Lure casting rod/reel combo

[GregOug]

37 minutes ago, Another Wazza said:

37 minutes ago, Another Wazza said:

Hey Greg, the Talicas are indeed...the business, I’ve got a 2 speed 12  and love it, but don’t use it that often in the bay, from memory I think it can put 17kg of hurt on the fish, more then enough, if you’ve already got some big TLD’s,  have you considered an 8 or a 10?

Can I ask a dumb question? An 8 or 10 what? Talica? There only seem to be 8s and then 12s. Would either be large enough?

[Ed.]

You may already know this, so ignore what I just said.

[GregOug]

4 minutes ago, Ed. said:

Greg, It sounds to me like an adjustment issue, usually if the lever stops moving well before strike position it means that the drag cam cap is screwed in too tight. Back off the lever drag to free spool (important) and unscrew the cap halfway and then push the lever up and see if it goes further to the strike drag position. If it does, then it is an adjustment issue, then you just need to adjust the lever control cap till you have the right lever drag pressure. I usually use a plastic bucket with water to set my drags. Take the reel off the rod and tie the line to the buckets handle, and ie: fill the bucket with water, 10l roughly is 10 kg. Do not adjust the drag cap unless the lever is in the free spool position as you may damage the cam mechanism.

Put drag lever to free spool, screw in the drag cap half way, push lever to strike drag and try to lift the bucket, if the spool turns and the line slips, and doesn't raise the bucket,  then repeat and tighten the drag cap more. Repeat and adjust the cap in or out till the drag pressure is right for the line class (1/3rd of the lines rating) you are using or the reels capacity. Select the amount of water in the bucket to correspond with the drag amount you want at the strike position.

Thanks Ed. I’ll try that tomorrow!

[Ed.]

If you have any issues give me a call on my mobile if you need more info or if I haven't explained myself properly.

Cheers

Ed.

[GregOug]

23 minutes ago, GregOug said:

 

Hi Gad,

From my brief research the TLD25 seems to hold around the same amount of line as a Talica 16. Are the 8 or 10 sufficiently large enough? And what about single vs two speed?

[GregOug]

1 hour ago, ellicat said:

What worked for you the other day ?

I think you mentioned you bought a Penn overhead a while ago. How is it working out?

[Ed.]

7 minutes ago, GregOug said:

Hi Gad,

From my brief research the TLD25 seems to hold around the same amount of line as a Talica 16. Are the 8 or 10 sufficiently large enough? And what about single vs two speed?

Depends on what size and type of fish you anticipate that you want to target or hook.

[GregOug]

Just now, Ed. said:

Depends on what size and type of fish you anticipate that you want to target or hook.

Hopefully more like our big tuna last week. 

[Another Wazza]

38 minutes ago, GregOug said:

 

Either 8 or 10 Talica, don’t underestimate their ability to stop good fish, I don’t use my 12 much in the bay, massive overkill for what I do,

I mainly use an assortment of 20 year old Abu baitcasters, 5500C3’s, and 5600 & 4600C4’s, have got decent fish on all of them

[GregOug]

10 minutes ago, Another Wazza said:

Either 8 or 10 Talica, don’t underestimate their ability to stop good fish, I don’t use my 12 much in the bay, massive overkill for what I do,

I mainly use an assortment of 20 year old Abu baitcasters, 5500C3’s, and 5600 & 4600C4’s, have got decent fish on all of them

Thanks mate. Is yours one or two speed?

[Ed.]

12 minutes ago, GregOug said:

Hopefully more like our big tuna last week. 

If you are talking about tuna about 20kg then in my opinion any of the Talicas will be able to handle it, the 8 and 10 have about 9kg of drag vs the 10kg of the TLD 25 and about half the line capacity. If you are hoping for larger fish ie; 35kg+  Yellowfin or others then the larger sizes 12 and 16 would give you more leeway in that they have 18kg of drag and significantly more line capacity almost to the same capacity of the TLD25 however you will not need that amount of line. Once you start to have about 18kg of drag then a 2 speed would be better than a single speed. Yellow Fin tuna like to go deep and swim under the boat in circles on their side so a pain to try and lift up, so choice is either get the boat to move and try to haul them up on an angle instead of straight up and down or else skull drag them up where 2 speed makes it easier.

