What is THE crankbait reel in Shimano's lineup to you

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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oops
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What is THE crankbait reel in Shimano's lineup to you

Post by oops » Thu Jun 08, 2023 8:30 pm

Haven't fished a crankbait regularly in about 20 years. The Valkyrie 71MH has sorta solidified itself on my radar as a rod I'm pretty interested as an all around cranking rod for largemouth, spotties and light calico bass duties. Reel wise, my in use arsenal is Metaniums and a single Chronarch G. I've got a used once 22 Bantam HG that I was ready to sell that I'm now considering keeping to pair with the cranking rod and I've got an old Calais 100A that I just had serviced that was gonna be sold that was also quite the cranker in its day. But I'm curious about other reels as well...


Are the Bantam and Conquest the two primary cranking reels in Shimano's lineup these days? How's the Antares? I'm just looking for the best feeling setup I can make since the biggest setback when I've tried to crank with what I've got is simply how unpleasant it has been both rod and reel wise. I wasn't fond of how 200 size round reels used to feel in my small hands but I know they've been updated to palm better. Got some ancient retired Calcutta 250s and still actively use my 300 TE in the salt but I have 0 experience with the fancy new stuff


Crankers, please share your wisdom!

Bigfella123
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Re: What is THE crankbait reel in Shimano's lineup to you

Post by Bigfella123 » Thu Jun 08, 2023 10:36 pm

I have not fished the bantam, but here is my take on the conquest:

I have the 2014 version in the 100 size, 5.2:1 gear ratio, and its my favorite cranking reel. Extremely smooth and rigid under load, and very palmable with medium large hands. I havent thrown anything larger than a 5xd or dt-16 on it. It handles everything up to those very well.

If you are thinking about buying one, I would get the 2021 version. Cal did a review on it, and the 2021 version in the 200 size is only 1mm larger (foot to top of reel) than the 2014 100 size. I looked at some vids of the 100 and it looks really small. The 2021 version also has infinity drive, and an extra bearing supporting the crank shaft. This makes the reel even smoother under load (not sure if this is because of the extra bearing support or the infinity drive). Downside is the lowest gear ratio for the 200 comes in 4.8:1 gear ratio, which could be a little slow if you wanted to burn some squarebills. Then it jumps to 7 something to 1.

The one downside is the smaller handles on the conquests.

If your unpleasant cranking has been from the lack of ergonomics in large old round reels, try to get your hands on the new calcuttas. I have also heard very good things about the bantam in the 6.2:1 ratio for cranking, and it looks pretty small in some video comparisons. It also has the infinity drive technology

I dont think you could go wrong with either :)

Bigfella123
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Re: What is THE crankbait reel in Shimano's lineup to you

Post by Bigfella123 » Thu Jun 08, 2023 10:46 pm

Also quick note on the antares vs conquest, the conquest feels very slightly more "solid" and rigid, maybe due to that piece on the top of the antares that isnt part of the frame? But both are amazing as well.

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Re: What is THE crankbait reel in Shimano's lineup to you

Post by City17Banner » Fri Jun 09, 2023 11:59 am

First and foremost, I have XS hands and the older Calcutta and Calcutta Conquests were very hard and painful for me to use despite how fantastic they were for presenting lures for bass, pike, and muskie. It has been my experience that if you are staying within the Shimano ecosystem for your crankbait fishing requirements, I recommend you take a really close look at the Calcutta Conquest DC reels. All six of my Megabass Valkryie cranking casting rods have either Conquest 100/100HG DC or 200200HG DC reels mounted on them and have withstood the test of time and abuse fishing for smallmouth bass, pike, and muskie in the NW Wisconsin waters I frequent over the last two fishing seasons.

These are not the round reels of yesteryear such as the ABU Garcia 5500C that my grandfather gave me for my birthday gift over 4 decades ago, Shimano has reduced the size of the new 19 Conquest 100 DC to the size of the old Conquest 50 DC and the current Conquest 200 DC is the size of the old 100 DC reel, so these new age round reels are as "palm-able" as my standard Shimano 21 Antares DC casting reels which I use for a variety of fishing techniques when smallmouth bass fishing in NW Wisconsin.

Cranking Rod & Reel Combinations
  • (2) Smith LTD TVC-69ML Bait Finesse Advance/Shimano 21 Antares DC (5.6:1)/20# YGK G-Soul SS112 sinking braid/super ester/#30 Sunline FC100 leader/Megabass IxI Furious 0.5 & Imakatsu Gekiasa Shad
  • (2) Sedition SDC-700MMHG-FTW White Falcon/Shimano Calcutta Conquest 100HG DC (6.8:1)/20# YGK G-Soul SS112 sinking braid/super ester/#30 Sunline FC100 leader/Megabass Deep-X 100 & SK 3XD
  • (2) Megabass Valkryie VKC-71MH/Shimano Calcutta Conquest 100 DC (5.6:1)/20# YGK G-Soul SS112 sinking braid/super ester/#30 Sunline FC100 leader/Megabass Deep-X 300 & SK 5XD
  • (2) Megabass Valkryie VKC-71H/Shimano Calcutta Conquest 200 DC (4.8:1)/20# YGK G-Soul SS112 sinking braid/super ester/#30 Sunline FC100 leader/Megabass Deep Six & SK 6XD
  • (2) Megabass Valkryie VKC-76XXH/Shimano Calcutta Conquest 200HG DC (6.2:1)/20# YGK G-Soul SS112 sinking braid/super ester/#30 Sunline FC100 leader/Megabass Big M 7.5 & SK 8Xd & 10XD
Good luck with your Shimano Crankbait Reel Search and please have a great day!
2022 Vexus VX20/Mercury 250 Pro XS | 2021 Vexus AVX 1980/Mercury 150 Pro XS

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Bantam1
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Re: What is THE crankbait reel in Shimano's lineup to you

Post by Bantam1 » Wed Jun 14, 2023 7:28 am

Just wanted to give a quick note about the gear ratio being slow on the Conquest. You have to remember it has a slightly taller spool. If you look at the inches per turn, the Conquest is 22" with the 4.8:1 ratio. For comparison a Curado 200PGK (5:1) is 21 IPT. So technically the gear ratio being lower makes it slightly easier to turn the handle under a load, but it's bringing in an extra inch of line per revolution.

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Re: What is THE crankbait reel in Shimano's lineup to you

Post by LowRange » Wed Jun 14, 2023 10:42 am

New bantam just because it looks cool on the Valkaryie. They are all SVS centrifugal reels. Is there really a difference in braking profile between the current non DC lineup? Pick which ever one you think is the coolest.

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Re: What is THE crankbait reel in Shimano's lineup to you

Post by jlang95 » Thu Jun 15, 2023 7:01 pm

I’m planning on trying out a Bantam this year.

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