Ci4 Or Fj 2025

lmbfisherman reply :

So it begins, it looks like the Ci4 are starting to make the rounds of selling off. My birthday is coming up and one of the local big box chains is having a sale. I can get a Ci4 for 169.99, however they are also having a 15% off sale and I can get a FJ for 158. I was leaning towards the FJ, but I always wanted to buy one...at this price is the CI4 a better buy vs the FJ?

Edit: I was wrong it is 164.99 for the CI4.

Rangerphil reply :

You can get the fj on eBay for 138.00 with free shipping! I went with the fj instead of the ci4 mainly because the fj has x-ship! I believe either one will be fine but it seems the fj has more advancements at this point. I hope they put x-ship in the new ci4, well see come icast!

lmbfisherman reply :

On 6/19/2013 at 8:49 AM, Rangerphil said:
You can get the fj on eBay for 138.00 with free shipping! I went with the fj instead of the ci4 mainly because the fj has x-ship! I believe either one will be fine but it seems the fj has more advancements at this point. I hope they put x-ship in the new ci4, well see come icast!

Problem is I live in Canada, so I don't get free shipping. lol This is the best we get up here.

Capt.Bob reply :

I have 4 FJ's one of each 1000, 2500, 3000, 4000, never paid more than $135.00 for any of them and most $125.00, but if they were $175.00 I would pay it over a Ci4, why pay more for old technology??? The FJ is smoother and has more power under a load.

00 mod reply :

My thoughts are different. A 2500 spinning reel is mostly used for finesse situations. The ci4 is considerably lighter in weight. That is my choice.

Btw- I have bought 3 of them at close to full price everytime and I am still happy.

Jeff

Thaddeus reply :

The ci4 is soooooo much lighter. I can understand getting an fj in the 1000 size but when you enter the 2500 and up in the fj your wrist is going to get a workout if you are doing 3+ hours of finesse fishing. The 2500/3000 ci4 is AMAZING.

Capt.Bob reply :

On 6/19/2013 at 10:10 AM, Thaddeus said:
The ci4 is soooooo much lighter. I can understand getting an fj in the 1000 size but when you enter the 2500 and up in the fj your wrist is going to get a workout if you are doing 3+ hours of finesse fishing. The 2500/3000 ci4 is AMAZING.

Every rod I own would be so out of balance with a lighter reel, by the time you balance them that would be a wash,,,,, anytime your outfit is balanced it will be much easier on your wrist, at 6' I could see the saving's over 6'3" the math don't work.

Thaddeus reply :

any reel paired with a Dobyns Champ will balance-I got my ci4 2500 on a 703sf

tomustang reply :

It comes down to weight or rigidity. The FJ is better but still weighs more. Your preference is your choice

Thaddeus reply :

Hopefully we can get the best of both worlds. Ci4 + x-ship=new for 2014????

lmbfisherman reply :

On 6/19/2013 at 10:49 AM, tomustang said:
It comes down to weight or rigidity. The FJ is better but still weighs more. Your preference is your choice

I guess the best way to get choose is how well they will balance on my Fenwick ET Smallmouth. It will be a 2500 reel size I know that.

tomustang reply :

Well if you can, bring in your rod or use one in store to get the feel

kickerfish1 reply :

When you look at the laundry list of features that each reel utilizes there are a few more on the FJ. The FJ is also slightly newer than the CI4. I had a hard time deciding but ended up getting both in the 2500 size.

I would ask for the closeout Ci4 for your birthday from your parents, the FJ from the Tooth Fairy, and wait on the new CI4 from Santa. That should cover your basis and erase any bit of doubt in your mind.

baluga reply :

On 6/19/2013 at 10:19 AM, Capt.Bob said:
Every rod I own would be so out of balance with a lighter reel, by the time you balance them that would be a wash,,,,, anytime your outfit is balanced it will be much easier on your wrist, at 6' I could see the saving's over 6'3" the math don't work.

It only means your rods are tip heavy to begin with and you are using the reel as counter balance. The reel weigh should have a little to no effect on a well balance rod. It will only affect it if you adjust where you are holding the rod but if you hold the rod at the center of the reel seat, a balance rod will always be balanced. That's the reason we refer it to a well balance rod and not a well balance Rod and Reel.