As Another Wazza said, any of the Talicas will handle that sort of fish. If you remember that last Okuma reel that I got, (the 15T) that has 18kg of drag and the guys in the States frequently catch Yellow Fin of a few hundred pound on it. 20kg fish on these sort of drags (9-18kg's) is no problem.

[Another Wazza]

It’s the 2 speed, I don’t change between gears that often, though it can prove useful if you’ve hooked a huge shark 

[Ed.]

Yep I agree, on stronger reels it is nice to have, you don't have to use it, but it is there if you need it! One thing to be aware of is you are going to use 18kg of drag then get yourself a good rod bucket belt  and ideally a kidney harness belt as well. It will make the fight so much easier on you.

[ellicat]

36 minutes ago, GregOug said:

I think you mentioned you bought a Penn overhead a while ago. How is it working out?

I like it but haven't caught anything to test the drag yet (18kg). Hopefully a Curtain trip will fix that now winter is here.

[Ed.]

7 minutes ago, ellicat said:

I like it but haven't caught anything to test the drag yet (18kg). Hopefully a Curtain trip will fix that now winter is here.

Which Penn did you end up getting?

[ellicat]

Just now, Ed. said:

Which Penn did you end up getting?

The same as you have I think - the 25 2 speed.

[Ed.]

If it is the FTH25NLD2 that one has 11kg of drag which is still more than enough to put some serious hurt on most things that swim around there. If yours has 18kg drag then it probably is the FTH40NLD2, still both can handle most of our local fish. If you do put that much drag on a fish it will definitely put a smile on your face at least untill the pain sets in!

[ellicat]

Ahh, ok. It's the first one (I can never remember these things) That's probably why I put 15kg line on it.

[ellicat]

Just had a look and the specs say 14.9kg of drag...

- Model: 25NLD2
- Mono Capacity yd/lb: 330/20 305/25 245/30
- Braid Capacity yd/lb: 680/30 475/50 395/65
- Bearings: 5
- Max Drag: 14.9kg
- Gear Ratio: 5.5:1 / 2.7:1

 

Whatever it is I still fear being pulled overboard when I finally get a kingy to take the bait !

[Ed.]

I tend to go heavier on my braid as I just don't trust braids as much, so went with 24kg on mine,  either way if I have a fish that takes 11kg of drag I will still have a smile on my face.

[Ed.]

Ellicat, you are right, I double checked with the Penn site and it is 14.9Kg drag.

[Andrew_P]

@GregOug the Talica 8 is a 10 with a narrower spool, their drags are the same the 10 just has more line capacity. Nice light reels but you dont need to spend this much money for bay tuna. Nor do you need 2 speed for what you are chasing - it just adds to the weight of the reel.

Stick to the TLD 20 - enough line capacity (even with mono), relatively light construction, plenty of drag etc. Put a good mono on it (Platypus lo-stretch 15kg) and you will be able to give it to any bay mackerel or tuna.

Whack it on an old version Live Fibre (the maroon ones not the new black ones) 8-15kg overhead and you are laughing. i like 7ft so you can control the fish away from the boat/ other lines. If you cant find an old live fibre have a look at a gary howard reef rumbler 8-15kg 7ft. these are light, powerful and very nice rods. your tld 20 with 15kg line will be a perfect match for the live fibre/gary howard.

some more advice - if you are on the northside (shudder), take your old TLD into Jones' tackle and get neil to service it - he will tell you if it still works and his prices are very reasonable. if it is still good then you wont need to buy a new one! while you are in there look at the gary howard too

finally - spool your reel up to the red line on TLDs and set your drag at strike to 1/3 of the breaking strain of the line you choose - this is very important! you will get max line capacity and have a drag setting you are confident of and able to push above strike to shorten the fight. this will give you more of an advantage over the fish than a $1000 set up will. plenty of vids on youtube to explain how to set your drag and  the physics of drags changing on overhead reels

[GregOug]

40 minutes ago, Andrew_P said:

@GregOug the Talica 8 is a 10 with a narrower spool, their drags are the same the 10 just has more line capacity. Nice light reels but you dont need to spend this much money for bay tuna. Nor do you need 2 speed for what you are chasing - it just adds to the weight of the reel.

Stick to the TLD 20 - enough line capacity (even with mono), relatively light construction, plenty of drag etc. Put a good mono on it (Platypus lo-stretch 15kg) and you will be able to give it to any bay mackerel or tuna.

