AmmoGuy

I recently picked up an ALX Ikos Hustler. It's definitely a composite as far as sensitivity goes, but its been fantastic for slinging shallow and medium divers and keeping pressure on fish. It's a neat blank. It's quite parabolic, and is plenty flexy for slinging 1.5s and pinning fish.... but somehow It'll also boat flip 4-5lb fish with no issue (not recommending this). I'll add, there was a slight issue with the first rod they sent me, but Alex (owner) provided THE single best customer service experience I've ever had from a fishing company in a long time. The guy really cares, and it shows.

I agree with the portion I emphasized whole heartedly. And oh, believe me, I've tried it all. When I say "I thumb the DC like any other reel".... I mean I apply some thumb when necessary, and no thumb when not. On the casts when it seems like the DC is doing it's job, I really don't touch the spool during flight. Just like my SV reels, it feels like the brakes are doing their job and you really don't need to give input (during flight). But a few identical casts later, it seems like the spool may just decide to "let go" mid flight. I can't anticipate it like I can with other reels, because the cast will "feel" perfect. In the split second it takes to intervein, the damage is done. It was terrible yesterday throwing a Bandit 200 into a light wind. So much so that I put it down and swapped to one of my Revo SX's, and had no issues.

Yesterday while fishing the reel something else dawned on me. I never get just a little loose line, or a few loose coils like you do on other reels from time to time. When it goes, it really goes. It's like the spool either stays dead perfect, or goes really haywire.

I feel like you could have gotten the genuine article for a lot less.

I agree that when it’s working, the distance is very good.

Same reason most of us have boat loads of fishing gear we don’t really “need”. It intrigued me.

Are you on commission or something?

That would be nice. If I set my Curado on “2” and throw something like a KVD 1.5 squarebill, it’s extremely difficult to control. If someone isn’t very experienced with a baitcast, they’d blow it up every few casts.

This is my same situation. Which, is purportedly exactly the opposite of How things should be. But generally speaking I don’t mind being thumb conscious. I usually run the brakes pretty low on all my reels. As long as they are consistent you get a feel for the input they need. However I feel like sometimes the DC will vary the breaking randomly during some casts. And that’s what’s causing the problem.

I’m glad I’m not the only one.

When the braking feels inconsistent, your thumb doesn’t do much good. I thumb the DC just like I do every other reel…. But sometimes it’s like it just lets go. Honestly, If I backlashed all the time, I’d find a new hobby.

If that’s what it takes, then the reel is pointless. You can choke off any reel with spool tension and prevent over-runs, but then it’s casts terribly. That’s also the exact opposite of what Shimano and other instructionals say?

Kind of random. I’d say it usually starts out fine, then just boom. It lets go at some point in flight. So I guess I’d say middle.

Ok. So a few months ago, I figured I’d check out the whole DC thing. Picked up a Curado DC, and have been using it as one of my crankbait reels for the last couple of months. I’ve been fishing baitcast reels since I was 8 years old (I’m 36). Like many of you here, they are just second nature. Back lashing is usually the furthest thing from my mind while I’m fishing. Anyways…. Long story short, I’ve blown up this DC in the past two months more than all my other reels combined in the last 5 years. Ive watched all the setup videos, dialed it in every possible way, but it will still just randomly blow up on me unless I set it on 4 and kill casting distance. I keep it on 3, and have the spool tension adjusted to just stop any wiggle (although I’ve tried every amount of tension possible). The thing that messes me up is that it almost seems like the brakes just decide to let go at times. I might cast to the same spot 15 times with the same fluid motion and on the 16th time it will just decide to blow up. Or sometimes I’ll pick it up and make a standard cast and it will just explode…. I pick it out, and make 100 more casts without a single problem, then it will just decide to blow up again. I can’t make sense of it. I’ll fish several other reels on the same day and not have one single over run…. But the DC will blow multiple times a trip. I am using 12lb flouro, but I’ve had suffix elite on it too, and it didn’t help. Is there a chance this particular reel is defective? I’ve fished other DCs, but not enough to notice a pattern in behavior like this.

They turned off all the Shimao products. Says they are still in stock, but can't add to cart. Hmm. Looks like the Tat's and Fuegos sold out quick.

The 200k won't do anything in freshwater fishing that the MGL 150 can't. You just get a smaller, lighter, more comfortable package with the MGL 150.

I hope the Lews lovers are buying up that Tournament Pro. That’s one of the better deals on the site.

Im actually pretty proud of myself. It could have been a LOT worse than it was. Then again, the sale hasn’t ended yet. ?

I’d pick the MGL 150 over the K for everything. Really over any other Curado period. Except MAYBE the DC, for people that like DC.

I'd be looking hard at the Curado MGL 150. It and the DC are on a great sale right now at Academy.

Does that really work? Trustworthy?

Ummmm... Fuego CT's are $47.98. ?

Same. I have more reels than rods right now. But a Tat for $77? I mean??? That Lews TP for $111 is nuts too. I WISH I needed a whole new lineup of reels, lol. Because now is the time.

Holy cow. I've never seen deals on reels like Academy is selling right now. It's hard to resist a few of them. The Lews SP, Curado MGL, and Curado DC are soooo tempting. I think I'll grab a Tatula at $77 though. That's crazy.