Get Into Fish

Now that you know what kind of rod you are going to fish with (if not see Choosing The Right Salmon or Steelhead Rod), it's time to choose a reel. Choosing a reel can be just as crazy as choosing the rod. There are many to choose from. I have a couple different kinds myself, but none like the Shimano.

As I mention in most conversations, I started out fishing for Steelhead the hard way. I had not consulted my friend, and as a result I began fishing with a Tweener rod and a reel that was more suited for Salmon. I was using the Abu-Garcia Ambassador 6501.

As I began to learn how to cast this reel, it was nearly impossible. The reel is so big, and not the best suited for such a light line as you would use for Steelhead. As you can imagine I was getting a backlash (birds nest) on just about every other cast. On the rare occasion I did get my line out there, it would go about 15-20 feet. Not where the fish were.

I remember talking with Steve about what was going on and he told me I needed to get a better suited reel for the type of fishing I was going to be doing. I needed something that would cast lighter weight a lot farther. At that time Shimano had just recently come out with the Calcutta. This was and is a really nice reel. Extremely smooth in both casting and retrieving. Not to mention the drag. After playing with Steve's a while, it did not take much to convince me that was the way to go. I already had my eye on the G Loomis IMX rod, so now I knew what I was going to use along with it.

Shimano Calcutta

The following season came and out came my IMX/Calcutta combo. What a beauty. A real casting machine. The only thing was that it was so heavy. But hey, a price I was willing to pay to fish with the best. I believe it was the following year, maybe 2, they re-introduced the Curado. Better than before with newer technology. I got one of those to add to my collection, and what a difference. It was so much lighter than the Calcutta, which makes sense seeing how the Calcutta is metal and the Curado is plastic and more streamlined.

Since then Shimano has produced a couple more reels that just get better and better, the Chronarch, the Calais, and the latest Calais DC. I have a Calais, and it is totally awesome, even smoother than the Calcutta. The new DC that's out is phenomenal. Best of the best. It has a built in mechanical chip that runs the drag setting along with the anti-backlash setting. I have talked with a friend of mine who had the privilege of casting one and he could not believe it. According to him it is totally impossible to mess up. He was even casting into the wind! The only catch?this reel runs $650. Even too big a chunk of change for this avid fisherman.

I do believe though that you cannot go wrong with a Shimano reel. If you cannot afford the top, they still make a great reel in the Curado, in which I own 3. Not to mention they also have a nice spinning reel in the Senora series. You can get a Curado reel in the price range of around $170. I also believe that Shimano has not only top quality stuff, but they have superior customer service to back it up.