A Pair Of Reviews

[Hooligan]

I got my mitts on the pair of these reels recently to do some "testing", if you will. Initially I was really, really impressed with the EXO; it's incredibly light and the frame, sideplates, and foot are pure genius. The spool itself is really cool, and the brake system is clean and works simply. The lack of any exterior adjustment also presents the reel in a very clean fashion. It's compact, too, which doesn't hurt a bit; size-wise it's comparable to a CH51MG (which will forever remain a special reel in my mind...)

The G series Curado is a great looking reel, harkening back to the B series in terms of exterior look. It's got very soft, rounded features much like reels of old, it's a neat reel to look at. Down to the nitty and the gritty.

EXO-

The reel that I have is the 7.3:1 variety. It's a wicked fast little reel that is very light and very castable, particularly with light weights. I initially stuck the reel on a NRX852C with the intent of fishing double ringers on a 1/8oz kickstand. It worked beautifully for that purpose, pitching the little rig in and around docks with little effort at all. If I wanted to pinpoint cast the same rig to a corner from 45 feet, it would do that too. I decided to up the ante on the reel, seeing just how it would perform with a 1/16 slider and finesse worm. It worked very well for that, no doubt about it. I couldn't cast it more than about 35 feet, but I couldn't really ask a casting reel to do that, either, it would simply unreasonable to ask more of it. (This is on 10lb Tatsu, mind you.) What the reel failed at, however, was having a smooth, reliable drag. I was beginning to love the reel until that first brown fish hit. It performed well on green fish that had relatively low spunk in cool water, but failed miserably on smallies. It would stop-start in the middle of a run, and stuttered constantly. If I backed off any more on the drag, I'd have been set at about 1.5 pounds and would have eliminated any possibility of landing the majority of the fish we were catching. I was seriously crushed that the reel started this behaviour, as it was going to be the first Quantum I'd owned since the old tear drop cranking reel. Would a carbon-tex fix the issue? I really don't think it would, as it's more from the thread size on the shaft than the drag surface itself. There was just too great a variance in pressure, there was no happy medium with it. Shortly after this occurrence, the clutch started to only partially engage. If I turned the handle with force, it would engage fully. If I lightly turned it to engage, as I would when fishing, it would only partly engage and it took double the effort to turn the handle. It felt like everything was in alignment, but it just doubled the force. It was also nowhere near as smooth to reel; it felt tight. That fact alone eliminated my use of the reel. Because I like to CATCH fish, not dink around and lose them, I went to old Green.

The Curado G series, from all aspects, is still the workhorse of the Shimano line, just as the older Curado reels. The G6 was paired with a Loomis NRX893 and 12 pound Tatsu, throwing hair jigs and 3/16 ounce finesse jigs in 12-15 feet of water to spots and smallies. The reel is only slightly less smooth in comparison to the E series reels, and has lost nothing in the castability and, it would seem, the fish handling departments. It's still a reel that you can manage to have a dozen of them out on the deck, trip over them, cuss them, abuse them, and they'll come back for more. What I seriously, seriously dislike about the reel is the solid handle that seems like it came off your grand-dads 1930's model Abu. It's very heavy, very heft in hand, and would, in fact, turn just slightly enough to engage the reel on a hard enough cast. It has enough mass that I'd seriously consider either drilling the handle or finding SOME sort of replacement for it. That, really, is my only complaint of the reel. I've fished it pretty hard for a month or so now, and have had zero issue with it. The drag is a little light, but not so much that it presents a problem. A guy can stick a washer in it for very little, and it will eliminate that problem entirely. I've punished the G reel quite extensively, and can say that, without a doubt, I'll continue to punish them on a wider scale. (I'll punish the Chronarch, too, because they just look so good on my rods, and...well...they're bulletproof.) The G will rightly earn its reputation in time, once people have had their hands on them for enough to give them a real shot. It doesn't like light lures much, say 1/8 ounce jigs, but it will manage a 3/16oz jig and trailer with no issue. The spool is still smooth enough to handle pitching light jigs and small T-rigs with no issues. It will also handle bigger jigs incredibly well. I'm not sure if the thread for the tension cap has changed, but it does seem easier to fine tune the tension than in reels past. It could just be me, so take that one with a grain of salt. While it's not as smooth as a E series reel, it's also not as spendy as one, and yet it performs just as flawlessly. Is it a bargain at $159? Probably not, but it's a reel that you can count on performing time after time for that price. It's definitely worth the money.

There you have it, my completely unbiased, poorly worded, albeit real fishing situations, opinions of the two reels. I'd been looking forward to the EXO for some time, and was genuinely excited about it at Icast. Yet after holding it in my hands and fishing it for some time, I'm more impressed with the Curado G than I am the EXO. If you want a light weight reel that will perform flawlessly, not to mention look sharp and clean, save another $100 and get a Core. It's a far better reel in the end.

(Note):

After continuing to have issues with the EXO clutch engaging, I have since torn down and completely cleaned the reel, taking all bearings and components to a "lube dry" state. After reassembling and properly lubricating the reel, it worked for two to three days of fishing, then proceeded to have the same issue. I've since spoken to other EXO owners that have had the same issue.

[deep]

Hooligan, thanks for the reviews.

[Fat-G]

Great stuff. Really a good read.

[NorcalBassin]

Glad to hear that the scaled down Curado still delivers.

[ChiCityBasser]

Great reviews on both reels.

[Primus]

Good stuff, appreciate the detailed analysis.

[senile1]

Thanks, Hooligan, for the excellent information. I was looking for a review from an experienced angler with no dog in the hunt regarding the Curado G.

[Fontana Finesse Man]

My son asked for an "exo" for xmas so while I appreciate your great review Hooligan, it is awfully disappointing because I already had gotten him one. Maybe he will be lucky and won't have any problems, but will be prepared to send it back to quantum. Or I could just back end him in the boat so he won't catch anything and won't know the difference! LOL

Thanks for your great review.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

EXO still on my list but wont be buying til April or so, will hope to get more info abot the clutch in that time.

How was the feel placement of thumbar high/low didnt take notice so ok?

[Hooligan]

EXO still on my list but wont be buying til April or so, will hope to get more info abot the clutch in that time.

How was the feel placement of thumbar high/low didnt take notice so ok?

It's middle-ish, for me. Not too low, but could have been slightly lower, really.