I'm due for a new caster any suggestions?

Shimano Corsair, we bought two this summer for Kings up here in Alaska, and they worked great!

I'd go for the curado. Good reel for a lower price than the high end type calcutta's. Great investment for tghe money. I dunno about the corsairs, a friend of mine had two of them go bad in two days, right after they were bought.

I have four Corsair's that I use for salmon out of my drift boat and have had no trouble at all but for the money I would go for the Curado. Great reel for the money. Keep the lines wet....Nooch kid.

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My favotite reel is a Curado.Smooth drag,6:1 retreive and casts very well. It covers almost all the salmon and steelhead fishing I do. I did get a Corsair for the extra line capacity for large kings. I have heard of drag problems with the Corsair, but havn't had any myself. I used to use Abu 5501's and 6501's, but have pretty much switched to Shimano. It' kind of like trading the family sedan in on a corvette.

Loomis Man, I've got a # of Shimanos and love most of them, 1 tip though if you buy Shimano, make sure its made in Japan(can't believe I'm saying that) some, mainly I believe the Corsair are made in Malaysia or Taiwan and its been my experience that there crap, hope this helps, good fishing.

I prefer my Browning Aggressors great casting and drag. Also not a bad price a $100 a pop.

Thanks for all the input guys!

My vote goes for the calcutta mines been though hell and back not 1 problem ,I've heard the same complaints about the cosair,if your going on the lower end take take the curado for the money no complaints..

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Tight Lines
<*)>><------FISH ON!!!

Curado, calcutta or Chronarch........cant go wrong with these reels....... DONT!!!!!!!! buy a corsair.........cheaps ass stamped piece of garabage........

Here is my .02. I own a few bait casting reels. I like my old Bantan 201 but well we all know that Shimano really screwed up by discountinuing this reel. I like the 5501C3 Abu Garcia. These things are only $60.00 and they are virtually indestructable. The use metal components unlike alot of the Shimano reels. I also own a Corsair and have had no problems with it yet, key word is yet. I trust my 5501 over most other reels. The Morrums look nice also.

Andy http://The_Steelhead_Solution.homestead.com

FOR THE RIVERS AND THE LAKES MY FAVORITE SHIMANO IS THE BANTAM CORILIS (RED IN COLOR). ITS A LITTLE CHEAPER THAN THE CURADO. I HAVE BOTH AND FIND THE CORILIS IS THE SMOOTHER OF THE 2. THEY ARE HARD FIND. WHEN I WAS IN MAINE LAST YEAR I PICKED ONE UP AT LL BEAN.

Seadog, is that reel a Bantam Coriolis co-200? Does it have a lever that keeps the thumb spool release from latching, and another switch to make it direct drive? I got this reel years ago. It's got knobs and switches all over it.

Dumped my calcutta and bought a curado. The retrieve is a lot faster. Calcutta is too slow!!!!!!

i would spend the extra money and get the CHRONARCH.... Curado comes in 2nd and a used Bantam 100 off of EBAY 3rd.....

I really enjoy my ambassador 5600ab

DAN M, I HAVE THE CORIOLIS CO-200D. ITS ALMOST IDETICAL THE CURADO BUT IT HAS A 5:1 INSTAED OF A 6:1 RATIO. IT ALSO DOESNT HAVE THE VARIABLE BRAKE SYSTEM. INSTEAD IT HAS A MAGNETIC SPOOL CONTROL ADJUSTMENT ON THE SIDE FOR FINE TUNNING WHEN CHANGING RIGS AND MAKES FOR SMOOTH CASTING. ITS A PRETTY BASIC REEL AND IT DOESNT HAVE ALOT OF BUTTONS AND LEVERS. MY MOST USED REEL AND THE CURADO IS IN MY VEST FOR A BACKUP.

I'll give another shout-out to the chronarch. I've fished just about every lefty casting reel $200 and below, and the Cronarch outfishes all others for LIGHT TO MEDIUM applications. It is a straightup precision machine. In my opinion it has a superior braking system than the Curado and Calcutta. Tough to birdnest this one.

