Help Appreciated...Calcutta or Curado
Hey guys,
my old baitcaster has finally died, so I am looking for a new one. Currently have a cheapish shimano taipan rod, think its 6-8kg? This shouldnt be relevant though as I also plan on getting a new rod as well.
Currently I have my eyes set on either a calcutta TE or a curado E, in the 200 or 300 size. I would like to be able to use the reel for as much as possible, ie casting mid sized through to larger lures for barra, jewies and jack, the odd live bait and trolling for some pelagics when outside.
I love the look and solidness of the calcutta, but some people have been saying a curado 300 would be better value for money and is just as good. Also does anyone have any experience in how well the 300 size in each can cast smaller lures? Since the reel will be used for mostly casting then if I have to I will get the 200 size and a seperate reel for trolling. Unless a 200 has enough grunt to handle some bigger fish??
Thanks in advance
The trolling for pelagics bit takes out the 200 size straight up as you run a serious risk of spooling. Apart from that it may just come down to price and what you prefer. You should be able to pick up the Curado cheaper plus at that size it would probably be more user friendly when casting compared to the Calcutta. I had a 200 Calcutta and it was great for casting but unsure on the bigger models. I now have a Curado 200 E7 and very happy with it.
I dont see how you can compare them, the Calcutta is built for salt water with ARB bearings, the Curado is not. The Calcutta should also have more line capacity than the Curado
BOAT really does mean Bring out Another Thousand
Hi Chiller
You really are looking a 2 quite different reels - both in construction and capability. If you predominantly want to cast then the curado is the go. If you want a trolling reel then the TE should be the choice - Yes you can cast with the TE but it's not really at its best if the lures are lighter type HBs ( flatz ratz etc) They are popular NT barra trolling reels.
I still cant really understand why Shimano came up with the Curado 300 - big line capacity in a fairly light weight reel I certainly couldn't imagine fishing 50lb braid through it - & while it may represent good value (cheap) its really just a mid size casting reel with bigger capacity. The 200 Curado would be the best casting reel but then falls away in capacity
You might be better off buying 2 reels (Calcutta 400 for trolling & Curado 200 for casting) - and it would probably cost you the same !
I'll throw another reel into the fray for you - Daiwa Pluton 200 - Certainly bullet proof , cheaper than the TE , higher bearing count 8 CRBB- salt water friendly , Higher line capacity than the TE & Curado , better cast control Magforce Z - so it is a capable casting reel & 7kgs of Drag. Certainly the reel that would be good for a raft of aplications where you need Capacity power and strength.
Chris
Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
Teach him how to fish
& he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
TEAM MOJIKO
not to hijack the thread here, but i just wondered how many people use their Curados in salt water?
Reggy - are there issues ? ( bearings maybe if not maintained) ......... quite a few of my mates use them for Jack & barra fishing .Originally Posted by reggy
Chris
Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
Teach him how to fish
& he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
TEAM MOJIKO
yeah i do both with jack fishing and fw/sw barra fishing. i do the servicing bout once a year and give it a nice clean every time. a lot of fishing reels dont have arb bearings. dont see it being a major issue at all really if you keep up the maintenance and use the reel a bit. i know a few people have used curados for years in the salt and havnt had any issues.
yes, interesting. I never gave it much thought before, but I notice Shimano have "approved for saltwater use" on the Calcutta`s specs, but not on the Curado`s.
The curado 200E model has stainless bearings everywhere except for the pinion bearing, which is an anti-rust bearing. The reel is fine for use in saltwater - I been using mine for two years with no dramas. Once the spool bearings wear out, you can replace them with a pair of black anti-rust bearings (size 3x10x4) that you can get from Shimano. This is a 3 minute job. Shimano Australia are moving towards these bearings for all reel servicing I'm told, as they are very durable (similar to Daiwa CRBBs).
Note that you can get a Scorpion XT1500 from Japan which is the same as a Curado 200E but with better (smoother) gears and all anti-rust bearings. Cost is around $250 plus shipping (about $20).
