What's your favorite "reel" for punching tech?

[W.C]

My favorite rods for punching are the irod Genesis II, I currently have one with a old Curado 200 5.2.1 and a Curado 200E7. Both have been doing a great job for me but I have been thinking of trying the New Shimano Curado 200HG 7.2.1 ratio since I have two new ones just sitting around in boxes. Do any of you use these for punching? What's the best reel out there for this technique and why? Please explain. Thank you to all who comment.

[mark poulson]

A reel with a 7/1 gear ratio to get the fish up and out of the vegetation, a larger handle for leverage, and a drag you can button down until it doesn't move.
After that, a reel that is light, so you won't wear yourself out punching heavier tungsten weights all day.

[kmah]

WC either of the curado E7 or the 200IHG that you currently own is a fantastic punching reel. I've used both for many years with out any issues. I would not use the E5 as the line per pick up is not as much as the E7 or 200IHG. Both of these reels pick up 30 inches per crank the E5 is 23 inches. This is actually much more important than gear ratio as spool size and company to company specifics affects the true inches per crank.

30 inches is sufficient however if you ever replace your reels or want more inches per crank specifically for punching, lipless, etc. and you like Shimano products, a Chronarch CI4 150HG is amazing. 32 inches per crank, lighter and a workhorse. I've settled on this current reel after using curado, chronarch, and Metanium XG.

Hope this helps your specific questions.

K. Mah

[W.C]

Thank you Mark for your reply very helpful
@ Ken M. Your experience and explanation on this subject are very helpful, I will look into getting the CI4 in the future. Thanks ones again to the both of you.

[trevorvandam]

I made the same switch that you are gonna do. My 201e7 worked just fine, but the Curado I is a much better reel for punching. Just simply because it has x ship, which gives the reel more power to pull those fish out of cover