Review: Shimano Rarenium CI4 and Stradic CI4

Ever since Shimano launched their CI4 edition reels in the last year, there has been alot of talk about them. About how light they are, how the CI4 material is impervious to rust and corrosion, and how CI4 is stronger than the standard graphite and alloys that come on regular reels. All this chatter got my interest peaked, so over the last month or so, I managed to get my hands on Shimano's 2 main CI4 based reels. and have now tested both of them on at least 5 trips each.

First off, lets talk a little about CI4. According to Shimano, CI4 is a special type of carbon fiber material that is supposed to be "lighter than magnesium yet stronger than steel", and naturally, this tech was borrowed from their cycling division. Also being a non metallic material, it does not rust and does not corrode, which in my opinion is a HUGE plus, especially for salt water use. But do all of these claims ring true? We'll see.

So on to the Stradic and Rarenium CI4s. First, let's take a look at them.

They sure look nice don't they? =). Well, both these reels are basically identical, and feature identical technologies, with the exception of color and also that the rarenium comes default with a spare spool. Key technologies such as Aerowrap 2, power roller, Paladin Durability Enhancement, ARC spool and Propulsion Line Management are present in both reels. The prices clock in at ~$265 for the stradic and ~$330 for the rarenium.

Both featured reels are in the 2500 size, and have spool capacities of: lbs/yds, 6/200, 8/140, 10/120. Ironically, the printed drag capabilities are different for both reels, the rarenium has a max drag of 5kg, whereas the stradic is supposed to be able to put out a whopping 8kgs of max drag. I had my suspicions about this, and will confirm this later in the post.

So do these reels live up to the hype? Well, I've tested them and here's what I found:

Cranking Smoothness:

Out of the box, 8.5/10, very smooth, very silent. After 5 trips, about 6.5/10, noticeably less smooth when cranking and the anti reverse has a slight backplay, even after maintenance.

Drag Power:

The print was wrong, both reels max out at similar drags: Stradic @ 4.5kg and Rarenium at 4.6kg. Drags were measured using an electronic scale, drag knobs turned til locked and all processes were identical.

Drag Smoothness:

Out of the box, 9/10, extremely smooth. After 5 trips, the drag retains its full smoothness on both reels.

Line Lay:

The line lay of the aerowrap 2 technology is pretty damn good. Line is laid very evenly and is beautifully packed onto the spool. Under the load of a fight, only a very slight dig-in was experienced. Overall rating, 8.5/10.

Casting:


Casting on these reels is flawless. The line flies off the spool readily and I have not had any mishaps yet. 10/10.

Material Review:

CI4 is as light as they claim it is. It was a delight handling such lightweight reels, tho the material does look and feel slightly plastic. However, and this is the game killer for me, the frame is no where "as strong as steel". It is no where as solid as metals like aluminium and magnesium, it handles more like graphite. What I mean by this is the wobbling. Under the load of a fish dragging out line, you can clearly see the reels banking to one side to accommodate the load. And when cranking under minimal load, the reel noticeably wobbles from left to right. This to me is completely unacceptable. Any good reel is defined by how rigid and solid the frame is, and weight aside, the most basic requirement of a decent reel is that it must be secure and sit firmly in place when cranking and when under load. The lack of solidness does not help the cranking power either. Because the reel body wobbles/banks under load, it offers terrible cranking power, and most of the cranking is only possible under minimal load.

So in conclusion:

Pro's:

Very light
Looks great
Good line lay
Good casting

Con's:

Does not retain the out of box smoothness
Frame is not very solid, wobbles under load
No cranking power

Rating: 6/10, it looks like I will be selling the reels off as I prefer the performance of my ultegra, stradic fi and nasci. The lightweight factor is greater overshadowed by the lack in solidness.

Knots for Joining Lines

What is the best knot for joining lines? This is probably one of the top in the list of "most asked questions about fishing". There are at least 10 knots out there claim to be efficient in joining lines, but out of all these knots, only 2 have proven themselves to me throughout my years of fishing.

Since the first time I had to join lines many years ago, my go to knot has always been the Double Uni Knot. This knot is very easy to tie and the result is a very strong knot. However, I have realized over the years that there are very specific guidelines that need to be followed in order to ensure this knot never slips. The guidelines are as follows:

For all mono lines(or the mono side of a mono-braid connection):

50+lbs use 4-5turns
30-40lbs use 5-6 turns
20-25lbs use 7-8turns
10-15lbs use 8-10 turns
below 10lbs lines use at least 10 turns.

