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Posts: 284
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My 11 year old daughter has REALLY taken to casting for muskies with me this year. She has been using my equipment up to this point and the reels seem just a bit to big for her hands.
Between that and it would just feel a little more special to her to have her own rod/reel, I want to buy her a reel that is just for her to use ... I have been thinking the Abu C4 6600 would be an excellent choice, but would like to ask the members of this board for any advice on what to buy her.
Thank you in advance ... |
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Posts: 134
| I just got a Curado 300E and that is a fairly small reel that would be good for smaller hands. Also, a Revo Toro in the 50 size would work well too. Look on Ebay for good deals. |
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Posts: 347
Location: eagle river,wis | I would look at a shimano calcutta 200 or a 250 .They are much smaller and lighter.My wife has been using them for years and they work great.She has caught many fish with no problems. |
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | I would look at some of the low profile reels as well. Would be perfect for smaller hands, and smaller less hard pulling baits.
Oh yeah, and that's awesome your girl is into fishing. I've had my girls out for panfish and what not so far, and the 4 year old is a casting machine so I'm hoping to be in your shoes in the years to come with both of mine. 
Edited by tuffy1 3/24/2011 7:18 AM
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | A C4 is actually going to be harder for her to reel in some baits because of the higher gear ratio. I say go low-profile and she'll be happier. Another good reel for her would be a Chronarch BSV if you can find one (they've been discontinued). You can't put more then 50# braid on it but it's pretty tough. |
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Posts: 433
Location: Cedarburg, Wisconsin | Absolutely, stay away from the high gear ratio reels! She will be worn out in no time at all and all the fun will be sucked out of fishing. Not what you are looking for. I too think the low profile reels would be a winner. |
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Posts: 458
| Abu revo toro 50 would be a good choice. |
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Posts: 209
| Another vote for the Curado 300. Good for just about anything. The Revo Winch 50 would be good also. Easy to hold and lots of crank power with the low gear ratio. If you're on a budget, a 5500 sized C3 wouldn't be a bad bet. On the other hand, if you REALLY wanted to spoil her you could get her a 300 TE. They're extremely small and easy to palm for a reel with that kind of power. |
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| I would save some money and just get a bass-sized Revo S. They're a lot cheaper than Toros, easier to fit in her hands, and I doubt she's throwing anything too big for an S to handle. I'd get her a Toro in a couple years when she's ready to throw 10s, Mag Dawgs, et cetera. |
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Posts: 253
Location: Birchwood, WI. | Tack a look at the Abu Garcia 5600EXT .. A SOLID all around reel that has the lower profile. |
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Posts: 339
Location: Maryland | catchandrelease - 3/24/2011 12:47 PM
I would save some money and just get a bass-sized Revo S. They're a lot cheaper than Toros, easier to fit in her hands, and I doubt she's throwing anything too big for an S to handle. I'd get her a Toro in a couple years when she's ready to throw 10s, Mag Dawgs, et cetera.
I Agree! I have one for pike and pickeral fishing and there a good reel for smaller lures.
Save your money and buy her something to mainly learn with! |
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Posts: 116
| I love my ambassadeurs, but I would have a little concern over the little casting button. It may be kind of hard on a kid's thumb. Shimano's Corvalus has a big plastic thumb button and so does the Okuma Akena. These are not top of the line reels by far, but function just fine in my opinion. Any issues I have had weren't anything that couldn't be resolved quickly and easily. I know some of the abus have a big spool release button like in their bcx line, but I have never used one of those. I imagine they would function fine as well. |
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Posts: 339
Location: Denmark | You should take a close look at the Cortland Indurance Musky rods, very light, and excellent rods for medium size lures. Pared with a Revo Toro, you have an excellent setup for a smaller person.
Remember that the rod handle is just as important as the reel, when talking about hand size and comfort.
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Posts: 2894
Location: Yahara River Chain | All good choices, but whatever you do, if she is right handed get her a crank on the left side. If she is left handed the crank on the right side. This will allow her to impart action on lures easier and also be able to set the hooks faster and quicker. I will also add that he won't waste time passing the rod from one hand to the other. |
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Posts: 116
| Did you get one yet? |
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Posts: 209
| muskie! nut - 3/28/2011 9:04 AM
All good choices, but whatever you do, if she is right handed get her a crank on the left side. If she is left handed the crank on the right side. This will allow her to impart action on lures easier and also be able to set the hooks faster and quicker. I will also add that he won't waste time passing the rod from one hand to the other.
