Ed.

Nope, not even close, the Mak-30II is about double the size, weight and with 2.5 times the drag of the TLD-25 with 2 speeds. MK-30II 3.8:1 & 1.3:1 1417g 16.8kg 25.0kg 30/850, 40/700, 50/550 0.55/770, 0.60/640, 0.70/500 Shimano TLD25 Model: TRITON LEVER DRAG 25 Ball Bearings: 4 Max Drag: 10kg Gear Ratio: 3.6:1 Retrieve Per Crank: 81cm Monofilament Line Capacity: 14kg – 548m Braided Line Capacity (Power Pro): 50lb – 1015yds Weight: 695g Release Date: 1998

You might be thinking about Braided Dacron line.

Hi Greg, Unfortunately I don't know as much as you think I know and buying reels is a preference thing, what I like in a reel others may dislike, so a bit of my history so you know where I am coming from, unfortunately it is going to be a bit of an essay so bear with me. I have owned several (3) TLD's in the past when I first started buying lever drags, also Okuma Titus Gold, Tica's and also Daiwa Saltists and a Daiwa Tournament reel plus a few others. I have never ever liked the TLD's from day one, didn't like the drags on them but that is just me, other people like them, people catch a lot of fish on them and they have been around for ages. The TLD's are a more "affordable version" lever drag model that Shimano sells, nothing wrong in that, as I said people still catch a lot of fish with them and like them, but I think that they are a "budget reel" and that there are better reels out there. Shimanos' next range above those are the Tyrnos range which I have owned 2 of them, a 20 and a 30, the 20 is just a narrow version of the 30. Those I liked much better than the TLD's but sold them off as well as most of my gear when I had medical issues and was about to give fishing away. Anyway most medical issues fixed so back to fishing gear, looking around I found the Penn Fathoms, read what people said about them and read the specs, they are small and compact and they have decent drags along with thrust bearings and double dawgs plus anti reverse bearings, the Daiwa Saltists were prone to corrosion and the drags weren't as powerful as I liked, so got rid of those, bought the Fathoms in 2 x 15's, 1 x 30 and recently a 25N. Only wish I have with the 30 and 25N is that they should have harness lugs on them and 15 should have a magnetic control for casting, again a wish list and preference thing. The SLT-50W Daiwa tournament reel I got, I sold almost as soon as I bought it as I bought it sight unseen, I didn't like the way it had the gear change in them, it is effective but didn't feel right to me, to change gears you pull the handle away from the body and push in to go back, whilst it works quickly I prefer the push button/lever approach as it is too easy to for the gears to get changed in the heat of the moment when you are cranking furiously. Always wanted a Tiagra as I heard that they were really good but they too expensive for my budget at the time, anyway when I got some cash I started looking for a replacement large lever drag and was heading towards the Tiagra but did the research on alternative brands in that class. So before I was going to hand out a large wad of cash I went and had a look and feel of the Okuma Makairas, Penn Inters', Tiagras, Fin-nor and one other which I can't think of at the moment. The Makairas felt a lot better to me, it had thrust bearings, silent when releasing or getting line, (a big thing for me), helical cut gears makes for much less strain when winding and smooth as including huge drags. Getting back to the silent part, what I mean by that is that when you wind up the spool or it unwinds under load it is silent, unlike the others where you can hear the anti reverse dawgs clicking away which grates on my nerves, I don't mind noise but only when the clicker is on and at no other time. Okuma had teamed up with Tiburon who designed the new generation of Makairas and they were a success. So I bought a 30II and then some time later a 50WII, the 30II covers most of the larger fish I am likely to fish for and the 50WII is only for ballooning for the larger line capacity capacity and they have a ridiculous massive drag. They are really nice reels but they are big and heavy and will probably outlast you. Not the sort of reels you want to bottom bash with for any length of time and certainly not to cast with. I recently contemplated getting a 15II size in them but decided against it as that one is similar to the Fathoms I have, very nice reel but it is heavier and twice the price of an equivalent Penn Fathom so of no real benefit. Can't comment on the Penn Senator, never used one as I don't like the old retro design style, again preference thing, similar thing to the TLDs, they have caught heaps of fish and some people like them but I have never used or owned one. So after this very long rant back to your original question, which reel? Whenever buying a reel in my opinion you have to work out what fish you want to catch, how are you going to catch it, ie, bottom bashing , jigging, casting, trolling etc, and is that fish likely to be in the area you want to fish, will your chosen reel be able to cope with that fish if you are lucky enough to hook one, does it have enough drag and line capacity and are you comfortable using that "short listed" reel, and what is your budget? Lastly what percentage of good reviews verses bad have been put up. All manufacturers have a couple of lemons whether by design are they just random production issues. So you have to decide whether a reel has a systemic problem or just a few bad apples in a large good bunch. Bear in mind the majority of people don't write good reviews and most just complain about the bad ones so that does skew the results a bit. All of my lever drags are in two speeds, because when fishing heavier line classes you may sometimes just need to winch a stubborn fish up and a lower gear may save you wearing out prematurely, pump and wind is the go but sometime brute winching power is required. So as you should be able to tell by now I do not have blind brand loyalty, If a reel is good, I buy it if not there are a ton of others to choose from. Have a look at the Penn Fathoms for the smaller sized trolling/general reels but once you get up to the 30 size and above at this stage my pick would be the Makairas, if you are jigging then back to the Fathoms, if budget is a concern then maybe the Squalls. Shimano also make some light weight lever drag reels which some people really like, as I have never used them, I can't comment on their worth. These are just are my preferences, so aren't you sorry now that you asked me. Cheers Ed.

