As you probably already know Academy is having a sale this week with the classic All Star rods at $24.99 and the Shimano Cruxis 200 reel at $39.99 down from the regular $99.

Has anybody ever used this reel in the salt before? If so is it a pretty good reel for the bays?

I was just curious since I have never used this particular reel before and was just wondering if anybody has used it for saltwater and how it performed.

For $39 it seems like a sweet deal to have an extra reel for 40 bucks. But I have never used this reel so I don't know.

I know they are selling the All Star classic rods that are regularly $49 I think and they are on sale till Saturday 10 PM for $24.99. And they have the other All Stars that were originally $199 for $79 and $89.

But anyways I was just curious about the Shimano Cruxis reel. They have the 200 but don't know if they have the 201 left hand model on sale too.

those all star rods your talking about, they are only the baitcaster (casting) rods?

I went by Academy on Tuesday night and all of the All Star classic rods were marked $24.99, baitcast and spinning. Just the All Star classic series rods though, with the maroon and silver threading. But yes the spinning rods were $24.99 too. I think regular price they are $49.99 so they are half price. They told me till this Saturday till 10 PM.

But then I have heard people say the sale lasts till Dec. 5th so I don't know what is correct but I am sure it is only a weekly ad from this past Saturday till this coming Saturday till closing at 10 PM.

no, i just bought a casting rod and a spininng rod in lewisville...

I have a couple cruxis reels and they work like a champ in saltwater. IMO they work just a good as curados but my curardo is just a little smoother. Had them for a couple years now and on had one problem wth one of them. The piece to tighten the level wind broke.Took it back to academy and exchanged it with no problem.I guess I will be going to get me a couple more since they are on sale.

Thanks for the info. Yeah for $39.99 for a Cruxis that is regularly $99 that's not bad. I guess it would be worth it to have some extra reels at that price of only 40 bucks.

They also had some other reel for this sale for only $25. I forgot the name of it. It was a silver and gold low-profile baitcast reel.

are those cruxis reels discontinued? i looked on shimanos website and did not see any info on them.

would this be a good reel to start baitcasting with? i'm thinking about using it with that classic all star rod and if i dont like the combo, i could get rid of it easily.

Academy's brand of H2O baitcasters are on sale for $25 this week. My buddy has one and likes it ok, but the Shimano is probably a better deal.

Thanks, so it's called H2O and it's an Academy brand? Cool. Yeah, Shimano is always a good brand to go with being that parts are very easy to get and service is good and they make a dependable reel over the years. But like with any reel, as long as you take care of it then it will last in saltwater and even the most expensive of reels you can destroy or have problems with too without proper maintenance and care.

a good friend of mine is a MGR at acadmey--he loves the h2o he sold me two of them they have been in salt fresh-dirt-sand--a good washing and the are good to go--the rods have really worked well too--for the money you can use them a year and buy another one---i bought a diawa with the flip/jerk feature and it lasted one trip to Port A--i am in San Ant for the week--is Bass Pro matching the prices on All Star??

hey AJ do they have that Shimano Crusix on the paper ad or is it just at the store? i went today but didnt see none on sale.. guess there tryna keep it a secret at the store here

Hey slickrick, I don't believe the Shimano Cruxis was in the paper ad for academy. The national paper ad only mentions the H20 Xpress Mettle reel for $24.99 and the All Star classic rods for $24.99.

When I went to Academy thay had the All Star classic rods all marked $24.99. The Team All Star rods were $79.99 and I believe the All Star Platinum rods were $89.99.

And the Shimano Cruxis was marked $39.99 on sale. When I asked him if it was part of the sale he said it was. It was marked regular $99.99.

There was also another reel for $24.99 there that was also on sale. I believe it was $69.99 regular price. But it did not look like the H2O Mettle. It was like a bronze and gold low profile reel. I think it was a Diawa. And he said it was also part of this sale.

