Let me start off by saying I am a huge Lew's fan but out of curiosity over the hype of the new curado that just released on Feb 21st I went ahead and picked one up tonight at academy. Initial impression it looks and feels much nicer than the G series which most shimano fans were disappointed in to begin with but my Lew's reels feel much smoother out of the box and have held up well thus far. I haven't really used shimano baitcast reels simply because they just don't feel silky smooth in the store as what people that review them say they are. Maybe they feel different with line on and while fishing? That's to be determined. My question is what do y'all honestly think about this reel compared to Lew's or anything else on the market in the same price range?

They are sweet, I just bought a few of them two week's a go, they are smooth as heck, they fit in your palm just right, I have a lot of shimano's, and Lew's and I like Lew's too because they are smooth but I like the new shimano's more you can tell a total difference in them then the Lew's, wait tell you start to use it you will see what Im talking about,

awesome! I can't wait to try it out...thanks for the feedback.

Any time, I forgot to tell you they are also smooth when you are reeling in a 5-8 lb. fish there is not that much drag in the gear's like the old shimano's.

It has 15.4 lbs of drag that's quite a bit

I got one last week and was not ready for how far this sucker casts. I used it back to back with one of my older curados and this one definitely won between the two.

Once you start to use it you can't put it down, lol I just ordered two more today. They do cast a mile,