Hey Jazz44, if you do prefer Shimano reels over the Okuma ones I mentioned, BCF is having a 40 hour Flash Sale ending tomorrow night on the Tyrnos 30 2 speed for $429 for club members, if you are not a member I think it is about $5 to join and become one. Just letting you know in case you don't get the BCF emails. https://www.bcf.com.au/p/shimano-tyrnos-30-2-speed-overhead-reel/127037.html Or alternatively there is the Penn Squall 50 2 speed VSW for $329 including free delivery if your are a member of Dinga (free to join). Similar drag specs to the Tyrnos 30II except that the Penn has a full graphite body vs metal frame and graphite side plates and the Penn also seems to have double the line capacity which might suit your ballooning requirements more. https://www.dinga.com.au/catalog/product/view/id/14442/s/penn-squall-50vsw-2-speed-lever-drag-reel-1292938/category/174/ Cheers Ed.

Grey Nurse sharks can also do that, they just sit on the bottom in a current which flows through their gills and get their oxygen that way, and it can also get oxygen by opening and closing it's mouth. As for that bull shark it may have been too exhausted from fighting to show any interest in that person, personally I would still stay behind the shark not that I have any desire to pat or hug a shark but would go up to it to remove the hook if I caught one.

As Another Wazza said, it does become an compulsive obsession. I was heading down that path myself, eventually after much prompting from my wife I sold off about 7 rods and reels which I didn't use much, now I am down to 19 rods! , the essential ones. Now if I do upgrade a setup I sell off an older one. A couple of my friends have way more than I do. One of them has well over a hundred rods, but he enjoys making them and is in to tournament casting, the other over 50, and he doesn't even go fishing, just collects them. Tackle is also the same way, I have an excess but you never know when you need to replace a lost lure or so forth. Better to have it and not need it then need it and not have it....Right? I am currently in the process of making another 10 big popper lures. Just in case I lose some! .

What sort of fish would you like to catch with it and are you talking about ballooning land based (jetty, rocks, beach, break wall) or from a boat? and is there a budget for it excluding the rod?

Little jack? Is the trip all that you expected to be? You know you won't want to come back! Did you manage to catch enough to bring back an eski or two?

It really depends on your target fish, whether bottom bashing, ballooning or trolling, and also your budget. Between the TLD and the Tyrnos, I would go the Tyrnos every time, but if you are chasing big fish which I assume you are by looking at a Everol 7.5, then if you have room to move on the budget there are also much better reels around than the Shimano ones. I have owned TLDs and Tyrnos and hence my preference for the Tyrnos out of those two (and in 2 speed). However if you are after "really big fish up to 300-400kg" and want a big reel then my preference would be to go to the Okuma Makairas rather than the Shimano's mentioned, the Shimano version is the Tiagra, but after comparing specs on about 4 different brands and feeling them all in my hand I chose the Makairas which were hands down better in my opinion. A MK-20II or a MK-30II will pretty much handle all the fish you will come across (the 20II is a narrow version of the 30II). So if you are targeting 800-1000kg Marlin and so forth then you will need to go up to 50W, 80W or 130 class reels but that is whole different ball game.

