Citica

[Craig Plummer]

So i've been looking for a good baitcaster to try to learn how to use with. How many of you use the Citica? Do you like it? It by no means is a light reel weighing in at nearly 10oz. and it also has a large profile. Does anyone else have a reel they find comperable to the citica in price but still of good quality? Let me know your thoughts. I think im going to pick up my first baitcaster this weekend.

~Craigums

[cjac]

Hey,

For $90 after rebate there's not a better reel out there in my mind. It's a spinoff of the old green Curado super-frees, the most tried and tested and proven reel out there.

Differences in reel weight, on the right rod for the reel, are neglible. Profile is deceiving, with the reel seat it sits pretty low and fits the hand quite well.

I have a couple more on my list after the Uncle Sam refund hits...

[TurnUpTheFishing]

I have had several citicas on my rods and they perform great. I dont care much for the size of the 200 reels much but you'll get used to it and if you dont want the 200 size their is a 100 size. The size is not the only difference though. The 100 is the DSV which means it wont have the wiffled spool. Also, it doesnt have High Efficiency gears and one less bearing. That being said I played around with a 100 at work once and it seemed to be just as nice as the 200.

If you want some other reels in the same price range to look into Id recomend the Abu Garcia Revo S, or maybe the Quantum accurist PT.

[polarsusd81]

I had one of the old citicas that I actually messed it up, but it was my fault. Long ago, when I first bought it, I thought it was big enough to throw big baits for muskies, and those baits were heavy enough to throw some stuff out of alignment. Well, lo and behold, it sat on the shelf for 5 years or so, until I got a wild hair a few weeks ago and tore it apart. I was able to fix the problem, the spring on the thumb bar mechanism was knocked loose, so when I disengage the spool to cast, it wasn't fully disengaged and would scream when I threw a lure out. After fixing it, there is no noise what so ever.

All those years collecting dust, and all I had to do was clean it up and realign a spring. It has always been one of my favorite reels, and now that it is working again, I will be using it quite a bit this summer.

[Craig Plummer]

Any recommendations on a rod to pair with it? Remember this will be my first ever baitcaster combo. Im looking for a MH rod less than $150 bucks... So far I've been looking at the Fenwick HMG GT66M with the exposed blank. I'll mainly be throwing spinner/chatterbaits but I'd really like an all around combo that I could potentially use jigs, and topwater frogs with also.

Thanks for your recomendations and points of view.

[Deitz Dittrich]

CP- this podcast may help you, its not supposed to be released till monday, but we can let that slide..

Podcast--Why so many rods on the Market.

http://hotspotoutdoors.com/podcast/hsopodcast031608.mp3

Since you asked for opinions... I hate to say this, I dont use the same rod for Jigs and frogs as I do spinnerbaits and chatters... They are two totally different techniques which work best with totally different rods. For a frog/jig rod I would want a 7'MH Fast action rod.. maybe even a 7'6".. but for spinnerbaits and chatterbaits I use a 7' MH SLOW action rod... Like a Compre Crankbait TC4 rod.(retail $99)

[Craig Plummer]

Thanks DD - I'll check out the podcast when I get off work (no speakers on this computer). Do you guys talk about why your would prefer a certain action tip over another for each situation?

[Andrew Erickson]

i have one and its awesome.The phleuger trion is also a nice reel