Daiwa Tatula Reels: Tatula 100, SV, X and Elite Compared

The Daiwa Tatula is a family of bass casting reels, from the $149.99 Tatula X to the $349.99 Tatula 300. For one reel, buy the $199.99 Tatula 100 in 7.1:1. If you throw a lot of light lures, pay $50 more for the Tatula SV 100. None of these reels was fished for this page: specs and prices are Daiwa’s own, as of Nov. 11, 2026, and the opinions come from published reviews and owners.

Daiwa rates the $150 Tatula X and the $300 Tatula Elite for the same 11 lb of drag. The extra $150 goes into the spool and the brake, not pulling power.

Which Daiwa Tatula should you buy?

Match the reel to the fishing you do most. Every Tatula here is a casting reel for bass and other freshwater fish.

Get 7.1:1 if you’re not sure. Wired2Fish’s Shaye Baker asks for 6.8:1 to 7.3:1 on a first baitcaster. The 7.1:1 Tatula 100 takes in 29.8 in of line per turn of the handle. The gear ratio is how many times the spool turns for one turn of the handle.

What do X, SV, TW and Elite mean?

Daiwa’s names are the hard part. Outdoor Life’s tester counted 16 Tatula models on Daiwa’s site and calls it “a little confusing to navigate.” Read the name in three parts: the number, the letters, the word Elite.

The number is the size. A 100 is the standard bass reel. The 70 and 80 are smaller, for light lures. The 150 and 200 have deeper spools for heavy baits, and the plain 150 and 200 have stronger drags. The 300 is a big-bait reel at 11.5 oz.

TW is the T-Wing System, a T-shaped line guide. On the cast your line runs through its wide top, so it leaves the spool with less friction (TackleTour). Nearly every Tatula has it.

SV is a shallow spool with a brake that reacts to spool speed. It forgives a bad cast with a light lure. Bassmaster describes a light spool with a moving rotor that works with the brake’s magnets to control spool speed on the cast.

X is the cheapest Tatula, with fewer bearings. Elite is the top of the line, built for distance or, as the P/F, for pitching and flipping. BF means bait finesse, a tiny spool for very light lures.

A Tatula with no letters at all is the standard reel. Outdoor Life’s tester calls that one the staple in his arsenal, “a do-everything workhorse.”

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How do all the Tatula reels compare?

Daiwa’s own table gives no weight for the Tatula 100. The 6.9 oz is Tackle Warehouse’s figure. The Tatula 200 costs $239.99 in its fastest left-hand model, and its fastest ratio drops to 12.1 lb of drag. The 8.1:1 Tatula 300 is rated for 24.2 lb.

Read down the drag column. From $149.99 to $299.99 the 100-size reels sit at 11 lb. The one exception is the Elite P/F at 13.2 lb. The money buys bearings, the spool and the brake. If you want more drag, the answer is a bigger reel or the P/F, not a pricier 100.

Tatula 100 or Tatula SV 100?

Get the Tatula 100 unless light lures are a big part of your fishing. Both weigh 6.9 oz, both are rated for 11 lb of drag, and both come in 6.3:1, 7.1:1 and 8.1:1. The SV 100 costs $50 more for its shallow spool.

That spool is the whole difference. Outdoor Life’s tester puts it plainly: “If you throw a lot of lures under ⅜ ounce I would get a Tatula with the SV spool, which helps with throwing light baits.” Think a weightless fluke, a Ned rig or a small spinnerbait. The plain Tatula 100 has a magnetic Magforce brake. Below 3/8 oz is where that tester reaches for the SV.

The SV 100 takes in a little less line per turn at the same ratio. You’ll lose 1.5 to 1.9 in per turn on the SV.

It also holds less. Daiwa lists 100 yd of 14 lb mono on the SV 100 against 120 yd on the Tatula 100. Tackle Warehouse lists the Tatula 100 at 125 yd of 14 lb.

One Tatula owner on Tackle Warehouse hears “a weird geary noise when casting” on a Tatula 100 and 80. He hasn’t noticed it on his SV reels.

Is the $150 Tatula X good enough?

Yes, if $150 is your limit. On Daiwa’s sheet it matches the Tatula 100 where you’ll notice. It weighs 6.9 oz, has 11 lb of drag and takes in the same 26.3, 29.8 and 33.9 in per turn. It holds 150 yd of 12 lb mono. Its brake is magnetic too. Daiwa calls it Magforce-Z and says it’s built to cast far “with a broad spectrum of lures.”

What the extra $50 buys on the Tatula 100 is bearings: seven ball bearings and a roller, against five and a roller on the X.

New to casting reels? Set up the brake and spool tension before your first trip. The baitcaster page walks you through it, and the baitcaster combo page helps you match a rod.

Tatula 150, 200 or 300 for big baits?

Go to a bigger Tatula when the lure gets heavy, not the pricier 100. The Tatula 150 and 200 both cost $229.99, weigh 7.9 oz and are rated for 13.2 lb of drag.

The 150 is for power fishing. Daiwa built it for “deep cranking, punching, flipping, pulling chatter baits or swimbaits, and frogging.” The 200 has the deeper spool, for glide baits, swimbaits, A-rigs, frogs and rats.

The Tatula 300 is a different animal at 11.5 oz and $349.99. Its 28.7 lb of drag is Daiwa’s rating at 6.3:1 and 7.1:1. Daiwa calls it “a true 300-size reel for throwing big bass baits.”

