MisterDeadeye

I haven't seen any Casitas MGL under $150, and you could get a Curado for that price. The Casitas is lighter, with a lighter spool, so it will cast further and will be better for light tackle in general. If any of these things are important to you, the Casitas MGL seems like a fantastic reel based on every forum post and review I've seen. I was looking for a good reel and the USDM Casitas caught my eye -- I would have gone with the MGL but I found the standard version for $70(it's actually $70 right now on Amazon and Academy). The only difference between the two reels is the spool, with the MGL being lighter and therefore slightly better for finesse and casting distance. If those things aren't important to you, probably go with the Curado because it has an Aluminum frame and will overall feel "better", with the retrieve, with fighting fish, etc. It has a slightly longer handle and slightly more line capacity as well.

I can't say anything about the value because there's not a lot of easily accessible information about these reels, but I will say that when it comes to performance, almost anything in the current market will be better. From the little research I've done, these were fairly standard Shimano reels of their time, nothing fancy or exotic, and they all have rear drag meaning they suck to disassemble and repair. I have some old Shimano spinning reels with rear drag and I use them for bait fish, and they work well enough. If I was going to buy a reel though, I'd go with something current. It looks like SQ is the designation for the higher gear ratio (6.something : 1, but again this is with limited research so I could be wrong) so it's something to consider. If you're thinking about buying them and trying to flip them for profit, it's probably not worth your time. If you're thinking about buying them because you fished with similar gear as a kid and have some nostalgia, or if you've only fished with newer reels without the wacky rear drag and drag lever, you probably aren't going to get anything terrible. For that purpose, I personally wouldn't pay more than about $20 for one. I also don't know if the GT-X or the CX models were more expensive at the time, but if you can find vintage catalogs, you'd have a better idea.

Oh no! Your first post mentioned backlash so I assumed you were talking about baitcasting reels. I'm out of my depth when it comes to spinning reels so I can't help you there. Sorry!

If you want something simple that will work well, I'd suggest going with one of the Daiwa Tatula reels. Most reels on the market today have centrifugal brakes that work by flipping pins on and off, but the Daiwas have started using something unique. Basically as the spool spins faster, this brake disc extends which keeps the spool from spinning too fast. It's really simple and the same concept is used in many other applications. Of course there's still an external dial for even more control. The Daiwa Tatula SV can be found on the bay for $170, but the Tatula CT Type R can be found for $110 and honestly I think it's a steal for that price. If you don't like the bright red, the Tatula CT can be found for about $10 cheaper -- the only differences are the color scheme and the material that the drag star is made of. Other than that, I'd suggest either a Shimano Curado K for right at $150 or the Shimano Citica I for about $120. They're similar overall, with the biggest differences being the color scheme, the handle sizes, available gear ratios, weight, and overall shape. All four of these reels are going to be super reliable and smooth. The Daiwas will be easier to setup and cast, but once you've tuned the Shimano reels, they will cast a bit farther. As far as I'm concerned, these are the best values at and around $150. You'll get suggestions for Abu Garcias, Lew's, probably even some Quantums, and they're all going to be great reels that work well; it's hard to go wrong at this price point.

I definitely agree. Marketing is complete garbage, otherwise most of us wouldn't be here on a forum looking for advice on what rods and reels to get. It's like that stupid diner advertising as having "The best chili in the state" when I know for a fact they get it frozen in bags from Sysco.

Do you know which spinning reel Shimano advertised the term Hagane with? This was Shimano's official description in 2013. It's the same wording that you'd find on Shimano's NA website right now. "The Hagane Body is made of highly rigid metals such as aluminum and magnesium. With its weight reduced to the limit, the Hagane Body eliminates flex, warp, and distortion of the reel, allowing smooth reeling with little power loss. Furthermore, the body protects the engagement of the Hagane Gear and the Micro Module Gear System from shock, while maintaining smooth operation." The official Shimano wording on Hagane Body in the South East Asian market is, "Made of highly rigid metals such as aluminium and magnesium. Weight has been greatly reduced while reel flexure, warp and distortion has been eliminated, allowing for smooth reeling with little power loss." The same is said in the Latin American version of Shimano's website, though you'd have to translate it. The European website uses this wording: "The HAGANE Body is produced from highrigidity aluminium or magnesium. This creates stiffness and impact resistance, while at the same time eliminating flexing of the body. The result is a rocksolid housing and support for the moving internal gearing and greater efficiency throughout the reel." Anyway, it looks like I was mistaken -- Hagane Body is not a particular alloy, but a marketing descriptor to indicate that the reel is made of Al or Mg. At least, the one consistency between all of these descriptions is that the body is metal. Maybe the reel you're talking about was referring to the gears? I wouldn't know unless I knew the model you're talking about.

Yeah, I was going to bring this up. DC reels have been around for over a decade.

