Curado K - Initial Thoughts & First Trip 2025
fishballer06 reply :
My left handed Curado K finally arrived on Saturday while I was out fishing. Once I got home, I quickly opened it up and inspected it. Upon first holding it and spinning the handle, I was pretty impressed with the reel. I was bummed that it didn't arrive in time for my trip out on the boat on Saturday, but then my wife asked on Sunday if we could take the dog for a walk around the one local housing community pond. So this was my opportunity to get some on the water time with this reel. Here's my initial thoughts and first trip out impressions of the reel.
Briefing:
I've always had a soft spot for the Curado reels. My first baitcaster that my father and grandfather got me was an old green bantam Curado back in the mid 90's. I learned baitcasting on that reel and I still have that reel today and it still works just as well as it did back then. Since that time, I have owned (and some I still own) every model of the Curado that has come along.
The model I got was the 201K-HG model. For those that aren't aware, this is the left handed model in a 7:1 ratio (31" IPT retrieve). I also have a standard model on pre-order (6:1 ratio, 26" IPT), but those haven't started shipping yet to my knowledge.
Unboxing:
These reels come in the standard Shimano boxing that we're all accustomed to. Upon taking the reel out, I was immediately impressed with the looks of the reel. The flat black look awesome on this reel, and it looks much more expensive than a $180 reel. The dark green spool and tension knob were a nice touch of the past. The one thing that struck me as odd was the coloring of the handle and drag star. They are a gunmetal silver color, and in certain lighting it looks more silver than gunmetal. With the coloring of this reel being so muted down, a shiny silver handle/drag star looks a little out of place. Shimano has black handles and drag stars on their other reels, so I'm not sure why they didn't stick to that on this model. Not to be confused with what I said earlier, this gunmetal silver in other lighting does look darker, so it's just a matter of what lighting you're in I suppose.
Upon grabbing the handle, I immediately noticed that the knobs are bigger around that what I'm used to on my Chronarch's and Metanium's. They definitely beefed them up on this model. I'm not sure how I feel about these larger knobs, but I know some guys prefer a beefier knob, so I'm sure they'll appreciate this feature. Once I turned the handle, I was really shocked. This reel feels as sturdy and smooth as my Metanium MGL. Shimano has really dialed it in with the aluminum frame and micro module gearing because this thing is so fluid whenever you turn the handle. Comparing this reel to the previous I model, this K model feels light years better in basically every category. I'm not saying that the I series was a bad reel, but I feel like this model Curado is under priced with how refined it feels.
On The Water:
Prior to heading out, I spooled the reel up with 14lb. Gamma Polyflex copolymer line and mounted it on a St. Croix LTB 7'1" Medium powered rod with a fast action. My reel came with the internal brakes set to 2 on, 2 off, and the external dial set on 3 (adjustable from 1-6). I tied on a 3/16oz. swimbait jig head and attached a Rage Tail Menace grub on it for the sake of taking her out on her maiden voyage. So I left the on the stock brake settings from the factory and adjusted my tension knob until I had the desired fall rate that I wanted.
Making the first cast, I was impressed with the reel. It was like the factory settings were made for my little swimbait presentation. I experienced no overruns during the cast and no backlashes upon splash down. Color me impressed considering I didn't adjust anything from the factory other than the spool tension. During the hour or so that I fished, I casted numerous different ways to see how the reel handled everything I threw at it. Side arm, overhead, back hand, roll cast, pitching. It handled everything with ease and no issues at all. I was able to pitch with ease and good distance, considering the presentation I was using was probably only around 5/16oz overall. My standard casting distance was on par with what I get out of my Chronarch's and Metanium's, so I was impressed with that. I backed my external dial knob down to 2.5 and got a few more feet on my casts.
During the hour or so I fished, I managed to catch four fish and I lost two others. Everything in this pond is in the 9-12" range, so no monsters to really test out the drag, but big enough to bend the rod and feel a wiggle on the end of the line. The reel felt just as smooth retrieving my bait and reeling fish in as I thought it was when I pulled it out of the box at home. If you haven't fished a Shimano reel yet with the micro module gearing, you're missing out on a super smooth reel. I'm really impressed that Shimano has brought this technology down to the Curado lineup.
Conclusion:
So far, so good with this new K series Curado. I'm going to try to put as much time in with this reel as I can before we have ice here in Pennsylvania. I can't wait to receive my standard 6:1 reel either. From what I can see so far, Shimano has taken a big step in the right direction with the Curado lineup. I know people were very upset over the G series, but the I series was a vast improvement over the G, and now the K is a big improvement over the I series. Only time will tell, but I'd say that the Curado is back to being king of the $200 casting reel market. In my opinion, this K series feels better in the hands and performs better than all of the various Tatula models I've fished with.
I know this was only my first outing with this reel, but I wanted to voice my opinion for everyone who is on the edge about this reel. I am going to put in more time with this reel and I will probably update this post or create a new one once I really break this reel in (just like I did with the Chronarch MGL). So stay tuned for more updates. If anyone has any questions, I'll try to help out the best I can.
