clemsy Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Hi raiders, It is that time of the year again, time to upgrade the reel. I've narrowed down my search to three reels, for the esturary. I just wanted to know your experience with the reels, if you have owned or used them. Shimano Stradic Ci4 1000 Shimano Rarenium Ci4 1000 Shimano Sustain 1000 FG The reason I prefer the Shimano brand is that the service centre is close by and the turnover is great. I will be after esturary species ranging from bream to the odd (lost/lucky) trevally. My budget is between 200-300, strictly. Thanks guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spooooled Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Hi raiders, It is that time of the year again, time to upgrade the reel. I've narrowed down my search to three reels, for the esturary. I just wanted to know your experience with the reels, if you have owned or used them. Shimano Stradic Ci4 1000 Shimano Rarenium Ci4 1000 Shimano Sustain 1000 FG The reason I prefer the Shimano brand is that the service centre is close by and the turnover is great. I will be after esturary species ranging from bream to the odd (lost/lucky) trevally. My budget is between 200-300, strictly. Thanks guys! the sustain FG is great more bearings and has a 5kg drag amazing reel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hambo692 Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Rarenium What rod's it being matched to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clemsy Posted April 16, 2012 Author Share Posted April 16, 2012 I've got a pflueger trion and a catana at the moment, both 2-4kg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Iceman Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Either of the Ci4s but go up to the 2500 size Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clemsy Posted April 16, 2012 Author Share Posted April 16, 2012 Either of the Ci4s but go up to the 2500 size Is all the commotion about the durability of the Ci4s hearsay? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockfisherman Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 was just looking at some of the specs, the 2500 rarenium pumps out 10kg of drag... WoW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blood Knot Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 The Stradic or the Rarenium - Had some spool corrosion problems with a Sustain years ago so cant recommend them on principal (they may now be fine??) Cheers BloodKnot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hambo692 Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 2500 size would match a bit better with a 2-4kg rod, especially with the light ci4 reels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clemsy Posted April 16, 2012 Author Share Posted April 16, 2012 Thanks for the reply guys, it seems like there is a lot of votes towards the ci4 reels. Are the new Sustain reels not worth the extra money? From my tackle store, the prices are as follows: Stradic Ci4: $200 Rarenium Ci4: $250 Sustain FG: $300 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spooooled Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Thanks for the reply guys, it seems like there is a lot of votes towards the ci4 reels. Are the new Sustain reels not worth the extra money? From my tackle store, the prices are as follows: Stradic Ci4: $200 Rarenium Ci4: $250 Sustain FG: $300 have a look around you might find them cheaper somewhere else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shanemills Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Mate stradic ci4 are a great reel so smooth and light. I have a 3000 and I can't fault it. Cheers seem very durable to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlRak Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 (edited) Hey mate, I got a Rarenium Ci4 1000 about 2 months ago and paired it up with a 1-3kg rod. I went with the Rarenium for a few reasons: 1, Weight or lack of it. I think it weighs 175g and I find after a few hours casting and retrieving lures I have minimal to no fatigue. 2, Retrieve speed, from memory it retrieves 53cm per crank or thereabouts, this was quite a bit less than other reels in its class and something I wanted to slow my retrieves down. 3, Spare spool, seemed like a great idea at the time, yet to use it though. Since buying the reel, I've used it on average 3 times a week and I can't really fault it's performance. I've caught small bream, flatties to 52cm, whiting and some very solid squid on it. The drag is quite smooth, I like the soft touch handle and line-lay is neat and given me no problems. Also of note, is the ease of start-up inertia or lack of pressure when starting a retrieve. I doubt this makes much difference to anyone but a comp angler (?) but it does feel nice. All of the above said, I wouldn't buy another if in the same situation. My concern is that it's construction doesn't fill me with confidence. It just feels quite fragile. And when turning the handle the spool has quite a bit of wobble. I got a Stradic 5000 FJ as a gift not long before buying the Rarenium and although it's for completely different purposes they're from the same stable and about the same price. For me the Stradic just feels much better constructed. I know it's not on your shortlist but as point of comparison I thought that may be useful. In sum, it's a great little reel that I really enjoy using, day-to-day it performs well but I have concerns about it's longevity and durability. Hope there's some useful feedback in there somewhere and that I haven't confused you further. Edited April 17, 2012 by Nibbles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmhcfish Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 From what I understand rarenium ci4 is pretty much a stradic ci4 with spare spool Can't go wrong, put on your 4-6lb for bream/estuary and fill the other with say 10-15lb for the rough country/jewies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clemsy Posted April 17, 2012 Author Share Posted April 17, 2012 Thank you all for your great responses, they have helped a lot. I purchased myself a nice Sustain 1000 FG reel today and gave it a quick test out session and I caught myself a 30cm bream and a couple of undersized ones, the drag was great and reel was very smooth! Just a quick question, does rain cause any damage to reels? Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truediger Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 great topic mate Just arrived in sydney after being out of the country for few years and was trying to workout myself the right reel to go for. Have started flicking plastics with fair success in the hacking but only on the ***** special and starlo stik. Might go for for the stradic 2500. Pretty keen to setup for Jewy fishing also if anybody could recommend rod and reel? Been great to join up and get a bit of a head start in fishing around Sydney through all your comments - Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolongeramember Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Thank you all for your great responses, they have helped a lot. I purchased myself a nice Sustain 1000 FG reel today and gave it a quick test out session and I caught myself a 30cm bream and a couple of undersized ones, the drag was great and reel was very smooth! Just a quick question, does rain cause any damage to reels? Cheers! Good choice. You cant beat a metal bodied reel for that quality feel and construction. The C14 body reels just dont feel as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.dawg Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Definatley Stradivari ci4 or sustain but you can also pick up a twin power fc 1000 for for as much as 260 ad I would put that on top off all good luck mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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