But I believe the Shimano Cruxis is part of this sale so any Academy should have the Cruxis for $39.99. You can check and ask them to ring it up and see if it rings up at $39.99. It should. And if they don't you can tell them it is $39.99 at most Academy stores. The Academy stores here in Austin have the Shimano Cruxis for $39.99.

Slickrick, I am going tomorrow to Academy and Friday too so if they hassle you or won't give it to you for $39.99 if you want I can pick up up one or two of the Cruxis or however many you want and send them to you and just pay me later. It's no problem. They have plenty here for $39.99.

But this is the national ad they were running and they don't mention the Shimano Cruxis or the $24.99 reel that I saw at the Academy the other day.

The guy at Academy that I talked to when I was there the other day, I just called him at the store. When I checked the reel out it looked nice. A bit heavy but a nice reel for 40 bucks.

Here is the deal. He said the Shimano Cruxis 200 is part of a sale but it has been on sale for the past 2-3 weeks or so. And he said it will be on sale till December 5th. All the Academy stores should have it for $39.99. Right now it is completely sold out at the Academy I go to cause he said people buy several at a time and they sell out fast. But he said they get more in and the sale will end Dec. 5th so there is still time.

But the All Star rod sale on the classic series for $24.99 is just this week only till Saturday the 21st till 10PM.

Oh and that other reel I saw at Academy on sale for $24.99 is called tke Diawa Strikeforce. Don't know if that is a good deal or not. But it is also on sale till December 5th.

But it seems like the Shimano Cruxis 200 regularly $99.99 and only $39.99 right now is a good deal.

There are some good deals there.

Always love taking the kids to Academy for lotsa good "stuff" !!!!

Yeah, the cruxis is a really good deal @ $39. A little heavy, yep, but it's otherwise a pretty good reel. I wasn't sold on it, but I bought one and came away impressed with its performance and decided to go back and buy another one as a spare/back-up reel.

I just bought 2 Allstar rods yesterday and only the baitcast rods were available. I guess different stores have different sales? This was in Tomball

Yeah for $39 it's not bad at all. Wish I could find a 201 left handed model at $39. Don't know if Academy carries the left hand version. The Academy I go to doesn't carry the 201, just the 200 that's on sale for $39. But hey for 40 bucks it's not a big deal to me.

I can use both a right or left hand retrieve reel, I just prefer left so I can cast with my right arm and retrieve with my left hand on a left handed reel and not have to switch hands and it works out great. Unless I cast with my left arm and retrieve with my right hand on a right handed reel and not have to switch hands which I can do as well since I can cast or retrieve with both my left or right arm or hand. Just prefer to cast with my right arm and retrieve with my left hand.

Anyways, yeah for 40 bucks that Shimano Cruxis looks nice for the price. I already have a lot of reels but hey people like deals, especially in this economy, and for a nice deal like that it doesn't hurt to have more reels especially if you can get one at a good price. You can never have too many reels is what I say, heh heh.

I just bought 2 Allstar rods yesterday and only the baitcast rods were available. I guess different stores have different sales? This was in Tomball

Were the spinning rods just sold out or they just wouldn't honor the ad on the spinning rods?

Cause the Academy I go to, the guy told me that the ad is for both baitcast and spinning rods as well, as long as they are the All Star classic series rods. Plus he said it's a national run ad so all Academy stores should honor it and the baitcast and spinning rods should all ring up at $24.99 till Saturday 10 PM.

If they don't honor the ad I guess you could take the ad in the store and show them and tell them it doesn't say anywhere in the ad it's for casting rods only or only participating Academy stores. I am a pretty chill guy so if they didn't want to honor the add for me I wouldn't mind and not make a big fuss about it but some people I guess could be more persistent.

that sounds good AJ, if i can find one in a lefty then maybe ill get one and if your ever n town u can just give me the 40 for it, i cant use leftys so it would be unused, if you want,, im going back today to get that cruxis200 for sure and maybe a rod

Thanks slickrick, yeah if you can find a left one that will be great and I can send you cash or give you cash in person when I go down there.

