A-Rig / Swim Bait Reel

Reels are the hottest topic for TackleTour. Everyone wants to know what the latest and greatest is and how they compare to the old guard. What's the best for light stuff, or what's your suggestion for heavy cover. Do we really need different retrieve ratios? It's all in here.
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Mike Andrews
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A-Rig / Swim Bait Reel

Post by Mike Andrews » Sat Dec 21, 2013 3:39 am

Trying to decide which reel to mate with a Dobyns 795ML for A-rigs and swim baits. Curado 300e or Calcutta 400b? Line will most likely be 65# braid w/ mono leader. What's the consensus??

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Re: A-Rig / Swim Bait Reel

Post by beezy » Sat Dec 21, 2013 3:58 am

It depends on personal preference. The curado 300e has a faster gear ratio at 6.2:1 as opposed to the calcutta 400B which has a 5.1:1 gear ratio. For your application, I would suggest the curado 300e because it is easier to palm in your hands and can help you catch up to fish that eat your a-rig and run towards you. Slower reels like the calcutta 400B are excellent for fishing slow moving swimbaits due to the less line pick up. If you plan to fish hudds or bottom bouncing baits more, then go with the calcutta 400b.

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Re: A-Rig / Swim Bait Reel

Post by spookybaits » Sun Dec 22, 2013 6:39 am

I'd go with curado 300. Lots of love for them over on the swimbait forums. I liked mine.
If your using braid, you might be able to get away with a smaller reel.

If it was me, I'd grab that Calais asv off the classifieds, or the daiwa Z 200 if tacklewarehouse still has them available at the sale price.
Took my new Z out for the first time this weekend- holy sh*t it's a sick reel! Well worth $324. Steal at that price.

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Re: A-Rig / Swim Bait Reel

Post by dragon1 » Sun Dec 22, 2013 4:23 pm

spookybaits wrote:I'd go with curado 300. Lots of love for them over on the swimbait forums. I liked mine.
If your using braid, you might be able to get away with a smaller reel.

If it was me, I'd grab that Calais asv off the classifieds, or the daiwa Z 200 if tacklewarehouse still has them available at the sale price.
Took my new Z out for the first time this weekend- holy sh*t it's a sick reel! Well worth $324. Steal at that price.
x2...the ASV Calais on our classified is a very good deal. And if you want to drop the coin on the Z, you will likely NOT be disappointed. ;)

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Re: A-Rig / Swim Bait Reel

Post by Love2Grabbass » Mon Dec 23, 2013 1:48 am

dragon1 wrote:
spookybaits wrote:I'd go with curado 300. Lots of love for them over on the swimbait forums. I liked mine.
If your using braid, you might be able to get away with a smaller reel.

If it was me, I'd grab that Calais asv off the classifieds, or the daiwa Z 200 if tacklewarehouse still has them available at the sale price.
Took my new Z out for the first time this weekend- holy sh*t it's a sick reel! Well worth $324. Steal at that price.
x2...the ASV Calais on our classified is a very good deal. And if you want to drop the coin on the Z, you will likely NOT be disappointed. ;)
x3 on the Calais ASV on the classifieds :big grin:

I used it as a swimbait reel but sold the rod it was attached to so now its sitting... It is in near perfect condition!

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Re: A-Rig / Swim Bait Reel

Post by Mike Andrews » Sun Dec 29, 2013 9:17 am

Since starting this I've done a ton of reading and it looks like the Daiwa Lexa 300 is becoming the hot item with the serious swim baiter's. Any opinions on it? Seems to be a good option to the Curado....

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Re: A-Rig / Swim Bait Reel

Post by got2be5 » Sun Dec 29, 2013 9:29 am

I throw small to medium swim baits on the ML795.I got the reel in a trade,was a little skeptical at first but after using it +- 30 hrs double thumbs up.Not the smoothest but i can bomb swim baits like nobodies biz.After the smoke clears from XMAS i will getting at least one or two more.Word on the street is you can throw all but the biggest of swim baits with them. :D

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Re: A-Rig / Swim Bait Reel

Post by Mike Andrews » Sun Dec 29, 2013 9:36 am

I had a 200 but traded it for a Citica E because I "needed" another one. Nothing wrong with it though and it would bomb baits out there with the best of ' em. This will likely not be a primary rod / technique for me at this point so the Lexa is in the running for sure!

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Re: A-Rig / Swim Bait Reel

Post by spookybaits » Mon Dec 30, 2013 9:51 am

Mike Andrews wrote:Since starting this I've done a ton of reading and it looks like the Daiwa Lexa 300 is becoming the hot item with the serious swim baiter's. Any opinions on it? Seems to be a good option to the Curado....
If your goal is to do swimbaiting on a budget, that's your reel. Never fished a lexa but it felt great in hand. As for choosing it over the curado... That's more of a personal preference. More specifically- different egronomics & brake systems. I liked the egros on the Lexa better but prefer centrifugal brakes. I owned the curado 300, it's a good reel. Mine was supertuned & ceramic bearings. Never loved it tho & sold it.
Both are good reels. No way in hell I would choose either over a Calais asv or daiwa Z200, but if you're trying to do it on the cheap both will do the job. Pick which one feels better to you.

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Re: A-Rig / Swim Bait Reel

Post by Toadslayer72 » Mon Dec 30, 2013 2:07 pm

Lexa 300 is a sweet reel on the 795 and it offers 3 different gear ratios in both RH/LH and they can be found with ease for under $150 on Ebay, save some dough to put towards some nice baits. It's an awesome reel even at full retail really. That said, I have a Pluton on my 795 as my Lexa currently gets bounced around from rig to rig with different lines and whatnot. Oh and I can't express enough how good dat 100 mm handle feels. To me, that's worth a lot now that I've used it for over a year.

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Re: A-Rig / Swim Bait Reel

Post by G3Steve » Mon Dec 30, 2013 3:40 pm

I use a Curado 301 on my 795MLSB. I have a Cardiff also, but prefer the lower profile baitcaster.

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