The Rooster

I don't mean to keep beating a dead horse but I just don't buy that explanation. He said he hopes people read that and see that a name it just a name, but it seems to me that Shimano is the one who got hung up on the name. Ok, so Chronarch was not selling well at $300 but yet the Core still sells well when it is much higher?? Baloney. If that was happening it wasn't because of price, it was because of what they could get in the Core for just a bit more. That would tell me it was time for a change in the Chronarch D line, but not all the rest of the changes that happened too. I mention the Core because it wasn't changed, so apparently they think they will keep selling as is at the current price. Also, yeah, I think people would have been OK in the long run with paying $199 for the Curado. They were doing that just a few years earlier with the D series and it wasn't as good as the E. You all surely remember the days when you could come to this site around 2006 or 2007 and Curado, Curado, Curado was all anybody recommended and they were the heavy bulky D series and were $199 then. If people wouldn't pay $199 again for a reel that many regard as better than the D, then why do they think they will just because it now says Chronarch on it, it's still the same reel as the Curado was, only not green anymore. Shimano doesn't think they would pay a slight increase to keep buying the same thing that says Curado, but they do think they would because it says Chronarch?? Really?? That's going around in a circle, saying they won't pay for the name, but they will pay for a different name. By the way, anybody that justifies paying $199 for it because it says Chronarch instead of Curado is ridiculous anyway. But if they do think people would pay for the name then why not just drop the Chronarch price to $250 and move it to the E frame like they did anyway, and maybe ad a couple extra bearings to justify that increase over the "then current Curado". If they can make the reel and put Chronarch on it for $199 then they could do the same with minor enhancements and sell it at an increase to cover it, solve the seeming problem of them not selling at $300, and still have kept their customers happy in the other areas. You are not going to convince me that it was cheaper to develop a whole new reel vs. doing that. It doesn't make sense. I think the whole thing was a marketing ploy, nothing more. I don't know what they thought they were going to gain, but I'm fairly sure it wasn't this. Seems to me a few people are talking about being dissatisfied with the current way things are. It is sort of sad, they did make a good reel in the G series, I'm sure. But once you introduce people to a certain level of improvements you can't just go back to the way it was nearly 6 or 7 years ago and try to justify it saying the reel is back like it always had been and was never meant to be in that price range anyway, so people should just accept it. I keep reading that being said as an explanation to all this. It's the people that tell these companies what their market is, not the other way around.

The 2012 Bass Pro catalog says it has-----a rugged, all graphite low profile body, double anodized aluminum spool, 8 bearing system with double shielded stainless steel ball bearings and powerlock instant anti reverse, aluminum recurve handle and drag star, padded thumbar and a powerful drag system. In that description there is no mention of an aluminum frame. It actually says "all graphite body". But yet the website says it does have it. So which is it??

Those Enigma reels are graphite frames. Just thought you may want to know. It's a deal breaker for me.

When I go bank fishing, I usually can drive right down near the spot where I'm going to be fishing, so rod toting is not a problem. In the rare occasion when I do have to walk in to fish, I simply bundle the rods up with all the reels on the outside, and grab then in front of the foregrip around the rod shaft, and carry them upright to where I'm going, then set them down. It's not hard and there are rarely any tangles, and if one does occur it's not severe. My biggest problem is carrying my tackle bag, which is approaching 50 pounds now! Only have one other hand. The shoulder strap gave out long ago, around 35 pounds, LOL.

To be wholly truthful here, the Citica G is actually not a downgrade from the Citica E. Same bearing count, same locations, same features, just a different frame and about 0.5 oz. less weight, but with a $10 price increase. Just the Curado was changed totally. For those who want a Citica and were happy with the old E, the new G might fit nicely unless you just preferred the frame of the E better. This time around though, the Citica offers multiple gear ratio options instead of just the one.

I looked at those new Extremes, and while I really like the overall feel of the reel the "always on" centrifugal brakes were a deal breaker for me. I need 2 brakes at the least, but I just can't justify doing damage to a reel to make that happen. Hope the Pro Qualifier doesn't go this route, but I'm fairly sure that the model the way it is is nearing the end of it's run. It will probably have a change made for 2013. Notice there are no Pro Qualifier rods this year.

