I recently bought a Calcutta 250 and have been fishing using it for primarily halibut here in SB and calico bass down in Palos Verdes. I initially noticed that the drag was smooth once it started to pay out but that there was a large amount of pressure was needed to begin that payout of line. I didn't like that at all. I thought it was just not "broken in" or something. Anyways, that problem just got worse over the next 3 weeks and cost me at least one fish and a fastrac (not counting the Moby ##### fish). This past Sunday in PV, I had the joy of noticing a very loud grinding gear sound during every 10th cast or so. I was a bit distressed that my $170.00 piece of crap was crapping out on me, so I went in and returned/exchanged the lemon at the Hook to a disgruntled Mr. Shin (sp?).

Previously, I talked with a guy at Turner's Outdoorsman down in LA and he told me a bunch of stories of Calcuttas going bad, most of them with several of his own, even after repair by Shimano. He told me not to overtighten the sideplate screws or else you'll warp the spool. He also said the those same screws tend to back themselves out on extended fights if you use your Calcutta on things like football sized tuna. Point 3 was that the drags tend to burn out on big runs and that the replacment drag kits aren't cheap (20-30 bucks or something).

So, I "upgraded" to a Penn International 965 with currently EXCELLENT, and I assume cheap HT100 drag washers. I think I have to fish 15 pound on it at least though 'cause of a possible small line eating problem though (I needed to beef up anyway....). I wanted to know if anyone else has had problems with their Calcuttas. Maybe its due to all the plastic parts in the right sideplate. To be fair, the Penn has a bit of plastic too, but it seems to be in really low-stress areas having to due with the levelwind, clicker, and backlash control. I talked to a friend of mine and we seem to agree on the idea that good Shimano equipment is a bit too tempermental and not quite tough enough for non-freshwater-bass-boat environments...even though it is usually very, very nice to begin with. (Talk amongst yo'selves)

Oh, didn't see the tackle board....