Daiwa 2019 Millionaire CT SV70 Casting Reel Product Review

Enthusiast Review

Round Reel Refinement - The JDM Daiwa Millionaire CT SV70

Date:	4/29/20
Tackle Type:	Reel
Manufacturer:	Daiwa
Reviewer:	Cal

Total Score: 8.33 + ULTIMATE ENTHUSIAST AWARD

Introduction: Originally brought onto to TackleTour as a specialists of sorts, concentrating primarily on enthusiast tackle, my responsibilities have expanded through the years to include product spanning the spectrum from affordability to "you've got to be kidding me." Recently, I've been writing about far more of the former than the latter, but enthusiast level tackle will always have my soul. Afterall, it is in the high end tackle where all the excitement occurs.

There's nothing like a little JDM magic to brighten up those tackle doldrums

Earlier this year, feeling a general malaise of indifference brought about by an overload of every day tackle, I went on a bit of a spree to feed my enthusiast soul. The Conquest 842C MBR was part of this prescription. The subject of today's review continued my recovery. Here's our look at Daiwa Japan's 2019 Millionaire CT SV70.

Daiwa 2019 Millionaire CT SV70 Specifications
Line Capacity - Rated	12lb/70yds
Line Capacity - Spool Volume	7.8 cm³
Retrieve Ratio	6.3	7.2
Inches Per Turn (IPT) - calculated	15 - 23.5	17 - 26.5
Weight	7.5 oz
Spool Weight	10 g
Handle Length	80 mm
Bearings	10 + 1
Bearings per Knob	2 bearings
Rated Max Drag	~11 lbs
Origin	Made in Japan
MSRP	52,500 JPY ( ~$462)

Introducing Daiwa Japan's Millionaire CT SV70

Impressions: From the original to the Bay Casting Special, to the M-Ito 103, to the I'ZE Light & RinGa HL, and of course, to Megabass's Monoblock (and the countless variants), Daiwa's Millionaire platform has always had my attention. With the rise of Ryoga/Pluton and the predictable variants thereof, Millionaire had kind of taken a back seat. In fact, aside from those afore mentioned Monoblock variants, I was under the impression Millionaire was retired.

Note the spool on the left is from a 2003 Millionaire Bay Casting Special hence the black GIGAS spool

Then 2019 happened and Daiwa debuted the subject of today's review. Millionaire CT SV70 comes to us with all the classic lines and shapes of the original platform but with the added twist of a smaller spool and that finesse, SV tuning. This Millionaire is BFS (bait finesse system) enabled!

The CT SV70 comes with an 80mm swept aluminum handle

Real World Tests: Daiwa's Millionaire CT SV70 spent time on a few different rods and had the benefit of being spooled with a couple different line weights for its real world tests. Those fishing rods included Megabass's F3.5-65GTC Hien Type-S, F4-72GTZ ICBM Biwako Guide Special, and a Lew's Pro-Ti TLPT170M. The two lines I fished on this reel were 8lb Seaguar Tatsu and 10lb YGK G-Soul Tour Grade Fluorocarbon.

Casting brakes are adjusted via this palm plate on the non-handle side of the reel

Casting: My goal in matching the Millionaire CT SV70 with the Hien Type-S and 8lb Tatsu was to fish the reel in finesse applications. The most practical way I know how to do that is to simply tie on a drop shot rig that consisted of a small, #2 hook, a 1/16 oz sinker, and the worm du jour (Roboworm's 6" Straight Tail - total lure weight 7 grams or ~0.25 oz). The Millionaire CT SV70 handled this with surprising ease and I even had the magnetic brakes set pretty aggressively.

Yes, the CT SV70 is indeed finesse enabled

That told me the CT SV70 could handle more (or actually less), but I didn't really have anything in my arsenal that was a practical application so I tried that drop shot rig with the worm but without the weight (5 grams) and with the weight but without the worm (2 grams). The 6" straight tail Roboworm without the weight was still pretty easy to cast and the bare weight without the worm was manageable if I dialed back on the brakes. Granted, a bare weight is pretty easy to cast but the point is, the Millionaire CT SV70 is definitely BFS enabled.

Gears are super smooth but not the Hyper Mesh design

Retrieve: I acquired the CT SV70SHL (7.2:1) and while it served perfectly fine as a drop shot reel, I eventually transitioned the reel to moving bait duties to get a better sense of its other attributes. In this mode, the Millionaire CT SV70SHL demonstrated very smooth performance. In fact, it's so smooth, I was curious to find out if Daiwa Hyper Mesh enabled the gears in this reel. Upon disassembly, I discovered a very diminutive gear with standard sized teeth.

I was surprised at how small that gear actually is

The reel features a swept, aluminum handle that measures 80 millimeters center of knob post to center of knob post. Capping the handle are slim, rubberized I-knobs with two bearings of support each. The handle is a bit short by today's standards but it's perfectly in scale with the reel and works fine when you're out on the water. At no time did I feel the handle was too short. I found the knobs super comfortable to grasp.

Enough with the finesse. How about something bigger?

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