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Old 01-26-14, 10:45 PM   #1
3dkicker
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Picked up a used Shimano Castaic recently. It's being worked on right now, a little clean up, so I thought I'd see what people thought of them. It's got the Instagage thumb bar which is new to me. Never used a reel with one. Here are the specs that I found.....

Shimano Castaic Specifications
Line Capacity8/200;10/170;14/125Gear Ratio6.2:1Weight9.0 (oz)Bearings4BB, 1RBAdditional FeaturesAluminum frame, Aluminum spool, super stopper, VBS, InstagageMSRP$139.99

And here's a pic of what it looks like....it is the right handed model.


Now here's the price.......a whopping $15. Did I get a good deal??? Anyone with any experience with this reel? Good? Bad?
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Old 01-26-14, 11:14 PM   #2
bassinbob
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That was my second baitcasting reel. My first was a Shimano Mag Plus 250 SG. An old girlfriend got me the Castaic but i took it back and got the first super free Curado that came out. I think it's a great reel you go there. It's supposed to be a good reel for flipping. For 15 bucks you got a deal that can't be beat. Have fun with it.
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Old 01-27-14, 12:22 AM   #3
bassboogieman
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$15 for a Castaic? Exceptional buy. Anyway, I used the Japanese version of that reel (Quickfire), different paint and some better quality innards and of course extra money. I liked it at first, the thumb bar (mine was different than what is shown - picture below), but Shimano changed the bar a few times over the years) really caught my attention and I liked being able to engage the reel without turning the handle - I thought it offered an advantage when pitching/flipping plastics as I prefer a right hand retreive. But as with most Shimano reels other than the Chronarch and especially the Quickfire/Castaic in particular, I found the reel fairly large and heavy when compared with the completion - although the unique flipping bar kept me interested for a couple years. Finding that reel at that price, a lucky day indeed.

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Old 01-27-14, 10:01 PM   #4
3dkicker
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When I was playing around with it I found that the space between the lower and upper thumb bars was a little small. Maybe I've just got a fat thumb. Whichever it doesn't seem to be big enough to use my thumb to control line speed after casting. But then again the upper thumb bar was designed for flipping.

Yes it is a little bigger than the latest reels but I figured that the old Curado's were still popular that this one might be a good pick up.
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Old 01-28-14, 09:43 AM   #5
mikechell
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I don't have one of those reels ... but I do have some reels with the instant engagement feature. I LOVE that feature !!!
I cannot tell you how many times a bass has hit my lure as it first entered the water. Without that feature, two things would have happened.
I would've never gotten a hookset due to pick up and spit out by the bass before getting the spool engaged ... or
Setting the hook after the bass had run deeper into the cover ... which probably would've caused a lost fish.
Get used to using that feature if you flip or pitch.
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