For braided lines I always do a fixed 20 turns.

Here's a link explaining how to tie the knot: http://www.fintalk.com/fishing-knots/double-uni.html

Another suggestion is to use a lighter to singe the tag ends of the knot rather than just simply cutting it, the melted end will prevent the knot from slipping. Here is a picture of a Double Uni Knot.



After switching exclusively to braided/PE line ~2years ago, I realized that there was a way to strengthen the knot further. Someone else probably invented this somewhere out there, but I figured it out for myself about a year ago and I call it the Improved Double Uni Knot. For this knot you begin with a standard double uni knot, with the addition of tying a 4-6 turn half-hitch knot with each tag end for added security. This is similar to the half hitch that you would tie on a bimini twist. It is important to note that this new addition of the half hitch works mainly on braided/PE lines due to the fact the the thin diameter allows for a neat finish.

So that is the first knot I use for joining lines. The second knot I use only came to my attention about 6 months ago, it is the FG knot. I have come to realize that it is just as efficient as the double uni knot which the exception that it has a much lower profile and hence works better with braid to mono connections, especially where the mono side is significantly thicker than the braided mainline, as is the case when attempting to attach shock leader.

The FG knot works on the exact same principal as the Bimini Twist, but instead of wrapping the line around itself to form a loop, you are wrapping the braid around the leader. The secret to the knot is the sheer amount of friction produced by the 20-30 wraps around the leader, which tighten even more under load, creating more friction. This results in a knot that gets stronger the tighter it is pulled, amazing stuff. And like the Bimini Twist, it is finished off with a bunch of half hitch knots. Below is a picture of a finished FG Knot.



A great instructional video of the knot can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e9XgPsWZao

There are a few scenarios when talking about joining lines, and they can be very different depending on the scenario and hence, the knots required might differ too.


Joining Mono to Mono of equal diameter

Knot to use: Uni to Uni knot, aka the Double Uni knot.

Joining Braid/PE to Mono, where Mono is the backing

Knot to use: Double Uni Knot or FG Knot

Joining Braid/PE to Mono, where Mono is used as leader or shock leader

Knot to use: FG knot is prefered, Double Uni Knot works too

Joining Braid/PE to Braid/PE

Knot to use: Improved Double Uni Knot.

Catch Report at Fishing Paradise

So I've been hitting the main pond of Fishing Paradise @ Bottle Tree Park for the past few months now and I finally got my dad to join me =). Did the usual setup with a 3 hook Apollo rig and bread for marker shooting. My dad however was using a really light setup considering the kind of fishes you can possibly catch in the pond, he was using a 4-8lbs 5' telescopic rod and a 1000 size Penn Extreme reel with 6lbs mono line. Tbh I was a little worried abt what might happen if he hooked a remotely large fish. But as the night went on, I was proven wrong and once again, my dad's skill and calmness amazed me. The first hour was quiet, small nibbles but no real takes. I was perched behind my rod, ready to pounce at the slightest twitch of the marker. To my left, my dad was kicking back relaxing in his chair, literally almost falling asleep(he does that alot when fishing).

Suddenly from the corner of my eye I see him spring upright and the reel started screaming! A loud splash from the water in front and I caught a glimpse of a Rohu leaping right out of the water and dashing to the left. I jumped to my feet and ran over next to him and watched as the Rohu peeled meter after meter of line off the tiny reel at a ridiculous pace. I started to panic and suggested that he tighten his drag but his reply was "No need la, nice and easy, let it run, it's gonna tire out very soon" And true enough, about 15 seconds later the fish slowed down to intermittent short runs and he started slowly fighting the fish in. I was amazed at how gentle he was while fighting, gingerly thumbing the spool every now and then, talking to the fish... yes he also does that alot... lol, mumbling phrases like "Oh no no, where are you going, no no come back here". After a couple of minutes of tug of war, the fish came in and we netted it. A decent sized Rohu it was.



