Another New Curado - The 50E!

It's always fun this time of year - the big dealer tackle show - iCast - actually takes place in July, so we get a chance to see what's in the pipe for next season (typically just as we're in the middle of our busiest part of the current season - go figure!) Sometimes we get to see prototypes that never ship, or when they do bear no relation to what gets shown.

But, Shimano always gets points for having stuff ready to roll!

In this case, when we heard about the Curado 50E, we got a bit excited. It's a low-profile levelwind reel in the venerable Curado series (we took the 300 DSV on our long-range San Diego trip and landed some impressive fish on that reel!)

The Curado series has been missing a smaller sized reel in the lineup, and when we saw this one, we were happy that they waited and did it right. In addition to the obvious use for largemouth bass, it looks like it will be a perfect size for kokanee - the oversized handle and super-smooth drag system are ideal. Matching it up with an ultralight action kokanee rod would be a perfect combo!

The Shimano Curado 50E is now in stock in both stores - check it out!

New Shimano Curado 50E, originally uploaded by Western Sport Shop.

Mark Your Calendars! - The Western Sport Shop Fall Shooting Sports Super Sale starts next Friday, August 27th - Best Prices of the Season on ammo, camo, decoys and more - plus hot end-of-season deals in all departments!

2011 Shimano Reel Model Update - Curado 300EJ

08-10-10_1656.jpg, originally uploaded by Western Sport Shop.

Hot levelwind. Now in san rafael! Curado 300ej!

Shimano Voltaeus Goodies! Free with Rod Purchase!

Goodies You Can Get, originally uploaded by Western Sport Shop.

We recently received our batch of Shimano Voltaeus rods - a new series from Shimano that has us all pretty impressed. These combine a rugged rod with lightweight materials, resulting in good sensitivity and control.

The cool thing is that in order to kick off things with this new series, Shimano sent us a box of Voltaeus goodies to throw in on each new rod purchase! So, when you buy a Voltaeus rod (not the rod/reel combo - there's already a coupon for a free computer game that comes with those!), you get a Shimano Voltaeus hat, sticker and sunglass keeper.

Strictly limited to what we have on hand - come on down to either store and check out the Voltaeus!

New Shimano Stradic CI4

New Shimano Stradic CI4, originally uploaded by Western Sport Shop.

Wasn't sure when these were going to show up - we ordered 'em a while back. Just got them in this past week. So far, just the 1000 series size, but whoa! are these smooth and light!

Ideal for a light trout setup - hopefully the 2500's will show up soon!
(The color is a little off because we used a flash on this photo)

The word from the Shimano site -
"CI4 stands for Carbon Interfusion with the 4 referring to the number of electrons in the Carbon atom. Ultimately, this means CI4 is reinforced Carbon Fiber.

It is over one and a half times stronger than our normal XT-7 graphite and is over 20% lighter. Because it does not contain metal, it is impervious to rust.

So, as a result of its strength and weight, we can create an extremely lightweight reel with very precise tolerances."

Now in stock at both locations - not sure how many of these we'll get, so don't delay!

Here are a couple more photos to get you even more excited -