Inhouse Review By Roger Sinclair
The new Shimano Citica 200I features a durable one-piece aluminium chassis, complimented by silver grey side plates with star drag wheel, cast control knob and alloy handle finished in black. Five stainless-steel ball bearings and one stainless steel roller bearing guarantees the new Citica casts and runs smoothly. It is available in two retrieve ratios in right hand wind – 6.2 and 7.2:1 – plus a left-hand version running 7.2:1 gearing. The reel in this review is the HG which denotes the 7.2:1 gear ratio. Citica’s finely-balanced S3D thin-wall spool runs on Shimano’s X-Ship bearing-supported pinion and stainless-steel bearings and employs the proven SVS Infinity centrifugal cast control. The spool can pack a handy 190 yards of 30lb PowerPro braid. Cross carbon washers feature in the drag stack providing plenty of smooth stopping power. ON THE WATER The Citica casted very nicely with the SVS cast control performing with predictable assurance across a range of lure weights without having to manipulate the external cast control wheel to any great extent. Thumb bar spool release clicked in and out without any tendency to bind and the high 7.2: 1 ratio on this reel whipped lures in once out of the strike zone. Drag pressure peaked out at a tad over 5kg when the star drag was cranked right up, but more importantly it yielded line smoothly when set at a sensible working level. Of course, plenty of barra were landed during the course of this assignment without any issues encountered along the way. SUMMARY The new Citica impressed; it is near identical to the Curado but retails at a cheaper price point. A chat with Shimano guru Matt West, from Fishing and Outdoor World in Darwin plus some additional research on-line revealed that, apart from some cosmetic features, the only difference between the two models is that the Curado boasts S ARB bearings whereas the Citica employs stainless-steel bearings. Matt also confirmed that the since its introduction the new Citica has proved to be a durable, reliable performer. With credentials like that I have no doubt that Shimano’s Citica will be warmly embraced by barra anglers everywhere.
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