The line capacity on a 200E is sizeable for a good quality 20-30lb braid - I've landed 15kg longtails on mine and never looked like being spooled. Personally, I think anything above a 200 size reel is too heavy for long casting sessions - I get a sore wrist with anything that weighs more than about 250g.
Yes mate my curados only really see saltwater.......no bearing issues yet.........but i do maintain them aswell.
Back to the original question.........IMO get a Calcutta 250 te..(great allrounder)......I have most of the reels you have mentioned,200,250,300 Calcuttas all te's and 2 dc's.....the 300 is a Conquest and it's heavy but gutsy.......Also have the Curado 200b.200dhsv and 200E7......all good but more suited to flicking lures and not trolling bluewater
Dan
I'm with Dan, Calcutta for trolling and some casting. The curado for the pure pleasure of casting all day. I don't know about Naggs pluton but if he reckons it can do both well it would be hard to argue. He's a bit of a techno fishing nut .
Pffff ...... techno fishing nutI'm with Dan, Calcutta for trolling and some casting. The curado for the pure pleasure of casting all day. I don't know about Naggs pluton but if he reckons it can do both well it would be hard to argue. He's a bit of a techno fishing nut .- no I just like that sort of fishing tackle
I have to say - I wouldn't want to be casting a pluton or TE all day as they are about 50% heavier than my Zillion Type R & 2.5 times heavier than my Steez .......I'm a wuz .
Honestly - I would buy 2 reels ( buy them overseas and you will spend the same coin as you would on 1 TE locally )
Chris
Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
Teach him how to fish
& he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
TEAM MOJIKO
Yeah Curado would definitely be the go for casting, great little reel for the price. I have a 200E7 and use it primarily for saltwater barra and jack fishing.
I've been using mine in the salt for a couple of years and although I maintain it regularly, because it gets a LOT of use there's still things that haven't held up. If you get one, first thing you should do is throw away the drag washer that comes with it and put in a carbontex or similar washer. The ones they ship with disintegrate pretty quickly and the lube they used to use (think it was dry), when mixed with water used to corrode the shaft it sat on. They also used to ship with an aluminium drag plate washer which used to pit and corrode really badly too when that lube got on it with even a touch of water. Shimano replaced mine free of charge with a stainless washer with a tiny little spacer. I believe that's what they ship with now from factory (will be able to let you know in a few days when a box full of them arrive from the states for me and my friends, ordered 6 @ $135 each
As for bearings, I've recently replaced all my bearings with Boca ceramic bearings, now no need to worry about corrosion anymore. Even with careful maintenance bearings still wear out and they get noisy and gritty. Ceramic bearings are still a bit noisy but oh so nice and smooth. I also had to replace the anti-reverse bearing on the handle shaft but this was a warranty job from Shimano. THe only other thing that goes wrong with them is another little part called the clutch cam retainer. It's just a light alloy with a chrome like plating and it tends to bubble and lose that coating after a while. Once again replaced by Shimano for free.
Otherwise a great reel and really nice to cast all day long. I haven't hesistated in grabbing another couple of these despite the issues I've had above. Now that they've changed that aluminium drag washer over, you probably won't see half of these issues and for the money, I can guarantee you'll be happy with it. Don't know about trolling for pelagics with them though, although I have caught a 90cm cpanish on mine but I was just being silly.
Hi Richard
Do the ceramic bearings have a ceramic race or is it only the balls that are ceramic? If the race is steel, then I would doubt if they could last any longer with regard to corrosion issues than stainless bearings.
I have also read that the ceramic balls can not be produced as perfectly round as steel ones, so am wondering how they can run smoother than all steel bearings.
Nah, there's still S/S races but most of the time I think wear is on the bearings themselves.. so while they won't be there forever, I think they should outlast the standard ones in a saltwater environment.
The reason i think they feel smoother is that they are ABEC #7's, just a higher grade than what's available from Shimano. Once again, not sure but i think Shimano use ABEC #3 ? anyone know for sure ?
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