Bluefin jigging at its finest

[Marcus]

Originally Posted by Fresh One

Wow. If you guys are catching them in 800' of water, then I guess the spinning gear is up to the task. Most of us westcoasters (myself included) are uneducated when it comes to spinning gear because its not used much out here. Then again, we get all jacked up when the 30# bluefin show up so what the fuck do we know about catching Blue Fin Tuna? Not much most likely.

Can you catch them on a spinning reel that costs in the neighborhood of $500? That would be comparable to a larger conventional reel that might be used out here.

Brent, I have a Shimano Twinpower 8000 which I have used to catch 50lb albies on as well as 40lb Yellow Fin Tuna and some 30-40lb Yellowtail. The reel puts out an insane amount of drag. The only thing you are limited by is the line you use and the rod. Let's get out fishing and I'll let you use the set ups. I paid $180 for my twinpower brand new on e-bay.

The shimano saragosa is a good reasonably priced spinner also.

[Marcus]

Originally Posted by divegod1

I tell you what guys, I ordered a Stella 10K and am takin it to the Lupe' I have been lurking on 2coolsportfishing & 360tuna and these guys know their stuff. Our only problem is we mostly bait fish and keeping dines moving might well be a chore with a spinner.
I had a blast the last 2 days with an OTI 6' jigstick If I'd just had my 270.

Any truth to being able to put the 20K spool on a 10K ?

It's actually not that hard to fish live bait with a spinner. Once you get bit you raise the rod tip, drop it to create some slack in the line and then close the bail while you have a little slack. Then you're hooked up.

[rtmorandi]

whoa! well, that 8,500 that "SUCKS" is about 15 years old and it has caught quite a number of fish....guess I will not mention my 30+ year old Penn Senator 4/0's and 6/0's that I still use. I fish /2 of my reels with mono (spinning) and the other 1/.2 with spectra (conventional). I don't know if I will ever spend $750 - $1,000 on a reel - that is about the cost of a full tank of gas. Thanks for the recommendation to "man-up" but I will stick to what has worked for the past 25 years of fishing for me personnaly.

[divegod1]

I was refering to our spinning the conventional spool backwards to keep a leash on the dine while waiting for the strike (soaking) guess its another aquired skill.

[divegod1]

Cross Posted from 360tuna.com... these are 1 mans personal choices...

TOP SHELF INVESTMENT Spinning Reels – My first choices from $600-$1,000

SHIMANO STELLA - JPD or Japanese Domestic Models
1. Stella 18000 HG at 5.7:1, 55 pounds of drag,
2. Stella 10000XG at 5.8:1 and 55 pounds of drag
3. Stella 8000HG at 5.6:1 and 55 pounds of drag

SHIMANO STELLA USA model
1. Stella 18000SW at 5.7-1 and 55 pounds of drag
2. 10000SW at 5.8 and 55 pounds of drag
3. 80000SW, which is 5.6:1, and 55 pounds of drag

DIAWA
1.Diawa Satiga-Z 6500 Dogfight at 6.2:1 and 60 pounds of drag
2.Diawa Saltiga Z 6000GT at 6.2:1 and 60 pounds of drag

ACCURATE
1. Accurate Twin Spin SR 30 at 6:1 and 40 pounds of drag
2. Accurate Twin Spin SR 20 at 5:1 and 30 pounds of drag

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD $200-$650

1. Shimano Twin Power 12000HG at 5.6 and 40 pounds of drag
2. Quantum Cabo 80PT at 4.9:1 and 30 pounds of drag
3. Shimano Spheros 14000
4. Penn Sportfisher SS 850 at 4.6:1
5. Quantum Boca 80 at 4.9:1

[ksong]

There are some decent spinning reels for tuna under 100 lbs.
I tested Saragaso 18000F extensively for two years. I caught several blufin in 130 - 200 lbs range and I was the first guy who reported cap melting problem of the reel. Shimano fixed the problem of Saragosa, but I feel Saragosa is marginal for big bluefin.

Here a good review of spinning reels, which are candidate for tuna with reasonable prices, by my friend Roger who is known as pametfisher on internet.

.When I've been asked to add Wind-On leaders to some spinning reels for friends, one of the things I do is check out the drag. The reason is to make sure that it's performing well if someone is going to use/evaluate a leader.

Yesterday, a Charter Captain gave me a couple of Quantum Cabo 70 PTs--photos below. As I tested the drag, it seemed to grab and release. When I disassembled it, I found the drag washers soaked in WD40. This led to a suction effect and really poor drag performance. So I cleaned the washers, lightly greased them with drag grease and put it back together. The grab-iness was gone, but the drag started high and then dropped down. That turned out to the be plastic (not sure what material) non-drag washer on the bottom of the spool. It needed more than a thin coating of grease. When it was done, a reel that has a 30 lb. max drag spec put out about 13 lbs.

My overall impression is that this reel was designed for lighter use than Bluefin tuna. The bottom washer support was light metal, the bottom drag washer was not a drag washer at all, the top drag washers were a synthetic woven fabric, and the advertised Ceramic Drag system turned out to be one washer at the top which is probably to insulate the Drag Cap from whatever drag heat is produced. The Drag Cap itself was "inexpensive" in design, with a weak drag spring that had little range. My impression is that the Cabo 70 might put out 30 lbs. of drag with a nearly empty spool for only a short time. (Photo below)

About a month ago, I was setting up a Saragosa 18000 (14000 photo below) with Wind-Ons, although the drag washers are all top mounted, they are graphite impregnated material, after cleaning and light greasing, the reel put out 22-25 lbs. This is a more expensive reel but in my impression, every aspect is higher in quality. (Note: The Shimano Spheros appears to use the same drag washer system.)

I've also included a couple shots of one of my Penn 950 SSMs as a comparison to the Cabo. It has one large bottom washer, one small top washer, but a very strong, well-built drag cap and spring that is heavy, solid metal. The result is a reliable 16-18 lbs. To me, this is a much better budget reel than the Cabo.

I've also added a close-up photo of the 950 drag cap spring. My method of measuring Max Drag is to turn the cap until that spring is fully compressed and then measure the drag output with a scale. Turning the cap more than full compression of the spring means that the Spindle Threads are being used for drag pressure. That's okay as a last measure to boat a fish but not a fair comparison of Max Drag specs.

[ksong]

We still like convetional reels for jigging.

I went back to Cape Cod yesterday and found big bluefin still hit jigs.
I used Jigging Master PE5 while others use Accurate BX2 500 and Saltiga 50.