The Everol brand have been around forever, I have never used one so can't say if they are any good or not, as to whether or not that one it is worth $200 for an old reel it would depend on you. I personally wouldn't buy it with a view to catching large fish with, as technology has moved on in the big game reel section and the new ones would have much better performance and designed better than the old stuff, admittedly at a much higher price. Can it still be used today? probably so long as the drags work and no major problems with bearings etc.., will it catch fish once hooked? again probably. Will that one be better than the new reels in terms of performance and ease of landing a big fish? then most probably not! If I am going to spend big bucks chasing a big fish then I would want all the advantages that I can get to land that fish eg: 2 speed gears etc. big drag capacity and a drag made from materials that won't fade from heat build up. But that's just me, others may like the Retro look. The company is still producing reels but I don't like the look of most of them design wise, but again that is a personal thing. It may be of benefit to you to keep searching on the internet and search that particular model to see what people who have personal experience and used them say about it. Cheers Ed.

I think that the light attracts bait fish which in turn attracts the squid.

I ditched a whole heap of WTF line a while ago, I spooled up a few of my baitcasters with it, and after a while I tested some of the 18Kg line left over on the spool with a 4-5kg weight, tried to lift it slowly off the floor and it snapped, not at the knot but in the middle of the line, tried a few other new spools that I had and same result. So into the bin it all went, I unwound it off all the reels and replaced it with thicker braid. Others may have had better results with it than I did, but to say I was unimpressed with it would be an understatement!

Pretty much all of them as you are bound to lose a few. Good luck on your trip. Remember if there aren't any pics then it didn't happen!

I camped at Whitsunday Caravan park when I was about 20 and as it was stinking hot and sweaty inside the tent I stripped off to my Jocks, woke up about an hour later scratching myself senseless, couldn't work out why I was so itchy, stuck a light on and there was a small cloud with dozens of the little buggers hovering above and on me, choosing where next they were going to bite me. They had just flown straight though the fine mesh screen and were attracted to the light as I was getting ready to sleep. I also got a job as a deckhand on a fishing boat for 10 days there and as were worked the nets in the estuaries I had to resort to wearing plastic wet weather gear, Rid and other stuff did not repel them and I reckon it attracted them so had to resort to wearing plastic, it seemed like the Rid smell was sort of like a dinner bell for them, and the heat and humid conditions nearly killed me wearing that stuff, but better than having the sandflies having a field day with me. The Sun blockout, heat and sweat gave me heaps of ulcers where they had bitten me, the blockout really aggravated the sores so in the end I had to quit as I had to wear the blockout in the sun up there. They seem much worse at low tide regardless whether it is night or day, so in my opinion, sleeping on the boat is better than on the shore, best if there is a slight breeze blowing from the ocean to the shore.

Hate to put a downer on the plan regarding mozzie nets but depending on the sand fly species, most of them will go through a mosquito net with breaking a sweat, the further north you go, the smaller and more viscous they are. I have many scars from the ones up in the Whitsundays. If you can use orange or yellow lights at night (not white), seems to not attract insects as much. Haven't had any issues with them when anchored at Morton (Bulwar and Yellow patch).

The first house my wife and I bought together, the interest rate was 17%.

I would be questioning the BCF info regarding Stainless guides with the SiC inserts, it is more likely Aluminium Oxide inserts. Very few rods would have SiC guides especially at that price point.

The major and most common problem with baitcasters/overheads are not wind knots but overuns ie: bird nests, I would say that I have had never had more than just a couple of wind knots on my spinning reels. Bird nests on my baitcasters , well that's another story..

Horses for courses as they say, if it ain't broke then don't fix it, whatever works for you. Fishing with braid has has pros and cons, it is thinner so more line goes on the spool and it cuts through water easier, virtually no stretch so you feel timid bites. Mono has great stretch so is more forgiving, so sudden lunges from the fish will tend to be absorbed and not break the line if the drag is set a bit too high for the line, can be hard for fish to see mono because of the transparency, think of it as a tough rubber band and is dirt cheap compared to braid. Down side of braid is it's expensive compared to mono, you may break off if you are fishing at the lines max and the fish lunges away and if the drag is on too tight, not so good in the surf or around abrasive areas, downside of mono is it's thicker than braid and deteriorates more in sunlight so needs to be replaced more often. There are many more reasons for both but at the end of the day, if you are catching fish than it doesn't matter what you use.

