Shimano Catana (Shimano)

Member Name: sharkman

Product:	Shimano
Date:	16/04/02 (798 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good price, leading manufacture

Disadvantages: no free spool bait runner

The Shiman Catana range has 4 reels in the range and vary in price from around £25-£30.

Before i review the reels, i will give you a quick overview of what i think is important in a reel.

I beleive the weight of the reel is very important as a too heavy reel will disadvanatge your casting ability, it should also have several ball bearings as they give the reel more power and make it smoother to use. I also prefer a reel that comes with at least one spare spool.

The Catana range has 3 ball bearings which gives me the confidence to know that the reel will stand up to the strain of big fish ( I normally fish for wels catfish) but also be smooth when retrieving the line, i find the line on retrieve goes on the reel smoothly and evenly and lays well. If i use the reel for floater fishing or in close weork, i normally put on a large lead and give it a large cast at the end of the session and retriev it under a reasonable amount of tension to ensure the line stays on the spool tightly ready for the next session.

For those tackle tarts that need to colour coordinate their tackle the reel comes in black and the spools have a rather nice silver coluring.

The reel is ambidextous,( which means the handle can be fixed either on the right or left of the reel to suit the angler)

The reel also comes with a multi drag system that allows you to set the clutch so that you are playing the fish at the right pressure, the drag system is easily adjusable and i have never found a problem with it.

All the reels in the range come with 2 medium spools that allow for sufficeint line to be loaded, the 300M however comes with shallower spools due to the type of fishing they are designed for.

So which of the range should i use, well that deepends on the type of fishing you want the reel for, beolow i have listed the models along with the type of Fishing that Shimano recomend you use the reel/s for.

100

This
real is ideal for light ledgering and based on a 4lb ( or for you Europeans 1.8kg) the maximum amount of line you can get on the spool is 140yards, the reel is the lightest in the range wighing around 235grams and costing around £24.00

300R

This reel is ideal for general ledgering, light to medium feeder, light spinning and general float fishing, the spool has a maximum capacity of 170yards of 8lb (3.6kg) breaking strain line.

300MR

This reel is suitable for general float fishing and light ledgering hence the smaller line capacity of 110yards of 4 lb line, this reel will set you back around £29

400R

The reel i use which is suitable for heavy feeder, ledgering for specimen fish and general spinning and heavy float fishing, ( have used this reel for liveabiting)
The line capacity is 200 yards of 10lb breaking strain line and will set you back around £30.00 which makes this reel excellent value for money and an ideal reel for the novice or less experienced angler.

The reels should be available from your local tackle box if not you can order it from any of the mail order companies that advertise in the angling magazines and papers.

Good Luck with your fishing

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