I'd rather have the extra weight and have a stronger "looking" reel foot. As a matter of fact I spent some time just holding (put them on a rod also) several different models that are light weight like this while at the store, the new Abu MGX, Quantum EXO, Lew's SS Tournament Pro, and my impression was that I'd rather fish a reel that weighs 7 - 8 oz. and feel like I actually have a reel in hand instead of one that feels so light it's hardly there. Maybe that was just my way of justifying that I don't need to spend that much money on it.

That's sort of like saying they realized they went too far in offering so much for so little and decided to yank the rug out from under it. Something made them change it all. Either costs went up and they simply couldn't offer the same thing for the same money, or they wanted to make more money with a wider profit margin on the reels and needed a cheaper to produce model to do so. As for me, I just think they should have left it alone and just raised prices if that was all it was. People would have complained, and I can't speak for everyone but I know I would have just sucked it up and paid a little more to get the reel I wanted. Having that new model that I don't like as much though, they won't even get the money they would have gotten. I had planned to get at least one more Curado this year, I wanted the 5.0 ratio for crankbaits. Now that won't happen so I guess I'm looking into something else when that time comes.

I think it would have been nice if they had simply introduced the G series as a completely new reel and left the old Curado E in place. After all, why do you kill your most popular selling reel to take a chance on a new one?? Maybe they could have moved the Chronarch to the same E frame, as they did, but with even more enhancements than the Curado would have had, such as 9 bearings, double anodized parts, and other stuff like that. The Chronarch was selling for $300 before that. Having a perceived $100 price drop (not really) on that name wasn't necessary. People who paid $300 for the Chronarch would have still done so and Shimano would have added another E model to their lineup with even more enhancements. As for how to handle the Citica under those circumstances, well, they could have done what they did and made it a G, or left the E series alone, but having a new G series reel in between the old Curado and Citica E's at an inbetween price might not have worked. Otherwise, they could have just used the G series as a graphite framed reel only, as they are with the Caenan and that other weird orange colored one that's even cheaper. What's sad is, the reels are probably good reels. But they have large shoes to fill after the E series was sold for less and felt better to many people. I don't think they can fill them.

Last year's Curado had 7 bearings, not 10.

What I don't understand is if the new Chronarch is just the old Curado with new paint colors, why doesn't it also still have the metal drag star like the Curado E did?? The new Chronarch 200E has a plastic star. I know this doesn't even matter in terms of performance, especially since I just found out that the Citica E that I have also has a plastic star on it and it's been working great all this time without me knowing it. But if "technically" the new Chronarch is a downgraded old Curado with that now plastic part instead of metal, then why did it also increase $20 in price?? Same parts, same everything, but a price increase with at least one lesser part?? Maybe costs involved to produce it changed. Otherwise, I don't know. If it wasn't that, then it is just a marketing thing. Otherwise, there's no reason for it. I've held the new Curado and Citica G reels in hand and besides the plastic star, the handles also just feel different. I don't know if they are, but they felt it. Felt cheaper. That might just be me reading into it, but I didn't go in to look at them with shooting them down in mind. I actually went in interested to see them and was disappointed after I did. It's just the way it impressed me is all. I didn't care for the new reels, and especially since I felt that the Citica went up in price and didn't gain a thing feature wise. The Curado is less in price but for just $20 more the E was seemingly a lot better, and they were also just recently being sold for a lot less than even the new one is now. So that just leaves me feeling cold about buying one of the new ones. The Chronarch is still an E series reel and to me it's really the best choice compared to the G reels in terms of one reel vs. another, price differences aside, but it's not even what the E series Curado was and costs even more. So facing all of that, if I WAS looking for a reel, I'd probably have gotten a Lew's instead. The way Shimano mixed it all up there just left me feeling mixed up about all the currently available reels they offer in my price range. Sorry for the rant, I'm not even looking for a reel, just posting my thoughts on this particular matter is all. Other than this, to answer the OP's original question, the new Curado G has 5 bearings compared to the E series having 7. The bearings were taken from the paddles on the handles, they will now be bearing free. All other bearings inside the reel body are still located in the same places as before. The drag star is now plastic on the G series compared to the E series having metal (Curado E only, the old Citica E and even the new Chronarch E stars are all plastic). The Curado G is available in 3 ratios now, while there was no 6.x offering in the E series before unless you went with the lesser Citica. The new G reel weighs 7.2 oz. vs. the old E weighing 7.6 oz. The price is $20 less than before. If there are any other differences I do not know about them.

