Help with my new Calcutta 200b please

[whitearrow]

Ok fellas I purchased a Shimano Calcutta 200b for my new Texas rig/frog/ general bassin’ reel. I have been throwing baitcast reels for 35 yrs and have never had issues like this Calcutta is giving me. I’ve been throwing abu Garcia Ambassadeur 5500 C3 reels for yrs and can cast em a mile without any hint of a backlash. And I mean heave back on em and throw a bait not ***** foot around with it. But, with this Calcutta if I try and throw like that it backlashes about 20’ from the rod tip. It does ok if I put all the brakes on and turn the cast control knob fairly tight where the lure is barely falling. And with the reel set like this I don’t get much distance at all. Am I doing something wrong fellas? The ole abu’s have a cast control knob and that’s it and to me it works beautifully. But alas I want a thumb bar and wanted to try out the Shimano Calcutta since y’all all rave about it. Is my style and the Calcutta just not kosher? Would the Daiwa Luna be more of the same like the calcutta? I think Daiwa uses magnetic cast control whereas Shimano uses centrifugal brakes. Not sure what abu uses for brakes in the 5500 C3. 

Thanks,

Big Ed

[Chrisran99]

My Calcutta is one of the best casters I have, after making sure the brakes on the spool are pushed all the way out the only suggestion I can think of is to switch out you centrifugal brakes. I’ve never herd of it before but they may be out of spec and not slowing down the spool. 

[Catt]

I would not have bought a 200, it's overkill & to heavy. Not saying the 200 is your problem but try throwing heavier lures & see what happens.

 

My Calcutta 50, two 100s, & two Cardiff's have every other brake on. 

[whitearrow]

I was just trying to find a modern round reel approx same size maybe a touch smaller than my 5500 C3’s is all. If it won’t throw similar baits as the C3’s I don’t need it then. Like my post said I wanna use it for my all around bass reel to throw a multitude of bass lures.  It asking it to throw bucktails or beetle spins just average bass lures. I really wanna like this reel but if I have to baby the cast with a fear of a birds nest I’m not a fan. How does the Daiwa TD luna stack up to my throwing style?

thanks,

Big Ed 

[JustJames]

How much line on your spool? What is your lure weight?

I found that 200 size Shimano you need to leave a lot of room for your thumb at least 1/3 to the rim. 

I can cast zoom super Fluke (less than 3/8oz) on my Cardiff 200a no problem with 2 brake on.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

The ABU has a non disengaging levelwind. The Calcutta is much more free spinning. Ease up and/or tighten the cast control cap. Their just two different animals. 

[grub_man]

Big Ed,

 

I think you are just overpowering the cast on the 200b just a bit.  It holds significantly less line than the Abu 5500.  Because of this, the spool has less inertia and will rotate faster.  When that lure is getting out to 20', that's about the time that the spool is reaching maximum speed, and it is just rotating way faster than the lure is pulling line off.  With the 200b, you should be able to cast just as far with less effort.

 

The solutions are:

1. Back off the power of the cast just a bit

2. Turn on more centrifugal brakes and/or swap out for heavier brake blocks

3. Use more thumb earlier in the cast.

 

The centrifugal brakes help control the spool speed at the beginning part of the cast as the spool its max speed.  The cast control knob helps with the end of the cast as the spool is coming to a stop.

[whitearrow]

I've got it spooled with pp 50lb yellow with trilene big game 20lb backing. its filled to the line/cutout on the spool whatever that tells you. I've tried to not throw it as hard and it still backlashes unless I put all brakes on and crank the cast control down then I can't cast about 20 yds or so. I thought by "upgrading" my reel I would INCREASE my casting range not decrease it. its on a 6'6" Berkley bionix mh rod throwing a t-rigged 6-7" lizard and 4/0 hook with a 1/8 oz bullet weight I believe. would the daiwa luna td suit my style of casting better? the "backlashes" are weird in that its not per say a birdsnest but a hangup and it jerks the rod when it hits that point. it doesn't exhibit the normal casting into the wind birdsnest appearance. its not much to pick out since it doesn't over run much.

thanks,

Big Ed

[J Francho]

10 hours ago, Catt said:

My Calcutta 50, two 100s, & two Cardiff's have every other brake on.

This works well for me too.

3 minutes ago, whitearrow said:

but a hangup and it jerks the rod when it hits that point

You might need to carefully pull the off line the spool, and pack more tightly when spooling up.  Sounds like the line is digging into itself.

[whitearrow]

its just weird. I've never had this issue with my C3's or my older shimano's. line em all up the same where I pull the line thru my index finger than thumb tightly as it goes on the spool.

Big Ed

[Catt]

I barely touch my spool with my thumb but I've been throwing Calcutta's for 35 yrs.

 

Ya got years of experience with Abu, you just gotta dial the Calcutta in.

[whitearrow]

that is probably some of it catt. the ole abu 5500 c3's are like an old friend and I hoss back and sling em and never a hint of a backlash. guess I'm just disappointed that I have to put all brakes on and cinch the cast control knob up fairly tight just to cast not near as far as my old abu's. I was expecting soooooooooooo much more from this reel and I really wanna like it but..........I don't want to worry every time I cast maybe a lil too exuberantly that I will be picking line out=not fun and deff not keeping the hook in the water. 

thanks,

Big Ed

[JustJames]

Just like @Delaware Valley Tackle mentioned, Abu Garcia is a lot more forgiving than Shimano Calcutta. You experience snap back where you spool spin faster than line pulling out. Try lob cast with all brake on but spool tension loose so the lure fall down slow-medium. Start from there and reduce number of brake in process

 but don't change any more spool tension. 

