My left handed Curado K finally arrived on Saturday while I was out fishing. Once I got home, I quickly opened it up and inspected it. Upon first holding it and spinning the handle, I was pretty impressed with the reel. I was bummed that it didn't arrive in time for my trip out on the boat on Saturday, but then my wife asked on Sunday if we could take the dog for a walk around the one local housing community pond. So this was my opportunity to get some on the water time with this reel. Here's my initial thoughts and first trip out impressions of the reel.
Briefing:
I've always had a soft spot for the Curado reels. My first baitcaster that my father and grandfather got me was an old green bantam Curado back in the mid 90's. I learned baitcasting on that reel and I still have that reel today and it still works just as well as it did back then. Since that time, I have owned (and some I still own) every model of the Curado that has come along.
The model I got was the 201K-HG model. For those that aren't aware, this is the left handed model in a 7:1 ratio (31" IPT retrieve). I also have a standard model on pre-order (6:1 ratio, 26" IPT), but those haven't started shipping yet to my knowledge.
Unboxing:
These reels come in the standard Shimano boxing that we're all accustomed to. Upon taking the reel out, I was immediately impressed with the looks of the reel. The flat black look awesome on this reel, and it looks much more expensive than a $180 reel. The dark green spool and tension knob were a nice touch of the past. The one thing that struck me as odd was the coloring of the handle and drag star. They are a gunmetal silver color, and in certain lighting it looks more silver than gunmetal. With the coloring of this reel being so muted down, a shiny silver handle/drag star looks a little out of place. Shimano has black handles and drag stars on their other reels, so I'm not sure why they didn't stick to that on this model. Not to be confused with what I said earlier, this gunmetal silver in other lighting does look darker, so it's just a matter of what lighting you're in I suppose.
Upon grabbing the handle, I immediately noticed that the knobs are bigger around that what I'm used to on my Chronarch's and Metanium's. They definitely beefed them up on this model. I'm not sure how I feel about these larger knobs, but I know some guys prefer a beefier knob, so I'm sure they'll appreciate this feature. Once I turned the handle, I was really shocked. This reel feels as sturdy and smooth as my Metanium MGL. Shimano has really dialed it in with the aluminum frame and micro module gearing because this thing is so fluid whenever you turn the handle. Comparing this reel to the previous I model, this K model feels light years better in basically every category. I'm not saying that the I series was a bad reel, but I feel like this model Curado is under priced with how refined it feels.
On The Water:
Prior to heading out, I spooled the reel up with 14lb. Gamma Polyflex copolymer line and mounted it on a St. Croix LTB 7'1" Medium powered rod with a fast action. My reel came with the internal brakes set to 2 on, 2 off, and the external dial set on 3 (adjustable from 1-6). I tied on a 3/16oz. swimbait jig head and attached a Rage Tail Menace grub on it for the sake of taking her out on her maiden voyage. So I left the on the stock brake settings from the factory and adjusted my tension knob until I had the desired fall rate that I wanted.
Making the first cast, I was impressed with the reel. It was like the factory settings were made for my little swimbait presentation. I experienced no overruns during the cast and no backlashes upon splash down. Color me impressed considering I didn't adjust anything from the factory other than the spool tension. During the hour or so that I fished, I casted numerous different ways to see how the reel handled everything I threw at it. Side arm, overhead, back hand, roll cast, pitching. It handled everything with ease and no issues at all. I was able to pitch with ease and good distance, considering the presentation I was using was probably only around 5/16oz overall. My standard casting distance was on par with what I get out of my Chronarch's and Metanium's, so I was impressed with that. I backed my external dial knob down to 2.5 and got a few more feet on my casts.
During the hour or so I fished, I managed to catch four fish and I lost two others. Everything in this pond is in the 9-12" range, so no monsters to really test out the drag, but big enough to bend the rod and feel a wiggle on the end of the line. The reel felt just as smooth retrieving my bait and reeling fish in as I thought it was when I pulled it out of the box at home. If you haven't fished a Shimano reel yet with the micro module gearing, you're missing out on a super smooth reel. I'm really impressed that Shimano has brought this technology down to the Curado lineup.
Conclusion:
So far, so good with this new K series Curado. I'm going to try to put as much time in with this reel as I can before we have ice here in Pennsylvania. I can't wait to receive my standard 6:1 reel either. From what I can see so far, Shimano has taken a big step in the right direction with the Curado lineup. I know people were very upset over the G series, but the I series was a vast improvement over the G, and now the K is a big improvement over the I series. Only time will tell, but I'd say that the Curado is back to being king of the $200 casting reel market. In my opinion, this K series feels better in the hands and performs better than all of the various Tatula models I've fished with.
I know this was only my first outing with this reel, but I wanted to voice my opinion for everyone who is on the edge about this reel. I am going to put in more time with this reel and I will probably update this post or create a new one once I really break this reel in (just like I did with the Chronarch MGL). So stay tuned for more updates. If anyone has any questions, I'll try to help out the best I can.
