New Reel for Fishing Jigs in Open water and weedlines

[74mph]

Hey Guys. I got some gift cards for Christmas and they are burning a hole in my pocket!

I am looking to setup a new bait casting reel for fishing bass jigs from 1/4 to 1/2 oz. I plan to pair this with a 7' to 7'6" rod. I’m planning on using this rod setup for jig fishing outside weedlines in anywhere from 2 to 16 ft. (I have a different setup for flipping & pitching).

Let’s just focus on the reel:

So I’m thinking of something with a lot of drag force and light weight. I plan to stick with a gear ratio around 6.4:1, faster than this and I feel like I might be too speedy. And I fish a left handed reel which unfortunately impacts what’s available. Trying to stay less than $225.

I typically always fish Shimano Curados but they no longer offer a 200 size reel in a left handed version at a 6.XX:1 gear ratio. It’s 7:1 only and the drag power of the curado is only around 11lbs compared to a revo at about 19 lbs. Shimano does offer then new 51E series, 6.4:1 gear ratio and only 10 lb drag. I don’t like the smaller line capacity and am afraid of the lower drag force but I like the light weight of this reel.

So if I am getting away from Shimano the door is wide open. I do have a couple of revos in my boat and I really like these reels. Revo has the STX in my price range which is a little heavy at 8.9oz but has a 24lb drag force. I already have a 7:0:1 STX and get along with it well on a different setup.

Then I found the new Quantum Smoke 101SPT which is super light at only 6.2oz. It has 19lb drag force and comes in a left handed model at 6.3:1 gear ratio. So this reel looks awesome until I read some reviews and find that people are having some casting difficulty with it, claiming that its very touchy for backlashing. I’ve never used a quantum bait caster…

Overall this quantum smoke is looking very tempting with the superlight design, but is it a gamble with the questionable cast-ability? I could stick with the STX and compromise on weight, knowing that its just a bit heavier. I am already familiar with using the Revos.

Any opinions would be awesome!

[Gardiner14]

IMO i would stay with the Revo. Another Revo is the Winch, the gear ratio 5:4:1 and left handed still heavy though at 8.5

[NTW]

Hard to go wrong with an STX. It is my favorite for swim jigs.

I am not sure what it is worth but I saw Al Linder had the smoke reels in his boat. He was using one to throw smaller crankbaits for smallies. Said it was a "honey of a reel". haha

I think I'd be happy to own either of them. I'd probably buy the smoke because I feel more comfortable with the Quantum braking system when pitching jigs of that size. I know you have flipping/pitching covered with another setup but if I have a tied on, I'll still want to feel comfortable pitching for surprise opportunities along the weedline.

[74mph]

Good point. It is nice to have rods that double techniques in those situations. Are you talking about the cast control braking system of the Quantum? You believe it would be better for backlash control when pitchin? That would be sweet.

[Larson15]

I would stay away from Quantum. They are know where near the quality of shimano or abu. I personally like the Curado over anything else for less than $200. I like the higher gear ratio when fishing jigs and its not a whole lot different when comparing it to 6:4:1. I use a few revos but mostly have all shimanos. I find that the shimanos are easier to control and have better breaking. The revos seem a little finicky and take more adjustment when switching baits or going from pitching to casting. If you are dead set on 6:4:1 gear ratio you could always opt for the Citica which is a great reel for the money.

[Superduty]

I would stay away from Quantum.

Me too!

[NTW]

I guess I was under the impression you are sure you can't live with the curado's 10lb drag and gear ratio.

Curado is my favorite reel and the Citica isn't half bad either. I have the lower gear ratio and no argument with larson and superduty...but if I had to choose between the other STX and smoke, I would pick the smoke. I like the freespool and casting control with my quantum tour and accurist better than the STX.

[RK]

Hiya -

Check out the Shimano Castaic. Comes in a LH retrieve 200 size, 6.2:1 gear ratio and has dual thumbars so you can engage and disengage the spool without turning the handle if you do want to pitch with it some. They're about $10 less than a Curado. They're kind of the overlooked Shimano but they're great reels - versatile as all get out. Not a lightweight at 8 ounces, but honestly, would you notice the difference?

