Poolshark

I say go with the citica or curado. I prefer aluminum frames. In all honesty, I have had great luck with both companies. I'd just get the one I felt more comfortable with. Lews and shimano are both solid. The svs is easy. Set to two breaks on. Set your cast control knob to let the bait move with slight resistance, and keep the dial at 2 or 3. From there, just adjust the dial to where you are comfortable and what you are throwing.

The 200k is solid and has its place in my lineup. It feels slightly more palmable than the I. But I've grown to love the palmability of the 70 sized reels and wish I had a dozen more of them. Go with what feels better to you. The 200k is probably the most versatile reel out of the two, but aside from throwing heavy/high resistance baits, I prefer the 70 for everything else.

I was going to suggest this. Once you buy the reel, pay for servicing it and shipping it around the country... You might have just as well bought a new one. These are fairly cheap reels. If it were a more expensive reel( like a Calcutta or conquest) than I would think differently.

some parts are tough to find for these reels. I had a tough time finding a pinion gear for one of my 201 bsf. As for upgrading the cast control cap to metal... I'm not 100 % sure but I think that the metal cap from a 200 bsf might work in a cu 200. Ebay has some used ones/caps on sale with the spring. Hope that helps.

Ive heard it said before that using the same series and manufacturer for all your rods can be more consistent. I used to use exclusively st Croix avids; But, I can't help that st Croix makes my favorite senko rod and Abu makes my favorite lipless rod. It just worked out that way.

i keep one on a worm/jig rod and I'm happy with it. It's light, small and palms nicely. I like it as much as my curado 70's, (it doesn't cast light lures quite as the 70) but still handles them sufficiently. I don't have anything negative to say about the reel except the lews emblem fell off a couple of weeks into using it... First world problem.

st Croix makes some phenominal shorter worm/jig rods. 6'6 mhf avid... 6'8 mhf legend tournament bass. Both in your the price range. They are both powerful rods and do well fishing cover.

1/2 ounce range to me is in 844 territory, but if you are going to use it for plastics and senkos as well than I think you made a good choice with the 843. It will handle it just fine. honestly if it were me, I'd let the amount of cover I was normally fishing to decide. I've been guilty of over complicating rod selection too much in the past. the 843 mbr in any variety is one of the most versatile rods out there.

I have that rod and love it. It is a phenominal jig rod and works well with top water frogs. I actually enjoy using the 6 1/2 ft avid for frog fishing. It's closer to a heavier power...

Bass pro did the same thing with the super duty earlier this year. My guess is they will update the model line

most modern casting reels are engineered to tighter tolerances than the reels of old. Therefore, they need to be maintained more often. I've liked shimanos since the b series curados and calcuttas and never had a problem with any of them. The newer ones, the I and g series have been good as well but I can't skip maintainence with these without them squealing or getting rough much faster than the older ones did. This doesn't make the new reels more problematic, just need to serviced... the only thing I'm wary of is on the newer shimanos are the seemingly flimsy hardware to open and close the side plates...only time will tell there. If you don't like that, then just get calcuttas or ambassaduers and they should last you a very long time.

I've had breakage issues with Berkeley vanish as well. Switch brands. Also, keep experimenting and trying new knots. I have never had a leader break on me while fighting a fish and that includes yanking then out of some pretty thick cover.

I still use my old bantam curados. Some of the best reels ever made. Mine were all on 6 1/2 foot avids for years. I think they balance nice on shorter rods. the newer curados are light years away in comfort and casting performance (lighter baits). I am skeptical of the hardware on the newer reels though. If you are replacing the rod, I'm a fan of St Croix personally. The bass x is ok, the mojo bass is better. I own quite a few of the newer sc111's and find that the slim handles fit the old greenies nicely.

Thanks for the input. I ended up nabbing a combo and must say for $119 it's a killer deal. i used it today and caught a few fish and don't think I could have made a better purchase for the price. Hopefully it holds up...

Noticed at my local bass pro I can pair an pro q 2 rod and reel together for $119. Seems like a good deal.... I'm in the market for a new frog combo and wanted to see if anyone has any feedback. I've heard somewhere that the reels with the combos aren't always as good, but they'll pull a lefty reel off the shelf for me if I wanted and match it to a rod. are the new reels any good?

I throw a lot of 4 and 5 inch senkos, trick worms with 1/8 ounce weights and weightless flukes. aside from that it might see an occasional 3/8 ounce swim jig, spinnerbait and Texas rig. I'll have to decide weather to save 20 bucks and go with the super duty or just get the tournament mb I was going to buy. The Mbbserves me well with those baits. thanks for the info guys. Much appreciated

I noticed that these are marked down to $119 from $199 at my local bass pro. I am assuming that they came out with a new model to replace them. The ones that are marked down are the matte black ones. Are they any good? Any common problems? Will they do well for casting finesse plastics? I was in the market for another tournament mb for $139 and these caught my eye. Thanks in advance for any info...

200 sized reel since you'll be shallow. Though a small shark is a far cry away from a lady fish. Either one of the rods will be fine... Though people generally use softer rods for trout...

Before one could answer that.... You'd need to know what inshore species are you going for. Tarpon? Sea trout?

to be honest with you I wouldnt upgrade it. I like th mojo series. I would complement it with a slower action rod. Like a mojo glass... Etc That being said if I were only going to own one in the avid line it would be a medium fast if I used more small moving baits and trebles. It would be a medium heavy if used more jigs, frogs or fished around heavier cover

200 is ok for lighter to moderate inshore fishing. I dont use my 400 for casual bass fishing. I can't cast the lighter baits as well with it and the reel weighs as much as the average bass I catch. I actually use a Calcutta 200 d series for snook/red/bass fishing and that would be my reccomendation. it palms nice, it's more powerful and it has super free, so casting is easy with light lures. It can also handle big snook and bull reds. A good all around choice if I had to make one.

Good choice. I own quite a few st Croix rods and this one does NOT fish as heavy as the avid or LTb line. It's definitely not as powerful as them. I have a few of these particular rods spooled with different line types and use them from everything to finesse plastics, to jigs and spinnerbaits. I like the taper and power very much. It works well for me. if I were to use it for top waters, squarebills or jerkbaits, I'd definitely spool with mono and back off the drag on my reel to compensate for the fast action. You'll learn to play the fish but it will work until you get a slower rod

The rod you have is a good all arounder.

I Keep three on and three off. Most of my reels I keep only two on. I think that the bird nesting mid cast is the heavier spool gaining more momentum than the lure. 3/8 ounce no prob, I'd be hard pressed to find a reel that casts better. Going lighter than 1/4 ounce on these reels can be done, it just requires a more educated thumb. I prefer the newer casters with lighter spools for that.

I like the 4600s for bass. I like the look and the simplicity of them. Unlike most of my other older reels, parts are easy to find when needed. I'm too spoiled with newer reels to use the c3s for light/finesse style baits though. I don't think the heavier spool handles them as well. The ambassaduers I own are c3s because they offer a 4600 size in left hand. Other wise I'd use a c4 if they offered them that way.