So I am about to purchase a Curado K, I was wondering if I should get the 7:4:1 gear ratio which takes up 31in per turn or the 6:2:1 gear ratio which takes up 26in per turn. I will mainly be using this for pond lures like chatterbaits, smaller crankbaits, and the occasional Texas rig. I have a 7:4:1 K already if that may influence anything.

 

Thank you!!

Use the one you already have for the chatterbaits and T-Rigs

Get the 6.2 for the crankbaits and topwaters (spooks, WPs, etc)

i use 6.2 on my moving bait rods and 7s on my bottom contact rods. some may not like the 6.2 on the moving baits but I dont want to force myself to slow down.on the subject of shimano reels how many of the internal brakes do you guys keep turned on most of the time.

37 minutes ago, padon said:

i use 6.2 on my moving bait rods and 7s on my bottom contact rods. some may not like the 6.2 on the moving baits but I dont want to force myself to slow down.on the subject of shimano reels how many of the internal brakes do you guys keep turned on most of the time.

I usually have mine set on 3. occasionally 2 

1 hour ago, padon said:

on the subject of shimano reels how many of the internal brakes do you guys keep turned on most of the time.

It depends on the line and air temperature. If I'm spooled with straight fluoro and it's below 40* I'll have 4 brakes on and skosh of spool tension to try to keep the line tight on the spool. Mono or copoly is less likely to want to jump off at these temps, but can still get squirrely. Again, I adjust accordingly depending on temp. 3-4 brakes on in really cold temps for plastic lines is a safe bet. 2 brakes on for braid and external settings are dependent on how the bait loads the rod if I'm tuning for max distance. Otherwise, external's usually stay at about 4 for mindless casting.

For crankbaits and chatterbaits the 6.X:1 would be my choice.  If you need to bring a lure in quicker, just reel faster.  

Get the 6.

When I started fishing I don't remember reels having gear ratio's my Dad just put line on them & we went fishing in the Great South Bay & if I remember right the line was some kind of twine. After graduation from high school I went in the Navy & ended up on Submarines. After 10 years & 3 boats in New London Conn. I received orders to the U.S.S. Thornback SS 418 in Charleston S.C  When I met the Chief of the boat the 1st question was do I fish. From that day on we were fishing buddies & when we were import we spent a lot of time on Santee Cooper. I had no gear so the COB & I went to the Navy Exchange & Bought my gear. The reels I bought were ( which I still have) were Garcia Ambassadeur 5001C Gear ratio was 3.8:1 which was high speed at that time. Several years later Shimano came out with the Bantam Magnumlite GT Plus Extra High Speed Retrieve reel. Gear ratio of 5.2:1 & weight of 7.9oz. Then came the Curado Bantam CU 201 gear ratio 6.2:1  Then the Shimano Calais Series of which I have a dozen of in various speeds. I do have 4 of the 201 A & 2 DC7's rigged & on deck all the time. I do own newer Shimano reels that have the higher speeds but I lean to the Calais series. It was 1969 When I started Bass fishing & have caught many,many bass using those lower gear ratio reels. The key is using a good rod that has a good parabolic taper. That will keep them pinned.  I bottom fish in heavy cover 90% of the time.

Since you said crankbaits, 6

On 12/27/2021 at 10:40 AM, fishinNWA said:

So I am about to purchase a Curado K, I was wondering if I should get the 7:4:1 gear ratio which takes up 31in per turn or the 6:2:1 gear ratio which takes up 26in per turn. I will mainly be using this for pond lures like chatterbaits, smaller crankbaits, and the occasional Texas rig. I have a 7:4:1 K already if that may influence anything.

 

Thank you!!

Well the 7.4:1 is real nice for jigs and T-rigs, but that is a bit fast for most moving baits and especially crankbaits. 6.2:1 also works for jigs and T-rigs just fine, the faster reel is just nice to take up extra slack quickly when a fish comes from 20 feet down and darts at the boat so you don't have to reel too fast. Personally, I find it much easier to speed up than slow down.

 

On 12/27/2021 at 11:11 AM, padon said:

on the subject of shimano reels how many of the internal brakes do you guys keep turned on most of the time.

While you can get away with 2 pins in and keeping the dial cranked to 5 or 6, I am finding that with centrifugal brakes generally regardless of manufacturer, they generally work best if you keep 4 pins in, and unlike magnetic brakes it hardly limits your casting distance. With the Shimanos, a lot of it depends on lure weight and the rod but if you set the dial at 4, that works well a lot of the time.

yeah i like to keep my external dial as low as possible and usually run 3 pins . 

I can make my 7.4:1 reels work for just about everything, but if I intended it for moving baits I'd go with the 6 speed.

 

For a while I was running 2 pins on, 2 off and adding a little extra spool tension.  I put my ego aside and went to 3 brakes, but let up on the tension.  That seems to be my sweet spot, and the SVS dial is adjusted accordingly based on conditions.