The Curado I is an amazing reel, it's smooth, it's durable, it's a workhorse. But as far as casting distance goes, there are cheaper Shimano reels that cast further as a fact, and I'm sure there are plenty of others. The DC reels aren't necessarily about backlash. They're about optimizing spool tension and braking power to get the best possible cast. The casting ability really isn't comparable to the standard Shimano reels -- from distance, to the power required to make casts -- but yeah, they're less likely to blowup while casting as well.

They're talking about messing with the brakes and spool tension to get more distance in your cast. The thinner your line is, the easier it will be to cast, so going with 20-30lb braid would probably help your casting distance a little bit. As for rod length, longer rods will cast further assuming everything else is the same. But, if you go from a 6'6" medium to a 7'4" heavy, throwing a 1/4oz squarebill, your rod will not load up as much in the cast, so you'll probably lose more distance from that than you gain from the length. Looking at what you're talking about throwing, I'd look for a 7' MH Fast rod. You could go with 7'2" or 7'3" if you really want to.

The most I would go, if I could afford it, would be something like a JDM Shimano DC reel. I don't follow the flagship reels because I'm not anywhere near comfortable enough to spend $700 on a reel, but I think the Antares DC is in the ballpark. As for the rod, honestly I can't see myself spending more than $200 at the most. If I knew someone who had $300+ rods and if I actually got to fish with them, I would possibly consider spending more, but it's hard to imagine justifying spending that much for a glorified stick.

I forgot about gear alignment, but I was aware of it. Thanks for bringing it up, it could be an important factor. Honestly if I get back into the swing of things and get a little more serious, I'll eventually need another rod and reel and at that point I'll probably go for something a little nicer with a metal frame. We don't have many monster bass around me, no muskie or stripers etc, so I'm probably not going to be catching anything bigger than 5-7lb with this reel, and I don't know if I'm going to make trips North or South to get into some big fish especially without a boat. See, when I was a kid and I fished with my dad a lot, we used Abu Garcia and Spiderwire. It's almost seared into my mind that I should go with them and that's part of what's holding me back from snagging the Casitas. I'll mostly be throwing T-rigged stick baits with and without weights and some flukes, but I'll probably be throwing frogs and spinnerbaits, some jigs, etc. The Revo's braking system and the lack of centrifugal brakes were partly what turned me off of it. My thought process was that with both kinds of brakes, I'd be able to throw more lures, farther. I don't know what to do. Maybe it's time to flip a coin.

I've been wanting to get back into baitcasting for a while now. The last time I used one was probably 10 years ago and then I went to college, my parents moved(with all of my fishing gear), and I haven't talked to my dad for several years. So, I'm not going to try getting my stuff back and I really didn't have anything good as a kid anyway. I don't remember what kind of low profile casting reel I had, but I used Abu Ambassadeurs for catfishing, so I'm not a beginner. I won't mind tinkering with breaks and dealing with backlashes for a while, so I don't need something dynamic like Daiwa's Magforce. After reading several reviews of several reels, after sifting through forum posts on here and elsewhere, and after watching dozens of videos, I think I've decided to go with the Casitas over any other comparably priced reel(absolutely has to be under $100). My main reason is casting distance. I don't have a bass boat and the lakes I go to are heavily fished by casuals out camping, kids, etc, and they're mostly ~60 acres or less. Because I'm bank fishing and because of the shape of the lakes, I want a reel that can really bomb casts when necessary. During my research, I came across a channel that tests reels for casting distance. He uses the same rods, takes a long time dialing in the brakes before doing the "official" testing, then he does several casts showing footage of it all. He did a $100 reel shootout including the Revo X, Fuego CT, Lew's Speed Spool LFS, *** Origin C, the Quantum Accurist PT, and the Casitas. In each of the tests, the Casitas casted further than every other reel in the lineup, and it did so from a weightless senko, to a lipless crank, a 1/4oz squarebill and an 1/8 oz floating minnow. I'm looking for a reel that can cast almost everything well, and so far I think the Casitas takes the cake. I've been trying to think of any downsides or of any possible reels that can cast better than the Casitas at or below the same price point and I've only come up with the graphite body. The Lew's and the Fuego have aluminum frames, but they still have graphite sideplates and graphite drag stars, so the only real difference in breaking point for the Casitas is the reel seat. I'm not going to be taking my reel off the rod unless I buy something else and need to move something over, so I'm not sure if the graphite is even important. Please, can someone give me other recommendations at or under $100? Does anyone here have any experience with the Casitas compared to other reels at the same price point? I'll be honest, I haven't owned a Shimano baitcasting reel before, and I kind of want to see what the hype is about without going straight for a Curado(and the Citica is basically the same price right now), but the actual performance of the Casitas seems to be better than the other reels I've looked at despite people recommending them over the Casitas.