A-Jay reply :
Nicely Done.
A-Jay
RichF reply :
I only have a couple more fishing days left this year so I wasn't going to get one until next year....this is making that decision incredibly difficult..
JustinJ reply :
you mention setting the external brake dial to 2.5. is that just setting the dial in between 2 and 3? i have a curado i and always thought you had to set it to the the number on the dial.
fishballer06 reply :
On 10/10/2017 at 1:09 AM, JustinJ said:you mention setting the external brake dial to 2.5. is that just setting the dial in between 2 and 3?
Correct.
IndianaFinesse reply :
How would you compare it to the curado 70?
fishballer06 reply :
On 10/10/2017 at 2:15 AM, IndianaFinesse said:How would you compare it to the curado 70?
In what sense?
npl_texas reply :
The first one I picked up this summer was just a one off guy selling on ebay. That was the HG. The 6:1's were fairly easy to find as I picked up 2 for my squarebill and chatterbait rods. I got them from one of the sites we can't mention and saw them regularly in stock on other sites.
I'm not sure why but I've had a little bit of trouble dialing them in (maybe it's because of all the Daiwa's I'm used to), but man when they get dialed in, they are awesome. I posted on another thread that I won't be purchasing any more of the Chronarch MGL's because I don't think there is a $100 difference in the reels.
Jelvas reply :
I cannot wait to put my hands on one! I have had all the generations of the Curado since the B´s (still maintain my 201DPV and have one 201 I and one 71 HG at the moment) and never ever have i been more excited for a new model than this one!
Sucks that we in Europe have to wait til the end of the year for them to be available...
Rich in Co reply :
Thanks for the review, I picked up a couple of I my first go around with Shimano, i have used Lews TP's in the past and so far I'm liking the reel, but from reading other reviews and the spec's on the K it has a smaller profile than the I which I would like a lot.
Am I the only one but man that picture you posted is in extreme HD great pic
IndianaFinesse reply :
On 10/10/2017 at 2:34 AM, fishballer06 said:In what sense?
Mostly casting (especially light lures), palming, and smoothness.
Lucky Craft Man reply :
Nice report. Would you be able to "rank" the models from what you like the best to least? I am a big fan of the D model and liked the I model. However, I didn't have every model, so I would be curious where you would rank those two models among the lot.
BaitFinesse reply :
On 10/10/2017 at 5:39 AM, IndianaFinesse said:Mostly casting (especially light lures), palming, and smoothness.
The K has a big, deep spool and is not going to be a well suited to light weight finesse baits as the smaller 70. I don't have a Curado K but I do have an Engetsu PG which is a micro mod gear reel on the 70 platform and it is very smooth. The curado K I felt in store felt as smooth as my Engetsu.
Bankbeater reply :
Nice write up.
NorcalBassin reply :
Very nice summary and thank you for sharing. 
ThisEndUp reply :
Saw your picture on this post and thought it looked really familiar. Then I realized I saw your post on Reddit! Nice review!
fishballer06 reply :
On 10/10/2017 at 2:15 AM, IndianaFinesse said:How would you compare it to the curado 70?
On 10/10/2017 at 5:39 AM, IndianaFinesse said:Mostly casting (especially light lures), palming, and smoothness.
As I stated in my original post, I only casted one lure with the K so far. That being a 3/16oz. jig head with a menace grub on it, so you're probably at around 5/16oz. with that. So I cannot comment yet on how the K handles lighter or heavier lures. Common sense tells us that the smaller spool on the 70 makes it better suited for baits in the sub 1/4oz category.
As for palming, the K is a very comfortable reel to palm for a 200 size reel and I have no problem palming it, but I have larger hands. The 70 is again, a smaller reel, so it's going to be lighter and fit easier into more people's hands, so this is sort of a moot point. You're comparing an F-150 to a Ranger here... The design of the K is much smaller than previous 200 sized reels, and it is noticeably smaller than the previous I series 200 size.
Both reels are obviously smooth reeling, but the micro module gearing gives the K the edge over any reel without it. I'm guessing you've never used a Shimano reel with this feature, because it makes a huge difference in the smoothness. Go check out a Curado K, Chronarch MGL, or Metanium MGL and I'm sure you'll see what I mean.
fishballer06 reply :
On 10/10/2017 at 8:14 AM, Lucky Craft Man said:Nice report. Would you be able to "rank" the models from what you like the best to least? I am a big fan of the D model and liked the I model. However, I didn't have every model, so I would be curious where you would rank those two models among the lot.
That's a tough one, especially since they span a 20+ year time span and technology has come a long way in that time. It's almost not fair to compare some of the older models to the newer technology reels.
K - obviously the latest and greatest.
E - The fan favorite and built with quality in mind.
I - The first reel to move past the VBS braking system.
