Here Are Two Reasons To Avoid This Thing...
Written: Sep 12 '02 (Updated Sep 12 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Line Capacity. Smooth take-up. Good balance for a bigger reel.
Cons: It breaks!
The Bottom Line: I went through two of these reels before I gave up on it. Buy something else! This is a ripoff at $80.00.
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| wadesam's Full Review: Shimano Corsair CS-401A |
Generally speaking, I love Shimano reels. I own approximately 8 of them. However, I no longer own a Corsair CS 401A.
GENERAL INFORMATION REGARDING SHIMANO: Shimano has a very logical method for marketing its reels. All the model names of their casting reels (with the exception of the Bantam) begin with the letter "C" (i.e. Crestfire, Calais, Calcutta, Corsair, Curado--you get the idea). Each of these names is reduced to a two-letter abbreviation which becomes part of the model name. CS is Shimano's abbreviation for Corsair. All of Shimano's casting reels are numbered 100, 200, 300, or 400 if the reel is a right-hand take-up, or 101, 201, 301, or 401 if the reel is a left-hand take-up. The first numbers corrospond to the size of the body of the reel, the larger the number, the larger the body of the reel (which translates into more line capacity or the ability to fish heavier line). Finally, if Shimano updates a model, the letter designation "A" is put at the end. Hence, when you see CS 401A on a box, you know it's the newest, biggest Corsair with left-hand retrieve.
PROS: The Corsair 401A is kind of a "tweener" reel, meaning that it is almost in-between usable sizes (kind of like a football player who is too big to be a linebacker but too small to play on the line). The Corsair 401A is too big and too heavy to be an efficient trout or bass reel, and it is generally too small for open-water salmon fishing. Where I see it most frequently is on the rivers for winter-run steelhead and salmon. In this capacity it is the perfect size, but not everybody wants to drop $80 for a reel that only gets used for one type of fishing.
Bank fisherman need heavier line and more of it, because they cannot run down a fish like boaters do, but instead they have to turn a fish simply by pulling hard on the line. Heavy line takes up more space on the spool, which means you can put less on. To defeat this obvious limitation, fisherman use bigger reels. Line capacity on the Corsair 401A wonderful: 12/330, 14/250, and 20/165. (These numbers indicate how many yards of a given monofilament line size will fit on the reel. So this reel will hold, for example, 330 yards of 12 pound test). This is more than enough for any type of fishing.
The drag on the 401A is quite smooth and is easily adjusted by using the star wheel by the reel handle. Shimano's adjustable variable brake system also works very well, allowing beginners to increase spool tension when they cast so they have less chance of experiencing, dare I say it, BACKLASH! No reel is immune to backlash, not even the anti-backlash model by Abu Garcia. But by effectively adjusting the tension, you can at least give yourself a better chance.
The line guide is stainless steel to fight corrosion which results in nicked up line. 3 ball bearings made casting and retrieving very silky indeed. I must say that when my 401A worked, it worked nicely and, as a whole, fished quite well. But then...
CONS: One day my line guide stopped moving. Normally the line guide traverses back and forth to allow line to come off cleanly on the cast and to put it back on the spool evenly on the retrieve. It has to move in order for the reel to work. Mine just stopped. I had purchased it at Wal-Mart, so instead of dealing with a manufacturer warranty, I just took it back to the store and traded for a new one. I still had the receipt as the thing was only a month old.
I got a second CS 401A and that night the clicker broke while I was playing with it at home! The clicker is a switch you can turn on or off, and when it's on, the reel clicks whenever line is pulled off against the drag. So if you're trolling and have your pole in the pole holder, you can hear when you're getting a strike. That way you don't have to physically watch your pole every second. Well, my clicker broke after abut 10 seconds of use. I couldn't believe it. So, I took that one back to the store too. The lady at the return counter eyed me rather suspiciously. This time, instead of a Corsair, I got an Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 6500 C3, which I love and will review separately sometime.
CONCLUSION: When it works, it works great. Unfortunately, that wasn't very often in my experience. In today's market you can get a lot of reel for $80.00, and I recommend you DON'T waste your money on the CS 401A. It is junk to be avoided at all costs.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
wadesam
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Member: Wade Samuelson
Location: Centralia, Washington
Reviews written: 34
Trusted by: 34 members
About Me:
Where do you stand in the Valley of Decision?
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