Picked up my first quality reel the other day, love it so far.  Lets say for arguments sake that I wanted to eventually upgrade all my reels to Curados as some point.  Shimano does not offer the PG (5.5:1) in a LH, this would be the ratio I would want for my crankbait rod.

A guy at work was telling me to look for a "JDM".  He says that they offer many other choices to the Japanese Direct Market, and may have what I'm looking for.  Is this true, and how would I go about finding out if one is made and where to get it?

TRF

No JDM model either it doesn't look like.

http://japantackle.com/casting-reels/shimano/low-profile-casting-reels/shimano-curado2015.html

I wonder if there is a longer handle available to get more mechanical advantage.....Or am I over thinking things.....?

Thank you for the reply, BTW.

Shorter that is.

I'm sure you can buy a shorter handle, not sure it will make much difference though. You might look for a used reel in the last couple years models (E or G), and see if you can get a decent price on one of those in a slower speed. The G's got a bad rap despite being good reels so you can find them for pretty cheap. The E's on the other hand are selling for more than original price in some cases.