I have a lot of rods and I build custom rods myself too but I love the All Star Classic Shrimp Tail Special rod. I'll probably get one of those for sure. I grew up with that rod !! Still have my original Shrimp Tail Special ones from the 90s in regular graphite and IM6. And the PRM model too. Love that rod as well since I grew up using that rod too. So they are a bit of nostalgic value to me to use what I used as a kid growing up on the All Star rods. So I'll probably get a Shrimp Tail Special for $24.99. I like that rod.

And yeah slickrick, if you can't find or get the Cruxis 200 at your Academy I can get you one and send it to you and you can pay me later. Right now the Academy I go to he said they are sold out of it because it has been on sale he said for the past 2-3 weeks and he was telling me people come in and buy several at a time so they sell out fast but they always get more in. For $39 for a $100 reel, I don't blame them. But he said they will get more in soon and the Cruxis will be on sale till Dec. 5th for $39.99.

yea well i wet today and the only academy close to me that had them n stock were about 12 miles away, jus didnt feel like drivng out there so i just went with the H20 mettle.. looks fairly decent but wnt really tell until i get it to the water.. so far my 15 dollar shakespeare baitcaster out performs my abu blackmax.. ill see where this one rates,, oh and asked about the leftys n the guy said they rarely get them there at that store but he told me to just keep checking by,, i go there alot anyways so ill keep ya posted if they tell me anythig

thanks for the heads up going to go check this out tomorrow

hey justin83 check either the academy in pearland they told me at the academy in pasadena the had some over there when they checked in the comp.. but i suggest calling them first

oh but they do have a BUNCH of the allstar rods at the academy n pasadena.. baitcaster rods, spinning rods, carolina rig rods, game fish rods etc they have them all

I went to Academy tonight and the guy there told me they sold out of the Shimano Cruxis 200 on Wednesday and they are not getting any more of them. But then the other guy I talked to the other night said they would get more in so I really don't know. I guess I should have bought one when I was there and the guy said they had plenty of them, but like the guy told me they sell fast and people buy several at a time at $39. Hopefully they get more for people to buy but the guy I talked to tonight in fishing said he doesn't think they will be getting more. They are just selling really fast. So I guess if you find them at an Academy just buy them before they sell out. And this sale on the Cruxis lasts till Dec. 5th so there is still plenty of time to get it at $39.99. Just a matter of finding a store that has them. I'll check with other stores here. Closest Academy to my house is about 18 miles but we have other stores.

As far as the All Star rods they did have plenty of the classic series for $24.99. Those are just on sale this week though till 10 PM Saturday. They had the Shrimptail Special, the PRM, the Carolina Riggin' Rod, Worm Rod, Crankin' Stick, and Topwater Special.

I don't know how good they are now but for $24.99 it seems like a good deal if you are looking for some extra rods. With a Shrimptail Special, a PRM, and a Topwater Special, with just those 3 rods you pretty much have all your baits covered for fishing the bays. Shrimptail Special for your soft plastics, Topwater Special for your topwater lures and heavier sinking plugs, and the PRM for live bait or spoons or small plugs or pretty much most anything really. I grew up using those rods till I started building rods myself.

Pair them up with 3 Shimano Cruxis reels at 40 bucks each and you have a pretty decent 3 rig setup to throw any bait you want for just shy of $200, well not including tax I guess. Uncle Sam needs his share. Not too bad for somebody looking to start out fishing the coast on a budget or looking for value or just looking to have some extra rods and reels or backup ones or for Christmas gifts or just to have more rods and reels in their arsenal or whatever. Throw in a spool of Berkley Big Game and you're set, heh heh.

Anyways, yeah it's great Academy if having these sales and people find good deals. Especially in this economy today where people are looking for deals.

How is the H2O Mettle slickrick? I saw the reel at Academy today. I didn't ask to see it though since it was 10 and they were already closing and the guy was busy anyways helping a guy that was buying a gun or looking to buy bullets or something but I'll check it out later.