Great video. He sure doesn't think much of an Ugly Stik. LOL. For those who don't want to watch the whole thing to find what he says about that, it's at the 25 minute mark in the video. He doesn't say "Ugly Stik" but he definitely eludes to it. But trust me, the whole video is worth watching.

I went this past weekend. Almost took one of my old Extreme reels to trade on a new Pro Qualifier. Had $100 to spend in the store only, and I wanted a lot of new tackle so I purposely left my reel at home so when I got there no matter how much I liked the PQ I wouldn't have a reel to trade on it and I'd spend my money where I knew it needed to be spent.

I have a Symetre. I have to say it has been the silkiest,smoothest, finest performing reel I've ever had in a spinning reel. Casting and line control have been totally flawless as well, but I do use the KVD line treatment with mine too, so in combination, the reel and spray together, there is no better performance to be had.

I have a little bit of experience with a shakeyhead rig but they are the ones that were given to me by other people. Some of them look like a football head with a spring coil for attaching the bait and these make the worm lean to the side at an angle. Then I have a Tru-Tungsten Ike Spike that has a ball shaped head and seems to make the worm stand straight up most of the time. I like this one the best honestly since I have more confidence that the bait is positioned where the fish can see it. But neither Bass Pro Shops nor Cabela's carries this. Local shops don't either. My brother in law said he ordered them from his local shop, they weren't in stock, and he lives 2 hours away from me so other than just ordering these at my local shop (which I haven't tried yet but will), they're hard to get. So, in the mean time, does it matter that much if it's vertical or angled in the water?? Seems the angled ones would have more chance of just falling over and laying flat and I'd be up there in my boat shaking away at a bait that the fish aren't even seeing.

I use carburetor cleaner instead of brake cleaner. So far, no nasty results on plastic parts. I sprayed out my clutch bearings with it and they have plastic parts in them. No problems.

I've read a lot of good reviews about the Lightning Rod. They seem well made too. But I don't like them in general. It's mostly the guides I don't like, among other things, the whole rod just doesn't suit my tastes.

HAHA, dude you should be a professional photographer for Bass Pro Shops. They'd sell more fishing reels with photos like those from sex appeal alone. That middle picture of the Quantum baitcast reel made it look like a sports car sitting in a darkened garage somewhere just waiting to be fired up and let loose.

Citica is the bottom of the line of Shimano reels that I'd consider. Caenan is a complete waste of money. Any reel is that doesn't have an aluminum frame or better for that matter. Graphite is for rods, not reels. Spinning reels might be the only exception to that rule but I always try to get aluminum frames there too.

The following Tackletour review states that the Citica E has an aluminum drag star. http://www.tackletou...eview09pg2.html I've always taken their word for it, and it seems I've read a time or two in other places that it was also metal, but not the same exact material as the Curado E was. Just now I went in and examined mine closely. The handle is cold, as would be expected of aluminum. The drag star is not though, and it does feel plastic. Now I don't know what to think. I've had this thing for 2 years and always thought it was metal. It doesn't seem to take away from it now that I know, but I now wonder if I would have bought it at the time knowing it wasn't quite as good as I had originally thought. I'm glad I did though, it has been a great reel.

I have a Citica E and love it. But I hate the fact that the new Citica G has a plastic drag star. Just feels cheap now, but it went up in price over last year. I'm going to the Bass Pro Shops classic too, and this year I may pull the trigger on a Pro Qualifier just to see how good a reel it is. I've read so much about it, I've been wanting one just for the heck of it.

Well, where is it?

I wanna move to where this guy lives!

Oh, if you had only known when you opened them and tossed out the boxes!!! I've got all the boxes my reels came in. They're all newer reels, but I'm just OCD about stuff like that. By the way, I've got some salt water here in KY. It's in rare supply though. Make it myself and rinse with it once in a while, haha.

That's kind of a cool looking collection there. Seems there must be one of every size ever made. What are you replacing them with??