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.