Northwest Fishing Reports

Can I get some recommendations for a baitcaster for steelhead? I was thinking about the Shimano Curado since Ive heard good things. Any thoughts?

The newer cheaper Curados are reportedly not what they used to be, but can't speak from experience. I'm currently using an Abu Garcia Revo STX that I really enjoy and have heard good things about the Diawa Lexa models too, but there are many good baitcasters out there. You might try a forum search on he topic as it's been addressed before. Good luck with your decision.

the curado e series will always be the best, but dont get me wrong, i own a g series and theyre just fine also, but this years chronarch is basically a tweaked and repainted curado e, so its your choice, a citica is just fine also, revos are good too, it all depends on you, with magnetic brakes or centrifugal breaks, im more of a centrifugal guy so i stick with shimanos most of the time.

IMO...you can't go wrong with anything Shimano. Just me. I fish the older Curados for bass, salmon, and steelhead. I look on Ebay and have picked up some nice reels for decent prices.

goonatic wrote:the curado e series will always be the best, but dont get me wrong, i own a g series and theyre just fine also, but this years chronarch is basically a tweaked and repainted curado e, so its your choice, a citica is just fine also, revos are good too, it all depends on you, with magnetic brakes or centrifugal breaks, im more of a centrifugal guy so i stick with shimanos most of the time.

Is there a big difference between magnetic and centrifugal?

I love the Abu Garcia Black Max 2. Its 50$ at Cabelas and Ive never had a issue with it. Smooth as can be

BentRod wrote:The newer cheaper Curados are reportedly not what they used to be, but can't speak from experience. I'm currently using an Abu Garcia Revo STX that I really enjoy and have heard good things about the Diawa Lexa models too, but there are many good baitcasters out there. You might try a forum search on he topic as it's been addressed before. Good luck with your decision.

The curado g series isn't worth the price tag. The Chronarch is the new curado. Some of the lesser priced reel will serve you well, but they will fail eventually. It depends on how much use they get. I fish my gear hard and have been finding that the cheap stuff starts getting bad in the same amount of time as the good stuff. It really depends on how much you have to spend as to what I'd recommend.

natetreat wrote:

BentRod wrote:The newer cheaper Curados are reportedly not what they used to be, but can't speak from experience. I'm currently using an Abu Garcia Revo STX that I really enjoy and have heard good things about the Diawa Lexa models too, but there are many good baitcasters out there. You might try a forum search on he topic as it's been addressed before. Good luck with your decision.

The curado g series isn't worth the price tag. The Chronarch is the new curado. Some of the lesser priced reel will serve you well, but they will fail eventually. It depends on how much use they get. I fish my gear hard and have been finding that the cheap stuff starts getting bad in the same amount of time as the good stuff. It really depends on how much you have to spend as to what I'd recommend.

That is true Nate, the expensive gear comes from the same"reel factory" in china and has almost all plastice parts. no reason to pay more for the same low quality that you will have to pay to have serviced under the warranty.

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strider43 wrote:

natetreat wrote:

BentRod wrote:The newer cheaper Curados are reportedly not what they used to be, but can't speak from experience. I'm currently using an Abu Garcia Revo STX that I really enjoy and have heard good things about the Diawa Lexa models too, but there are many good baitcasters out there. You might try a forum search on he topic as it's been addressed before. Good luck with your decision.

The curado g series isn't worth the price tag. The Chronarch is the new curado. Some of the lesser priced reel will serve you well, but they will fail eventually. It depends on how much use they get. I fish my gear hard and have been finding that the cheap stuff starts getting bad in the same amount of time as the good stuff. It really depends on how much you have to spend as to what I'd recommend.

That is true Nate, the expensive gear comes from the same"reel factory" in china and has almost all plastice parts. no reason to pay more for the same low quality that you will have to pay to have serviced under the warranty.

