I am looking into a calcutta 400 for bassin in the bays. I was wondering if that reel would be to light for eeling around the inlet and jigging with 20 lb. mono or braid. Do you guys like the levelwind. I would rather be without it. Any suggestions would help. Thanks.
Calcutta 400
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Whichever you model 400 you chose, make sure you also look into the "Live Bait Handle" as an add-on option.
Makes turning the crank ALOT easier with any load on the reel.
rgds, Leprechaun
Makes turning the crank ALOT easier with any load on the reel.
rgds, Leprechaun
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My favorite reel....
Finally a reel I can relate to.It is an excellent reel for using bellies in the back bays however when it comes to chucking at the inlet or drifting some eels I personally think it might be a hair too light.Thats when I use the TLD'S by Shimano. A Tld 5,10 or 15 would be great for this time of fishing because of the greater chance of a 40+lb fish.I wouldn't want to try it out on my 400,not saying it couldn't handle it but like Tog said in another thread it can lack in stopping power on a big fish.
Great reel though! paulie
Finally a reel I can relate to.It is an excellent reel for using bellies in the back bays however when it comes to chucking at the inlet or drifting some eels I personally think it might be a hair too light.Thats when I use the TLD'S by Shimano. A Tld 5,10 or 15 would be great for this time of fishing because of the greater chance of a 40+lb fish.I wouldn't want to try it out on my 400,not saying it couldn't handle it but like Tog said in another thread it can lack in stopping power on a big fish.
Great reel though! paulie
I have a Newell 229 also and I was wondering, if I had them both lined with 20LB. with the drag at around 6 1/2lb. (I set all my drags with a spring scale) how would the Newwll be able to stop the fish any bettet? Thats the part I dont understand. Is it the gears?
Big Rick -
I have both reels so hopefully I can offer some useful advise. You need to make some decisions. The fishing you are talking about are completley different and I actually have different setups for these situations. What you want to do really depends on how much chunking and clam fishing you are going to do.
The 400 is a super smooth casting reel - You can use it for bellying but that certainly is not using the reel to it's potential. I would set the reel up on a rod that you can cast plugs in the bays and jig outside as well as belly - a 7ft 12-25 graphite rod will do nicley. This would be a versitle setup. You can use 25# braid line if you are good at controlling the spool when casting. I back my reel with braided line and put on 100 yards of a mono topshot - added line capacity and mono casting forgiveness. I would not recommend the bait handle if you are going to use the rod this way.
Chunking and eeling is a different story. If you are not going to do it often then the 400 will be fine. I personally do not like having "to find the handle" in order to engage the reel and set the hook which is the reason I do not use the 400 for this type of fishing. I use a baitfish setup on my Newell 229 (and 235's) for this fishing. I use braided line with a 6' topshot of mono. You need the braid for line capacity. I have this on a 6.5' bait rod.
I do quite a bit of bass fishing and get use out of all of my setups. If you are not going to fish a particular way all that often then you can certainly improvise another setup for that situation.
Just my .02 but I hope it helps!
Capt. Doug
I have both reels so hopefully I can offer some useful advise. You need to make some decisions. The fishing you are talking about are completley different and I actually have different setups for these situations. What you want to do really depends on how much chunking and clam fishing you are going to do.
The 400 is a super smooth casting reel - You can use it for bellying but that certainly is not using the reel to it's potential. I would set the reel up on a rod that you can cast plugs in the bays and jig outside as well as belly - a 7ft 12-25 graphite rod will do nicley. This would be a versitle setup. You can use 25# braid line if you are good at controlling the spool when casting. I back my reel with braided line and put on 100 yards of a mono topshot - added line capacity and mono casting forgiveness. I would not recommend the bait handle if you are going to use the rod this way.
Chunking and eeling is a different story. If you are not going to do it often then the 400 will be fine. I personally do not like having "to find the handle" in order to engage the reel and set the hook which is the reason I do not use the 400 for this type of fishing. I use a baitfish setup on my Newell 229 (and 235's) for this fishing. I use braided line with a 6' topshot of mono. You need the braid for line capacity. I have this on a 6.5' bait rod.
I do quite a bit of bass fishing and get use out of all of my setups. If you are not going to fish a particular way all that often then you can certainly improvise another setup for that situation.
Just my .02 but I hope it helps!
Capt. Doug
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