If you’re a freshwater fisherman, then you know the challenge of stalking a variety of fish species. When hunting for barbel, bream, dace, perch, pike, grayling and more, your coarse fishing tackle needs to be as versatile as possible. As an angler, you often need to quickly adapt to a variety of locations, baits, and fishing tactics. I personally like spades because they put up a terrible fight and present a great challenge. Regardless of what coarse species you like, you will need tackle that is durable and effective. Since I can’t afford top-of-the-line fishing gear, I always look for quality tackle at a reasonable price. I wanted to share my thoughts on a great budget reel from Shimano – the Cantana 2500 RA.

Key Features of the Shimano Catana 2500 RA Coarse Fishing Reel

This reel is ambidextrous and fairly lightweight, a feature that is important to me during extended fishing sessions. It has 2 stainless steel ball bearings for smooth operation and will hold 200 yards of 6lb test line. The gear ratio is 5.2:1 and the gear is cold forged. Cold forging is a process in which a metal, often aluminum, is forced into a die, where it deforms in a controlled way and takes the shape of the die. In the case of cold forged aluminum, the metal also undergoes a heat treatment tempering process that makes it stronger. The Catana 2500 RA comes with a spare extra light graphite spool along with the standard aluminum spool. Despite its exceptionally low price of around £24.99, it features real 3D CAD-CAM designed gears for precise operation and exceptional smoothness.

More information about the Catana 2500 RA reel

Another high-end feature found on this affordable real is the progressive multi-disc rear drag system that has a surprisingly wide range of adjustment. This makes it really suitable for everything from heavy spinning to light match fishing. The Dyna-Balance® feature can be considered similar to balancing a car tire. This technique eliminates rotor oscillation during recovery. The Varispeed® oscillation function ensures correct placement of the line. Finally, the 2500 RA’s Super Stopper II® makes it easy to set your hook instantly. For the price, this reel is packed with features normally found on more expensive models. One of my fisherman friends also has this reel. When I asked for his opinion, this is what he said: “I can use them for light float, feeder/ledger and spinning. As an all-rounder, they are not too big and not too small. The reel looks and feels well made, A cut by above the real ‘budget’ ones without getting silly with the price.

Final Thoughts on the Shimano Catana 2500 RA Coarse Fishing Reel

This reel was a great addition to my thick fishing tackle collection. I find myself looking for it more often than some of my other more expensive reels. I am happy to rate it a 4.5 out of a possible 5 stars.