 

[Tywithay]

Sounds like not enough weight to load the rod. Plus, a 200 sized Calcutta is beyond overkill for a little t-rigged lizard. That reel is better suited for crankbaits and swimbaits.

[whitearrow]

which size Daiwa td luna 203 or 253 will equate to the Calcutta 200b? line cap and physical size.

thanks,

Big Ed

[billjaco]

Tie a 3/4 oz. Rattle Trap on the Calcutta and cast the crap out of it for a couple of hours. Once you loosen up all the factory grease, that reel will perform in a totally different manner.

 

It doesn't hurt to put a drop of oil in the bearings before you begin this procedure. I did this with a new Calcutta 400B and it made a world of difference. 

[WRB]

The reel backlashes because it free spinning spool with centrifical weights that need setting along with the spool tension. Everyone familiar with Calcultta reels start with every other weight engaged and adjusts the spool tension knob so the lure weight falls without the spool spinning after the weight hit the floor.

You know how to use your thumb based on the fact you can cast the Abu reels that require it.

My suggestion is slow down your casting motion and do not whip the rod tip, let the rod do the casting. 3/8 oz weight is heavy enough to cast 50 yards using a Calcutta 200 with a little practice.

Tom

[JustJames]

7 hours ago, whitearrow said:

which size Daiwa td luna 203 or 253 will equate to the Calcutta 200b? line cap and physical size.

thanks,

Big Ed

That would be Luna 203. 

[JustJames]

1/8 weight plus 6-7" lizard should be close to 3/8 oz. I can cast that with my Cardiff 200a if I need to but of course the distance not gonna be good. He is used to with his Abu 5500 and have not adjust the casting style yet. I remembered when I first switched from Abu 6500 heavy modified to Newell 220-5 (no brake no cast control none sense) for heavy bait. It took me a good hours or days before I could manage some backlash. Even that every now and then backlashes still happen.

His problem is, he uses too much cast control (lure fairing dropping) thus he needs to whip to get the lure start moving the harder he whips the faster the spoon spin but with 3/8 oz lure wouldn't pull line out fast enough. That also why he got snap back.

The 200 size doesn't have a lot of room for even my small thumb if filled to the rim and I alway leave my thumb with enough gap to control line that coming out of spool.

[lmbfisherman]

I’ve used a Calcutta 200b as my first round reel.  I used it mainly for heavy baits, crankbaits and used for my X Heavy rod for punching.  Never had to swing for the fences.  I did not backlash much at all either, I think like the rest, you just need time on the water with it to understand how to use it.  You also seemed set already to give up on it anyway.  Totally up to you, good luck with the Luna. 

[whitearrow]

ok fellas I've got an update on me and this Calcutta. I got out before work this morn and tried to bond with the Calcutta. I turned on all but 2 brakes and adjusted the cast control where I thought it best and gave her a fling,actually I started out with all but 1 brake on due to my free swinging cast style lol, and I mean I didn't baby her and we did better together. I just don't need a reel that I have to worry about if this is gonna be the time it backlashes. I was just thinking my style and the calcuatta weren't compatible but maybe I was wrong. I threw it as hard as I will ever do fishing and it did better with no backlashes. I guess maybe pride got in the way when I heard of all y'all using 2 brakes and some not any as heck I've been using a baitcast reel for 35 yrs. well, that's great if you don't want distance or if that's your style,not hating just aint mine,i do sometimes finesse cast but not usually with baitcasting equip. thanks for all the opinions fellas but for the moment I'm gonna give the Calcutta an honest try now since we made peace this morn.

thanks,

Big Ed

[lmbfisherman]

Sounds good, hopefully you and the reel will catch some big ones!  

 

I also don't stress out if one person can cast without any breaks at all.  Maybe I'm just used to Shimano as that is mostly what I fish, 99% of the time when I do backlash it's because of user error.  (hit a branch, bank fishing I hit vegetation, lure gets caught on something..etc) I'm not saying I'm perfect but I usually don't have to worry or think about backlashes on my Shimano reels.  

 

 

[whitearrow]

thanks fisherman. I know I'm uber competitive and it comes out in weird ways like this. if one cat can cast like a beast w/o any brakes I should be able to also. but, I know I'm like this so I gotta back off and think and chill out some and realize not everybody cast with such vigor and different styles and such. I just built this reel up and expected too much as far as performance wise going from my old stand by 5500 c3's as far as distance goes.

thanks guys.

Big Ed

[grub_man]

Big Ed,

 

It's just going to take some getting used to.  When I first stepped down to a Curado 100b and Citica 100DSV from my 200 sized reels, I had the same problem and needed 3 brakes instead of 2.  After a few months of making peace with the smaller reels, I eventually backed off to 2 brakes.

 

Keep at it, and the distance will come along and I bet you'll start reaching for the Calcutta more.

[JustJames]

Glad you get Calcutta dial in, keep at it and one day you should be able to cast with one eye closed.

Just my 2 cents, for lighter / finesse style lure (and yes I considered 1/8 weight plus 6" lizard finesse) less brakes with easy lob cast might yield further distance and more accuracy than more brakes and hard swing. I didn't mean you have to go to no brakes, heck I'm still sometime use 3 brakes on my old Shimano.