Revival reply :

I had this same dilemma about a month ago and went with the Ci4 and love it. I was looking for something light and overall the Ci4 is amazing. While making my decision I was aware that a newer Ci4 with x-ship might be released in the future but I did not want to wait plus you never know if a new product is going to be better or worse.

loodkop reply :

I have both and love both. The Ci4 is my dropshot reel and the FJ is on my shakeyhead/light plastic rod. I really would love to try the new CI4 as well.

thehooligan reply :

Cant go wrong with either one personally, i have both and use them side by side with no complaints. The fj is heavier but a smoother reel. I think the ci4 looks cooler, its a whole lot lighter, both reels have alot going for them.

lmbfisherman reply :

Thanks for all the input guys, still a tough decision though.

lmbfisherman reply :

On 6/19/2013 at 7:53 PM, thehooligan said:
Cant go wrong with either one personally, i have both and use them side by side with no complaints. The fj is heavier but a smoother reel. I think the ci4 looks cooler, its a whole lot lighter, both reels have alot going for them.

Since I already own a FJ, maybe I'll just grab a CI4 to see how it feels. Question, have you used the ci4 on your Fenwick ET? How did it balance if you did?

Capt.Bob reply :

On 6/19/2013 at 2:12 PM, baluga said:
It only means your rods are tip heavy to begin with and you are using the reel as counter balance. The reel weigh should have a little to no effect on a well balance rod. It will only affect it if you adjust where you are holding the rod but if you hold the rod at the center of the reel seat, a balance rod will always be balanced. That's the reason we refer it to a well balance rod and not a well balance Rod and Reel.

I have all my rods custom balanced where I want them. I would not pay to have a rod built and balanced if it was not the way I wanted it. This is where I have all my rods balanced and built, almost 1" forward of the line guide, same on spinning gear, and where every customer I have had rods built for in my shop decide to have theirs built at. The rod in the picture is slightly tip high where I am balancing it but the wind is bobbing it up and down as I am trying to take the picture with my camera in my other hand. When balanced dead center of the reel seat, this the way they feel in the wind and why I like that couple grams of tip weight, as most choose when they try it.

I like them balance at or slightly in front of the line guide, where I paid to have this rod balanced at when I had the custom handle built. This gives about 3 to 4 grams, or just under 1tenth of an oz. tip weight at very tip when balanced at the center of the reel itself. This feels natural when palming a baitcaster or splitting the handle with two fingers on each side of a spinning reel and gives me better feel and control. When I setup or have a rod built, my rodsmith has the reel I want on that rod so it is exactly the way I want it, or my customer's. I have had more customers that have came back and had other rods built and balanced the same way than I have had build just one and done, and never had one ask to change from that setup after fishing it they love it. Even my rods I buy factory, if not balanced this way, I pay the $7.00 dollars to have them balanced internally. If I had any rod that balanced on my finger in the middle of the reel seat with no reel on it, I would put it back on the shelf, as I would have to either put heavier guides on it or cut off part of the handle to get the balance I want. Probably why they make many different rods, we all can have it our way, and why I love St. Croix so much, no one builds them lighter!!! I have had my 1000 fj on my 6'3 MXF and my 3000 FJ, it is to but heavy with the 3000, but the 6'6" MF is to tip heavy with the 1000FJ, the great thing is on my Elites or even my Avids, for $7.00 I can have the lighter Ci4 ,,,,,, (when the new one comes out with the modern technology) perfectly balanced to my rod where I want them!!!!

So regardless which reel you choose balancing them at a cost of $7.00 and never seeing it, isn't a huge problem, but it would be hard to pack the new technology in the older Ci4, I think everyone that loves their FJ should buy a Ci4, that way they can appreciate just how smooth the FJ is all over again!!

baluga reply :

The picture you posted just shows how tip heavy your rod is. I don't consider that anything near a balance rod but to each his own.

You don't need to go custom built to get a well balance rod. You just need to see what out there in the market and not to limit yourself to what you already have and know.