After settling down, we rebaited our hooks with bread and cast our lines out again. I was fishing as close to the middle of the pond as possible cos I believed that's where the patin were, whereas my dad just dropped his rig a mere 5m in front of him, saying "Catfish like to play just outside the light, that's where they'll be" And he was right! Barely 5 minutes later, he was on his feet and the reel was screaming again! This time there was no splash, no ripples, and the run seemed slower but significantly stronger. The fish just kept running and running, like a 1 way ticket, charging towards the center structure of the pond and once again I started to panic and told my dad to tighten his drag. "Ayah no need la, slow and steady, just watch, I'll get him to turn around" and using slow deliberate angling of his rod, to my surprise, he actually managed to turn the fish around just before it hit the middle! No pumping, no jigging, just a little spool thumbing and the proper angle of the rod did the job. From that point, the fish started tiring out and eventually came in. It was a small-medium sized Redtail Catfish! On bread! RTCs rarely take bread, they usually go for hotdogs! As the net came up the fish thrashed around a lot and my dad did not want to stress his knees out so we just took a picture of it in the net.




What a nice fight! Landing a Redtail on 6lbs line on a 4-8lbs rod, that might just be the lightest setup ever used to land a Redtail in the pond, but I didn't ask.

The rest of the night was pretty quiet and soon it came time to pack up. We reeled up and my dad was making a few casts to clean his hooks when BAM! He hit something! The reel squealed again as the fish ripped line out. This fight was even stronger than the previous one and we both suspected a foul hook as my dad got the hit while retrieving. The runs were long and hard, with very short breaks in between, fortunately, the fish headed to the left of the pond, away from the center structures. After a few minutes, my dad confirmed that it was a foul hook, saying "Foul hook for sure la, I don't feel the head shaking and I can't turn it, must have hooked it near the tail" And once again... he was right... he always is haha. As the fish came in, it's tail broke the surface and there right at the very corner of it, was the hook. Another pull and the whole fish surfaced, it was an Alligator Gar! Well no wonder the fight was so strong, usually Gars fight like plastic bags, but things change radically when you hook one by the tail on such a light setup I suppose. Not wanting to risk getting bitten, we took a picture of it in the net before letting it go.



So with that, our fishing for the night came to an end. All in all, it was a slow day for me, but I'm glad my dad had such a great time. I don't get to fish with him as often as I'd like these days, so it was nice that on this rare occasion he got some decent fish!

Lines lines lines...

I don't know if I'm the only one, but I find choosing the right line the worse possible process on earth. It seems like every time I find a line that I like and spool a 2nd reel with it, within weeks, I either discover something I don't like about it or I discover a line that I like more... Well while I'm on the neverending quest to find the best lines out there, I thought I might as well give some thoughts on lines I've used.

So to date I have tried:

Powerpro
Tufline XP
Spiderwire Code Red
Spiderwire Invisibraid
YGK Power Hunter
YGK Ultra Castman 8x
Fireline
Sufix Performance Braid
Sufix 832
Fins PRT

Okay before I start rating the lines, I have to say that there are 2 lines that belong to a completely different category from the rest, these are the YGK Ultra Castman and the Sufix 832. Being 8x braids, they belong to a higher category of lines as compared to the rest which are all 4x braids.

Anyway on to my comments:

Powerpro


Pretty much one of the most popular braids in the market. It is reasonably good, though from time to time, you do pick a bad spool and the line snaps randomly. The good range is 10lbs and above, the lighter powerpro lines tend to be more flat than round, which is bad for spinning setups. It also has the lowest abrasion resistance I have ever seen on a braid, kiss a structure and its over.

Construction: 8/10
Casting: 7.5/10
Abrasion resistance: 5/10
Lifespan: 7/10, still decent after a few mths of extremely heavy use.
Suppleness: 7/10, decent, a little stiff out of the box, but gets better over time.
Color Retention: 5/10, color bleeds very quickly.
Price: ~SGD40 per 300yds

Tufline XP

Very similar to powerpro in almost all aspects. Slightly better abrasion resistance but the line tends to fray after awhile, which causes it to trap alot of water. It is also slightly more supple.

Construction: 8/10
Casting: 7.5/10
Abrasion resistance: 6/10
Lifespan: 6/10, frays over time.
Suppleness: 7.5/10
Color Retention: 6/10, color bleeds relatively quickly.
Price: ~SGD35 per 300yds


Spiderwire Code Red

One of my favorites still to date for a 4x braid. Does not bleed color, has a decent lifespan and does not fray over time. It casts quite well.

