50 plus lb drag off 10' Black Hole Surf II Heavy rod

[ksong]

50 plus lb drag off the 10' Black Hole Surf II Heavy by Dennis Verreet.

[Jeri]

And the reel was what???

Cheers

Jeri

[Newell Nut]

Reel looks like my Penn Torque 9.

[ksong]

The reel is IRT 800 reel. The reel is made in the US.

[David Hall]

I never want to fight a fish with 50lbs drag, ever!

But that is very impressive!

[ksong]

You don't need to fight using 50 lb drag, especially when you fight a long rod.
But sometimes you need heavy drag like Dennis Verreet fights big kingfish in 40 lb - 80 lb range from the rock in NZ. He almost uses lock-down drag.

[handi2]

Which one of your rods do you recommend for a Jigging Master pe7 UNDERHEAD reel. It will be a dedicated jigging reel, mounted and used just like a spinning reel.

The main line will be up to 80lb test with a minimum of 150lb leader.

Thanks,

Keith

The Jigging Master rod recommended was 5' long. Also the "hoods" that tighten and hold the reel dont look too strong. There look like the same used on common spinning rods.

[ksong]

If you use 80 lb line, I recommend Black Hole Cape Cod 350g or 450g rod.
In fact, I experimented Black Hole Cape Cod conventional rod for JM PE7 Underhand reel as the reel has line winder like conventional reel.

[ksong]

Correction.
The 50 plus lb drag test was done using Black Hole Cow  Special rod.
Here is a video of pulling 44 lb drag off 10' Black Hole Surf II Heavy rod by Dennis Verreet.
Sorry for my mistake. I must be getting old.

[Newell Nut]

Never heard of the IRT 800 before but the web site sure looks interesting. Who has a lot of experience with these reels?

[ksong]

They are original reel designers of Penn when Penn had a reel factory in PA.
When Penn moved reel factory to China, they stay in PA and found  a new investors.
They are made in PA, USA with all parts made in the USA.
I am leaving for Panama soon and I plan to test IRT reels.

IRT800, VS275, Accurate SR20, Shimano Stella SW18000 and Zeebass X27

[Newell Nut]

Looking forward to the report. The fact that it did not break putting 50 lb on that rod test was impressive.