TackleTour

Anyone other than Cal got their hands on this one yet? If so, opinions? I just ordered one ($130 JLS) to pair to a MH Diesel Glass crankbait rod for tossing 1/4 to 3/8 ounce cranks and topwaters. I have a T3 Ballistic with 1016 spool on the rod now and love the way it casts but hate the nasty retrieve and all the damn noises it makes. Lets hope this plastic reel is nicer.

The regular casitas is like a brick, in a good way. To me it feels alot heavier than the chronarch ci4 despite nearly weighing the same. It think is because it's more compact and therefore more dense. I also have a T3B and it feels much better made, especially on the retrieve.

Good to to know that its nicer than the noisy gross door stop shaped T3B. I'm not sure how it will hold its own against the T3B + 1016 @ Long Cast mode but hopefully it is somewhat similar. This is a reel I am curious about and given the low price point it was a no brainier. I think I secretly want to like carbon infused plastic reels and given the poor showing of the T3B this one should prove to be refreshing,

I have the USDM Casitas and a Casitas MGL since it is released in YP. Worth the money ! You can't get wrong with the MGL , only difference is the Spool and the better look. You can throw a little bit lighter baits with the MGL .
Build quality is good. In my opinion it feels like a higher class reel !


best regards olli

LowRange wrote:Good to to know that its nicer than the noisy gross door stop shaped T3B. I'm not sure how it will hold its own against the T3B + 1016 @ Long Cast mode but hopefully it is somewhat similar. This is a reel I am curious about and given the low price point it was a no brainier. I think I secretly want to like carbon infused plastic reels and given the poor showing of the T3B this one should prove to be refreshing,

A 12 gram spool with the newer svs should have no issues against the 1016 spool.

Got mine in the mail today. It's butter smooth, silent and feels very solid for a plastic reel which is nice. Spool is tad heavier than a 1016 but much lighter than the Engetsu PG spool. Should be a good crankbait reel as long as it hold up.

LowRange wrote:Got mine in the mail today. It's butter smooth, silent and feels very solid for a plastic reel which is nice. Spool is tad heavier than a 1016 but much lighter than the Engetsu PG spool. Should be a good crankbait reel as long as it hold up.

Sweet! Go out and fish it and report back to compare your findings vs the TT review. I may pick one up while waiting for the conquest bfs and scorpion bfs to drop.

I picked one up for my little brother for Christmas and the build quality is of typical shimano quality, he's beyond happy with it just from tossing stuff around in the yard since everything is iced up here in upstate NY. I threw it a few times and was it feels really good in hand and the retrieve is silky smooth, all iknow is for the money the reel seems like it'd be a true work horse reel and has me pondering the idea of getting one for myself to put on a new Shimano Zodias medium fast since the reel would look pretty sweet with the red on the reel to match the red on the zodias

The silent retrieve didn't last long. It has picked up a bit of a vibration and noise very quickly. It's still smooth just not the buttery smooth and silent reel it was out of the box. I'm guessing the factory grease has thinned out a bit on the gears.

LowRange wrote:The silent retrieve didn't last long. It has picked up a bit of a vibration and noise very quickly. It's still smooth just not the buttery smooth and silent reel it was out of the box. I'm guessing the factory grease has thinned out a bit on the gears.

Lots of reels feel smooth until you tighten the drag lol

It was smooth and silent with the drag locked down. After playing with it the handle began to spin more freely, a vibration devloped and i began to hear the gearing. The grease must have thinned out bit is all. My SS SV did the same thing. A bit disappointing but expected given the price point. Still nicer than a Ballistic.

LowRange wrote:It was smooth and silent with the drag locked down. After playing with it the handle began to spin more freely, a vibration devloped and i began to hear the gearing. The grease must have thinned out bit is all. My SS SV did the same thing. A bit disappointing but expected given the price point. Still nicer than a Ballistic.

My usdm Casitas was never the trademark shimano silky smooth. If you got the chance to handle a chronarch or metanium you will see a big difference, even with a citica or curado there's a difference vs the Casitas.

Open it up and give her a SPA... I bet you will not see any grease...

LowRange wrote:The silent retrieve didn't last long. It has picked up a bit of a vibration and noise very quickly. It's still smooth just not the buttery smooth and silent reel it was out of the box. I'm guessing the factory grease has thinned out a bit on the gears.

I tried out a US Casitas. The reel was not smooth under load and was noisy. Not a fan of the shape. The front thumb rest is scooped out so it drops my thumb down to where it rubs the line during the retrieve. It did cast good though.

joekaz wrote:I tried out a US Casitas. The reel was not smooth under load and was noisy. Not a fan of the shape. The front thumb rest is scooped out so it drops my thumb down to where it rubs the line during the retrieve. It did cast good though.

Yeah the retrieve is nothing to write home about if you are used to higher end shimanos but I love the way it palms and once dialed on it casts great.