I am looking for a good reel for throwing big wood plugs 5-12inches ..All i have heard so far is the calcutta . But i have heard the drag burns ot pretty easily. I talk to a fellow fisher he said he has gone through 3 calcuttas already and he only fishes stripers in the fresh water. I also think they are a bit pricey..SO help me out guy..PLease.And can you guys give a the price ranges too..WHat do you use??Thanks guys


Stephen

I throw plugs/swimbaits with a Daiwa Millionaire 203 CV-Z and 253 CV-X. Bang for the buck, the Daiwa is hands-down. The drags are not as smooth but swapped out for HT100's, it's a killer reel. I also use it for Calico.

you can fit ht100 drags on the daiwa's? never knew that. thanks. :)

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Sonny

2004 - 6 Bass 2 Trout $219.20 in Gear

I use the calcutta 400.Have had it for 4 years and the drag is still smoth like butta!Have busted freshwater stripers to 30lbs on it,yellowtail to 20lbs on it,flathead catfish to 26lbs and largemouth bass to 10lbs on it.And the drag is still as smoth as the day I bought it.If the cutta is a little too steep for you,try the catala 400(99$)or the little smaller cardiff 300(109$).But nomatter what you cannot go wrong with a calcutta.I love mine,and wish I could get a te.Another good real that is not too hard on the wallet is the abu garcia 6500,but the drag washers are pretty much jerky out of the box,but you can get fish on it and they are around 70-90$.Good luck,
Billy.

-ps,smoothdrag washers are the dope!If they are old or get a little stciky,swap em out for a new set of super smoothies! }(

hey thanks for the reply. Im trying to save up for a calcutta 400te or the penn international 975..yAh got me thinkin about gettin a catala.humm...Daiwa??humm..I really like shimano. I might give the daiwa a try ..ill see thanks guys..

stephen

you'd be surprised at Daiwa's millionaires. For the price they are amazing. I have used calcuttas as well and I still go back to my millionaires. The only complaint is the sticky drags which can be replaced for 4 bucks (HT100's)Other than that they are built extremely well, are easy to tune, and are very very smooth. -Nate

I think you should consider the Okuma Induron.. I recently got one and so far I am impressed. It has 8 bearings and is very smooth and the drag feels smooth and steady I think it is the best reel in its price range $109. I haven’t had a chance to really beat on it yet but I will and I will let you guys know how well it holds up. I also have been fishing a Catala for the last year and I think it is OK. I have caught a few big bass on it and some bigger salty fish and it still works but it is definitely getting worse. The drag is sticky and the anti reverse is a little sloppy and it makes a whining noise when I cast the big heavy baits. Don’t get me wrong I don’t think the Catala is a bad reel, I just think the Induron is much better in fact I would compare the Induron with the Calcutta at Half the price.
Matt

Stephen,

What you heard about the Calcutta was probably a problem that was only happening on the first few years worth of models. I bought a Calcutta 400 about a year after they came out and fried the drag on one trip for yellowtail. I was disappointed. Then I heard they had a recall and would replace your drags with dartanium drags. I sent in and got them swapped (free of charge) and it's been excellent ever since. Any Calcutta you buy now will have the high quality drags and I doubt it will be an issue for you. Just a little insight on why someone might say that they heard Calcuttas have a drag problem.

As an aside, I had talked on the trophy board about my Okuma Induron 300 having a jerky drag and got some info that the issue was due to over lubing in another area of the reel spilling over into the drag system. They have apparently identified that problem and fixed it in current reels. The fix is to wipe any kind of grease or oil off the drag washer(s). I am going to take the reel apart pretty soon and see if that fixes it.

there was a problem with the early calcutta 400 drags but they are now switched out to dartanium much better than the old cloth drags. If you take care of you reel and don't leave the drags buckled down when your not fishing them they should and will last for years. I would suggest buying the 300 te it's a little smaller and if you throwing big plugs all day it will make a big difference. plus you can't beat shimano's custonmer service

Thanks a lot guys for the feed back i might have to check out the okuma. BUt i do really love the calcutta te. Just the price that makes me look the other way..ONE DAY..OH ONE DAy......HEy guys any info on the penn international 975?? thanks again guys for the feed back..