Construction: 8.5/10
Casting: 8/10
Abrasion resistance: 6/10
Lifespan: 8/10
Suppleness: 8/10
Color Retention: 9/10
Price: ~SGD42 per 300yds

Spiderwire Invisibraid


Decent line, very strong and solid, though I find it a little on the flat side. It is white so there is no color to bleed. My trials showed that it gets worn out rather quickly tho. It casts well.

Construction: 7.5/10
Casting: 8.5/10
Abrasion resistance: 6/10
Lifespan: 5/10
Suppleness: 8/10
Color Retention: NA, White line
Price: ~SGD48 per 300yds

YGK Power Hunter

Only comes in light ratings, like PE0.8-1.5. The color holds relatively well. It casts well, but for such a thin line, being able to feel the weaves is a little odd. This line has an impressive lifespan, it has been on my bradia for almost 9months.

Construction: 7.5/10
Casting: 8/10
Abrasion resistance: 6.5/10
Lifespan: 8/10
Suppleness: 8/10
Color Retention: 8/10
Price: ~SGD27 per 100m

YGK Ultra Castman 8x

This is my absolute favorite line period. It casts ridiculously well, its silent. The strength to diameter ratio is also amazing, with PE2 @ 33lbs and PE3 @ 47lbs. Abrasion resistance still sux tho as with most braids. The quality is excellent, very smooth and very round. The lifespan is well... I haven't had to change my line yet and there is almost no sign of fraying after 4mths of heavy use.

Construction: 9.5/10
Casting: 10/10
Abrasion resistance: 6/10
Lifespan: 9/10
Suppleness: 9/10
Color Retention: NA, white line.
Price: ~SGD100 per 300m, SGD40 per 100m

Fireline

My least favorite line, it is extremely stiff out of the box, takes a long time to break in and bleeds color like no other. The stiffness causes it to cast CRAPtastically. The strength is definitely there tho once it has been broken in. The thick coating gives it higher abrasion resistance but makes it stiff. It is also a fuse, not a braid, meaning over time it does puff up as the strands come apart. This does not affect its performance tho and if you don't mind the puffing up, it lasts quite awhile.

Construction: 6/10
Casting: 5/10
Abrasion resistance: 7/10
Lifespan: 7.5/10
Suppleness: 4/10
Color Retention: 5/10
Price: ~SGD35 per 300yds

Sufix Performance Braid

I would put this in the same category as Tufline and Powerpro, nothing special, nothing bad either.

Construction: 8/10
Casting: 7.5/10
Abrasion resistance: 6/10
Lifespan: 7/10
Suppleness: 7.5/10
Color Retention: 7/10
Price: ~SGD40 per 300yds

Sufix 832

One of my favorite lines. Extreme abrasion resistance from the gore fiber, excellent construction. Very round line. Comparable to YGK Ultra Castman except it is slightly stiffer. It is also slightly thicker than most lines, only very slightly tho. Color doesnt bleed, but it does fade over time. Performance is consistent over time tho, good lifespan.

Construction: 9/10
Casting: 8.5/10
Abrasion resistance: 9/10
Lifespan: 8/10
Suppleness: 8/10
Color Retention: 6/10
Price: ~SGD65 per 300yds

Fins PRT

Decent line, stiff out of the box but breaks it very quickly. Coating rubs off very easily tho, and you will get residue on the line layer/roller. Once broken in it is a very good line, casts well and lasts a long time.

Construction: 7.5/10
Casting: 8/10
Abrasion resistance: 6/10
Lifespan: 8/10
Suppleness: 7/10
Color Retention: 7/10
Price: ~SGD40 per 300yds

Shimano Core51mg7

Lately I've been raiding every tackle shop in Singapore trying to find a decent finesse BC reel. I had my eyes set on 2 models, either the Daiwa PX68L, or the Shimano Aldebaran MG7, unfortunately, they were either out of stock or the price was too ridiculous for me to even consider buying, even "after discount" according to some shopowners... pshhh, don't give me that, any local fisherman knows that you can knock down the prices of reels by 25% and still make money off it.

