Test drove my new Accurate B2-30 and Twin Spin 20
G' day all,
I got a chance to try out the new Accurate Boss B2-30 and Twin Spin 20 on my last trip to Alijos Rocks and they both worked flawlessly.
B2-30: I had purchased this reel to be used to throw poppers and artificials to big fish using 100# J.B. Hollow and 75 yds of 60,80 or 100 pound tops shots. Previously I was using both the Accurate 12 Platinum and the Cal Super 12 for this application. When I saw the prototype 30 and 50 at the Fred Hall show I knew I was going to puchaase two more reels as these appeared to really fill the gap between the Platinum and Boss series.
This reel did not dissapoint. Although we never got into the jumbo's we got plenty of the mid size tuna. I had no trouble throwing Poppers, Raiders in the 125 and 150 size and even tried it on bait. The open top frame and lighter weight really give a noticable feel to this fisherman. My thumb does not have to work across any cross bars and the perfect free spool is typical of all Accurate products. The spool itself for bait is very responsive as I even let the Sardine do all the work pulling line until it got gobbled in the zone. As the majority of fish were in the 30 - 80 pound class this reel simply overpowered the fish. I set my strike at 24 pounds and just man handled the fish. I never eased into the drag setting like I normally do on much bigger fish and just pushed the drag level into strike and held on. I did try adjusting the drags to 32 pounds at strike just for sheeets and giggles and still had perfect free spool. I then set it back to 24 and these fish never had a chance. Put the rod on the rail and just crank in low or high. Smooth on the outgo and smooth on the retrieve. I never even had to go up or down rail as the fish just kept comming nose first straight to the boat. Mine was setup on a Super Seeker CJBF 70XH and man it is a fantastic combination for my purposes. I see no problem using this reel on cows though the Platinum would be the reel of choice for that application. One reel light enough in your hands to finesse fish 60 and sturdy enough to fish 100. Why buy 3 reels when you can get all the above in just one reel. Just fill it with 80 or 100 pound hollow and change out the top shots to the pound test you wish. To be honest you could easily fish this with 50 pound top shots as well and still not feel you are holding on to a heavy reel. Hopefully I can give it more of a workout in November but for now, based on what I saw and felt and knowing the price point for this level of reel, I can see this being purchased by anyone going long range as it truly is an all around reel to take the place of a 60, 80 or even 100 pound reel with a price point well within reason. For Yachties this should also be a no brainer for those of you doing stand up.
The only draw back is the new angled Handle/knob for the Boss 30 and 50 is fantastic so now I may have to spend some more money to retro fit some of my old reels. I just hate that....
. I actually liked it better for this application than the Platinim knobs.
Twin Spin 20: LOVED IT!!!! I have said it before and I will say it again, great spinners are the ultimate for Pick Bite finnessing of bait. For those fishermen who just cannot cast a bait well with a conventional, purchasing one of these babies gives you the edge over some of your more experienced friends and the bait does not have to pull against a spool as it just peels of the reel. A big edge if you ask me as now you are no longer sucking wind from guys who can cast their baits into the zone while you keep mangling yours. Spinner jig guys are going to like the size to weight ratio as well as the smoothness of operation.
In the mornings, matched with a Calstar 700XH, a full spool of 80 pound J.B. Hollow and my Thunder Down Under, the spinner got bit when others were failing to do so. This included Wahoo, Tuna and Yellowtail. One of my tuna that got to the boat with major portions of it missing due to shark attack 50 feet from the boat and still weighed 60 pounds (I figure it was a 80 - 90 pound fish prior to being sharked) came to very deep color, unfortunately at the anchor line, in about 7 minutes on 50 pound top shot. It would have been faster but I did not really crank my drags down until I got more familiar with the reel and made sure it could handle the pressure. IT CAN. I also tried one fish with a really eased off drag to see how hot the spool would get on a really sizzling run. I let the fish get down close to the bottom of the spool before I tightened up the drag and man handled the fish back to the boat. Again, just laid the Thunder Down Under on the rail and cranked once the fish's head was turned. Although the spool got warm it never got HOT. If the fish took line I just pointed the tip at the fish until it was done, took a step backwards to pull the fishes head towards the boat, laid it on the rail and cranked or if the fish went down allowed the recoil of the 700XH to just work it until the fish was pointed in the right direction.
Tuna after Tuna hit the decks in very short order and even one wahoo.
After about 10 fish in a row in no time at all, the last with a one inch top shot remaining and the Rail Rod device absorbing all the head shakes I went back to using artificials and other sticks as the bite had gone WFO but the proof was there. The Reel is just plain COOOL and for me a must have for normal Pick bites and can handle anything this fisherman could throw at it. I found this 20 and my 12 size spinners seemed to be built different than the orginal 30 size Accurate came out with several years ago and I really like whatever it is Accurate did differently on these two spinners.
As a note:
This is NOT a cow reel as I just do not think there is enough line capacity but that is not going to keep me from trying anyway since the drags and build of this reel are meant to last. If I could magically add another 200 or 300 yds to the spool then I have no doubt it could do the job.
Great Job Accurate on both products. Both reels will be in my bag on every long range trip I take in the future.
Jamie
Linear Mode
