Curado 200g

[78Staff]

Is there a guide or primer to the various curado models out there in internet-land anywhere...

Stopped by a local shop and put my hands on these and the Chonarchs... And remembered why I went away from Shimano (well one of the reasons, the other being lesser LH options over the past few years) in the first place. That dang handle slop! Now I know in real world performance it doesn't make a difference, and there are millions of shimanos out there pullin in hawgs, but that slop in the handle just drives me crazy!

Gonna eat some crow here I reckon, went back and looked again as I just wasn't super happy with the CL's I just bought and what I was going to have to do to them to get where i wanted ie gears, bearings, etc... So I have officially moved over to the dark side, picked up 3 Chronarch 200E's, one in each ratio. Figured with the rebate this was the time to try it. I am assuming the handle play I will just adjust to, with so many Shimano users it obviously is not a reliability issue. So I am firmly flipped over into the Shimano camp. Still rocking the fuego spinner's, though . Might grab one more E7, we'll see.

[facelessnewsouth]

I'm 3 hours away so the trade in never works for me, I'd lose in gas what I'd pickup in trade $$. it's a shame because I have several old reels I could pony up. We have two Gander Mtn's here (which are pretty pathetic by comparison) but no BPS (or Cabelas). We typically go to Orlando once or twice a year on a little golfing trip and every makes fun of me because my first stop is the BPS there. . They walk around for 10-15 minutes and park themselves on the benches up front. Me I could spend hours lol.

Also the Macon store, with the giant sratch and dent section, I like that store also - try to stop by anytime I head up to Atlanta...

Jacksonville is a pretty large market, esp for saltwater I am surprised they haven't put one in. It would pull from Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Fernandina/Amelia, etc. I mean if we can support 2 GM's it should work. As it stands now I have to go to Savanna, Macon, or Orlando.

The Macon store has a great selection, but terrible customer service. The Savannah store has less of a selection, but can order in anything you want, if you call ahead of your visit, and let you know when it gets there. Also, Savannah has a much more knowledgeable staff. A few of them are on the forum here. Plus, we're the flipping hostess city, for Christ sakes.

The Orlando store is pretty nice, I hear. Never been there myself.

I think you'll be pretty pleased with the E series you bought...I love my Curado E series, despite all the detractors. Reliable, smooth, good casting, and affordable. I haven't really noticed any play in the handle, at least not a significant amount more than any other brand of reel, but then again I don't go removing anti-reverse pawls and such.

I would consider trying a couple G's with the deal going on right now, if I was in the market for a reel. Definitely would give the G-5 a look for shallow to medium cranks.

those of you that think the g is better than the e, u better contact shimano cause the chronarch is $40 more and its basically an curado e with different paint.

Who said the G was better than the E? I don't remember seeing that. I think the G reflects it's $20 reduction in price nicely, and still offers a decent reel for the price.

[skunked]

those of you that think the g is better than the e, u better contact shimano cause the chronarch is $40 more and its basically an curado e with different paint. keep telling yourself its just as good and youll feel better about your purchase. i own a curado e7 and 50 and im happy with both. i dont plan on going backwards in quality because they call it a curado. you cant tell how nice a reel is by taking it out of the box and reeling it a couple times. talk to me after a season of fishing these reels and tell me which ones better.

I am not telling myself anything. I own a reel repair shop and I have completely disassembled both the E and G series reels. The G series is built just as well as the the E. Yeah, it has a lower bearing count and a plastic drag star but that in no way affects the performance of a reel. Any reel that has at least three bearings is gonna perform just fine. One thing I can say is that I would rather fish with my G series reels than my E series for one main reason. They are quieter and I like the way the G series palms better. The G series is just as good of a reel as the E series. The G series is not going "backwards in quality". Just a different direction with a different price point.

Perfectly said! I have fished my 201E7 and 201G back to back and side by side and I honestly feel the G performs better. There is no geary feeling under load and the drag is better. The finish is ugly and the star is plastic, but performance is what we're talking about here. You can add 4 bearings to the handle for about $10 if that matters to you. I've done it and I don't know if I can tell the difference.

[DanfromMD]

I have 5 or 6 of the G series, great reel and because of the misconceptions I buy them very cheaply, just got a G7 for 65 bucks.
Great thanks to all those that said bad things and never even fished it. Seems almost all the comments here are very favorable.
They cast very well, have plenty of power, classic shimano .