Stradic Ci4+ Review 2025

thehooligan reply :

Was very excited when i heard about this reel coming out. A lighter, stronger ci4 with x-ship ? Sign me up !! Ordered it from TW and the waiting period was too long, found out ALF had them in stock and put my order in. Came home from work thursday and saw it sitting on the doorstep.

Was ready to spool it up but i was leaving for a surf fishing trip and had to patiently wait till sunday to try it out. Spooled it up with 10lb power pro, and mounted it on a 6'8 cumara m/h rod. Started off with a small koppers frog then switched to a 1/4oz buzzbait and hooked up with a 2lb+ bass last night. Drag is very smooth, 7lbs on the 1000 model. Reel is extremely light at 5.8oz's. X-ship is super smooth, dont think i could go back to the shimanos without it.

Ive said it a few times now, but if i closed my eyes i feel like im fishing with my sustain fg. Thats a $330 reel so your really getting alot of value with the new ci4+. I was so excited to try this reel i sold my practially brand new stradic fj and ci4 to get this and it was completely worth it.

I prefer the smaller round ci4 knobs, so i put one on with some zpi bearings and its an absolute treat to fish with. I highly recommend the new ci4+

BassinLou reply :

Wow!! You sold your FJ and your CI4 for this reel?? Those are great reels also. It's that much of difference?

thehooligan reply :

Yep, I don't mind taking a little bit of a loss for a new reel. Its worth it, great reel for the money.

lmbfisherman reply :

I'll have to wait until 2014 to get one. Thanks for the quick review.

Diggy reply :

They were closing out the old ci4 for 79 at DSG to make way for the new one.

Thanks for the review, must be good for you to liquidate that

thehooligan reply :

I got rid of the fj only because its a heavier reel. Let the ci4 go cause it doesn't have x-ship.

For the guys that primarily use baitcasters its not a big deal. I pretty much use spinners for the most part so I want the best I can get.

BryanM reply :

I just got one of these before my Canada trip and loved it. I have the 2500 with 10lb Suffix 832 braid.

I caught a nice 5/6 pound pike and it handled it great.

Bryan

kickerfish1 reply :

Nice initial review. Now we Just need to find a bass over 2 lbs to "test" it!

kschultz76 reply :

I also got a Stradic CI4+ in the past couple weeks bc I couldn't justify the additional cost of the Sustain. I'm really torn right now about if I'm going to keep it or not. I have a couple Stradic FJs that I really like but they are a little heavier. But my rods are not perfectly balanced and the FJs do offset the tip heaviness better then the CI4+, so I'm trying to decide which option will be less fatiguing and more comfortable over time. I've considered a Daiwa Ballistic that lands in the same weight range as the Sustain but I can't find enough good reviews on the Daiwa to take a chance on it and give up the line management features that the Shimano reels offer.

alexandboi reply :

Putting the prices aside, would it be a better choice to get a sustain fg or ci4+? I've been debating if I should wait till I can get a ci4+ or just go ahead and purchase a sustain fg.... How do they compare to each other?

thehooligan reply :

On 8/13/2013 at 4:49 AM, alexandboi said:
Putting the prices aside, would it be a better choice to get a sustain fg or ci4+? I've been debating if I should wait till I can get a ci4+ or just go ahead and purchase a sustain fg.... How do they compare to each other?

I would definitely go ci4+. Its lighter, stronger, and over $100 dollars cheaper.

kschultz76 reply :

I'd agree I've used a Sustain Fg, the original CI4, the FJ, and the new CI4+. With a blindfold you would never know the difference between the new CI4+ and the Sustain they are that similar. I would never pay the extra for a Sustain at this point.

I actually find my FJs to have a lighter and smoother action then the Sustain or either CI4. That's part of the reason I may live with the weight of the FJ bc the reel is that buttery smooth.

Vinny Chase reply :

On 8/12/2013 at 11:31 PM, Diggy said:

They were closing out the old ci4 for 79 at DSG to make way for the new one.

Thanks for the review, must be good for you to liquidate that

You mean $179, right????

Diggy reply :

On 8/15/2013 at 1:33 AM, Vinny Chase said:
You mean $179, right????

no sir

lmbfisherman reply :

WOW I'd be all over that price. Sadly most of my local shops have already sold them out at 160.

ncbassfisher1496 reply :

The DSG near me still has them for $199

thehooligan reply :

On 8/13/2013 at 1:48 AM, kickerfish1 said:
Nice initial review. Now we Just need to find a bass over 2 lbs to "test" it!

Got a 3lb'er lastnight on a flickshake. Was pulling drag like crazy, the ci4+ definitely is a solid reel

thehooligan reply :

Whats even better, fishing crystal clear water with straight yellow power pro, haha. I always fish a 6-8lb leader and decided to try straight braid and didnt have a problem

kickerfish1 reply :

Thanks for the follow up and nice catch! Flickshakes are some of my favorite finesse baits when the bite is tough. Sounds like the reel will be a winner!

HookdUP reply :

Just got mine n love it lol

wallie reply :

the handle slop on stradic ci4+ drives me nuts. for that i like stradic fj better. I mainly use 1000 size spinning reels so weight is not a big factor for me.

bass1980 reply :

Yup love my ci4+ also. Used it for drop shot and having a light weight reel is a must have. Hey I'm running yellow braids too lol. Too bad I just sold it today Needed the money for a different reel.

kschultz76 reply :

On 2/11/2015 at 1:22 PM, bass1980 said:

Yup love my ci4+ also. Used it for drop shot and having a light weight reel is a must have. Hey I'm running yellow braids too lol. Too bad I just sold it today Needed the money for a different reel.

I know I posted way earlier in this thread when I had first gotten mine. After over a year of use, and a lot of it, I love this reel. Bar none my favorite spinning reel even over the FJ. The weight and feel are outstanding and the reel just performs. I've muscled several 3-4 lb fish on 7lb Sniper with several of them out of woody cover and the reel just performed helping me control the fish. I'm pretty stocked on spinning gear but I see one more in my future. For comparison I've fished FJs, Presidents, Excelers, Airds, original CI4s, Sustains, a few Abus, and some older Penn 430ss. The CI4+ is my top pick among them all.

thehooligan reply :

On 2/11/2015 at 1:22 PM, bass1980 said:

Yup love my ci4+ also. Used it for drop shot and having a light weight reel is a must have. Hey I'm running yellow braids too lol. Too bad I just sold it today Needed the money for a different reel.

I sold mine as well to fund finesse casting gear. Havent used a spinning reel since last summer. Sort of regret letting it go, the only technique i still like a spinning reel for is drop-shotting...

IAY reply :

http://i.imgur.com/y8YugPQ.jpg

Its got the same colors like the Ci4+. Casts similar stuffs. But, not quite the same .

ColdSVT reply :

Cant wait to get my ci4+ 2500 in the water this spring!

Weld's Largemouth reply :

This is my current reel I use for everything pretty much, perfectly smooth; the drag is sweet.

That yellow line, to be frank, is quite ugly and puts the reel down for its actual beauty. Try putting on some low vis green Suffix 832 adv. braid and it matches very nicely.

My favorite reel! Definitely suggest anybody to buy one.

And that cumara you have is made for this reel, it so great, I have one too.

Here is my stradic ci4+ 3500 handling a 6lb flordia largemouth (didnt have the cumara in florida with me)

CYP reply :

I caught a couple 3-5 over last summer on mine, it was flawless.

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Stradic Ci4+ Review 2025

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