3crows

If you have the dollars, Curado I HG.

Just an update, went a little overboard. Got a Shimano Stradic 2500 CI4+. And in keeping with the thread on matching rod and reel, it matches pretty dang good. Spooled it with 8 pound Berkly TransOptic. Never used that line before. Intend to use the rig most immediately for Ned Rigs in Table Rock. Kind of odd, never owned one of these fairy wands before and yet somehow this is my most expensive reel. Everything else I have is Curados of various flavors which suit me fine but I could not resist this little beauty. I did get a 20% coupon off the price and another $25 coupon for my next purchase ( ), so not a bad deal.

Newish? From where? What kind of line? I generally do not buy very much used. I bought several display units this year, saved a bunch.

NIB? If so that is a good price for a 71.

Do not listen to the dark side of the Force, stay in the light, the golden path, Shimano.

Frankly, I prefer a paddle.

Congrats on the Curado I 200. And you got the handle on the right side, lol, wink. Next get the Curado 70, it throws the little stuff even better. Just to say, for light stuff, the little Caenan does pretty darn good.

Somehow the old Dodge Duster never brought the room together like that outfit does, nice job Mr. Big 'un. I bought a Toyota Tundra, it was a similar green, I traded it after a few months for an exactly the same blue one. If I had only had your outfit I would have kept it. Ha!

I am with you, that green reminded me of that pea vomit green of Dodge and Chrysler vehicles of the early 70s. My momma always told me to have clean underwear and matching socks incase I had to go to the hospital from an accident. Darned if when I did the EMTs cut them off before I ever had a chance to sport them. Yeah, I think I like my stuff to match, at least a little, just for me because I like it that way, even if like my socks and underwear, nobody ever got to appreciate much. Just saying.

Well, you heard wrong and then some.

Yes it sort of matters to me, I like for things to look good, but function is first. I also do not like using Daiwa reels on Shimano rods and vice versa. Just bugs me. But most of my rods are St Croix and Falcon with Shimano reels and a few Daiwa rods with of course Daiwa reels. The good thing is that grey, silver, black, gold and other basic colors go with most anything at least good enough it does not hurt my esthetic sensibilities.

There are not many Curado I reels left on the racks. My recent reel purchases, I picked up a Curado I HG for right at $130, a display Caenan HG for $70 and a display Curado 70 XG for $174. These augment a Curado I and Curado I HG I that l already had. The point being, I recommend the Curado I but you better hurry.

That is an opinion as was my recommendation and I stay with it.

I am not sure how you can beat a Curado I at less than $130.

I do believe you get what you pay for and higher end equipment does have tangible benefits but that is not to say that there is not value in many ranges of equipment. I have no interest, that said, in some of the low end junk I see around, some of which are knock offs of real companies genuine products. In 1973 I bought an Abu Garcia 5500C, it cost $54.00 and in today's dollars that is $297.00. I still use the reel though I have rebuilt it several times and upgraded it as well. The original Lew's Speed Stick I mounted it on is also entirely useable today though it is retired. Money spent on good tools, and in this case the tools are fishing gear, is never miss-spent if you get your use and enjoyment out of them and only you can decide when that is crossed.

This could be much of the problem. I would think something like the Shimano Caenen ($70+) and a rod in the sub $100 bracket (Falcon SR line, Wright & McGill, or similar) would cast and work infinitely better than some low end combo and be useful even when you upgrade. I have a Caenan and it works, casts, reels and catches fish just fine. In fact, for the $70 I paid for it, it is wonderful.

Regardless of which way they tighten, the mechanism is a thread. When you turn the star to tighten you can see it physically move towards the side cover. When you loosen the drag you can see it move away from the side cover (to the handle). Just look at it and see what it is actually doing. In the case of the OP, especially after watching the video, despite the claim it had been both loosened and tightened in previous posts, it was completely apparent there was nothing wrong with the reel (yeah, sure a broken out of the box Shimano, yeah right, lol) and that the star wheel was fully turned out, loosened, so much so it was jamming into the handle. From this position it would probably take several turns of the wheel to engage the drag surfaces.

Last one, price was right, picked it up. Felt nice in my hand, never really owned my very own freshwater bass dedicated fairy stick before now. It is a 7.0 foot Jason Christie (Drop Shot/Finesse model), sleek, silver, made in USA, says so on the rod and it has the US flag on the split grip. I have a growing fleet of Falcons (all USA made) and St Croix rods. But my first spinning rig. I thought it would compliment my falcon Weightless Worm and Curado 70XG for the even lighter finesses and wacky rigs. it is Med. power and MF tip, sounds about right for this application. I do not have a reel, it will be a Shimano 250 size, not sure what model is appropriate for this application, rather keep the price balanced. Thoughts on the rod? Thoughts on a good reel?

Yes, more or less. But you could go to the Shimano website and see for yourself the line capacities, speeds etc. Most people consider something like the Curado 200(X) as a standard "bass" and very light saltwater (and the Curado is saltwater rated). The primary difference in size on these small, low profile BC reels is the spool capacity, larger capacity generally resulting in a slightly wider spool and thus a modestly wider frame and a tinsy little bitty bit more weight.

You have tightened the star drag several turns?

The flag I made goes into a Scotty female receptacle. The pole itself is epoxied into a Scotty oar lock male piece. Mine is mounted on the stern area so as to be well out of the normal casting arc I would use.

I forgot, a flag. I use a snow pole marker with a orange pennant that sticks up a good six feet. When diving a second flag goes up when i am in the water, a dive flag. For fishing though just the orange pennant. As a power boater also, I have to say, us kayakers really are hard to see even in a bright kayak with bright orange gear. We are just too low in the water, especially in the ocean with swells, we are below the gaze of most boaters who may be standing in a center console type boat or bridge of a larger cruiser. That pennant may be the only thing they see.

I have kayaked for many years. I scuba dive from my kayaks, often several miles to sea. Solo. Fishing from them is a more recent development. I do not usually wear my PFD, sorry, it is under a bungee and I tether myself to the kayak until near shore in the surf zone where I may need to get out of it and away if it rolls. I am an expert ocean and long distance swimmer. Only cold water could do me in. I do have a PLB that I will wear on my person if offshore or on big water. I sometimes use my Boston Whaler 190 Outrage to tote the kayaks to the fish/dive location. I like having binoculars, compass, GPS, backup collapsable paddle, bilge sponge, anchor. I tether everything. I like having an anchor trolley and consider it important especially if wind or current.

Uh, hmmm, uh, your oldest and most expendable one(s). What goes up must come down and one goes out on a kayak might not come back in on a kayak.

How much did a Zebco 33 cost in 1970? If it was $10 then in 2017 dollars that is $63. You know, all of those reels have a retrieve ratio of about five cranks of the handle per inch. What the "Bullet" has none of them do is a true 28 plus inches per turn retrieve. And supposedly the line runs in over wheels, not a steel pin. And a drag that works, and hopefully not pot metal gears that lock under load. Well, that last one not sure of. I think some of these spincasts are growing in stature the more we wax nostalgic over them. I pretty much remember them all being pretty junky. Nostalgia aside.