After some lew's trouble, I'm going to try to see if they'll refund a faulty reel and put it into a Shimano Curado K 200. I am new to Shimano, but I did some research and noticed people mention the "MGL" and 70 size variants being better at casting lighter lures. I don't know what y'all consider lighter, but I plan to pair this with my 7'4" Medium-Heavy. I use this rod for everything. Football jigs, Carolina Rigs, Spinnerbaits, Lipless crankbaits (in heavy grass that I wouldn't say I like using 12lb test in). But one of my most common uses for this is texas rigs. While I own heavier weights, most of my weights are 1/8 and 3/16oz. Paired with a creature, they probably weigh around 3/16 and 1/4 I would guess. As of currently, spooled with 15lb fluoro, I would guess my Lew's could pull about an 80-90 foot cast using a 1/8-3/16oz texas rig (I guessed since the reel has a 30IPT retrieve. Averaged 33-37 reel turns, I believe comes out to around 1000 inches, divided by 12, around that 80 feet area. Let me know if there is a better way to calculate this). I'd hate to lose much of that since bombing a texas rig does well for me. Do y'all think there Curado 200K would produce similar results, or should I use a 70K/MGL Curado?

The 200K is a headache with the lighter weights you've listed. If you can only have one reel for all the purposes you've mentioned and it has to be a Shimano, split the diff and get a Curado 150 MGL and be happy.

5 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

The 200K is a headache with the lighter weights you've listed. If you can only have one reel for all the purposes you've mentioned and it has to be a Shimano, split the baby, get a Curado 150 MGL, and be happy.

I'll keep an eye out and try to snag one. I also throw 3/4oz football jigs and 1oz Carolina rigs from time to time, so I assume that it will hold enough line for a decent cast (around 90-100ft)? Also admittedly never heard the saying "split the baby". Looked up the meaning and origins, quite a rabbit hole I found myself down. 

21 minutes ago, PhishLI said:

The 200K is a headache with the lighter weights you've listed. If you can only have one reel for all the purposes you've mentioned and it has to be a Shimano, split the baby, get a Curado 150 MGL, and be happy.

Do you think its worth picking up a used MGL 150? If not, I'd probably have to shoot down to a SLX MGL due to my budget. I always find 200 K's on sale but rarely notice any other Curado go on sale.

12 minutes ago, PTasker15 said:

I also throw 3/4oz football jigs and 1oz Carolina rigs from time to time, so I assume that it will hold enough line for a decent cast (around 90-100ft)?

Of course.

1 minute ago, PTasker15 said:

Do you think its worth picking up a used MGL 150?

Sure, as long as it doesn't look like it rolled down a mountain.

1 minute ago, PhishLI said:

Of course.

Sure, as long as it doesn't look like it rolled down a mountain.

Lastly, If i cannot find a MGL 150, do you think the SLX MGL is worth my time? Maybe a DC SLX? Or should I try my luck with the 200K? Of course all up to opinion, but just curious what you/others think. New to this who shimano thing, so many choices.

The slx mgl is pretty cheap from the jdm sites.    They’re a really nice reel.   Only difference I believe is a slightly smaller handle but it’s not a deal breaker.  Or wasn’t for me at least.  

6 hours ago, PTasker15 said:

Lastly, If i cannot find a MGL 150, do you think the SLX MGL is worth my time?

Yes

6 hours ago, PTasker15 said:

Maybe a DC SLX?

Meh, but I'd take that over the K200 for what you want to do with it.

6 hours ago, PTasker15 said:

Or should I try my luck with the 200K?

You'll be frustrated with it if you're serious about throwing 1/8oz-3/16oz light T-rigs too. This isn't what it was intended for. Why do you think they offer reels with lighter, lower capacity spools? To throw lighter baits effectively.

You could also spend less than $60 to get a 19 Scorpion MGL 150 spool from plat. I have one and it handles light lures much better on my Curado K. I use 12lb fluoro to cast 3/8 oz jerkbaits.

I'm going to disagree with most on here and say the 200 handles lighter lures better than you'd expect. A few caveats to that - if you want solid distance with it you'll need to be using lighter braid (30lb max) and have it paired with an appropriate rod. I would say a rod that maxes out at 3/4oz lure weight would be the very top end for what I'd use if throwing 1/8-3/16 Texas rigs. I would go more towards something that tops out around 5/8. I've got a couple of 200s and have gone as low as 15lb braid on them and they will chuck a 3/8oz total weight lure as far as you want. All that being said, an MGL reel is much better suited for what you're wanting to do and I would go with either the curado MGL or slx MGL over the 200 every time. If you do want the 200 size line capacity and an MGL spool, you can look into the new Curado Ms that have both. You see the 200Ks on sale the most bc it's the previous generation that they are phasing out for the new Ms

22 hours ago, PTasker15 said:

Lastly, If i cannot find a MGL 150, do you think the SLX MGL is worth my time? Maybe a DC SLX? Or should I try my luck with the 200K? Of course all up to opinion, but just curious what you/others think. New to this who shimano thing, so many choices.

I'd focus on and getting the Curado MGL 150, better off the long run.

If you’re throwing a 3/16 weight plus hook plus beaver. Should be totally fine on the k. The mgl’s are much better though. 

On 11/23/2023 at 2:22 PM, PhishLI said:

The 200K is a headache with the lighter weights

I picked one up on clearance and agree 100%. I put it on my jig rod and am quite happy with it. 
 

Hedgehog studios is having a 35% off sale until the 30th. I just picked up two 19 Scorpion MGL spools for my Curado K's. They are going for $43 each but they are charging $25 for shipping (Paid $112.96 shipped to my door). I mainly fish local park lakes which are shallow/small so I don't need tons of line and I like to switch it out often since I use mono. While I'm mainly interested in the shallow/lighter spools to avoid wasting line, I hear it really improves casting light baits with the K's. 

10 hours ago, Edrod13 said:

Hedgehog studios is having a 35% off sale until the 30th. I just picked up two 19 Scorpion MGL spools for my Curado K's. They are going for $43 each but they are charging $25 for shipping (Paid $112.96 shipped to my door). I mainly fish local park lakes which are shallow/small so I don't need tons of line and I like to switch it out often since I use mono. While I'm mainly interested in the shallow/lighter spools to avoid wasting line, I hear it really improves casting light baits with the K's. 

I didn't know you could buy secondary market spools for shimanos. So a 19 scorpion MGL spool will fit my 200k and turn it into an MGL reel? This is huge news 

4 hours ago, JNorman said:

I didn't know you could buy secondary market spools for shimanos. So a 19 scorpion MGL spool will fit my 200k and turn it into an MGL reel? This is huge news 

Yes. Sale just got better!! Current price is $33, looks like they are 50% now.