Anyone tried the new Shimano Caenan reel yet?

[jdw174]

I need another baitcaster.  Have considered the BPS Pro Qualifier (like the dual braking), the Abu Orra SX, Revo S.  I really like the Curados and most of my reels are older Curados/Castaics which continue to give me great service.  Saw the new Caenan online and it looks good at a good price.  Anyone?

[BASSclary]

I would like to try one, but I would drop my money on a Citica or PQ. Maybe a Revo S

[jdw174]

I ordered one thru ***, and then saw one locally yesterday morning.  Felt super smooth and I believe it will cast very nicely.  That being said, I compared it to an Orra and would have to say that if I had it to do over I may have gone with that one instead of the Shimano.  The Orra just felt like it was made of "sterner stuff", but we will see.

[tracker01]

I looked at one at Cabela's and it just felt like, well, I won't call it cheap but let's say an inexpensive Shimano product. It just had that disposable feeling. Add a few bucks and get the Citica. I think the Citica is twice the reel for less than twice the price. That's an in-store evaluation only. No, the reel did not follow me home. I will let that evaluation for someone else.

[21farms]

i received mine a couple of weeks ago but didn't get to fish with it until yesterday. i took it out along with my curado E5 and my zillion crazy cranker on a striper trip. lemme tell ya, the caenan can really zing it...i was very pleasantly surprised by the phenomenal distances i was getting with it. i say surprised because when i spun the caenan's empty spool, it would only spin for 4 seconds (compared to 12-15 seconds on my curado Es). i caught a 12-pound striper on the caenan and the drag was very smooth and consistent. the reel remained smooth and quiet for the entire time i used it (about 3 hours total). the braking was exceptional...not a single backlash and didn't need to adjust the reel even once. i could feel a little bit of looseness in the sideplate in my palm and the spool tension knob feels cheap but those are my only gripes. i also immediately swapped the foam handles with a curado handle which is not really an indictment on the foam knobs as much as an indicator of how much i love those big, fat septon knobs of the curado. bottom line: the caenan is a keeper.

[21farms]

How would you compare the Ceanan to the Pro Qualifier?

i've actually never fished with a PQ before. however, i do have a carbonlite which looks to be almost the same reel but with duralumin (instead of brass) gears and a carbon fiber handle. fwiw, i'm very impressed with the carbonlite...it doesn't zing lures out as far as the caenan but it does feel more substantial. i think you'd be happy with either.