Good sample are:

For spinning/dropshot try: Crucial Dropshot 68MH 2.7Oz - it's a well balance rod and perfect for CI4 and FD or FI or FJ.

For Casting try the following:

Cumara 6'3 M - 3.8 - Oz

Perfect for light to heavy reels like CH50MG/CORE 100 to Conquest 100 or 50 size.

Anyway, a CI4 or an FJ you could not get wrong as long as your rod is balanced to begin with.

johnD. reply :

Hold off for the x-ship version coming out at icast..parts will be discontinued in 3-4 years for current Ci4.

btw I fish the 3000 FJ inshore saltwater and love it.

skeletor6 reply :

On 6/19/2013 at 8:44 AM, lmbfisherman said:

So it begins, it looks like the Ci4 are starting to make the rounds of selling off. My birthday is coming up and one of the local big box chains is having a sale. I can get a Ci4 for 169.99, however they are also having a 15% off sale and I can get a FJ for 158. I was leaning towards the FJ, but I always wanted to buy one...at this price is the CI4 a better buy vs the FJ?

Edit: I was wrong it is 164.99 for the CI4.

It is an easy one for me. I bought and own both. The FJ, to me is the better reel. I dislike the grip on the FJ, the color scheme is not as appealing in real-life to me as the FJ (subjective though). The FJ feels smoother, has X-Ship and it feels more solid in my hands. With that said, the lightness of the Ci4 is fantastic as I thoroughly enjoy lighter equipment. I would go for the FJ, unless the weight of the Ci4 is necessary.

Let me finish by saying that they both are very nice reels, I am just comparing one against each other. The shortcomings of the Ci4 are in no way bad enough to make me want to get rid of the reel. Actually they are minor. It is still an excellent reel in my opinion. You are likely to be happy with either reel.

Capt.Bob reply :

On 6/20/2013 at 2:16 AM, johnD. said:

Hold off for the x-ship version coming out at icast..parts will be discontinued in 3-4 years for current Ci4.

btw I fish the 3000 FJ inshore saltwater and love it.

I would hold off with the rumor of the new Ci4 floating around and see what it offers and at what price point, or as always when the new reel does come out, the old stock will be easy to obtain at a vary substantial discount, always seem to be the case. But I can assure anyone that wants a Ci4 or currently has one, you will have access to parts for some time well past 3 or 4 years without worry. I have had customers who needed parts for the original aero Stradic this year, the first model, and they cent them to me because Shimano told them they no longer are able to supply parts for them. We in the reel servicing industry have other access to factory parts and a reel as popular as the Ci4 will be no different. The factory usually keeps so many parts in inventory for so long then they sell the entire stock for the particular discontinued reel to a parts distributor, these parts are available at about the same price as they were from Shimano. I am sure there are going to be parts available for these reels for some time to come, so don't let that bother your decision. My only hesitation would be if I was going to want the upgraded reel in a few months, or a chance at the current reel at a substantial discount then!

SirSnookalot reply :

I would tend to agree with Baluga's comments. Fishing only spinning gear in freshwater, inshore both from beaches as well as elevated jetties and offshore in the ocean, comfort is important but not to the degree as to make it an obsession. For me anyway my lures that I use on my spinning set ups are going to vary in weight, my balance will never be constant anyway. Just the way I fish, my hand is on the foregrip above the reel and serves 2 purposes for me, it helps balances a tip heavy rod due to a little heavier lure and puts me in strike position for some of the fish we catch here.

I don't advocate one model over another or even brand, a matter of personal preference...............only the fish on the end of the line matters.

thehooligan reply :

On 6/19/2013 at 10:40 PM, lmbfisherman said:
Since I already own a FJ, maybe I'll just grab a CI4 to see how it feels. Question, have you used the ci4 on your Fenwick ET? How did it balance if you did?

At one time i had a 2500 ci4 on my 6'3 medium fenwick smallie rod, that balanced great. Now i have a stradic fj 1000 on it and that balances great as well.

Ive owned alot of different spinning reels and rods and it seems like reels that weigh in the 6.5-7oz range balance perfectly. My sustain 1000 is 6.5oz's and balances great on every rod i have.

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