Not true at all actually. Different reel manufacturers have different facilities in different locations, and the consistency in the quality can be apparent from facility to facility. For example, the old curado E and the new chronarch E were/are made in Japan, whereas production of the new curado g was moved to shimano's factory in malaysia where they build all of their cheap reels. This may actually sound worse than it is. Apparently shimano has a pretty badass/state of the art facility in malaysia that is actually newer and more up to date than the japanese facility, and so far as I can tell the malaysian facility seems to turn out a fairly consistent product. I have seen very few lemons out of the lower end shimanos. However, there is no disputing the difference in quality between, say, a curado g and a chronarch e. The chronarch is just a better reel in ever way possible.

The only other baitcasters I would recommend besides a shimano at this point would definitely be an abu garcia. Their new line that came out (last year?) put the old low profile abu's to shame (which wasn't difficult to do considering they were garbage). I definitely wouldn't go the black max route, the drag on those reels is pretty poor (you get what you pay for). If you were looking for a decent entry level baitcaster I think the one that I would be looking at is the orra sx. At 99 bucks its a steal of a deal. They are a fine reel for the money.

Daiwa Lexa, either the 300 or the 100 series. I have thrown the Abu's and the Shimano's and enjoyed them all but I gotta say that the Lexa's just felt more comfortable to use. Very solid, light and easy to use reels that I have punished over the past year without any issues to complain about.

I've had or used them all. My current favorite is a quantum PT but then I also like my ABU 5500. I really feel the magnetic casting brakes are more user friendly and easier to adjust on the fly. Regardless of the brand reel you get, I say look for a mag brake. but both is even better.

The better Pflueger has been the best, and I do like Shimano, but for fishing in that weight range I still use Ambassadeurs a fair amount. I've got just under 20 baitcasters, and the Pflueger is best overall. I'd stay away from Penn. They never have gotten the hang of the lighter reels, even though their drags have been among the best over the decades, and their heavy reels are among the best. Just my experience. It will boil down to what fits you the best.

What I use that have been bulletproof for me.

#1 Simano Curado 200e7 - low profile, fast retrieve. I've got two, wouldn't trade em for anything and if I run across any more (right hand retrieve) I would jump on em.

#2 Daiwa Lexa 300HS - I wanted a low profile reel able to handle just a little more than my Curado for Kings and such, turns out I use it for everything and really like it. If I am ever in need of another smaller baitcaster I would not hesitate to give the 100 a try.

I have no experience with daiwa. but have blown up to Black Maxs and bought a silvermax and was not very impressed. My main real is a shimano citica e and I love it.i also bought an okuma Calais? I think. Got it f9r 80 bucks on sale at three Rivers as a back up/loaner. I actually like better than the silver max.

I've been using the Abu Garcia black max 2. It's my first bait caster and I love it. Really easy to get the hang of once everything is adjusted correctly. I rarely will get a backlash although it does still happen. But it's a great reel to learn on. And it's an awesome price at cabelas.

i own 4 of the Lew"s tournament pro's... damn good baitcasters... easy to adjust and they cast a mile... they run about 150 a piece,so kind of mid grade for price ... I don't care for Diawa's ....

natetreat wrote:

BentRod wrote:The newer cheaper Curados are reportedly not what they used to be, but can't speak from experience. I'm currently using an Abu Garcia Revo STX that I really enjoy and have heard good things about the Diawa Lexa models too, but there are many good baitcasters out there. You might try a forum search on he topic as it's been addressed before. Good luck with your decision.

The curado g series isn't worth the price tag. The Chronarch is the new curado. Some of the lesser priced reel will serve you well, but they will fail eventually. It depends on how much use they get. I fish my gear hard and have been finding that the cheap stuff starts getting bad in the same amount of time as the good stuff. It really depends on how much you have to spend as to what I'd recommend.

under $150 would be my price range

Watch the sales and EBay and you should be able to pick up a very top end reel for that price. New.

The Abu Garcia black max is a great deal for the price. I learned on one and it served me well. Its on sale at Outdoor Emporium for $30 for the month of November. Its a good reel for 50, and great for 30. I just bought a Shimano Curado 201E7 on ebay (Shimano discontinued the smaller curado e`s) for $170, if I were to buy one new, I would get the Chronarch.