I can't afford the calcutta, so which of these two would be best for medium sized swimbaits. Besides round vs. low profile, are there any other reasons on one over the other. Any input from owners? Thanx.

Besides round vs. low profile, are there any other reasons on one over the other.

The most obvious reason would be price. You can get a Cardiff 300 for around $110, a Curado 300 is gonna run you around $250. I don't have a Curado, but I do have a Cardiff and it works just fine for medium sized swimbaits.

So you can't afford a Calcutta but you can afford a Curado 300??  :

Well assuming your talking about size 300 and above reels, if that's the case you can find Calcutta 400B's for $150 used.  I just bought one for $100 spooled with 65# Power Pro.   You can also find the older Curado 300D's for around the same priced used.

Besides the obvious size difference, it comes down to personal preference.  Do you like Round reels or LP?  Both can easily handle medium sized swimbaits and have plenty of line capacity.  I used Cardiff's for awhile and they are great for the money, but just recently moved over to all calucutta's.  Either way you won't be dissapointed.  Good Luck

I can't afford the calcutta, so which of these two would be best for medium sized swimbaits. Besides round vs. low profile, are there any other reasons on one over the other. Any input from owners? Thanx.

I wouldn't get the calcutta b. its not worth it. If you want to save some money, get the cardiff. It cast great and relatively lightweight. The curado has the HEG which I think is a big advantage when retrieving resistance lures.

the regular calcuttas are expensive,heavy w/o the HEG. I'd much rather get a daiwa luna instead of a calcutta b. A lot better looking and solid.

If you are interested I have a mint Cardiff 301 forsale for $80 shipped. I also have a NIB daiwa luna 203 RH $155 shipped.

The reason I am selling the cardiff is that I have a Calcutta TE 401 for swimbaits and I got a Curado 301d for saltwater bass fishing so I really dont have a use for the cardiff anymore. I havn't used the cu 301 so I can't give a comment on it.

I own both the Calcutta & Cardiff (100s) and have caught double digit bass, Bull Reds in the 30 lb range and Bonito off shore with both reels. Then only differences between the two are 1 more A-RB Ball Bearings in the Cardiff and the Calcutta is cold forged where the Cardiff is Die cast which has nothing to do with strength.