Roadblock

Picked up a new 2014 Shimano Curado 200I a few weeks ago and the reels been great but I've developed what I would call a screeching sound while casting. It doesn't happen every cast but it went from a one or two per fishing trip to a every other couple casts. Sometimes it happens for the full distance of the cast and other times it happens for half of the cast and disappears while my baits mid flight. It sounds like its directly related to the spool spinning and the sound changes if or when I feather or ride the spool. Bearing? Will Shimano send me a bearing OR should I just return the reel to Cabela's? I plan to buy Hawgtech's bearings at some point BUT it's a new reel and I really want to fix it now without spending money. I was kinda waiting til I could afford the a Hawgtech carbon fiber 102mm crank and cork knobs too! Thanks!

No but they had them in two sections. They had them out on the shelf like a normal reel then they also had some on an end cap. They had ALL of the PT's on clearance for $67.98. I picked the PT40 though as my wife already had one of the smaller Quantum reels and this was an upgrade for her to use for large mouth bass. Oh and the fact is was marked $29.99 helped me pick the PT40!

I have limited experience with both of them BUT I just bought a Smoke from Cabela's on clearance. My friend had the Symetre and had recommend it to me. I fished with his on a couple trips and absolutely loved it. I was ALL set to buy one but then I saw that Cabela's has marked their Smokes down from like $170.00 to $67.98. This same friend said he had used the Smoke and for the price would recommend the Smoke over the Symetre. So I went to get a Smoke for $67.98 and found one at the back of the pile with a mis-marked tag and Cabela's honored the price. I ended up getting the Smoke for $29.99. Fast forward a couple weeks, it is the smoothest spinning reel we have ever owned. I say we because I bought it for my wife but I've sure used it a few times recently! Anyway if you have a Cabela's, check there first. They are clearancing them out. Oh and here is the one I bought with the mis-marked price! The sticker it NOT the right one for the product. I think someone who worked there purposely marked it at $29.99 so someone could come get it because they are anti-tamper price stickers and it looked untouched, newly stuck to the box. Plus it was hidden at the bottom back of the pile. I just found it first!

I flip, I do not whip! I actually cast farther flipping than whipping. I was under the impression flipping under hand or over head two handed was preferred but always a flip, never really a whip. Flushed the bearings. It's a new reel but it's possible they had gummed up oil in them. Who knows how clean the Malaysian factory is and how long the reels sat before I bought it. Obviously it's a current model but still. I'm not sure I trust those numbers on the St. Croix rods or any rod either as being a good indicator of what weight bait I have to use. For example, I have the 7" MHM Mojo Bass rod and I just picked up the 7" MHM Eyecon Walleye rod lastnight to compare it to. Exact same rod other than color. Same SCII blanks, same everything. One is rated 3/8 to 1oz, the other is rated 1/2 to 3oz but someone told me they were the SAME rods so I called St. Croix Customer support and they confirmed this. Eh anyway I may play around with different lines too but I've got my brake set loose and I've pretty much got thumb control down. I have to feather my line lightly to avoid backlash so I'm very sure the baits are not dragging the spool. I also have to stop the spool as my baits make water contact or I spit out a ton of line and backlash. I reset the tension with each bait and I prefer very loose. Loose gets me the best distance.

I actually have a Mojo Bass rod sitting in the back of my SUV now and I would agree that the rod is not purple per say when you look at it straight on. Under light it's more of a black cherry purple color and the St. Croix and Mojo logo's are more of a violet color. I actually picked it up before learning of the Eyecon casting rod. I was going to add a couple anodized parts to the Curado to customize my reel and I would rather match green parts to a green Eyecon rod that purple parts to the Mojo! This is just me being picky!

OK I just went threw all of the posts, thanks guys for the feedback! I reset the spool tension for each bait. I have it set pretty loose for each one. If I hit the button the baits DROP! If I don't thumb brake the spool it will backlash. I have to feather the spool before it touches down or I would get backlash. I was under the impression this was the correct way to run them. If I ran it any tighter it would seem like it would cause drag? I almost have it setup so that the spool outruns the bait, it's border line. If I tighten the tension it almost would feel like the bait was pulling the spool.

