Casting: T4XN Verses the Baja

[Ron Jones]

A Tanked out T4XN still costs more than an Avet HXJ Raptor.  Me?  I'd rather fish the HXJ Raptor!  You could still be driving  a 40 Ford like your granddaddy but I bet you don't.

I am currently picking a 70s Mopar to turn into a restomod. It will be as nice as any OEM today, or as nice as I decide to make it. Really similar to a T4XN?
The Man

[Rivverrat]

Ron, thats funny.


Like Ive said before 2 speeds will always have a place for me. In most cases though for my fishing their high is to fast & the low to slow... Jeff

[Yellowcat]

Hey Jeff, new to this site and poking around the forums I noticed this topic and can relate on many levels. Firstly I found out about the T4N1 Kits from Randy Pauly, I contacted him and found out he had one still available and ordered it. Since then I found a nice late style 113H 4/0 on eBay and ordered it for a donor reel. This will be my fifth designated Flathead cat reel.
I currently have stock standard 113H, 2-4/0 narrowed YTS Tiburon reels and a Tiburonized 112H 3/0 that I use exclusively for Flathead fishin'. I use 80# and/or 60# Big Game mono on these reels and have a few custom Flathead rods based on Calstar glass blanks. I figure the T4N1 will be perfect for a 50# class line cat setup. I have long considered spending $250 on a Baja Special but see no real advantage over what I already have. Unless you fish from the bank in some circumstances you may desire more casting distance, but in a boat, for Flatheads you just need to cast 40 feet or so behind the boat with a live bluegill and a 2 or 3oz sinker. Something you can do on these Penn's is fine tune and modify the clickers (bending the ring in the side plate with pliers) a bit for less resistance when the fish makes a run, tight enough to keep a 6" bluegill in place while waiting for a bite but loose enough that the bait can pull clicker when it gets nervous or gets bit. Also tight enough that if a big 'un takes off on a run that the reel won't backlash while the rod is in the rod holder, heaven forbid!  If in doubt, leave the clicker alone and as they say, don't try this at home! To justify the new Kit and reel I figure that I'll end up with more drag capacity than the 3/0 that uses 500 size drag washers, even though I've landed big fish on it with no problems. I also have a T3N kitted 3/0 but it really doesn't have the line capacity I think I need? Do I need a trick ultra narrow 4/0 to catch catfish? No. Do I want one anyway? Of course!

[Rivverrat]

Hey Yellowcat, it is good to have you here.

The 4/0 for me while bigger with more line capacity than I need allows for some things that smaller lighter reels dont. It allows me to toss out my bait walk back a ways to get get back under the trees with the rod & enjoy the shade when its hot. Still having enough line to fight any fish I may hook on the river.

 Using braid, with shorter mono leader, fill them to half their capacity. this acheives some positive things for me. It lowers the gear ratio, ups the drag to a level that would grenade a lot of reels in its weight class in short order. Making this reel capable of skull dragging most any Flathead or Blue from it's home. Spooling line only half way also gives me a lot of real estate for my thumb when casting. Keeping my thumb off the line.

Only other conventional reel in this weight class I'm aware of that will give years of trouble free use fished in the same manner is the Avet HX Raptor. Had one I sold. Wish I had it back.

While the 4/0 isn't the blingiest or the best, in most cases it's good enough. It works & keeps doing so after years of hard use. Parts are cheap & readily available.

The Penn 4/0 is the Chevy 350 of fishing reels... Jeff
 

[Gfish]

A Tanked out T4XN still costs more than an Avet HXJ Raptor.  Me?  I'd rather fish the HXJ Raptor!  You could still be driving  a 40 Ford like your granddaddy but I bet you don't.

I am currently picking a 70s Mopar to turn into a restomod. It will be as nice as any OEM today, or as nice as I decide to make it. Really similar to a T4XN?
The Man

You probably know this Ron, but stock Mopars post '73 were dogs compared  their predecessors. They had lowered compression ratios, poor ingnition systems(both primary & secondary), and several other bad systems used so Chrysler could comply with Fed. smog emission standards.

[Rivverrat]

Ron, having a better understanding of the point you were making....

Both rods are exactly the same just different reel seats. I built them myself. The line while different brand is of the same diameter. I dont know that my casting is perfect enough that I would see a diff between the two.  The biggest difference was the TN4  had a shorter topshot of mono than the Baja. Which leads me to believe the Baja might be noticeably better when going for max distance.

Plan on finding out for sure & posting results... Jeff