Advice on a brand/model to replace my current reels

[Red Lund]

Hi guys,

It pains me to say it, but I am on the verge of retiring my group of 18 old school greenie curados as they are starting to break down at a faster clip and parts can be a PITA on some. (RIP, they have been so awesome and will keep them for backup duty)

As a present to myself to celebrate some personal things, I'm looking to buy a brand new arsenal of about 20 reels. With the exception of different gear ratios, I prefer to keep them all the same make and model as I like when all of the reels feel/work the same on each setup.

I'm OK with spending about up to $280 per reel and one requirement is that I want to be able to easily access all the bearings as I like to clean and lube them fairly frequently if I'm using them a lot.

I previously had bought a high speed Daiwa Tatula and had to remove the gears to access one of the bearings which I would prefer not to have to do......isnot sure if this is characteristic of all Daiwa reels or maybe unique to the Tatula series.

I noticed that the new Curado I is on sale on TW, which made me wonder if its soon to be discontinued/replaced?

Any suggestions/recommendations along with why you feel that way would be super appreciated!

Thanks!!!

[rockchalk06]

Hi guys,

It pains me to say it, but I am on the verge of retiring my group of 18 old school greenie curados as they are starting to break down at a faster clip and parts can be a PITA on some. (RIP, they have been so awesome and will keep them for backup duty)

As a present to myself to celebrate some personal things, I'm looking to buy a brand new arsenal of about 20 reels. With the exception of different gear ratios, I prefer to keep them all the same make and model as I like when all of the reels feel/work the same on each setup.

I'm OK with spending about up to $250 per reel and one requirement is that I want to be able to easily access all the bearings as I like to clean and lube them fairly frequently if I'm using them a lot.

I previously had bought a high speed Daiwa Tatula and had to remove the gears to access one of the bearings which I would prefer not to have to do......is not sure if this is characteristic of all Daiwa reels or maybe unique to the Tatula series.

I noticed that the new Curado I is on sale on TW, which made me wonder if its soon to be discontinued/replaced?

Any suggestions/recommendations along with why you feel that way would be super appreciated!

Thanks!!!

It only makes sense that the Curado I will be replaced soon.

What bearing are you talking about (on the Tatula) that needed the gears removed to access? The Worm Shaft Bearing? Pinion Bearing? Honestly the worm gear and pinion bearing don't need cleaned and lube near as much as the spool bearings do. I don't know of a reel made that you wouldn't have to remove the main gears to access both the Pinion and Worm Shaft bearing.

The new Chronarch MGL comes to mind, but it's a little above your price point. I wonder if you called the Tackle Trap and asked if they could meet that price point if you bought 20? That's a helluva order. It's worth a shot. I assume by needing 20, you are a tournament guy? 3 different gear ratios should fit most anything you would need.

My guess is the Curado that will be replacing the I, will follow the Chronarch MGL with either an MGL spool and similar breaking system. Might honestly be worth the wait for it?

[Red Lund]

It only makes sense that the Curado I will be replaced soon.

What bearing are you talking about (on the Tatula) that needed the gears removed to access? The Worm Shaft Bearing? Pinion Bearing? Honestly the worm gear and pinion bearing don't need cleaned and lube near as much as the spool bearings do. I don't know of a reel made that you wouldn't have to remove the main gears to access both the Pinion and Worm Shaft bearing.

The new Chronarch MGL comes to mind, but it's a little above your price point. I wonder if you called the Tackle Trap and asked if they could meet that price point if you bought 20? That's a helluva order. It's worth a shot. I assume by needing 20, you are a tournament guy? 3 different gear ratios should fit most anything you would need.

My guess is the Curado that will be replacing the I, will follow the Chronarch MGL with either an MGL spool and similar breaking system. Might honestly be worth the wait for it?

I might be misremembering, but I thought I had to remove the gears to get to one of the spool bearings on the Type-R series? In any event, I'm only concerned with accessing the spool bearings.

The Chronarch looks sweet and good suggestion to call the TT as they have always provided great pricing

[Greenfish]

Zillion SV TW would be a great reel for your purposes.

[willwork4fish]

Your current Curados lasted 18 years, pretty sure Shimano has earned a shot at the next 18. I understand where you're coming from about wanting all of the same reels, I used the Curado B's for almost 10 years. Now I have a mix of Shimanos for different things and really like it. Curados (the I's) handle my "general" work, a Core and a couple of Albedarans handle my finesse and jerkbait, and I have a Metanium that I use for my favorite technique swimming jigs. It's really not that much of an adjustment and the finesse reels really make throwing lighter stuff a lot easier.

I still have some of the green ones in the rotation and I'll fish those until they die but parts are very hard to come by now that's for sure.

When I semi retired the greenies I bought a few different reels and tried them out side by side for a few months (13, Lews, Daiwa, Shimano). I found the Shimanos were still my favorite.

[LgMouthGambler]

I might be misremembering, but I thought I had to remove the gears to get to one of the spool bearings on the Type-R series? In any event, I'm only concerned with accessing the spool bearings.

The Chronarch looks sweet and good suggestion to call the TT as they have always provided great pricing

You have to remove the side plate to get access to the bearing on the crank side. You are never gonna get a more simple reel than the ole B series.