I have a ambassador. 5501C3. Very tough reel. The Shimano's are good, in the upper price range anyway. I was told to avoid the corsairs though. BUT, I never have used one.

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Just because I look big, dumb, and ugly, doesn't mean I am. It means I can stomp you for calling me it!

I have heard nothing but good things about the Chronarch and have been looking at them the past week.The best price I saw was $195,has anybody found them for less?

Get the best go for the Penn 965,have them all and the Penn is the cream of the crop.Used mine for two king seasons and have not had 1 problem with it.the fish are hard on reels up here and the Penn kicks ass!The shimano is a smoother reel,but that drag on the Penn is oh so smooth.DO NOT BUY THE CORSAIR,PURE JUNK.keep an eye out for the new Fin-Nors

What is wrong with corsairs? I have heard of a drag problem. I have a corsair but haven't used it very much although is has caught a few large kings. I'm just curiuos and wondering what to expect. Do they give you any warning that it is going to wad up,or does it just crap out in the middle of a fight?

I'm a big Chronarch fan. I haven't done a web search in a while, but if you go to a good search engine (e.g. www.google.com or www.dogpile.com) and look for 'Shimano Chronarch' I think you'll find a few websites offering them for $165 or so (at least that was the price last May -- the yen has gotten stronger so prices may have crept up).

I bought a Corsair for my fishing buddy this last fall--for use on steelies. Well, imagine my disappointment when he loses a fish because the handles suddenly spun backward, knocking his knuckles! It feels like it's engaged, but it's not.... And, the thing's drag is self-adjusting! And, the shop that sold it to me wouldn't take it back...I won't name them, but let's just say they're on the 20. They'll never get another dollar out of me, nor will Shimano. I bought him an Ambassadeur, and he seems to like it; guy even outfished me these last two weekends 2--0.

You might want to check out the newer High end Diawa baitcasters. It seems not too many people have used them, for some reason or another the majority of steelhead fisherman are stuck on shimano. Shimano had the best stuff a few years back (the 200,201,250 adn 251) but, that may not be the case anymore. The newer Diawa's have more ball bearings than all reels $200 and less. the top two are priced around $165 and $195 on the web. I bought one about five years ago and have had no problems with it, and I abuse reels. Very smooth drag, casts well and it is very durable. also, they fit in the hand will like a good steelie fishing reel should. I either use that or my 200 or my 250.

Just my experience

fish on

Hey fishkisser, I had the same problem with both the corsair 300 and the 400. I lost fish, had bad backlashes, and even snapped main line because of the anti-reverse disengaging and the handle spinning backwards. I owned 2 300s and 2 400s. NOT ANYMORE! I tried the curado....love it! I will be picking up a Chronarch SF and a Penn 965 "reely" soon. Good luck...

Dan M, sporting goods salesman told me not to buy a Corsair because of so many returns. Said they have lots of problems not to buy. So I got a Curado (LoveIT) Jim Marquis

ambassadeur 5501c3 good,calcutta 251 better,you get what you pay for,don't buy a corsair they're junk!!!

FISH ON!!!

Duck, I like my Curado a lot too, and use it most of the time. I bought this Corsair some time ago for the exrta capacity of heavier line and use it when there is a possibility of hooking a big king. Although I haven't used it very much and have only caught a handfull of kings with it, I have had no problems. The comments in some of the posts here have me wondering about it's reliability. I guess I'll just keep using it and if it screws up I'll just leave it on the railroad track by the boat launch.

I bought 3 Shimano Corsair 400's a few years ago.. loved them for 5 months... great line cap. nice smooth drag... until we were out striper fishing one evening. Had a monster take down and set the hook on a spinning spool... they all went bad the same week... So I bought 5500 c4's and really like them for chinook and stripers

2 Corsairs to go bad in 2 back to back fishing trips. I think that if they don't go bad right off the bat they might be OK. To finally get out on the river and have your brand new reel give out really pisses a guy off. Never even got to catch a fish on them. Went with an Ambassador, tired of things breaking. Next reel will be a Curado though.