Whack it on an old version Live Fibre (the maroon ones not the new black ones) 8-15kg overhead and you are laughing. i like 7ft so you can control the fish away from the boat/ other lines. If you cant find an old live fibre have a look at a gary howard reef rumbler 8-15kg 7ft. these are light, powerful and very nice rods. your tld 20 with 15kg line will be a perfect match for the live fibre/gary howard.

some more advice - if you are on the northside (shudder), take your old TLD into Jones' tackle and get neil to service it - he will tell you if it still works and his prices are very reasonable. if it is still good then you wont need to buy a new one! while you are in there look at the gary howard too

finally - spool your reel up to the red line on TLDs and set your drag at strike to 1/3 of the breaking strain of the line you choose - this is very important! you will get max line capacity and have a drag setting you are confident of and able to push above strike to shorten the fight. this will give you more of an advantage over the fish than a $1000 set up will. plenty of vids on youtube to explain how to set your drag and  the physics of drags changing on overhead reels

Thanks Andrew. I’ll get Neil to take a look for me.

[AUS-BNE-FISHO]

Hi Greg

Good luck! I don't know anything about this topic, so it's good you've already got heaps of great advice.

I would go with something with the biggest line capacity that still has the other requirements. Just so you can let the line out behind the boat a bit more, etc.

Cheers Hamish

[Ed.]

Hey Greg, did you sort out the drag issue on that TLD25 of yours?

[GregOug]

2 hours ago, Ed. said:

Hey Greg, did you sort out the drag issue on that TLD25 of yours?

Yes, I did Ed. Well, Jones’s Tackle did for me. Thanks for your suggestions.

[Ed.]

So was it that the drag cam cap was adjusted too tight or was it something else?

[GregOug]

Sorry Ed, I have no idea. They just said they would get it serviced and it worked when I got it back. Although when used it yesterday the strike drag was set a bit light and it was letting line out so I did what you said. Backed the lever right off and tightened the knob slightly. Seems to have worked. 

[Ed.]

So it's working OK in the end! Looks like you will have to find another excuse to buy a new reel!

Generally you set the drag so it is 1/3rd of the reels line strength at strike, so when you push it to the strike position it should not bust the line when the fish runs off, and if you want/need more drag you can go past a bit towards the full position.

Be aware when fighting a large fish that if you have a lot of line out and the fish does a quick 90 degree to the line turn, the belly of the line slicing through the water will increase your total drag, so you need to take that into account and might need to back off the drag back to the strike position, until you wind back the excess line onto the reel.

[Junky]

Put that TLD on a live fibre 7ft 10 to 15kg overhead rod. 

Spool up with 500m of your favourite 30lb. 

Will pull decent lures at good speeds if required. 

Tuna like fast lures. 

[GregOug]

2 hours ago, Ed. said:

So it's working OK in the end! Looks like you will have to find another excuse to buy a new reel!

Oh I still bought a new reel. 

[GregOug]

1 hour ago, Junky said:

Put that TLD on a live fibre 7ft 10 to 15kg overhead rod. 

Spool up with 500m of your favourite 30lb. 

Will pull decent lures at good speeds if required. 

Tuna like fast lures. 

I decided to leave the TLD on the same rod but replaced the roller tip with a non-roller one. In my experience the line has a tendency to catch around a roller tip at times. 

I did buy a new live fibre 7ft 10 to 15kg overhead rod as you suggested. I also bought a Tyrnos 16 to go on it. 

And just today I acquired a like new Gary Howard 6 to 10kg for $40! I’ll now have to decide what type of use to put it to, and what reel to put on it.

[Ed.]

Nice, I prefer the Tyrnos reels much better than the TLD's, your 16 should easily handle most things that swim in the bay and is most likely overkill. Now all you have to do is catch some more big ones!

[Nog]

For trolling you'd only need a cheapy boat rod that has some serious down low guts. A Silstar crytsal tip or an ugly stick would be fine.

 

As for a reel, any cheapy TLD's that still have good gears and drag would be fine. I have one that's years oldand I just treat thedrag washers with Erskine Reel grease from time to time.

 

Alot can be said about the benfits of braid in casting soft plastic and getting down deep but for trolling keep it simple and spool up a million metres of 20-25 lb mono.

 

 Although why you'd troll for Tuna when you could cast a perfectly decent fly at them is totally beyond me

 

FWIW

 

Norm