Outdoor Life’s tester has fished the same Tatula 300 and 150 for three years “without a hiccup.” His one knock on the 150: it “doesn’t throw light lures well.” Keep a 100 for those.

Tatula 80, SV 70 or BF 70 for light lures?

These are the small Tatulas, all at 6.5 oz. They’re for lighter line and smaller lures than a 100 handles well.

• Tatula 80, $209.99. Daiwa designed it for 10 or 12 lb fluorocarbon or mono and 8 to 20 lb braid. It’s rated for 9.9 lb of drag. Tackle Warehouse had it on clearance at $159.97 in November 2026.
• Tatula SV 70, $279.99. The SV spool in the small frame. It holds 90 yd of 10 lb fluorocarbon, with 9.9 lb of drag.
• Tatula BF 70, $299.99. A bait finesse reel, made for 6 lb fluorocarbon, 50 yd of it, and 8.1:1 only. In Tackle Warehouse’s side-by-side of bait finesse reels it “took top honors for the best braking system,” the hardest to backlash.

Most bass anglers won’t need one of these yet. Try an SV 100 first. TackleTour found the earlier Tatula SV TW a good precision caster “with even lightweight lures 1/4oz. and below.”

Is the Tatula Elite worth $300?

Only if you know why you want it. The 2026 Tatula Elite TW 100 has the same 11 lb of drag as the $149.99 Tatula X and weighs 7.1 oz. What you pay for is distance.

Its spool has Daiwa’s Magforce-Z Boost. The magnets brake the spool in the first seconds of the cast to stop a backlash. Then, Daiwa says, “the magnetic influence is almost completely removed so the spool can rotate freely.” The aluminum spool, a 90 mm handle and a clicking drag come with it.

The Elite P/F is the pitching and flipping version. It gets 13.2 lb of drag, a 100 mm handle and a brake Daiwa tuned so the lure enters the water low and quiet. It comes in 7.1:1 and 8.1:1 only and holds 85 yd of 16 lb mono, so it’s a one-job reel.

Daiwa still lists the earlier Tatula Elite at the same $299.99, at 6.7 oz. Check the listing says “2026 Tatula Elite” if you want the new one.

Daiwa also sells a limited 60 Years Tatula SV TW 100 at $349.99, in 7.1:1 only. It has the SV 100’s 11 lb of drag in a silver finish.

What happened to the Tatula CT?

It’s gone. Daiwa’s US store has no Tatula CT in November 2026, and Tackle Warehouse’s Tatula CT page is down.

The CT was an earlier Tatula body. TackleTour’s 2017 review says the Tatula SV TW of that year “makes use of the CT tooling.” It had the same basic shape as the Tatula CT and CT Type R. If you find a CT left on a shop shelf, it’s an older reel. The cheapest Tatula in Daiwa’s line today is the Tatula X at $149.99.

The family goes back to 2013. TackleTour calls the first Tatula Daiwa’s ICAST debut that year, at $149.95, priced against Shimano’s Curado G.

Daiwa Tatula vs Shimano Curado and SLX

The SLX XT A’s 12 lb is Shimano’s rating at 6.3:1. The 7.2:1 and 8.2:1 models are rated for 11 lb, the same as the Tatula X. At about $145, the Shimano SLX XT A and the Tatula X are close. The Tatula X is 0.3 oz lighter and has one more bearing. The SLX has a metal Hagane body and Shimano’s SVS Infinity brake dial outside.

The Tatula 100 against the Curado 150M is the old fight. The Curado is 0.2 oz lighter and rated for 2 lb more drag. The Tatula is $35 cheaper. Both have a brake dial: magnetic on the Tatula, Shimano’s SVS Infinity on the Curado.

Pick the Tatula 100 to save the $35. The Curado’s 2 lb of extra drag won’t matter on most bass. If backlashes are your problem, neither is the answer: Shimano’s $314.99 Curado DC 150 A has a digital brake. The Shimano reels page has the rest of that ladder.

Can you use a Daiwa Tatula in salt water?

Treat the Tatula as a freshwater reel. None of Daiwa’s Tatula casting pages say the reel is built for salt water. For the coast, Daiwa sells the Coastal line. The $319.99 Coastal SV TW 150 is “designed for light tackle, inshore, saltwater enthusiasts.” Outdoor Life’s tester calls the Coastal “essentially a Tatula that’s saltwater capable.”

Is the Daiwa Tatula good?

Owners and reviewers like it. Tackle Warehouse’s owners give the Tatula 100 4.2 out of 5 over 25 reviews. Outdoor Life names the Tatula its best reel for any application. TackleTour gave the earlier Tatula SV TW 8.63 and an Editor’s Choice in 2017.

Three complaints come up.

• The brake. Some owners rate it low because the brake doesn’t seem to work. It’s a dial you turn for the lure and the wind, and one owner calls those ratings “all user error.” Into the wind, add a couple of clicks.
• Noise. One owner hears a gear noise on the cast on the standard Tatula 100 and 80, not on his SV reels.
• Parts. One owner took his apart and found the magnets broke.

Is there a Tatula spinning reel or rod?

Yes. The Tatula MQ LT spinning reel is $224.99 in sizes from 1000 to 4000, and the 3000 suits bass finesse if you’re shopping for the best spinning reel around $225. Daiwa also sells Tatula rods, from the $99.99 Tatula XT (a pick on the bass fishing rods page) to the Tatula Elite AGS at $329.99 and up.

The Daiwa reels page puts the Tatula beside the rest of Daiwa’s line, and the reels hub sets casting reels beside spinning ones.

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