very versatile rod.

new2BC4bass reply :

When I got back into fishing a few years ago, I started buying a little better equipment. Almost every rod I bought was listed as having a Fast action. I bought this action because the consensus was that a Fast action rod was the most versatile and I wanted versatile rods. I really liked my first Tatula rod. It had the Regular action. I have purchased a couple others since then with the same action. I have come to like it a lot. I haven't fished jigs with mine yet so I can't comment on its suitability for jigs, but I feel the MHR should have enough power to set a jig hook without a problem.

Junger, thanks for posting that video.

gilkeybr reply :

Thank you everyone for the feedback. I certainly am not here to tell you "You can't fish a T-rig or Jig with this rod." As many people have said, it seems very flexible in terms of its usage.

I'll continue to fish it, predominantly with jigs and see if my first impression was wrong. I'll also try it with some other moving baits.

Junger reply :

On 9/18/2018 at 11:32 PM, gilkeybr said:

Thank you everyone for the feedback. I certainly am not here to tell you "You can't fish a T-rig or Jig with this rod." As many people have said, it seems very flexible in terms of its usage.

I'll continue to fish it, predominantly with jigs and see if my first impression was wrong. I'll also try it with some other moving baits.

Sorry, not my intent to tell you how to fish a t-rig.

Edit: Oh just to confirm, you don't have a -G version of the ZIL741MHRB do you? I don't think they even make one, but just checking. I have the ZIL721MHRB and -G version of that rod, and they are completely different in terms of backbone and bend. They do make a TAEL741MHRB-G, but I don't think they ever made a Zillion version.

Edited September 18, 2018 by Junger

gilkeybr reply :

On 9/18/2018 at 11:35 PM, Junger said:

Sorry, not my intent to tell you how to fish a t-rig.

Edit: Oh just to confirm, you don't have a -G version of the ZIL741MHRB do you? I don't think they even make one, but just checking. I have the ZIL721MHRB and -G version of that rod, and they are completely different in terms of backbone and bend. They do make a TAEL741MHRB-G, but I don't think they ever made a Zillion version.

Not a -G, although I wondered at first.

bholtzinger14 reply :

I have 2 of these rods in the Tatula version. I did not like using them on swimbaits where I had to set the hook. An example would be when using a flashy swimmer. When I set the hook the combination of the regular action and my kayak moving forward did not make for a good hook set. I dont fish chatterbaits much but planned on using them for chatterbaits (since they have an exposed hook). After this post and watching Matt Allens video I think I am going to give it a try fishing jigs.

fishwizzard reply :

Fishing from a kayak is what got me interested in softer rods, I can use all the help I can get keeping the pressure on, especially when I am transitioning from standing to sitting.

bholtzinger14 reply :

On 9/19/2018 at 3:32 AM, fishwizzard said:

Fishing from a kayak is what got me interested in softer rods, I can use all the help I can get keeping the pressure on, especially when I am transitioning from standing to sitting.

How do you feel softer rods and Newtons Third Law affects your hook sets in a kayak?

fishwizzard reply :

On 9/19/2018 at 4:19 AM, bholtzinger14 said:

How do you feel softer rods and Newtons Third Law affects your hook sets in a kayak?

Newton was likely a carp guy, so I don't trust his thoughts on bass fishing much ????

But seriously, I have not noticed any increased difficulty in hooksets, but I am talking about rods with an upper rating from 3/4 to like 3oz, so they still take a good bit of force to flex them much past the tip. Most of my kayak fishing is very close range in pretty shallow water, so there is not a lot of slack in the system to start with.

Vincent_Diesel reply :

On 9/18/2018 at 3:56 AM, Junger said:

Please don't take this the wrong way, but you might be focusing too much on bend shape. That rod has plenty of power for a stout hookset. Are you having issues with hooksets with that rod?

I started with XF/F MH jig rods and found I was losing a good amount of fish when they breached the water and head shook. Someone on this site linked this video from Matt Allen, and I switched to MBR rods and have lost a lot less and prefer a moderate fast rod for almost everything now.

This is great info. I have a Daiwa Tatula M R (medium - moderate fast tip) that I have bought strictly for crankbaits. Come to find out, that the areas I fish are not good for that type of fishing and I'm just not very good at it.

I am glad that the medium power with the moderate fast tip can be used for lighter weight jig fishing. Thanks for the vid.

bholtzinger14 reply :

On 9/20/2018 at 2:22 AM, Vincent_Diesel said:

I am glad that the medium power with the moderate fast tip can be used for lighter weight jig fishing. Thanks for the vid.

I have that same rod. It sits in my closet and never comes out b/c im not a big fan of squarebills and cranking.

Are you thinking maybe fishing a Strike King Bitsy Bug on it? If so I am willing to give that a try just to get this rod out on the kayak with me and get some use out of it.

Junger reply :

On 9/20/2018 at 2:22 AM, Vincent_Diesel said:

This is great info. I have a Daiwa Tatula M R (medium - moderate fast tip) that I have bought strictly for crankbaits. Come to find out, that the areas I fish are not good for that type of fishing and I'm just not very good at it.

I am glad that the medium power with the moderate fast tip can be used for lighter weight jig fishing. Thanks for the vid.

On 9/20/2018 at 2:56 AM, bholtzinger14 said:

I have that same rod. It sits in my closet and never comes out b/c im not a big fan of squarebills and cranking.

Are you thinking maybe fishing a Strike King Bitsy Bug on it? If so I am willing to give that a try just to get this rod out on the kayak with me and get some use out of it.

I have the Team Daiwa 7' M/XF which I use for light jigs and love it. It does not take a lot of force to bend the tip down and is a true XF bend IMO, it has a very soft tip. I also have the Cronos 7' M/R and personally I think that's too moderate for jigs. I absolutely love it for jerkbaits and light spinnerbaits (Booyah Pond Magic, War Eagle Finesse), but it doesn't hurt to try and see if you like it for your application or not.

Vincent_Diesel reply :

On 9/20/2018 at 2:56 AM, bholtzinger14 said:

I have that same rod. It sits in my closet and never comes out b/c im not a big fan of squarebills and cranking.

Are you thinking maybe fishing a Strike King Bitsy Bug on it? If so I am willing to give that a try just to get this rod out on the kayak with me and get some use out of it.

Yes the bitsy bug is the type of finesse jig I am talking about, jigs lighter than 1/2 ounce once trailered. In fact, I had just placed an order similar to these jigs today. The more I read about the similarities between cranking rods and finesse jigging rods I get all excited that I am not limited to cranks.

And yes this particular rod is too good to be sitting in your closet.

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Daiwa Zillion 741 MHRB - What would you use it for? 2025

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