Corado 300 or Calcutta 4000

[Van Staal Man]

Hi Larry,

Let me begin by telling you that you and your show are awesome and what you have done for the fishing community is incredible your simply unbelievable!!

My question for you concerns the new Corado 300 and the calcutta 4000. I fish mostly for striped bass in my home state of NJ and 95 percent of my fishing is done from the surf and in back bays and rivers. I have two nice spinning set-ups and I am looking for a high end casting set-up to put in my arsenal.

I was wondering which reel would be better for casting top water spooks, poppers and swimmers and also different bucktail jigs off the bottom as well as soft plastic baits. Pretty much the better reel for working all levels of the water column (top, middle and bottom). I went and took a look at the Corado this past weekend at Cabelas and thought it was just a sweet heart of a reel and after I watched you burn some drag with those reds down south I thought it would be awesome to fight a striper on that reel. But my only concern is with the high gear ratio it would be hard for me to work certain batis at slower speeds. Do you think this would be a problem at all and do you think that maybe the Calcutta would do a better job at what I am looking to do. What rod would you reccomend as well for one of these reels. Any feedback would be great.

By the way if your ever want to come join me in June to hunt the Jersey Shore for some monster striped bass from the surf I would be honored to share the incredible fishery with you.

Hope to hear from you soon.

JS

[dahlberg]

HI VSM
Glad you enjoy the show, and I sure appreciate your kinds words! (although I'm not sure what I did for the fishing community to deserve your accolades!)
Your question is an excellent one. Both reels are plenty durable for what you describe. As you know, the Caluctta 400 gives you a bit more line capacity and that could be an issue at times.
However, the Curado 300E, because it has a disengaging level wind gear is more efficient in regards to casting lures on the lighter side of the spectrum. If line capacity is not an issue it would be my choice.
Regarding the retrieve speed: I've heard that issue brought up before and must admit it's beyond logic for me.
The way I look at it, I have a choice with any reel as to how fast I turn the crank at any given time. The speed options available to me range from a dead stop to as fast as I can physically turn the handle, and of course every thing in between.
In other words, with a fast reel I accomplish speeds a wider range of speeds than I can with a slower one.
With a slower reel my top end is lower, so the range available to me is less.
The fast reel, in terms of speed can do everything the slow one can and more.
The slow reel cannot, in terms of range of speed, do what the fast one can.
The main difference has to do with leverage. For sheer winding power, like you might want when you crank your boat on to your trailer, lower gears make it easier.
For fishing, the curado has the perfect balance between speed and power, and with a little practice and paying attention I guarantee you can accomplish with it, everything and more than you could with a slower reel!
Hope this helps, and I do appreciate the invitation. I would very much like to visit your area and experience those big stripers! Hoping to do it this season in fact. I've had several invitations but until I get my sponsors in line for 2010 (not an easy thing in this economy) I'm not committing to any travel or production expenses.
best,
L

[Project MJD]

Hi Larry,
I am also interested in a Curado 300E for Jersey striper fishing. I am a new to baitcasting and was wondering what kind of line would you spool it with and what kind of rod I could pair it with. Thank you for running such an imformative site.