Looking to buy new low profile reel for a rod I am building

[sawtooth]

In the process of building a couple of new kokanee rods and was thinking of trying out a new low profile reel to go with these rods. My goal is to go as light weight as possible. I have a tica caiman 101 and a abu garcia 4601 C3, and they are nice, but I really like the feel and size of some of the low profile reels out there. My question to all of you is, if you had a budget of $130, what low profile reel would you buy for downrigger kokanee fishing? I realize that the low profiles do not have clickers for stacking on the downrigger. I will use the ticas for stacking. The reel will also need to be available in left handed versions. Any other concerns with regards to the low profiles? Thanks for your input.

 

[mrmike]

Sawtooth I switched over to line counter reels in just about all species of fish I TARGET and am extremely happy I did. My newest KOKANEE REELS WERE Dawia ICV 15 THEY COME IN RIGHT OR LEFT love them hope this helps

 

[kok-head]

Sawtooth I switched over to line counter reels in just about all species of fish I TARGET and am extremely happy I did. My newest KOKANEE REELS WERE Dawia ICV 15 THEY COME IN RIGHT OR LEFT love them hope this helps

line counter reels are great however most are anything but low profile

I've used the abu garcia black max reels for casting only and I've always thought they'd make good trolling reels, despite some mixed reviews I've never had any issues, they aren't the lightest low profile reels around but they do weigh under 8oz, the price is right and they're sold in R or L hand models

 

[mrmike]

Koke Head the Diawa I'm talking about are digitial and built directly into the reel very low profile.

 

[kok-head]

Koke Head the Diawa I'm talking about are digitial and built directly into the reel very low profile.

agreed, and they look like nice reels

it seemed that sawtooth's biggest concern was weight and the daiwa's are 9.9oz (pretty good for a line counter), obviously just my opinion but he's probably wanting something in the 6-8oz range

 

[SuperD]

How about looking for a used Curado?

 

[sawtooth]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. After making a trip to the local Cabelas, I am thinking of waiting until the shimano Curado goes on sale to get within my budget, or pick up the Shimano Citica or Abu Garcia Revo S. Do any of you have experience with either of the last two mentioned? The Shimano Curado is a real nice reel, but wondering if the less expensive Citica would do the job just as well since I will be using it for trolling instead of casting. How is the drag system on the Citica and Revo S? Thanks again for all the input.

 

[westy661]

The Citica and Curado have great drags... they use carbon discs named Dartianium or something,,, but sum of it is they last a very very long time and I haven't noticed any change in performance. I know the Revo is proclaimed to be a great real,,, I have not owned a Revo but have a few of their other round bait cast reels which I can say I have had many issues with. Issues include drags that seem not to work on cold wet days, clickers failing often, and the crank handles fall off. The crank handle issue was limited to a small batch of reels during a production run is what I was told.

I would go with the Citica for the price, especially if you are not casting. Although, early model Curados can be found online for the same price.

 

[sawtooth]

Great insight Westy661. Thanks. Looks like my options are narrowing. Now I need to start looking for a deal on one of those shimanos.