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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | I recently jumped the fence and decided that in order to contact/locate/mark more fish I needed to gear up with conventional gear. People around me are boating four and five times more fish than I am on a fly, and I need to see some more fish take what I learn from fish on gear and apply that back into flyfishing.
As such, I'm new to conventional gear and have some dumb questions. I bougt myself two Calcutta 400B's. One on a St. Croix PM80HF, the other on a MI Bull Dawg. I want another one, and like Shimano. Looking at the TE's and even the LJV. Which one do I want? I thinking for blades, as I'm a student of Steve Jonesi, which makes me a huge fan of the blades! (DUDE! LOL) I've read mixed reviews of the 400B on here, but the TE's sound pretty well liked. So looking at the specs, mainly between the 200 and 400 TE's. They all have 5.0:1 ratio, but the 200's and 200GT has more bearings than the 400 does. So capacity aside, do the extra bearings make for a tougher reels to handle the blades, or are they more bearings, but of a lighter weight, like a bass reel or something? So which TE for blades?
And as a secondary question, why are rods advertised as jerkbait rods shorter? I like longer rods, but if I need a jerkbait rod, I'm all about buying more gear!! lol
Help out a gear newb.... |
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Posts: 20212
Location: oswego, il | The shorter ones are pool cues. Very stiff. You do not need a short rod, you need a stiffer long rod. I usppose that has a double meaning.lol Anyway, you want one for jerks and glides that has something around an 8oz or better rating no less than 60z. |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | Well I've got those, my St. Croix is 6, and my MI is 16. Guess I'm set with rods.
Now about the Calcuttas.... |
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Posts: 432
Location: Eagan, MN | The spool on the 200te is way too small for throwing blades. When you make a long cast your retrieve speed will be very slow... bad for blades, and bad when a fish hits at a distance and charges the boat. Get the 400te... I just started using a 700te for blades and it's the best blade reel I've used so far.... it's huge though. |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | Cool. Good info. How much lager is the 700 than the 400 frame? I can palm a 400 pretty easily, so if the 700 isn't a monster I could look at that one....
But I figured the 200 wasn't a muskie reel, as I don't see them mentioned like I do the 400, but the additional bearings in it got me wondering which was better. |
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Posts: 646
Location: In a shack in the woods | If you are looking for a blade reel and want shimano look into the trinidad or torium. They are high speed reels and so easy to use my girlfriend can use it.
For jerkbaits I am using an 8'6" monster mag mi rod. It just takes a little bit of practice. I am eventually going to run nothing less than 9'. |
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Posts: 432
Location: Eagan, MN | Honestly the 700 is enormous. I'm 6-3 and I think I have fairly big hands... w/ the 700 I'm at max palming capacity. It's noticeably bigger than an abu 7000 which many find uncomfortable. You could always try one, and if you don't like it, sell it and buy a 400. Someone suggested a trinidad, and I'll say this about that... many like them, I don't. I bought one at the beginning of the season and sold it after 2-3 uses... wasn't for me... couldn't get used to having the rod pointed directly at the bait. I like to have it cocked a little to the side. Another good blade reel is the penn 975 quite a bit smaller profile than even the abu 7000 but still has a pretty big spool and speed. Lots of choices... if you can go to a store that has some of these you could maybe mount one on a rod and get an idea how it feels. |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | I just looked at a picture of the 700, and it looks too big. The 400 fits great in my hand, so I'll probably stick with that size. As far as the Trinidad or the Torium, I've only been casting a baitcaster for two weeks, so I need the level wind. How does a guy even manage the line on a non-level wind? |
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Posts: 432
Location: Eagan, MN | If you keep the rod pointed directly, and I do mean directly, at the bait a trinidad will spool up pretty evenly. You don't need to guide the line w/ your fingers or anything like that. Casting is just like any other reel. The trinidad 14 is about the size of the 400te, the 16 is in the neighborhood of the 700te. I just sold my 14 to a guy who wasn't liking the size of his 16. |
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Which Calcutta do I want? And a dumb question about rods.