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Posts: 203
| Thinking about upgrading this year from Abu to Calcutta 400 TE.. lot of money to invest so what makes the TE so good over the regular 400.. |
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Posts: 72
| The TE stands for Total Efficiency. Its gears are oversized, so much in fact that the sideplate is not round like most reels. It is eliptical to accomodate these gears. The gear ratio is 5.0:1 but the spool is also larger which means you take in more inches of line per crank of the handle with less effort. For speed and power, the only thing I can compare it to is an Abu Garcia 7000, but the TE will cast farther and more accurately, won't make you hurt really bad at the end of the day and has an incredible drag system. You can also palm a TE and work physically intense baits like Jackpots and Reef Hawgs effectively and with less effort. The handles on the TE are also oversized to fit more comfortably in your hand and aid in cranking in hard pulling baits.
The Calcutta reels (not the Calcutta TE) are being redesigned. They will be called the Calcutta B. Basically, they are changing the gear ratio from 4.7:1 to 5.0:1 and beefing up the gears to accomodate the TE style handle (larger with more power). The Calcutta has been out for 10 years and has been the most flawless performer we have seen up until the TE. Hopefully the new B series will continue this tradition. For more info, check out the shimano website.
Hope this helps,
Brett Erickson
www.thornebros.com
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Posts: 462
Location: Syracuse, Indiana | Any hope a a left-handed version of the 400 series Calcutta B? |
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Posts: 364
Location: Kentucky | Yes, a lefty version would be fantastic. Would finally be a good reel at that price point. |
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Posts: 1335
Location: Chicago, Beverly | According to shimano the Tekota 500 which is aimed at Musky fisherman shares some features with the Calcutta TE but at a price less then a calcutta b....Besides the Handle I am not sure if there are any other features shared between the reels...the guy I talked to only mentioned the handle... He also said it has 22lbs of drag pressure compared to the 11lbs the old Corsairs had... Anyone around here use the Tekota yet?? |
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | The Tekota is a line-counter trolling reel if memory serves me. |
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Posts: 1335
Location: Chicago, Beverly | They have one thats not a line counter, the guy I talked with at Shimano claims its being marketed specifically for Musky fisherman for casting.. Here is the link I got from the shimano site: http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content/us/en/fishing/products/reel... |
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Posts: 72
| The Tekota is a trolling reel. You could cast with it if you wanted to, but it wouldn't be comfortable and you would backlash it a lot more. It also has a lever style spool release, instead of a push button or thumb bar, which is a little less convenient for casting.
A little giveaway is the way Shimano names things as to what they were designed for. All the spinning reels start with S (Stradic, Sustain, Symmetre, etc), all the baitcasters start with C (Calcutta, Curado, Calais, etc) and trolling start with T (Tekota, Tiagra, Trinidad, etc).
Hope this helps,
Brett Erickson
www.thornebros.com
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Posts: 203
| well, just recieved my new 400 TE and it is unbelievably smooth.. cant wait to get on the water. Might get out early and try some pike fishing with glide baits and spoons.. |
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Posts: 1335
Location: Chicago, Beverly | Bret, that is what I told the shimano guy, aren't the t's for trolling... he said the tekpta can be used for casting.... I think I will stick with my calcutta and whatever they send me to replace my corsairs(supposedly corvalus'), plus my garcias.. |
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Posts: 13688
Location: minocqua, wi. | i'm a die-hard shimano guy which has come from alot of time with the calcutta's without failure. i was interested in the te also, but after really investigating it ... the key difference to me was the drag system, which i don't use (i'm a freespooler), so the extra money didn't make sense at least for me. it does allow you to make some adjustments for baitweights that is pretty interesting though. i'm going to try a St. Croix Avid this year to experience something different .... like the size and it's gotten too many good reviews to not try one. not going because of any dissatisfaction with Shimano, but smaller is better to me. |
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| From my perspective, SAVE YOUR MONEY! Either that or I just got a bad 400TE. That thing has the absolute worst drag on it I have ever used. All I heard before hand was how good this drag system was supposed to be and that it was a very smooth reel. It is smooth but not as good as some other models I have. Back to the drag system. Maybe I just got a bad reel but I have problems with mine. The drag loosens up and tightens periodically. I'll tighten it and it will be good. I'll make 10-20 casts or so and check it again and it is either looser or tighter than what I set it at! The "gradient" of going from loose to tight is very small. Half a turn of the star and the thing is extremely tight. Very touchy setting. I contacted Shimano about it and first thing they asked is if I back off the drag when not in use. Well, not every time but I do back it off. I use the #*^@ thing every fri-sun. If it is used that much, I don't see the need to back it off every 4th day. |
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| I tried the new B and had nothing but bad luck. The first one had the drag washer explode after about 12 hours on the water. when i went to return it Chuck Brod (Sportsmans Repair) was at the store promoting the Musky Club Alliance, so I showed it to him and he said he'd never seen a Shimano drag washer do that before. So I got another and that one lasted 5 outings, on the first cast of the 6th outing the same exact thing happened to the second 400B, blown apart drag washer. !!! I mean little pieces all over the inside of the handle side of the frame. When I took that one back the guy at the store said he'd been selling the old Calcuttas for 11 yrs. and had never seen one like that. Maybe I just had 2 bad ones but I didn't try a 3rd. Right up until the reels blew they were the best reel I had ever thrown, smooth, long and fought fish nicely. Hopefully Shimano figures it out if there is something wrong. |
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Posts: 723
| has anyone tried the Cardiff? I had bought one earlier this year and had it take a dump after a month, Rollie and Helens was kind enough to replace it, no Q's asked and then a month later the new one did the same thing, it was making a rub\grind sound like the spool was out of allignment when you reeled in. So back to Rollies for another awesome customer service experience and the one I have now works well.
I can't compare it to the TE due to that reel kicking some serious ass, but it has its place.
plus its only $110. |
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Posts: 105
| i started fishing with the shimano calcutta 400b this year. I am running two right now and i love the things. using them for every possible situation and they are the smoothest, best casting reel i have ever used. second only to the TE. they have been getting a lot of time on the water and are flawless as of yet. a good muskie reel is very difficult to find and these seem to be the best that i have used by far. The TE seems to bring it in a bit faster. |
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