There's No Way A-Round It, Shimano's Conquest MD is Legit

Total Score: 8.75 + EDITOR'S CHOICE AWARD

Introduction: If there is one series of fishing reels that truly pushed us over the edge into the realm of enthusiast, it has to be Shimano's Conquest (the JDM variant of Calcutta). We have been dedicated users of the original Calcutta platform and always admired the Calcutta GTs, but when we unboxed our first Conquest, the 51, back around 2004, it was game over. To put it simply, using that old Conquest 51 is like fishing with a machined piece of art. Fast forward to today and Conquest has since gone through several refresh campaigns, many of which we've written up.

From left to right, Conquest 51, '14 Conquest 101, '23 Conquest 301MD, '21 Conquest 201
 

Through these refinements, sadly, the 50 size has been abandoned. However, what we've also seen is the palming profile for each size has been improved so that in hand, each reel feels one size smaller as compared to the pre 2014 Conquest (the same change was actually introduced in Calcutta in 2012). In other words, the 100 now fishes similar to the old 50 and so on.

Impressions: There have been a lot of different Conquest reels over the years and while many share similarities with their larger saltwater cousins over the years Shimano started introducing smaller and smaller versions for those that liked the classic styling and form factor, but intended for more traditional, and even some BFS applications. Here at TackleTour this is where some of our editor's gravitated towards different ends of the spectrum. Cal leaning towards his enthusiast roots preferred the smaller and lighter Conquests while Zander preferred to use the larger 300 sized Conquests (and classic Calcuttas) for slinging big baits and inshore applications.

Size comparison: the original late '90s Conquest 200 vs '23 Conquest 301MD

For those who share Cal's preference for smaller reels, "300" may be a difficult number to overcome when plucking down close to $500 on a fishing reel. However, as we alluded to earlier, not all sizes are created equal. Similar to clothing, actual sizes vary depending on brand, style, intended audience, and especially application.

Round reels like the Calcutta were originally favored by big game anglers in both fresh and saltwater that required both power and capacity. Anglers that enjoy fishing big and heavy baits gravitated towards the Calcutta series for the ability to cast substantial baits and provide plenty of torque for managing big fish.

Size comparison: Daiwa's Ryoga Shrapnel (a 300 sized round reel) vs '23 Conquest 301MD

The reality is that with the latest form factor the 300 size can appeal to a wide audience as this '23 Conquest 300 feels every bit like a 200 or maybe 250 sized reel. If you're expecting something wide and clunky, this reel is not it. It even looks smaller than a 300 sized low profile reel, but that's not anything new. As mentioned earlier, Conquest has been fishing a size down since the 2014 refresh.

Size comparison: the original Daiwa Pluton (a 200 sized reel) vs '23 Conquest 301MD

What is new in the '23 Conquest compared to the '18 is Shimano's inclusion of the two letters big bait enthusiasts covet, "MD." In Japan, these two letters stand for Monster Drive, but in North America, Shimano has removed that designation and simply uses the letters. The important aspect is not what the letters stand for, but to what improvements they refer. In the domestic reel anglers often assume the "MD" had something to do with the gears. In the Conquest it turns out Shimano is referring to the reel's casting and how the brakes and levelwind have been tuned to cast oversized baits for bigger fish species.

Spooled with line, mounted on Cal's self wrap Phenix Titan Longfall and ready for action