DC reels, anyone have one?

MAIZEandBLUE09 · Mar 8, 2021

So I got another rod for my birthday in January, 6'6'' heavy (my favorite height) -- it's my first ever heavy rod (I usually do medium) and my first ever single piece. I used to exclusively get 2 piece rods because they had to fit in my old sedan, which is no longer a concern. Anywho, I've been putting off getting a new reel for it, I originally thought I would just take my Shimano Curado from my medium rod but now I'm thinking not. I want to keep that rod together for light bass fishing around ponds/small lakes. So now I'm looking at new reels and I'm intrigued by the DC lines. Shimano has a Curado DC ($250) and an SLX DC ($180). Those seem to be what I'm looking at. The new Curado K actually gets pretty bad reviews online, something about the gears wearing. So anyone have a DC reel and is it really worth the extra money? Does it require any kind of special maintenance?

MAIZEandBLUE09 · Mar 8, 2021

Also, what do people like for gear ratios? I have always just picked the middle of the pack, the slower reels seem like that would be problematic for any kind of bait with an action on it, so I'm not sure what the benefit is to going slow? Is there a problem with going fast? The Curado comes in 7.4 8.5 and 6.1. Honestly, I think my current reel is somewhere in the 6's.

And I'm kinda a Shimano slappy because I had some Diawa reels that sucked in the past, but anyone else into other brands?

Edisto_Tiger · Mar 9, 2021

I don’t have any DC’s, but i do have curados, old curados. I think I bought them between 2000 and 2005. I have a couple of them left, along with a pair of citicas (shimano), and a cruxis ( shimano). The cruxis is the only one I didn’t like. Shimano makes some of the best reels out there. I also like their spinning reels. Just good, quality reels.

As far as rods are concerned, I have medium and medium heavy rods in a mix of 6’6” and 7’. I use the medium rods for spinner baits, top water, and crank baits. I use the medium heavies for texas rigs, carolina rigs, and jigs. Basically anything where you need some ass to set the hook.

I only use 2 gear ratios. Again, I’m old school and slow to change. I use 5.1 and 6.1. I’ve never tried any of the high speed reels before. I use the 5.1 with my crankbaits, spinnerbaits (slow rolling), and top water. I use the 6.1 for everything else.

Edisto_Tiger · Mar 9, 2021

Oh and Okuma makes good spinning reels. Most of my spinning reels are Okuma.

MAIZEandBLUE09 · Mar 10, 2021

Edisto_Tiger said:
I don’t have any DC’s, but i do have curados, old curados. I think I bought them between 2000 and 2005. I have a couple of them left, along with a pair of citicas (shimano), and a cruxis ( shimano). The cruxis is the only one I didn’t like. Shimano makes some of the best reels out there. I also like their spinning reels. Just good, quality reels.

As far as rods are concerned, I have medium and medium heavy rods in a mix of 6’6” and 7’. I use the medium rods for spinner baits, top water, and crank baits. I use the medium heavies for texas rigs, carolina rigs, and jigs. Basically anything where you need some ass to set the hook.

I only use 2 gear ratios. Again, I’m old school and slow to change. I use 5.1 and 6.1. I’ve never tried any of the high speed reels before. I use the 5.1 with my crankbaits, spinnerbaits (slow rolling), and top water. I use the 6.1 for everything else.

I have to check again. It might be a medium heavy rod and not just af lat out heavy rod. But when I catch big pike on my medium it was struggling a bit, especially getting them into the boat. I don't think I have anything that's gone into the 7's in gear ratio (maybe one of my spinning reels?). Don't know really what the speed difference looks like when cranking in and if it's something I'd even notice.

beardown07 · Mar 10, 2021

I'll out-fish your ass with my daughter's Frozen-themed Zebco. :heh:

MAIZEandBLUE09 · Mar 10, 2021

beardown07 said:
I'll out-fish your ass with my daughter's Frozen-themed Zebco.

Maybe. What I discovered a few years ago is that my tackle and techniques are perfected in what I grew up fishing 6-10' deep, smaller sized, lakes and ponds around me. Almost all of my lures before 6/7 years ago were directed at this type of fishing. Now that I've started fishing different regions and different areas, I've been enjoying learning how much I don't know about different types of fishing in different types of water. Part of the fun, I think, is collecting a bunch of different tackle/lures for all sorts of different kinds of fishing. And hitting that circumstance where you need one very specific thing and you have it. Like, I've never been saltwater fishing outside of some guided trolling for game fish we did in Mexico. On my bucket list but I'd be out of my element entirely if I went down south anywhere.

MAIZEandBLUE09 · Mar 11, 2021

Ended up picking the Curado DC. Got the 7.4 gear ratio, I figured it's easier to slow down reeling than it is to speed up. I had to jump on a deal I saw, was able to get 3 $75 gift cards (max you could get) at $10 off each. So $195 for $225 in gift cards. Cabelas is also running a BYGO sale on Spiderwire, so I was able to get line + a free spare. The reel is normally $250 on it's own, but was able to get everything (including two 200 yard lines) for $256 (that includes tax). So I feel good about it.

MAIZEandBLUE09 · Mar 21, 2021

Update, just got out for the first time this (open water) season to try out the new reel. Didn't spend a lot of dedicated time fishing, brought the kids and ended up helping them cast most of the time, but the DC reel is awesome. On setting 4 you can throw it as hard as you want and it won't backlash. I ended up on setting 2 of 4 and the thing can just bomb lures. That's the biggest difference I see compared to my original curado, it gets 10-20 feet more per cast. I'll have to go out alone to try an actually hook up to see how the rod handles.

Uncle Siggy · Mar 27, 2021

Back when I lived in Abilene and Dallas I used to get "mildly used" reels for 1/2 price or less, the place is called "Southwest Parts and Service". They were the factory repair place for a lot of different manufacturers. Any reels that had a warranty issue they would repair it, (all internal components replaced) keep it in the store (yes they have a showroom) and then sell them off at a reduced price. I would just call them up tell them what brand/model I was looking for and they would say "yeah or nay" and how much. Some of the reels looked like they just came out of the box and some looked mildly used. Needless to say I've had some of them for almost 30 years now and they're still going strong...

Not sure if they're still doing business like this anymore cause I haven't gotten anything from them in about 15 years but it will only take a phone call to find out if you're interested/curious... :nod: