best way to Beef up a p332 and a r338 Help!! Newell guys!

[coosk8er55]

hey all
i am new to this forum so hello!! 
i will be going on a 7 day this winter and want to beef up be p332 and r338 to fight fish in the 40-80lb range .. any suggestions from componanets to drags to anything at all i may have over looked would be a great help .. thank you for your time
Sam

[ReelSpeed]

You definitely have to get carbontex drags for them.  You could go nuts and buy a tiburon frame..  You might also consider a handle upgrade...

[Toehi]

I don't want to sound pessimistic but you might want to look into 400 or 500 series reel and use your 300's as back ups.  I brought my p344 on a night trip to catch GT's off of a boat and after fighting and releasing a 50lber I quickly switched over to my back up Penn 4/0.  I had brought a knife to a gun fight. Even with the Smoothies buttoned down I could have used more drag, and my arm, due to the short handle, was killing me after one fish.  I couldn't imagine doing a 7 day trip for sea pigs with only a 300 series. 


If your gung-ho to reel them in on your 300's then I'd toss in upgraded bearings, drags, longer handle, and a few bowls of Wheaties

[akfish]

I have to agree with Toehi: You could catch big fish on your 300-series Newells but it would be lots of work form a stationary boat. But I need to warn against trying to do it with a 400-seris Newell as well. They have the same drags as the 300-series reels. The trip will cost you a bundle. Get a reel that's up to the job.

[alantani]

figure 10-12 pounds max for the smaller newells. you will be pushing your reels to the absolute max.  it will not be pretty. the 500 series newells will hold up better with 12 pounds of drag, but they will be too large to cast sardines very far.  basically, the single speed star drag newells cannot keep up with modern two speed lever drags.  i would rather see you fish with a single two speed lever drag than a dozen star drag reels.