I hear a lot of people make this argument, particularly about not having to pass the rod from one hand to another. When I cast, I don't have the reel situated in my hand the way I want to hold it anyways, so I have to adjust my hold on the rod just as much when the bait's in flight even if I use a left-hand crank reel. I just don't get this argument. |
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Posts: 78
| My wife has a Curado300DVS and she loves it. Good fit for her small hands and casting small buck and small cranks. I love mine as well and would highly recommend it |
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| I too found than my wife needed a left handed reel. she is right handed but was much easier for her to control her casts with her right hand on the reel. further investigation i found amost all of the woman i know use left handed reels |
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Posts: 112
Location: Nielsen's Fly-In Lodge, on Rowan Lake | Much more comfortable if a young person is holding the fore grip on the rod versis
palming the reel small hands cant do it and they have no control just a thought |
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Posts: 116
| you could have a father/daughter shopping trip and she could pick out her own too! |
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Posts: 185
Location: On the water | Get her a revo toro nice and small |
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Posts: 994
Location: Minnesota: where it's tough to be a sportsfan! | My grandson is 11. Last year he was set up with a couple flipping sticks 7'6" and revo reels. I had a selection of smaller baits for him and he was able to fish all day with those set-ups. The only negative after several trips i found allot of my lures in his box!!! |
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Posts: 2894
Location: Yahara River Chain | jakejusa - 4/1/2011 1:27 PM
The only negative after several trips i found allot of my lures in his box!!!
LOL! You got to keep an eye on these little whipper snappers. |
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Posts: 791
Location: North Central IL USA | MuskieMark01 - 3/31/2011 11:34 AM
muskie! nut - 3/28/2011 9:04 AM
All good choices, but whatever you do, if she is right handed get her a crank on the left side. If she is left handed the crank on the right side. This will allow her to impart action on lures easier and also be able to set the hooks faster and quicker. I will also add that he won't waste time passing the rod from one hand to the other.
I hear a lot of people make this argument, particularly about not having to pass the rod from one hand to another. When I cast, I don't have the reel situated in my hand the way I want to hold it anyways, so I have to adjust my hold on the rod just as much when the bait's in flight even if I use a left-hand crank reel. I just don't get this argument.
I agree. |
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Posts: 158
| When I was a kid, the diameter of the reel was much less important than the width.
The old Ambassaduer XLT's were the low profile reel back then. Much smaller in profile than the round reels. It's width matched a 6500.
I still preferred the 5500 reels because they are narrow.....
I would buy a 5500 or even a 4600 Abu. Great starter reels, good casting, and with the right baits, last a long time.
Heck if you are a tinkerer, buy an older model on ebay, and a new model, and convert the reel to dual anti reverse. You can also add an IAR bearing to the older pawl anti-reverse reels. |
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Posts: 158
| gregk9 - 4/2/2011 5:30 PM MuskieMark01 - 3/31/2011 11:34 AM muskie! nut - 3/28/2011 9:04 AM All good choices, but whatever you do, if she is right handed get her a crank on the left side. If she is left handed the crank on the right side. This will allow her to impart action on lures easier and also be able to set the hooks faster and quicker. I will also add that he won't waste time passing the rod from one hand to the other. I hear a lot of people make this argument, particularly about not having to pass the rod from one hand to another. When I cast, I don't have the reel situated in my hand the way I want to hold it anyways, so I have to adjust my hold on the rod just as much when the bait's in flight even if I use a left-hand crank reel. I just don't get this argument. I agree. I agree too. And another observation from the bass fishing world. You won't find a more efficient fisherman than VanDam, and he switches hands. Works for him.
