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Posts: 680
Location: Muskoka Ontario,Canada | The Cabo PT was my original choice but the new Curado had some features I really wanted such as a thumb bar and the lower profile. I'v read some very good reviews on the Cabo also. |
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Posts: 780
| Does anyboby remember Shimano's original Musky baitcaster? It was the Bantam 50. Low profile and certainly capable to handle the big baits. I'm surprised that Muskie Snax did'nt mention this one. I used to own the 50 back in the 80's. Took a Labor day weekend trip with a couple of college buddies on the Chippewa Flowage and since he did not have any musky gear, I let him use it. He liked it so much , I sold it to him. Wish I did'nt. But it's a reel I would recommend here. Plenty of line capacity and with its 4.6.1 ratio can easily pull the big baits. Can you do that with your 6.2.1 Curado 300 all day? How about trolling a 10 inch Jake in the fall, Bantam 50, yes...Curado 300? And sucker fishing? The 50 has a line clicker, does the 300? Curado 300-$250.00, Bantam 50-$100.00. All around Musky reel that gives you the most "BANG FOR YOUR BUCK", the 50 hands down. If you have the funds to spend on a piece of equipment like the 300 which is limited in it's musky fishing capabilities, God Bless You. Kdawg |
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| The Cabo is great, but I'm still going to be using a 7000iC3 for pulling 'heavy' bucks this year like the Double Cowbell as the sheer torque and speed of these reels, minus IMHO the refinement of the Shimano's and Daiwa's, is perfect for pulling big, hard-pulling baits. I use the Cabo on my glider rod as it casts beautifully and picks up slack nicely; having a thumb-button vs. a thumbar on a smaller, low profile reel is an advantage to those of us who need acess to the spool on those occasional "professional overruns"!
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| The problem with Big baits and 5:1 and 6:1 is it just makes it harder on yourself and your gear get a lower ratio like 4:1 something with a huge spool so it will pick up more line per crank Abu 7000 or a old Penn would probably be your better bet IMHO
Edited by Muskiefool 3/25/2007 11:54 AM
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Posts: 32
Location: Frankfort, IL | I have the Curado 300DSV on my 8'0" St.Croix Legend Tournament rod and went to the local pond the other day. I threw a DC10 for an hour with relative ease. I was expecting it to feel like I was reeling in a whale but it was a breeze and I am by no means a big guy.
Ken |
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Posts: 680
Location: Muskoka Ontario,Canada | Thanks for your input Ken. I also was surprised at how easilly the Curado 300 DSV retrieves. It doesn't have the feel of a high speed reel at all. To each his own though.There really is no ideal reel for every purpose so it's good to have a selection that suits the needs of the person who uses them. |
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| So true....there's a reason I have 11 outfits...not a good one mind you.... |
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Posts: 1462
Location: Davenport, IA | The High Efficiency Gearing Shimano has helps make a 6:1 have the torque of a lower gear ratio. |
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"high efficiency gearing"??? it's still 6.1 to 1
don't fool yourself into thinking that is for big baits. |
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Posts: 358
Location: London, England | The reason it still feels easy to reel is because the spool is small. I expect it recovers line at a similar rate to a 4:1 7000, as that has a much larger spool. If the reel handles are a similar length to a 7000 it should require about the same amount of effort (though probably still a bit more because of the mechanical resistance.) |
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Posts: 680
Location: Muskoka Ontario,Canada | The spool, for me anyway is the ideal size for casting purposes. Perfect balance between line capacity and weight savings. All I can tell you is that the Curado 300DSV is effortless on the retrieve and for me it has the best combination of qualities I wanted in a reel for casting only. I have other rigs for trolling and for smaller baits. I've never liked the feel of any Abu ree. They just feel grindy in comparisson to the Shimanos to me. |
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| Musky Snax - 3/26/2007 6:29 AM
The spool, for me anyway is the ideal size for casting purposes. Perfect balance between line capacity and weight savings. All I can tell you is that the Curado 300DSV is effortless on the retrieve and for me it has the best combination of qualities I wanted in a reel for casting only. I have other rigs for trolling and for smaller baits. I've never liked the feel of any Abu ree. They just feel grindy in comparisson to the Shimanos to me.
