I picked up a few of the 200D series recently and I've been fishing them quite a bit. Figured I would offer a mini review for anyone considering the purchase.

Pros:

Gears: The gearing on the reel is basically incredible. When you're reeling in your lure it feels like the lure isn't even there. You can crank and crank and crank all day with this thing and it doesn't wear you out at all.

Smoothness: Overall the reel is extremely smooth. No flex in the parts or wobble to anything.

Retrieve Ratio: The 7:1 retrieve ratio is epic. I see no reason to get the 5:1 model unless you really need a reel with a slow gearing to keep you from retrieving too fast. You can crank a Manns 30+ on the 7:1 no problem, seriously.

Drag: A vast improvement over the old Curado. Smooth even set close to the breaking point of 25lb test.

Cons:

Oversize Sideplate: One thing I can't get used to on this reel is the oversized side plate. This probably affects people differently depending on how they grip their reel. For me, I have my hand wrapped almost completely around my reel when I've retrieving and the large sideplate makes it hard for me to control the reel like I like to. I tried to rip with this reel and it was killing me to be honest. I'm curious what other people's experience has been with this issue because I don't know if how I'm holding the reel is unorthodox or what.

Feel: A strange thing I noticed with the reel was that because it is so smooth you lose some feel that you would otherwise get through the reel. I noticed this pitching weightless senkos especially. When I fish a senko on a slack line I always pick up the slack in the line carefully in case a fish has the bait then I can pause a second and swing. It's kind of hard to explain but basically I found myself worrying about whether a fish might have my bait and I wouldn't notice because I was picking up the slack using the reel and not feeling it. Maybe the best way to describe it would be to compare if you closed your eyes and retrieved a senko then closed your eyes and retrieved just your line with nothing at the end. With this reel it would feel virtually the same. Can a reel be too smooth lol? I don't know but its something I'm getting used to.

Oversized side plate to accomidate the big gears would be my guess

I know :) Life is full of tradeoffs. The 7:1 retrieve is most excellent!

do you plan on making a review section for reels? I have a ton of em and ready to write ;-)

I have the Japan version, Speedmaster 200, which as far as I can tell is the same thing, only black. It is an extremely smooth reel, but having said that, it takes quite a bit to get used to especially if you are used to fishing the green curados, and I'm not sure if I like it better. The newer ones are heavier, and the difference is quite noticeable, at least for me, and I think it affects the overall sensitivity of your combo. My rods balanced well with the older curados, but with the new one, the combo feels butt heavy, which is a hard thing to fix. I think there's almost 1oz difference between the new curados and the older SuperFree curados. Fishing the senkos and ikas, I dont know, I am thinking of going back to the older curados, and saving the new one for something that requires more continuous cranking. Only time will tell I guess, any new gear with significant changes probably requires time to get used to it. The larger sideplate thing hasnt bothered me too much, but I'm glad I didnt get rid of any of my trusty green curados.

Foofish

how did you get hold of a speedmaster? none of the major japanese tackle sites are even advertising them for sale...

I got mine from my sister in Japan, but a friend just emailed me that couple are available from an Ebay store, search speedmaster 200. Anyways, dont want this topic to get hijacked into where to get reels. More I think about it, for those thinking of getting them and/or replacing all your older curados, it's good to consider how the weight will affect your outfit. Whether you have custom rods or factory rods, if you were very happy with the way your outfit balanced with the older curados, then I would definitely take into account how that might change if you switched to the new curados. FYI, the curado D 200 weights 9.8oz, while the curado 200BSF weighs 8.5oz, significant difference if you ask me. I dont frog fish much, but I have heard that the new curado 200 balances well with some of the longer frog rods, and that cranking power really helps. About the large side plate, I wonder if they could in the future make reels with the gears shifted slightly forward, kind of like their Toriums and Trinidads.

Foofish

>
>Cons:
>
>Oversize Sideplate: One thing I can't get used to on this
>reel is the oversized side plate. This probably affects
>people differently depending on how they grip their reel. For
>me, I have my hand wrapped almost completely around my reel
>when I've retrieving and the large sideplate makes it hard for
>me to control the reel like I like to. I tried to rip with
>this reel and it was killing me to be honest. I'm curious
>what other people's experience has been with this issue
>because I don't know if how I'm holding the reel is unorthodox
>or what.

I just picked up a Cruxis (new LH Citica was out of stock and I never intended to follow the Curado up) and had the same issue you did with the reel size and trying to rip with it(Cruxis has same oversized gears). I was very unhappy with the reel and with myself for not putting it on a rod before I bought it, but what made me even madder(and disappointed), was the realization that Shimano doesn't have a 100 size low profile reel until you get in the Curado line-up. I feel abandoned by them as I can't afford to spend $199 on a reel. Looks like I'll have to start scouring eBay but first I have a Cruxis to get rid of.
Note: other then the size I think the Cruxis is a very good reel for the money. For $100 I like it better then my Super Tuned Daiwa that was $140. The Cruxis is smooth, cast well, etc, everything I want in a reel except for the size.
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