Broke Two Curado's 200's Back To Back Today

[troutgnat]

THE INEVITABLE HAPPENED!!!........I had a hard bite on a Eakins jig, set the hook and broke my Shimano Curado. The side plate to the braking system just sheered right off and fell to the deck. Upon looking this particular piece is fragilly connected to the housing which you unscrew to access the brakes. There are two screws that come through the inside of the brake houses and screw into two PLASTIC pillars on the outside which then connects to the side plate as mentioned.

SO, after a few curse words and holding back before throwing it over board(actually thought about it....) I removed the reel set aside and restringed with my other Curado 200, retied my Eakings jig and began again.

If you thought that sucked! I swear within 5 minutes and a couple of casts later I got bit again and went to set the hook and broke my other Curado in the same exact spot as the other, identical.

Both of these reels were not bought at the same time but are a couple of years old. But they have been babied! Theres not even a scratch on them. They always cast' like a dream and had performed flawlessly up until now.

So, what the hell??? CAN ANYONE GIVE ME ANY INSIGHT AS TO WHAT HAPPENED? Clearly looking at the reels this is a manufacturer defect.

[eric1978]

Hmmm....really don't know what to tell you about that. I've had a lot of Curados and Chronarchs over the years and I can't say I've ever had that happen. I've had to have some older ones serviced that sounded like they had sand in the gears but...never that.

The only thing I can think of is if maybe you were tinkering with the brakes and didn't put it back together right, or if your drag was set too heavy and the force of setting the hook just sheared some of the guts.

Maybe call Shimano and send them back. I've heard of people getting brand new reels from them. Otherwise I guess you gotta either get them serviced or toss 'em in the trash. That sucks.

I've been using my new Curado 200E7 a lot lately, which is the first one I've had of the new models, and it's working perfectly so far.

[Dutch]

If it is a defect, I don't understand how it took two years to happen. Had you taken them apart lately?

[troutgnat]

Gentlemen that's exactly why it is so bizzare! I know how to adjust the brakes and they were adjusted accordingly as was the drag. And no I had not taken them apart lately.

I palm my reels as most of us do. I'm not cheap on a hookset either I mean business. The only thing I can think of is it had to have something to do with how the reel was in the hand and the force of the hookset. I guess it just didn't like the torque. But still that's bull****t. I'm 170 pounds not a 1000 pound gorilla. For that piece to be held on by a couple of small plastic post, that is definitely not "made to be tough" engineering. A screw to a plastic post, come on now!

Sorry to bark but I am still fuming over this but I'm going to back Shimano because they have always performed well for me. So, alot of my mindset and outcome depends on what they tell me on the phone. I expect to be fully compensated so will see what happens and I will let you know. This will define customer service.......................LOL