No surprise there, my friend.......considering you're looking at $150-$200 more for a high-end Shimano compared to an Abu 6500 or 7000, they SHOULD feel a heck of a lot better! : ) |
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| go with the curado 300d or the calcutta 400bsv if you like a large crank handle |
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| surely you can't be serious?
my dad has the Cabo... it's a nice reel for sure - but it doesn't hold a candle to the Shimano 300 DSV...
i understand a lot of you guys are "old school" and like your abu workhorses for differing applications - which is great. there is a reason abu has been a leader for years.
personally i love the feel of a smaller profile reel that i can palm comfortably all day... i feel i have more control over what i am doing.
i own a Calcutta 401TE and it's a lot to throw that all day and night... not to mention very difficult to burn a buck the way i want... i want that bait smoking back to me especially when i detect a follow.
i have a feeling that these new Curado 300 DSV's are going to catch on rather quickly... this is a reel that was designed to handle Stripers/Tuna/Tarpon etc...
Dahlberg even used it to catch 60lb Golden Dorado without a hitch.
Now if they would only come out with the Left hand retrieve - i would be in heaven... i cannot stand having to switch hands after the cast. |
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| If you go to the Hunt for big fish website, there is a section to ask Larry Dahlberg questions. He field tested it extensively and felt it was even superior to calcuttas in performance, drag and power. He noted that he felt this reel will easily hold up to muskies, big lures and big fish. I ordered one and plan to use it not for trolling or using really heavy lures like pounders. But for average size suicks, jakes , topwaters etc., I think it sounds great. Only time on the water will tell, but Dahlberg seems like he knows as much or more as any of the t.v fishing personalities. At the very least I would think it would fill a niche in throwing smaller or average size baits, which I quite often do, and possibly may handle even the big stuff. Time will tell but it looks like Shimano specifically designed it for large lures and large fish, saltwater included. |
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Posts: 14
Location: belgum | Now if they would only come out with the Left hand retrieve - i would be in heaven... i cannot stand having to switch hands after the cast.
Shimano read this!!! we want a left hand model  |
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| i've been using the Curado 300 this season - absolutely a great reel and it's quickly becoming one of my favorites. it'd jump to the top if they had it out in a left-hand retrieve model...
small size and weight means it's easy to hold/cast without tiring, drag locks tights, runs smooth and has plenty enough power for many muskie lures.
imho, it is not a reel for "big baits" such as large crankbaits or double-10 bucktails which have a lot of drag. the reel will bring them in, but because of the small(er) spool and high speed (6:1) it's entirely too much work on your hand/wrist/arm; reels with large spool capacity and low ratio (4:1) work better for those lures.
i've been using mine for standard size bucktails/spinners which it can burn very very fast, as well as in-line topwater baits and it works great. i'm sure the high speed of line pickup would make it a good choice for jerkbaits as well.
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Posts: 680
Location: Muskoka Ontario,Canada | It is great for jerkbaits indeed. I've been using this reel for a while now and it's simply flawless. For a guy like me with smallish hands it's so much easier to cast and retrieve all day long than a conventional round reel. The Curado 300DSV has a smaller profile than the Shimano 200 TE GT reels I've been using till now. |
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| Now if they would only come out with the Left hand retrieve - i would be in heaven... i cannot stand having to switch hands after the cast.
"Shimano read this!!! we want a left hand model"
Yes Sir!... you betcha we do!!!...
Shimano is funny that way though... they bring a reel to market and then usually only release it in it's 1st year with the RH retrieve. Year 2 usually brings the LH retrieve.
I've been checking japantackle for a pre-release of next years 301 DSV LH (fingers crossed - lol) - but no go at this time.
I suppose i "can't wait" until next year!?!?
Also, I must agree with some of the comments here about the type of baits used with this reel. Most are obviously not using it to troll and/or launch missiles with it... but i think it's phenomenal for certain applications. (topwaters, buzzers, spinners, jerks, etc)
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