B - These things are tanks, and everyone knows it. Steve Kennedy is still winning BASS elite events with them.
D - These things are the red headed stepchild of the family. Solid, very heavy, but they are built to last.
G - My G series all perform great, but I'll agree they really cheapened this series up.
The Bassman reply :
Thanks for the write up. Can't believe I missed this yesterday. Always enjoy objective input.
OnthePotomac reply :
Well, you answered some questions for me I had regarding my 70XG's compared to the K, which I would have to drive 65 miles to handle. You saved me a 130 mile round trip. Thanks for the review.
kschultz76 reply :
Thanks for the great write up. Sounds like some impressive performance. Silly question but was your real fresh out of the box from the factory or was there anything done to it like a bearing flush and relube?
You compare it pretty favorably to the Tatula variants. Was one of those the Tatula SV? Asking because I just got a Tatula SV to try and I'm pretty impressed by its ease of use, solid feel, and how smooth it is. But mine is not stock, it had a cleaning, tuning, and some bearing upgrades before it got to me. In so impressed by the Tatula SV in considering getting a second. Every other one of my reels is a Shimano and this is the first Daiwa that has swayed me, but not the first I've tried.
Don't think it will be worth replacing my I series reels just yet, but if they ever do need to be replaced sounds like the K series is a great upgrade path.
fishballer06 reply :
On 10/11/2017 at 2:54 AM, kschultz76 said:Silly question but was your real fresh out of the box from the factory or was there anything done to it like a bearing flush and relube?
You compare it pretty favorably to the Tatula variants. Was one of those the Tatula SV? Asking because I just got a Tatula SV to try and I'm pretty impressed by its ease of use, solid feel, and how smooth it is. But mine is not stock, it had a cleaning, tuning, and some bearing upgrades before it got to me. In so impressed by the Tatula SV in considering getting a second.
My reel was straight out of the box and onto a rod. As I said in my original post, the only thing I adjusted was the spool tension knob and I tightened down the drag. Once I use the reel more with some different lures of different weights, I will play around with everything and I'll comment here about my experience.
I compared the Curado K primarily to the Tatula series because that is it's biggest competitor at it's price point. I have fished with a friends Tatula SV for about 30 minutes. I am by no means saying that the Tatula's are bad reels, because they are great reels. And we as fishermen should be lucky that so many companies are out there putting out such high quality products at nearly every price point. To me, the entire Tatula series has always been an odd shape in my hands and very uncomfortable to fish for extended periods of time. So for that, I don't enjoy the Tatula reels, even though they are quality reels and they perform well. As far as smoothness goes, both the Tatula SV and Curado are obviously very smooth reels, but the micro module gearing nudges the Curado over the top for me. I don't know if you own any Shimano's with this gearing, but if you do, you know what I'm talking about.
kschultz76 reply :
Didn't think you were knocking the Tatulas at all, nor would I be upset if you were because I literally just got mine this past weekend :).
Know what hat you mean about handling and comfort, some reels just don't fit all hands well. SV103 was that way for me, I wanted to like that reel but no dice.
I know now what you mean about the micro module, I've got a 13 Metanium and a Chronarch MGL. Buttery only begins to describe it. I'm not sure any reel can ever compare to my 13 Met, especially after it was cleaned and tuned with stock bearings. There is not a thing about that reel I would change.
Once it it has been cleaned and tuned and bearings added the Tat SV is probably nearly as smooth as my Chronarch MGL.
I was was thinking I might get another one of the Tat SV but now that I read this may need to reconsider that. Of course now that I just fondled my 13 Met again I may just need to get a Met MGL or a NOS 13 Met if I can find one.
Mad have some great choices in the market today and I think an angler would have to try pretty hard to chose an ad reel between Daiwa or Shimano at this point.
Darren. reply :
Nice review!
BaitFinesse reply :
The Tatula SV and Curado K have some overlap but are different enough to be warrent owning both. This is true of Daiwas and Shimano BC reels in general
Curado K. Heavier, deep spool with centrifugal brakes and micro mod gears. Should be a great reel bomb baits out there and reel them back in with those smooth micro mod gears. I'd definitely pick the K over a Tatula SV for spinnerbaits, crankbaits and other search baits.
Tatula SV. The SV spool is very light weigh and well controlled making it excellent at light weight baits and skipping heavier baits to targets like jigs and senkos. I'd take the SV over the Curado K for working jigs and plastics in a target rich environment.
fishballer06 reply :
Quick little update for everyone.
The brass gears from the Curado K will fit in the Metanium MGL. So if you're someone who hates aluminum gears but loves your MGL, you can now put the sturdier brass gears in it. The Tackle Trap has already started offering gearing replacement kits, and I'm sure your favorite local Shimano dealer could get them for you.
related Fishing Rods Reels Line Knots topic
most viewed Fishing Rods Reels Line Knots topic
© 2025 - fishing.qciss.net. All Rights Reserved.