Conventional casting

[PierPirate4578]

Looking at purchasing a conventional reel for casting the surf. I really like the smaller senators 3/0 or 4/0. I don't know much about the Long Beach's, jig masters or squalls. What are some of y'all opinions and favorites? Are the senators to big to cast 50+yards. Trying to target smaller sharks and larger reds and skates.

[CapeFish]

If you are only going to look at Penn, try the fathom 30 or 40 as well. The jigmaster swallows line because the gap between the frame and spool is big unless you use very thick mono, most annoying feature, to me this is a no-no for any casting reel. Basically ruins your fishing as it damages the line so badly that you have to cut it off and often sit with too little line on the reel to fish further, also gets expensive to fill it every time. The Fathom does not have this problem. It spins very fast though so engage the cast control mechanism till you get the hang of it. If you use a braid/mono combination you can easily get 600m of line on a fathom 40 with a +-20kg mono topshot and same breaking strain braid backing with a thick mono leader of +-10m which is important for avoiding crack offs in the cast and sharks that like to roll.

[Rivverrat]

The new Penn squalls are inexpesive & a lot of the beach fishing folks like them. Some models have magnetic cast control which can be a huge benifit for those new to tossing conventional reels or throwing different size & weight baits while also dealing with wind. The Fathoms are good reels also. Lite weight & cast great.

This is just me & my personal thoughts but if I were to have just one reel it would be the US113N a 4/0.  This reel will cast well past 50 yards & over 150 yards depending on your skill level & what your tossing & tossing it with. This is I believe the best out of the box 4/0 Senator made. The prior model is called the Baja. Same reel it's just anodized black where the US113 is silver. There have been isue with this reel when pushing the drag level however if your fishing 40 - 50 lb. line it should be no problem & give long service. A US113 along with a good medium weight spinner would have some one set up about as good as could be hoped for I think.

Issue is its heavier, with more line capacity than is needed all the time. However it will hardly ever leave you needing or wanting more for general surf fishing as I understand it. I am still learning about surf fishing... something that will for ever be on going. This is a reel I would personally never be with out if the surf was where I fished... Jeff

[CapeFish]

The problem with using big heavy tackle is you restrict your fishing. A senator is a nice reel, but if you are new to casting it is not a joke to cast and can be downright unpleasant especially if you don't have an aluminium spool. A big heavy reel requires big heavy sinkers and rod to cast it properly and throws out any opportunity of doing any kind of lighter tackle fishing for smaller fish. Big sharks that want to eat big baits are not around every day. Some days big sharks even like small baits. Lighter lines, leaders etc increase your catch rate often. You can probably cast a 40z sinker with a Fathom 40 or Squall of similar size allowing you to fish small, light baits and you can ramp things up to 8 or even 10 oz sinker with the same size reel if your rod can handle it and put out a massive bait for a shark. You can't do the same with a Senator, you will struggle casting a 6oz sinker with it. I own reels from a Saltist 30 through to a Torium 50 and several sizes in between, they are my surf fishing reels and they get used on rods varying between 11 & 14ft of which some can comfortably cast a 10 oz sinker and pretty big baits. The torium 50 just won't work on an 11lft rod that casts up to 4oz. You will burn your thumb and throw overwind after overwind. Stick it on a 13 or 14 rod that can handle a 10 oz and you will get the sinker to travel 100m plus, no problem. If you want to you can put the small Saltist 30 on the same heavy  rod and it will cast no problem with a 10oz sinker, but not ideal for larger sharks as the drag is not great and you have a line capacity problem.

A smaller reel like a fathom 40 will work under a variety of conditions and has a decent drag which is very important when you start looking at sharks (or any other angry big fish for that matter) and to me will be a much better and more versatile option than a senator. With a bit of luck you can land a 150kg shark with that size reel, have done it myself with a Torium 30 (not 50) which is same size as Fathom 40 and have seen many other anglers do the same. I have been spooled once though even though I had 700m of line, but that is just the compromise of having versatility and casting ability versus outright monster fish stopping ability.

[oc1]

Get a reel made for casting.  They've mentioned the modern options.  For vintage, a squidder 146 or surfmaster 200 will handle any red.
-steve

[thorhammer]

Penn Magpower 980. easily throw over a hundred yards and I've caught rays of 150lbs on them, harder than a shark that size. 

[Rivverrat]

The other reels mentioned here will work better for most than a 4/0... Jeff