Well as far at the casting learning curve, this reel took me about 3 casts to figure out. What I mean is, how cast without back-lash or bird nests. I only get those if I let it get those now. I do two types of fishing. I cast near something up close by shore, near downed trees or grass. When I'm doing that I like to put the bait in a pretty specific place. I've gotten that down to about a 1~3 foot radius depending my distance. I can pretty much put them where I want them. When I'm fishing like that, distance isn't important. Normally I'm using cranks that go say 4~5 feet down. Then sometimes I cast out in deeper 15~20 foot water where I want to put the baits out there as far at I can. Normally I'll run something like a 3/8 buzz-bait, or a 3/8 lipless sinking crank and let it drop down and when I'm using baits like that I would prefer to cover more ground so to speak. Accuracy isn't really important, but distance is so I've got more distance to run the baits before I have to cast again. Will start by flushing the bearings and see where that gets me and maybe try playing with the brake some more.

It's rated for 3/8 to 1oz, Medium-Heavy action. I have the brake set to 2 on, 2 off and then the adjustment knob is at setting 2. I don't think the brake is the issue because if I don't manually brake my spool it will spit out line after the crankbaits hit the water so the point of bird-nesting. Most of my cranks are shallow, yes. I think the deepest I use it 5 feet. I prefer most of them around 5/16 in weight. Been using Ike's Rapla DT-4's a lot lately. I can cast them father on my Shimano TX-110Q (1985 era spinning reel) and a Quantum Smoke PT40 spinning reel. This is my FIRST baitcaster and I'm still learning. I have gotten casting down to the point that I can put them where I want them within the range I know it "can" cast for me, I'm no longer getting backlash or anything either. I pretty much have casting down, I just expected it to go father.

That is what I was hoping to hear. I would gladly pay the $10.00 dollars extra to get green rather than purple! Nothing against purple, I just prefer green over purple. I really wish they had a blue option that wasn't the $250.00 dollar Tournament Bass rod! I almost bought the Tournament Bass rod but I just can't justify $250.00 for a rod, I'm just a weekend bass fishermen who goes out with his wife and kids for fun. Thanks guys!

I would like to maximize my casting distance so I can spend more time cranking and less time casting. Also it would be nicer to pull my baits over a greater distance to increase the chances of actually getting more fish! I have a 2014 Shimano Curado 200I on a St. Croix 7" Crankbait Mojo Bass rod. I'm currently running 20lb Power Pro Slick 8 line, I also have the same line in 15lb but I've not tried it yet. If I had to guess, I'm casting 60~75 feet? I use 5/16 and 3/8 crankbaits. Looking at some Hawgtech bearings for my reel. Would those make a noticeable difference? Was watching this video, seems less drag would help..?

I have a questions about the Mojo Bass and Eyecon from St. Croix. They seem to pretty much be the same rod. They look the same anyway. I see a few spec differences listed but how much do these really matter? I plan to use whatever rod I get for general fishing, mostly bass but I honestly would prefer the green color over the purple so I'm wondering if someone can explain the really differences and how much do they matter? Here are the specs on the two models I'm looking at: St. Croix Eyecon MODEL TECHNIQUE LGTH. PWR. ACTION PCS. LINE WT. LURE WT. ROD WT. (OZ.) HANDLE PRICE ECC70MHM Bounce-N-Troll 7' MH Mod. 1 6 - 12 1/2 - 3 4.3 3 $ 120 St Croix Mojo Bass MBC70MHM Crankbait 7' MH Mod. 1 10 - 20 3/8 - 1 4.0 2 $ 110 If you are holding the two, they look the same. Not sure why one is listed at 2 handle and one is 3, they seem to have the same handles.

Hell I better start looking at the G Loomis and St. Croix racks then! Yeah I think I might actually stop on the way home. Getting two SL40's for a $100 dollars wouldn't be a bad deal really.

Yeah it's a REALLY nice reel. It's VERY smoooooooooth! Bought it for my wife. I just bought myself a new Shimano Curado 200I baitcaster. Was my first baitcaster. This was replacing my 1985 Shimano TX-110Q spinning reel. My wife was rocking an older Quantum so I thought at $67.98 it would get a GREAT deal based on the feedback I got here and reviews I read but hey, even better at $29.99 right?! Anyway like I said, I'm not going to complain to anyone! I really want a second one of these reels to upgrade my old spinning rod now too but I would "almost" have a hard time paying $67.98 for another one when I scored this

Yeah I think I'll pick one up for the wife tonight. She has two rods that her ex had bought for her years ago and only one of them has a reel. The nicer one of the two has a little tiny Quantum pan fish spinning reel on it and it really struggles to pull in Bass. She always says but I don't need a new reel, I like fighting them! Well it's not really fighting them as much as the reel is just too d**n small for anything larger than sunfish! The pole can definitely take a larger reel. Then she has a little lite-medium rod that we can toss her current Quantum on that will give her a spare for a loaner. OK everyone, thanks for the feedback! Going to give it a shot!