[Scuba Scott]

There are a lot of good options out there for you right now. Possibly another if a Curado MGL holds to be true. The Chronarch MGL, Tatula SV TW, and Zillion SV TW. All can be had for your budget or under. All are excellent reels. I own all 3 and can say that I would take 20 of any of them and be confident in them to provide you with many years of service. You could even mix the Tatula/Zillion reels as they share the same platform/profile.

[alanhore]

I would wait for the new Curado if I was you.

[JohnD.]

I've fished the tatula ct's side by side to the curado i and citica i for a while now..To me the daiwa feels more like the curado E series than the new shimanos do.
You can find the tatula ct for $100 shipped. The new curado will be out after icast , but it will be a while before anybody drops the prices on them and who knows how well it will preform...

http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=812117

[IBILTIT]

Do yourself a favor and look at the Daiwa Tatula SV TW, smooth as silk and you'll have a hard time back lashing one. They list for $199 but you can get them from a forum sponsor Tackle Trap for $179 .....or if you look real hard on ebay. I have 2 now and they are probably the nicest reels I've ever used, that being said, I don't buy $300 and up reels........just look at them.

[p2geo]

Japanlureshop.com has Metanium MGL for $294 with free shipping. Make the investment right the first time, my Chronarch MGL is inferior to my metanium MGL imo. Both perform great but the metanium is smooth as silk.

[M4A1]

Japanlureshop.com has Metanium MGL for $294 with free shipping. Make the investment right the first time, my Chronarch MGL is inferior to my metanium MGL imo. Both perform great but the metanium is smooth as silk.

This. I waited way too long to buy a Metanium. Curados and Chronarchs are very good reels, but the new Metanium is just absurd. (This is coming from a die-hard Curado guy)

[rockchalk06]

This. I waited way too long to buy a Metanium. Curados and Chronarchs are very good reels, but the new Metanium is just absurd. (This is coming from a die-hard Curado guy)

I agree. I've got two and a stable full of D series Core/Met's. I love my D's, but the MGL's are in a different world

[sjengie11]

You know I haven't used them for long but I would give a good look at Lews reels. They got some cheap good options and the customer service is good incase you loose or break something. Good luck p.s those old curados are bulletproof

[Real Pudd legend]

Talk to Gary at the Tackle Trap they will take care of you better than anyone else. Great prices and even better service !!

[Rangerdawg]

Metanium is really hard to beat at any price point....maybe just buy 15 of those?

[yudo]

I enjoy fishing different daiwa and shimano's too much to stick with only one, but a full stable of met mgl's would be awesome.

[Rangerdawg]

I have me a stable......at least when I suck its not the equipment:)

[Syncros]

I went from Shimano to Lew's to back to Shimano. I keep all my reels the same (other than gear ratios) and try to keep all of my Rods the same other than power and at times length. Lew's were almost all Tournament Pros and Team Gold's (I had 25ish Lew's). The Curado I was like coming home again and mine have just worked and worked and kept on working (I have 20ish Curado I). My only complaint with them is ergonomic. There is small bump on the handle side, bottom of the side plate, where a screw goes that rubs against my trigger finger on casts. It starts to drive me nuts if I'm power fishing and when my hands start to get wet it's worse. I use all SC Avid rods so I'm not sure if the rod is to blame or not.

I switched all the Curado Is to Chronarch CI4s, they fit great in my hand but for $280 they didn't blow my hair back and didn't seem to perform any better than the Curado I. I also had a problem with getting them tight and keeping them tight in the reel seat. I went back to the Curados because of the reel seat problem.

This year I went to the Chronarch MGL and it's an absolute amazing reel. Feels like the CI4 in my hand and the MGL spool is the real deal as are the new brakes and the MM gearing. They tighten up in the reel seat and I haven't had a problem with that so far. I just wish they made a 5:x gear ratio.

The problem I had with Lew's was durability. I am not good about reel maintenance so I'm sure that would have helped, but I have treated my Shimanos the same and it doesn't seem to impact them. Lew's feel smooth in the store or out of the box but they didn't stay that way and some of them didn't stay that way after a few/several weeks of pretty heavy daily use for moving baits (mostly cranks and chatter baits). The Curados have had almost 2 years of use, some of them daily heavy use, and none of them have given me any trouble.

I would second the Tackle Trap recommendation because the personalized customer service is pretty awesome and I feel like they tell it to you straight. I got most of my MGLs from them.

[Bassbme]

I just picked up another 200 Curado I at a local tackle store yesterday. In talking to the counter person he was saying that there is a new Curado coming out, and that it has a larger handle, and will be available in an 8:1 gear ratio. That's pretty much all he said about it. I asked him how soon it would be coming out but he didn't have any info on that. Just that there will be a new Curado coming out.

Anyhow ..... I still have a total of 6 Curado B's and Ds in service. They have got to be the most reliable reel ever made. If there are more reliable ones I haven't heard of them. With that said, I see no reason the new I series won't be just as reliable. The I series are very nice reels. I'd go with them or wait for the new Curado to come out.

Sure would be nice to try out one of the Metanium MGLs though....