Shimano's new Citica 200E -
Completely Redefined (continued)
Impressions
cont'd: When I
first saw the Curado E and Citica E in pictures I was immediately excited by
what appeared to be a more aggressively styled, yet much more compact reel. The Curado E featured a return to a
more green finish, while the Citica E would receive a more subtle pearl grey
paint job. On paper the reels offered almost the same weight and identical
profile as they obviously both came off the same production line in Japan. What
separated the series once again were the number of reels available in the series
with different retrieve ratios and an assortment of performance and refinement
boosting features.
The Citica offers generous access
to the spool
While
the Citica E is available in a mainstream 6.3:1 gear ratio the Curado E comes in
a wide range of speed grades ranging from 5.0:1 for slow cranking to 7.0:1 for
burning applications. Three bearings separate the two series and the Curado E
comes with a Magnumlite spool versus an aluminum lo-mass spool on Citica E.
Other differences between the two reels include a titanium line guide versus
ceramic, cold forged dragstar versus standard metal alloy, and Septon PV power
grips versus traditional rubber knobs.
The new reel palms comfortably
Both reels feature an all
aluminum frame, and both sideplates are now graphite. This was done to reduce
overall weight, but Shimano engineers designed the sideplates to still offer the
rigidity and strength of aluminum. We were interested to see if this was the
case, and whether the graphite handle side sideplate would adversely affect
rigidity under pressure, it was time to hit the water and get to testing.
Zander gets a strike on the popper
seconds after it lands
Real World Test:
To test the Citica E we purchased a mass production reel as soon as it was
released to market about 30 days ago. We fished the reel on our home water of
the Delta and concluded our tests by travelling to Alabama where the new reel
was tested by over 30 dealers on Dream Lake. Here we compared our notes with
what the East Coast buyers thought, and like us they were fishing the Citica E
side by side with its sibling reel the Curado E.
The Citica's gearing is
surprisingly refined for a reel at this price point
Casting:
The Citica E features VBS cast control implementation and overall distance and
accuracy were near identical to the Curado E when tossing crank baits,
jerkbaits, wirebaits, and even Texas rigs. Yet there was one area where the
reels really differed, and that was when it came to casting anything extremely
light in weight.
We tested the Citica E side by
side with the Curado E to determine actual performance differences
When pitching weightless rigs
the Curado E shined while the Citica E was average. The Magnumlite spool on the
Curado E combined with the Titanium coated line guide helped make it easier to
reach quick startup speeds necessary for short casts that depended on accuracy.
Once there was any weight on the end of the line the gap in performance narrowed
out immediately.
The Curado E has a cold forged
handle while the Citica's is cut from alloy
Next Section: An insane topwater bite tests the
Citica E