So a local shop has a few of these sitting in the clearance bin for. I checked Bass Pro and Cabela's Online, Dicks, Amazon etc and they seem to run right around $159~169.00 new. I'm a Shimano fan myself, I have a couple older Shimano Spinning Reels and I've also got a new 2014 Shimano Curado 200I Baitcaster. I'm pretty brand loyal to Shimano you might say. I was all set to buy a Shimano Symetre 2500, used from a local guy for $60.00 dollars, comes in the box with EVERYTHING (used for only part of this season) but then I happened to see these Smoke's in my local shop. I knew when I saw them they were $150+ dollar reels so I did a quick Google search on the above part number. Thoughts on this reel? I know Quantum is kind of then under dog in the industry but my wife has an older Quantum and it seems to be holding up well. Not a $170.00 dollar Quantum but still. Just looking to add another spinning setup to the family, all of our current spinning reels/rods are more for pan fish, they struggle to pull in any decent sized Bass. Sounds like the Smoke would be a good reel for the price, but never hurts to ask! Thoughts?

So like I said I picked up the Mojo and I had it out yesterday and I had a huge bass on my spinner and couldn't tell. I thought I hit some weeds, I had a bass running with it. It's felt like I was stuck but then I saw my line start running threw the water and I was like OH CRAP A FISH! I got the Medium-Heavy Crankbait Mojo rod, I'm reconsidering it. I just did a bunch of reading on the *** and it sounds like an amazing rod for the price. Which model should I get looking at? I like roughly 7 foot, medium-heavy'ish. My reel is the Shimano Curado 200I and I run 20 pound Power Pro line. I mostly fish with either 1/4 or 3/8 baits. I use cranks, spinners, chatterbaits, but sometimes Whacky Rigs using Senko's..

I have a brand new bag of Pumpkin w/ Red Flake in 6 inch and Baby Bass in 5 inch. Was going to try them out as Whacky Rigs this weekend.

So I'm about to go buy a St. Croix Legend Tournament Bass Rod but I'm not sure which one I want. I will be using a Shimano Curado 200I with this rod. I currently have a St. Croix Mojo Bass rod, 7'0" length, Medium Heavy. I normally use 3/8 cranks, spinners, buzzbaits etc. Right now I'm trying to decide between one of these two: What would be a comparable rod to the Mojo in the Legend Tournament Bass line?

Funny you mention that. I returned the Berkley Lightening Rod and bought a St. Croix Mojo Bass tonight in medium-heavy, 7'0" length. I really wanted the nice blue St. Croix Tournament Bass rod but it was hard enough coughing up the money for the cost of the Curado. I don't mean hard to come up with it, but hard spending THAT much on a reel when my 1985 Shimano TX-110Q my father left me works fine! The Mojo Bass is really nice though. Really the only reason I liked the Tournament Bass was due to the color. I love blue and that thing is sexy but the color wasn't worth another $140.00 dollars! Yes yes, I know it has other enhancements and features but hey the St. Croix Mojo Bass well be plenty of rod for me! As far as the Hawgtech crank, that had nothing to do with tricking out the reel. That was purely because the rubber knobs SUCK that much. I was going to just order the Hawgtech cork knobs as the 2014 Curado has an off-set crank already but they specifically state that while the factory Shimano knobs WILL work on the Hawgtech crank, the Hawgtech cork knobs will not work on the factory Shimano crank. I do like the look of carbon fiber though, that is dang sexy regardless!

