2 SPEED OR NOT?

chovyman · Jul-01-2009, 08:53 PM

Hope this is good i haven't fished 40 as much as i should have in the past but have done so a couple of time this year and plan on heading out a couple three four what ever i can afford this year.

i have a calstar 765xl acid wrap rod and an avet jx 4.6.

do i need a 2 speed does it really help or have i not got into heavy enough toads? 22#yellowtail this season.

thanks

YANK N CRANK #2 · Jul-01-2009, 08:54 PM

It does help... Especially when you hook something thats exceptionally grumpy...

skipper2101 · Jul-01-2009, 09:01 PM

man call me "old school" but how bout the days before 2 speed. hell there were more fish, they were larger and the gear was not as efficient as today yet the old timers caught plenty. what ever happened to a sporting chance? by all means fish with what u need or want. just my 2 cents.

BowBoy · Jul-01-2009, 09:59 PM

the 2 speed is nice, especially in the death circle. 40lb and under not really necessary, yet nice. 50lb and above, ur into some serious fish usually, and a 2 speed always comes in handy! u decide for yourself.

Jighead · Jul-01-2009, 10:06 PM

The only reason I would buy a 2 speed for 40# is if I was fishing around some nasty cover and needed to get the fish away quickly.

Old&In The Way · Jul-08-2009, 09:47 AM

You don't "need" a 2-speed for 40#, but you "want" one, cause you never know, you might hook a 50# yellowtail and need to get it up off the rocks.

wahoodad · Jul-08-2009, 10:23 AM

Me? I feel it's 40#= single speed, 50# two speed doesn't hurt, 60# and up, 2 speed a must.

freshonefish · Jul-08-2009, 10:28 AM

IMO the low speed gear ratio vs the single speed ratio is not that much different in the smaller size reels, Sx, mx, Lx although I do have 2 speed in all that range. There are small size reels that have a real low 1.6:1 ratio. I just got off the Pac Star fishing these Omotos Poseidon S series 12s,16s and they performed excellent.

migalito · Nov-05-2009, 08:57 AM

2 speeds can make a huge difference on larger fish, especially if you are in a hot bite and fish are coming one after another.They will help quite a bit..Most people I know who try, them will never go back to a single speed.

Outthouse · Nov-05-2009, 09:17 AM

I travel from TN and find that the 2 speeds reduce the number of reels I need to bring. You have a bait and jig reel all in one. Do I need 2 speeds, nope but as others have said, it is sure nice to have when you need to kill a fish quickly. It is really a $ thing.

MikeL · Nov-05-2009, 12:24 PM

I start using 2 speed reels at 50lb line. I debated getting a 2 speed for 40lb line, but then tried this test with my Saltiga 40: I set the drag at 12lbs using a scale and tried cranking with the line tied off and could still get a crank against drag without much effort. I can also easily straight wind a 10lb weight up into the air with that reel. So with the cranking power of my single speed saltiga 40, there does not seem to be much of a benefit for a two speed at 40lb line. Now 50lb line is a whole other level for me, and there I used a Penn 16s.

Steve K · Nov-07-2009, 08:54 AM

A 22 lb Yellowtail is a nice fish. If you are going to do 3-4 day trips, then, you'll eventually be doing 5-7 day trips. Trust me, longer is better. These trips are going to take you to places like Guadalupe, Cedros, and Alijos Rocks. You'll be running into trophy size Yellows and Yellowfin and you'll want all the advantages you can get.

So knowing that, I'll say go ahead and get the two speed. As far as turning a 50 lb Yellow and getting him out of the rocks, good luck with that. Even on 50 lb with what you think is a hammered drag, that big homeguard Yellow is going to win a lot of the time. Fishing big Yellows is better with 50 lb and even 60 lb on the yoyo iron. For the dropper loop, 80 lb is good, 100 lb is better.

But for presenting a live bait on 40 lb when you can't seem to get bit on 50 lb, you just can't beat a small two-speed. Had a couple of trips this year where we had the opportunity to catch a trophy Yellowfin. One was an August 4 day to Lupe, and the last one was an 8 day fishing three days at the Stones for that better grade of Yellowfin. Can't tell you how punishing it is just to watch an angler get worked by a 70 lb Yellowfin on 40 lb and a single speed reel. Happened to one of the guys on the first day there, and he was beaten up, fishing a Trinidad 20. Not being one to learn from others and having to pee on the electric fence himself, on the final day, another angler did the same thing. I mean it was painful just to watch him unable to get a wind on the fish. Took a long time to boat the fish and that's not good. The sooner you can get that fish out of his element (the water) and into yours (the deck), the better off you'll be. The list of things that can go wrong in a prolonged battle is long. At the very least, the longer battles result in poorer quality meat. Something to do with build up of something in the tissue. Biochemists please chime in on that.

I fished a Tyrnos12II filled with most of a 300 yard spool of 60 lb JB Hollow and a short topshot of 40 lb fluorocarbon on my August trip and it was a breeze landing first the school sized Bluefin offshore, and then the 55-60 lb Yellowfin at Lupe. Stuck with the heavier gear at Alijos in October, but asking a Sardine to pull line off that rig was too much. My 50 lb two speed is a TLD20II, which I'm either selling or getting serviced by Alan Tani. It just does not have good freespool at a drag setting for 50 lb, let alone 60 lb. I'm selling my TLD30II right now on ebay, and am awaiting the arrival of a Tyrnos16II which I'll be spooling with 80 lb hollow and fishing 50 lb.

Let me leave with a link to an article by Bruce Smith, regarding his thoughts on the use of small two-speed reels.

The Two Speed