Anyway, I gave up looking and decided to ship in the US domestic version of the Aldebaran, the Core 51MG7. It is on all accounts exactly the same reel as the Aldebaran, just in a different color and manufactured for the US market instead of the SEA market. Cost me SGD 418 including shipping. It finally arrived early last week after a 3 week wait and I got a chance to take it down to the Toman Pond at Fishing Paradise to test it out over the weekend. Here's my review of the reel.

Out of the box the reel is a magnificent piece of work. It is tiny, well not quite as tiny as the Pixy but small enough. The color scheme of the Core series is so much better than the Aldebaran IMO. I spooled it with 10lbs PowerPro immediately.

The reel comes with a bunch of nice features that include:

8 S A-RBs + 1 A-RB roller bearing
High Gear Ratio of 7.0.1
Shimano Super Free Pinion Gear System
Dartanium Drag
Super Stopper Anti-reverse
VBS
Quickfire II Clutch Bar
Magnumlite Spool
Magnesium Body

Construction

The weight of this reel is an unbelievable 150g, it feel virtually weightless in my hands, considering that I'd been using a Curado 201 for most of my baitcasting prior to this. I do admit that the magnesium frame does have a rather plastic feel to it, but solid nonetheless. The reel palms perfectly and once again, looks great.

Casting and Retrieve

I was very impressed with the casting capabilities of this reel. I wanted a reel that could handle 3-10g lures and that is exactly what I got, and then some. Setting the VBS to only 1 brake and fine tuning the cast control, I was able to fire even weightless 3" rubbers at least 15m without so much as a hint of a backlash. Sure it took a few casts to get used to the reel's "finesse-ness" but once I got the hang of it I was going through my whole box of tiny lures, testing each one and loving the distance and precision that I previously could only achieve with my utra-light spin setups.

The retrieve was very smooth, as most good baitcasters should be and I was loving the high gear ratio, gave me ultimate control of my lures while allowing me to do lightning fast retrieves to mimic fish darting around. The only downside is the slight backplay of the anti-reverse(as with all shimano reels) is present, but only a slight backplay, nothing to cry about.

Drag

The drag was as smooth as I would expect any mid-high end shimano reel to be. Cranked it all the way up and it maintained steady smoothness, though I must admit that as usual with shimano... the max drag advertised is never accurate... but for finesse purposes, the reel has more than enough stopping power for sure.

So in conclusion it was a great buy for me, absolutely love the reel!

Construction: 9/10
Cast/Retrieve: 9.5/10
Drag: 8.5/10
Aesthetics: 10/10

And a couple more pics of the reel with my GLoomis GL2.

Fun at the Toman Pond.

Went to the Toman Pond at Fishing Paradise yesterday, it was C's first time doing some serious fishing. The biterate was amazing as usual, which gave her a good opportunity for some hands on "training" as losing fish to mistakes was nothing, we'd get another bite within 5 mins. Anyways, I set her up with my faithful Shimano Stimula 6-10lbs rod and and Penn Extreme 1000 reel, and rigged up for fish meat as bait. I was personally just luring whenever she didn't need help. Most people just do a direct leader to hook rig and chuck it in but I wanted a little more... visuals... so I set up a simple float rig.

Within 5 mins of casting out the first bait we got a bite, but C panicked and didn't know what to do so the fish got away. 6 takes later... she finally set the hook right and after lots of dramatic screaming and panicking, she brought up the first decent sized fish of her life =).

She was thrilled needless to say and with every bite, she got better at it and soon it was fish after fish.



About 2hrs in, I landed a nice Pacu! Didn't know they had Pacus in the toman pond lol!




So all in all, it was a great day for the both of us with a total of 10 fish in just over 2hrs. I got some action on my swimbait and C got a nice bunch of nail-biting fights under her belt =).

First taste of fishing.

This is just a compilation of a few trips we made to Batam over the past year. These trips are also the first few times Celeste got a taste of fishing. The fishing in Batam is so-so, shore casting, jetty fishing, catching small snappers, parrot fish and what not, a little slow for me, but still fun, and definitely a great place for beginners to learn to fish.

Celeste got hooked on catching sotong right from the start.

Keri and Nick.

Praying for a big one.

Catching smallies to kill time.

We eat what we catch.

The whole grp.