Just an update, I went down to Outback Adventure and had a look at the new 400 size Penn Low profile reel, and whilst is is a nice reel, I am a bit disappointed in the line capacity of it, 175 of 20lb mono, whilst that capacity might suit most people I was hoping for 250yards of 20lb. Reason being that if you do a long cast of say 50-70 yards then you are already down to 2/3 of the spool left. If a large fish hooks up and goes for an average run and you are down to 1/3 to fight with. I suppose I could increase the capacity by using braid but I wanted to use mono. Depending on where you want to fish with it then it may not be a problem for most. The other issue is the when you press the thumb bar to cast, the level wind disengages so the line peels off and when you engage the spool again the line guide could be on the opposite side to where the line has laid down previously so it is an issue if you crank up the drag. Had the same issue with the Daiwa though. My 38year old Daiwa PMF57H holds 270 yards of 20lb mono. Whilst the Penn reel looks and feels OK it still isn't big enough so I will have to wait a few more years, I do have a Okuma Solterra SLR-10CS which is a conventional lever drag reel with magnetic casting control but that one is a much bigger conventional overhead reel. Finding it hard to get a "Goldilocks reel" with mag cast control in the low profile style with a large line capacity. Maybe I am being just difficult! So apart from those issues it seems to be a nice reel. Davo's Tackle in Noosaville seems to advertise them for about $400.

It's not exactly 2 tides a day, I think it is about approx 13 hours between, that's why every day the high/low tide is at a different time.

Try the 65lb line first and see if it stops what you want, but if you are not sure if 65lb braid is strong enough then take an extra spool of stronger braid and re-spool the reel. Worst case scenario you don't have success on the first day. Bear in mind that the drag on the reel isn't as strong as that line itself so it should slip. Not to mention, that having that much drag on your rod without a harness and a gimble belt is going to hurt you big time especially with drag at max. When I got my Makaira 30II I put it on a 5'6" 37kg Ugly Stik Bluewater rod, I had put a top shot of heavy mono over the braid and cranked up the reels drag to sunset ( approx. 55lb) just to see how that rod would bend, I tied it off on a tree and I am glad I had a harness and gimbal on otherwise if it was on a boat without them, I would risk serious back, groin/stomach and arm problems after a very short while, not to mention there would be a good chance of having it pulled out of my hands. There was an TV episode of "Big Angry Fish" recently (a few days ago) where the guys were trying to get GT's in Vanuatu, I don't know if you have watched any of their series, but these two guys work out and have arms the size of my leg, and after fighting a GT for about 45 minutes on that same sort of gear that you intend to use, Milan? who is the smaller of the two (he still has arms 3 times the size of mine) was absolutely buggered. So what I am basically saying is that 65lb braid on high drag without a harness or gimbal is hard and painful to hang on to and after 5 minutes you may wish that it would bust off.

The Squall's seem to be much more affordable than the Fathoms, I tried to find some reviews of the bait casters but I think it is too early. They also seem to have a supply problem as they don't seem to be available at the usual shops that sell Penn gear.

I had 8 Penn reels at one stage , 4 overheads and 4 spin, sold off 1 each as I just wasn't using those 2, so just 6 now, I like them though, good value for money and quite strongly built.

For those who are interested, I have just noticed that Penn have made a new range of Low Profile baitcaster reels in up to the 200 to 400 size. Haven't found too many stores that have them though, might be because of the Covid-19 problems in manufacturing and or delivering them to Australia. It is a pity that the Fathom range is fairly expensive, almost twice the price of their Fathom range of overhead reels. Don't know if they are any better than the current offerings from Daiwa, Abu, Shimano and Okuma and are dearer than some of the other brands. They do them in both the Fathom and also the Squall range which are about 1/2 the price of the Fathoms. The Fathoms have dual braking, an extra bearing and more drag and the Squall has only Magnetic braking, https://www.pennfishing.com/collections/low-profile-baitcast-reels/products/fathom-low-profile-reel-1524835 https://www.pennfishing.com/collections/low-profile-baitcast-reels/products/squall-low-profile-reel-1524830