Just thought I would given an update. I took the Shimano Curado I Series and the Berkley Lightening Shock Rod out and fished with them for about 3 hours on Tuesday. They worked OK together. That said I have a couple complaints about the rod. It's somewhat cheaply built. Had a few sharp edges and the cork was VERY soft. By the end of the day I had gouged out a chunk by accident. Again for the price, not bad at all really. I'm going to pickup the spinning rod version for my 1985 Shimano TX-110Q that I use religiously. Would make a good bang for the buck upgrade. I would like something a little longer and heavier for this reel and I don't want to spend hundreds on a rod for a real that was $50 or so new in 1985! So back to the Shimano Curado, I decide that I wanted a little higher end of a rod. I went to Cabela's and a local place called Al and Bobs and checked out a bunch of rods. Everything from Shimano, G Loomis, St. Croix etc. Again, I wanted to keep my price to around $100~125 as I said. I REALLY REALLY wanted the St. Croix Tournament Bass Rod. OMG that thing is sexy. The blue color would be awesome with this reel. However I did not want to spend $250.00 dollars on a rod! More in my price range was the St. Croix Mojo Bass. I ended up getting a 7'0' Medium-Heavy Mojo. Little higher end of a rod than I've ever owned, more of a mid level rod compared to other St. Croix rods but WAY better than anything I've ever owned like I said. The feel is much nicer than the Berkley was. The fit and finish it GREAT. The cork is hard and going to hold up much better I'm sure. Going to take this combo out this weekend and give it a spin. I was able to return the Berkley Lightening Shock rod and get my money back so I'm not out the $40 or so on that. I got the Mojo Bass for $89.99 with a $20.00 off coupon at Cabela's. Plus, I had a $67 dollar gift card anyway so really by the time I returned the Berkley, It didn't cost me anything. Worked out OK I think. Recap, I'm now running a 2014 Shimano Curado 200 I Series right hand model on a 7'0" Medium-Heavy St. Croix Mojo Bass Rod with Aqua Green colored Power Pro 20lbs line.

Yes I want the Hawgtech 102mm offset crank with the cork knobs. The thing just looks SO sexy!

I've never had any luck fishing with frog looking baits BUT when I was a kid we could catch live frogs and use them as bait. The Bass would swallow them up as fast as they hit the water! I honestly miss doing that!

So the learning curve on the Curado was about 3 casts after watching a couple video's here on Bass Resource. Out of about 50~60 casts yesterday I only had 2 birds nest backlashes after the first 3 where I was adjusting the spool tension. I did end up getting the right handle model because I could not find a left in-stock locally. I see the pro's and con's to both. As a right hand spinning reel user, a left hand baitcaster would have been more natural to me. However based on how I've been using the baitcaster, I see why I would want my primary right hand to be on the crank too. I have two complaint. First one and this is really the biggest one, the rubber crank knobs. I HATE THEM!!@#!@# They have a very tacky feeling to them and dirt, sand and other crap sticks to them. I'm constantly using my fingers to brush dirt and sand off of them that gets on my hands from handling weeds, bait etc. Really wish this reel came with hard plastic knob's to get me started. I know this is supposed to be a premium feature but um NO! I definitely see a set of cork Hawgtech knobs in my future. Going to do a 102mm offset carbon fiber crank with cork knobs at some point. The other thing is that since being right handed I cast right handed if I take my thumb off the spool after casting a bait that sinks, the spool wants to start to spin out if it's set to lightly before I can get the rod over to my left hand and set the crank. I found myself casting with my right hand, then reaching OVER the reel and using my left hand to set the crank / spool before passing the rod off from right to left hand. Would be nice to not have to switch hands BUT again I can see why I would want to crank with my right hand vs. left on a baitcaster being right handed and all. I was thinking about returning the right hand Curado I and buying a left hand, another local shop has some due in on Friday but I have 90 days to return the right hand one to Cabela's under their 90 day satisfaction return policy so I think I'm going to stick it out for most of the 90 days and see if I can get used to passing the rod off. Other than that I LOVE this reel. I was a bit defensive about trying a baitcasting reel as I've used spinning reels for my entire life but I gotta say, within a day I'm casting this baitcaster twice as far as I've EVER casted a spinning setup. Almost makes me think maybe I should look into a new spinning reel too, I see Shimano has some new features that aid with casting longer distances. I'm still using a Shimano TX-110Q from 1985 as it was my fathers who passed. Fishing was his thing so I like fishing with his reel. Side note, it's NEVER been cleaned or oiled so maybe it's time to do that but since the reel doesn't move when casting, I don't think that would help casting longer distances anyway. Sorry just rambling a little here, thinking about things as I type! In short I'm VERY happy with the Shimano Curado 200 I Series reel as my FIRST baitcaster, well other than those dang rubber knob's!

OK I picked the right rod then. I normally fish with what you would call crank baits and not plastic worms although I did just get some whacky rigs but that is not my norm.