Will 112H do for kingfish?

[SoCalAngler]

We fish Kings with 3 or 4 lbs of drag as we use stinger rigs with light treble hooks. It is easy to finesse them after a couple runs. It is not the drag  strength but the smoothness.

X2. Most fish kings with light drag do to pulled hooks on these fish. As a matter of fact several reel manufactures make different drag setups with a slower drag curve just to fish kings.

[Padre]

So it sounds like I'm okay. I also have a Jigmaster 501. Maybe that would work as a backup?

I have some other setups for the bull reds. They don't run like the kings; they just pull like school buses. 😎

[thorhammer]

3/0 is plenty. I use 20 lb mono.  Don't overkill. 

[vilters]

jiggy 501 would work great. same internals as 112h, smaller diameter spool = more power. back it w/ spectra and you will have plenty of line capacity.

[jnd1959]

I don't know how they compare but I've caught plenty of kings with a stock tld 15 and light drag. Good luck. From a kayak it is even more fun.

[handi2]

That reel stock will handle Kingfish all day long. The starting drag is less than 5lbs when fishing. Maybe 10lbs max for schoolie's. My largest is 53lbs with a Penn 320. Accidental catch.

[Whit]

What Handi2 said.  That 112H was originally designed for trolling for rockfish and blues in the Chesapeake, and will flat handle big kingfish. no worries.    I know because I was part of the group that was asked by Penn back in the 1960's as the reel was being designed.

Put some 20 lb test on there and you are gtg.

That said, personally, I grease my HT-100's and also use a Tiburon frame to keep things nice and straight.

It's also a favorite of mine for albies and schoolie YFT on the left coast, which fight harder than a king although the runs aren't as long.