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Posts: 209
| LonLB - 4/2/2011 11:18 PM
gregk9 - 4/2/2011 5:30 PM MuskieMark01 - 3/31/2011 11:34 AM muskie! nut - 3/28/2011 9:04 AM All good choices, but whatever you do, if she is right handed get her a crank on the left side. If she is left handed the crank on the right side. This will allow her to impart action on lures easier and also be able to set the hooks faster and quicker. I will also add that he won't waste time passing the rod from one hand to the other. I hear a lot of people make this argument, particularly about not having to pass the rod from one hand to another. When I cast, I don't have the reel situated in my hand the way I want to hold it anyways, so I have to adjust my hold on the rod just as much when the bait's in flight even if I use a left-hand crank reel. I just don't get this argument. I agree. I agree too. And another observation from the bass fishing world. You won't find a more efficient fisherman than VanDam, and he switches hands. Works for him.
Or Larry Dahlberg. He's an an absolute master at covering water, and he switches hands too. |
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| Just bought a Curado 300ej at a local sportsman show. The guy there was really praising its name.. Said it would be able to pull in double girls with ease with the power crank. I am just wondering if anyone here has any reviews on this reel? |
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Location: Latitude 41.3016 Longitude 88.6160 | Jixxer03 - 4/3/2011 7:52 PM
Just bought a Curado 300ej at a local sportsman show. The guy there was really praising its name.. Said it would be able to pull in double girls with ease with the power crank. I am just wondering if anyone here has any reviews on this reel?
Good Luck with a 6.9 gears. |
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Posts: 2894
Location: Yahara River Chain | PIKEMASTER - 4/3/2011 9:22 PM
Jixxer03 - 4/3/2011 7:52 PM
Just bought a Curado 300ej at a local sportsman show. The guy there was really praising its name.. Said it would be able to pull in double girls with ease with the power crank. I am just wondering if anyone here has any reviews on this reel?
Good Luck with a 6.9 gears.
Pikemaster, are you telling us he'd better has arms like Popeye? |
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Location: Latitude 41.3016 Longitude 88.6160 | The 300EJ has 6.9 gears, great for picking up slack line for top water, but I would not use it for bucktails. Also it has a power handle, but the std handle on the 300E is the same length so it will not have any more power then a std handle. Shimano is working on a 500 size reel that will go head to head with the TORO, I don't think it will be out this year at ICAST but it should be out in the next 1-2 years. |
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Posts: 1270
| PIKEMASTER - 4/4/2011 8:36 AM
The 300EJ has 6.9 gears, great for picking up slack line for top water, but I would not use it for bucktails. Also it has a power handle, but the std handle on the 300E is the same length so it will not have any more power then a std handle. Shimano is working on a 500 size reel that will go head to head with the TORO, I don't think it will be out this year at ICAST but it should be out in the next 1-2 years.
I agree about the high speed gears and pulling big baits but as to the power handle I believe that even if they are the same length you still will have more power because the paddle on the power handle is larger so that you can get more of your fingers on the paddle. It might not be more powerful but your hand will not hurt as much at the end of the day. |
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Posts: 2894
Location: Yahara River Chain | You guys missed the point about switching hands while casting. I know that KVD and all switch hands, they have been doing it for years, so yes they are "efficient" .
But we are talking about someone that has just started. So how many years do you think a kid or the wife will it take to get "efficient"? And doing that a maybe fishing a week at a time a year, to be able to set the hooks hard, impart action on a bait, etc? I'm betting that they will be able to reach "KVD efficiency" faster when they have that rod in their dominate hand. And quicker yet if the person in question has been using a spinning reel for years. You don't have to retrain them. Think about it. |
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Posts: 791
Location: North Central IL USA | I think there a law about which side the cranks should be on a bait caster - the right hand side!
That law goes on to state that, 'all spinning reels must have their cranking handles on the left hand side'.
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Posts: 116
| I'm right handed and crank my spinning reels on the right too. I didn't realize I was doing it wrong until my friends and father-in-law questioned me about it. My dad is left handed and I grew up using his equipment. This is how I fish and I don't want to change it now. There is an argument for starting her off one way or the other. |
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Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | My soon to be eleven year old daughter has been fishing with me for years. She has tried different type rods and reels and has settled on one of my rod/reel combos. The reel is a 6500C4 that has been converted to 5.3:1 gears and has a power handle. The rod is an 8' MH Gander Mountain IM8 Pro Select Muskie rod. The combo of the smooth running reel with the power handle and the long and yet light rod allows her to cast all day. She loves that rod/reel combo and has claimed it as her own.
We tried 5500 class reels and shorter rods, but none worked as well for her. Smooth reel and long/light rod proved the best option. |
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