Anyone cast their Senators?

Started by biggiesmalls, May 22, 2017, 04:52:43 PM

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Yogi_fish808

A jigmaster with the alantani treatment (polishing all friction points, removing grease and lubing with tsi321) will bomb a balanced lead and bait pretty far. They're very capable, reliable reels with a lot of aftermarket parts if you want them. I think I'm getting 100-120 yards with 8oz on my newell 2 3/4" extended 500 jigmaster that still has spool bushings, not ball bearings. If you have an educated thumb take a look at the fathom/squall star drag reels in 20-40 size. Very good value on either and imo good quality for the price point.

CapeFish

Quote from: Yogi_fish808 on May 27, 2017, 04:58:00 AM
A jigmaster with the alantani treatment (polishing all friction points, removing grease and lubing with tsi321) will bomb a balanced lead and bait pretty far. They're very capable, reliable reels with a lot of aftermarket parts if you want them. I think I'm getting 100-120 yards with 8oz on my newell 2 3/4" extended 500 jigmaster that still has spool bushings, not ball bearings. If you have an educated thumb take a look at the fathom/squall star drag reels in 20-40 size. Very good value on either and imo good quality for the price point.

the problem with all the older Penn reels including the GS 535, 545 and 555 is the gap between spool and frame is too big, unless you use very thick line, it gets stuck between the frame and spool or even goes inside. It ruins the line and your fishing trip. A Shimano 15/30, 20/40, Daiwa SL series are all well priced and a pleasure to cast and doesn't suffer from this problem. Luckily the new Fathom has been cured of this.

Jeri

The issue of casting with multipliers in a surf situation, and specifically for sharks, is not just capacity, but also drag capability, and the ability of the reel to be sufficiently fast to allow the line to follow the sinker and bait, and not hold it back.

A simple analogy would be trying to push a sedan tyre down hill, and next to it a tractor trye. The sedan tyre will get up to speed quickly, and go quite fast, while the tractor tyre will take a lot more initial effort to get it going, and once moving will cover more ground per revolution, but be equally difficult to slow down.

Relating this back to bigger diameter multipliers, the older school reels will do the job, but they will need a lot more controlling factors like magnets or very educted thumbs to keep them going smooth once they get past the initial start up issues. While smaller spool reels will be quick to start up, and spin away very fast, but be more controlable, especially with the benefit of eductated thumbs or magnets.

Senators and big Diawa Sealines were once popular with shark anglers in southern Africa, but were soon replaced by smaller more controllable reels like Diawa Saltist/Saltiga and Shimano Trinidad and Torium models, as we as a few others. What the changeoever did for the anglers was to give them more control inthe cast, as well as immediately more distance - which was instantly the cause of the demise of the older style reels. Reels like the original Shimaon Trinidad 30 could be loaded with 300 metres or 50lb braid as backing then a nylon top shot of 40-50lb line to endure the casting issues, giving a total reel capacity of near 600 metres - more than enough for most sharks encountered in local waters. A quick drag upgrade to Carbontex, and clean out the bearing grease to be replaced with light oils, and they were ready to go and be abused, and still win.

At the end of the day, it will always be horses for courses, and folks will swear by or at a specific theme. Best make an educted decision based on the maximum amount of information. The problem now is that pretty much throughout southern Africa, multipliers have been replaced by fixed spool (spinners) and braid, and some reels with awesome drag rating that defy the actual anglers holding the rod and reel on the beach.

Cheers from sunny Africa,

Jeri

CapeFish

Locally in the RSA the Senator and Jigmaster were displaced by the Daiwa 350 and then the SL50 and the Shimano speedmaster before the saltiga and trinidad came on the scene, some 20 plus years ago for heavy surf fishing in the league and sport scene. I was fortunate to live next to a national team shore angler and he had a box full of literally worn out Jigmasters, they saw extremely heavy use and were way beyond repair, was amazing to see how fortunate he was to be able to fish so much! As the tackle got better the size of fish he caught got better and as you say, with braid bumping the capacity of an average reel through the roof, plus strong drags the sharks got even bigger.

Jeri

It's almost like the car analogy:

American Muscle against Rice burner technology.

But, there are newer American options: Avet and Truth(Release), both US made, and capable.

The shark in the photo below was 116kgs (255lbs), landed on an Avet LX 6:1, with 40lb mono and 50lb braid backing - 8'+ to precaudal notch.



So, the choice gets even wider as time goes on.

Cheers from sunny Africa

Jeri

Makule

In my previous life, my go-to casting reel was a Senator 9/0 (even before the aluminum spool models).  Was able to pitch it out 80-100 yards.  Caught a lot of fish on them.

These days, I doubt that anyone casts that size reel.  Even using a 6/0 is rare.  More people use smaller reels or the light Newell reels that hold perhaps as much line as a 9/0.
I used to be in a constant state of improvement.  Now I'm in a constant state of renovation.

Yogi_fish808

Quote from: Makule on May 30, 2017, 02:15:58 AM
In my previous life, my go-to casting reel was a Senator 9/0 (even before the aluminum spool models).  Was able to pitch it out 80-100 yards.  Caught a lot of fish on them.

These days, I doubt that anyone casts that size reel.  Even using a 6/0 is rare.  More people use smaller reels or the light Newell reels that hold perhaps as much line as a 9/0.

Thats nuts! My small Okinawan hands couldn't grip a 9/0 spool mounted on the thick fiberglass rods with #32+ reel seats back in the day. With practice I MIGHT be able to handle a 114hlw or Black Marlin with a slow enough taper rod that loads easily but definitely not anything bigger for casting any beyond a dumpshot.

Shark Hunter

I have no doubt you could pull that off Robert.
Your style of fishing is not like that of any others here.
It wasn't your previous life, You were just younger then. ;)
Life is Good!

Superhook

There is a man called Big Lou who does demo casts and one of the rigs he has is a surf rod with a 16/0 that is quite spectacular.....so I heard. I found reference to it in Reel Talk at ORCA and I recall a story in the newsletter.

ez2cdave

Quote from: Superhook on June 01, 2017, 05:09:03 AM
There is a man called Big Lou who does demo casts and one of the rigs he has is a surf rod with a 16/0 that is quite spectacular.....so I heard. I found reference to it in Reel Talk at ORCA and I recall a story in the newsletter.

That's "Big Lou" McEachern . . . Back in the day ( 1991 ), he cast completely over the Houston Astrodome.

https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Fannett-s-Big-Lou-cast-fishing-line-clear-4593298.php



Tight Lines !


swill88

Quote from: ez2cdave on February 15, 2018, 12:14:07 AM
Quote from: Superhook on June 01, 2017, 05:09:03 AM
There is a man called Big Lou who does demo casts and one of the rigs he has is a surf rod with a 16/0 that is quite spectacular.....so I heard. I found reference to it in Reel Talk at ORCA and I recall a story in the newsletter.

That's "Big Lou" McEachern . . . Back in the day ( 1991 ), he cast completely over the Houston Astrodome.

https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Fannett-s-Big-Lou-cast-fishing-line-clear-4593298.php



Tight Lines !



Did he catch anything?

Rivverrat

I'm very seldom impressed with long casts.  But this toss acros the Astrodome is impressive... Jeff