If you really want an awesome reel for lighter stuff, see if you can find a Shimano Scorpion 1001XT. They're basically a Core 50 with aluminum rather than magnesium parts, so around $100 cheaper (@ $275). I still fish with some of the original Scorpions that were brought over from Japan 10 years or so ago, and they're great reels even by today's standards. From what I hear the new ones are even better. You wouldn't get 19 lbs of drag pressure out of it, but why would you need to? They use 15 lbs of drag to catch tuna...

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[74mph]

So the gear ratio I can live with anything in the low 6.XX:1 range. The only new curado that has that is the 50E which does have the lower drag. I have had some issues with drag slipping and just dont want to go there again and thats why some of the other reels are looking more appealing.

Shimano realy made me mad by not making the standard 200 size in lefty. I have always been a Shimano guy but they are making me change that.

Maybe the citica... They are not bad and definently good on price.

[74mph]

To RKs point. I have had the Castaic on an older Jig rod setup. I liked the reel alot but didnt get along well with the fancy thumb bar. I would disengage the reel when setting a fish, lost a few because of it and was just discuraged. If I could learn to live with it this would be a great reel. Im just looking for something different.

[74mph]

Just looked up the Citica. Does come in left handed model at 6.2:1 and only 7.8oz, its actually an oz lighter than the Revo STX. So its a good weight, good price and good gear ratio.

Does anyone think I would have trouble getting the drag to lock down? This could be a sweet buy given the price. Thanks for all the help so far.

[Larson15]

You will never have in issue with the drag on the citica. I have a few of them and its not like we are fighting 14lb bass up here in the north.

[Superduty]

I also use all left hand baitcasters. The difference between a curado and citica is three bearings if I remember correctly. Two are in the curado handle (which is a bigger better handle than the citica) and the citica has a bushing where the curado has the other bearing. I own a few citicas and have no problem with drag slippage. I have been using them for horizontal presentations with either mono or flouro, so it might be different with braid if you set the hook hard close to the boat. Doubt it though. You might look into switching out the gears on a curado with citica gears to get the gear ratio you want. The curado is a better reel IMO. The E series reels have interchangeable gears. Throw in some high performance bearings while you have it apart...

[Deitz Dittrich]

I have never had an issue with a reel where I didnt feel I could crank the drag down tight enough. As you know 74- I use all shimano. But then again, that is just my(probably biased) opinion. I have a couple of the old Castiac(which I refuse to get rid of) and also have a few of the Core.. which I love.

[74mph]

Well its easy to talk me into shimano! They are the best reels I have ever used and I do want to stick with them.

As for the drag crank down issue - I fished a castaic all of last year for my open water jig rod and felt like I had to really tighten down the drag to keep it from slipping when busting the lip through a weed guard. I didnt like having to crank it down so tight because I felt that it was compromising the free spool and probably messing up the reel. I eventually abandoned the castaic because of my in-ability to really use the fancy thumb bar (just me being a bone-head). When setting the hook sometimes my thumb would hit the flippin bar and release the spool resulting in a nasty backlash and lost fish. Nothing against this reel, it just doesnt work for me and I got discuraged and lost confidence with it.

At the end of the season I switched to an old curado and had alot better luck with it but I need this reel on a different setup so I am now buying a new reel specifically for this technique.

With all of the new technology, I figured it would be worth optimizing all of the features for the technique I will use this new reel with.

Hence this posting.

Overall I am hearing that the quality of shimano isnt worth compromising to get a little stronger drag or lighter reel. I do want the lower gear ratio that isnt offered by the new curado but I like superdutys idea of switching out the gears with a citica to get 6.2:1 gear ratio in a new left handed curado. Thanks for the idea!

If I can do this it would be pretty sweet because I could always switch it back to the 7:1 if I wanted to use the reel for a different purpose or felt like I the speed increase could be usefull.

DD - What gear ratio do you fish on your swimjig rods (or do you just have multiple different setups so you are situation specific! Must be nice!)

Im looking into parts now to see if I can just switch out the drive gear and pinion.

[74mph]

So I did a quick search and it looks like this is happening alot with the citica gears in a curado to change the gear ratio.

Here is a good link:

http://www.westernbass.com/forum/viewtop...54e34b9956757e6

[Deitz Dittrich]

74- (uggg, yes a bit embarased.).. yes I have technique rods.. But I do have the curado E on my swim jig rod.. just swim it slow.. And I do fish a 7-1 gear ratio on my jig rods for the most part too.. The rod does all the work, the reel just picks up the slack. So I just turn less to pick up the slack.