spinners vs conventional reels for heavy jigging

[mohamedhashem21]

hello every one
as some of you know i'm from Egypt I've been searching recently for a reasonable  heavy duty spinning reel for jigging(for BFT up to 400 lbs) and the result was: NOTHING
only a few spinners are capable of that like Stella and saltiga dogfight which are above 1200$, the i asked my self why should i buy a spinner!!!! i can get the same performance from a conventional reel with much safer frame strength at about half or even third that price !!!!
have any one tried heavy jigging with a conventional reel?
i'm thinking of getting a reel that can be used for jigging and live-bait chunking
i thought about a makaira 20ii sea , i have the makaira 50wii used it for BFT and i really like this reel, but i don't know if the 20 ii can be used for jigging or not! i's 45 ounces compared to the stella 20000 at nearly 30 ounces!
also the reel i may consider is the shimano talica 2 speed 20 and 25, i belive that the 25 is jus a wide version of the 20 these reels are much lighter than the makairas but have much less line capacity

any advice on a reel that can combine these 2 types of fishing?

thanks in advance
Mohamed hashem

[Shark Hunter]

There was just a thread on this subject.
http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=10140.0

[mohamedhashem21]

There was just a thread on this subject.
http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=10140.0

thank you for your quick reply, that guy has great skills
i've read every post in the topic you mentioned but i found nothing comparing spinners to conventional reels as i understood it was about the impossibility of jigging with a 10/0 reel
may main concern is the availability to do some heavy jigging with a conventional reel , and what reel can do this in addition to some chunking

[Magilla]

I have never used a spinner for jigging and never will, I really believe the only reason they are as popular as they are is because the learning curve is so much easier with a spinner. I can't see any advantages with a spinner over an overhead reel apart from casting light weights. I believe the mechanical design of an overhead reel is much stronger than a spinner will ever be.

[thedw]

if u wanna jig. use a overhead reel

better drag
better line control
better cranking power

1/3-1/2 the price of a stella

[Ron Jones]

I agree that a conventional reel is the preferred choice. 400 pound tuna means at least 130 pound braid I'm guessing. I'd say in the Senator world you are looking at at least a built 114HLW and a 9/0 would be better. It seems you are concerned about weight primarily, What line capacity are you looking for? The 114 HLW wil hold almost 1000 yards of 130 braid, if you could do less then that then maybe we could look at smaller reels.
Ron

[Alto Mare]

I have never used a spinner for jigging and never will, I really believe the only reason they are as popular as they are is because the learning curve is so much easier with a spinner. I can't see any advantages with a spinner over an overhead reel apart from casting light weights. I believe the mechanical design of an overhead reel is much stronger than a spinner will ever be.

I really like my spinners, but I agree with your comment, a conventional reel would be much stronger than a spinner.

[john2244]

I use an Accurate 50 for flying live bait, chunking, and yo-yo / jigging with a heavy jig.  Accurate at one time offered an ATD50 two speed reel with a low gear of 1.2:1 and a high gear of 4.4:1.  I would have to check my reel to confirm the low gear ratio but I am sure the high gear ratio is correct.
John

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

on top of my head Jigging Mater PE8 or PE10. next the Accurate 500 and 600 series namely Boss BX, DAWG POUND 2 Speed Reels and lastly but not the least DAUNTLESS 2 Speed Reels. here is a link to Accurate's site and then just click PRODUCTS.

http://www.accuratefishing.com/

also you can look at Maxel's jigging reels. Maxel is the manufaturer for Jigging Master...hope this helps!

[mohamedhashem21]

I agree that a conventional reel is the preferred choice. 400 pound tuna means at least 130 pound braid I'm guessing. I'd say in the Senator world you are looking at at least a built 114HLW and a 9/0 would be better. It seems you are concerned about weight primarily, What line capacity are you looking for? The 114 HLW wil hold almost 1000 yards of 130 braid, if you could do less then that then maybe we could look at smaller reels.
Ron

actually i was looking for a smaller lever drag reel and it's better to be 2-speed reel to have the winching power to get those tunas up , the makaira 20 is at the same weight of senator 114 with full metal frame more drag and 2-speeds , but is it possible to jig for BFT with a 45 ounces reel???

[conchydong]

While I personally have no experience jigging Giant Bluefin Tuna, it is a subject that interested me, so I have read a little about it. The hardcore jiggers that use conventional reels mostly use the larger size Jigging Masters. I have a friend that has a Maxel jigging reel, which is a Jigging Master imitation for half the cost of the JM. He has had no problems with this reel. In fact, some have stated that the Maxel, may be even made in the same factory as the JM, but I have no verification of this.

I think the traditional big game reels, i.e. Makaira, Penn International, Tiagra etc. are not ideal for the type of jigging you would be doing. The "West coast" Yellowfin tuna jigging is essentially dropping a heavy "iron" such as a Salas PL68 and cranking it straight up with little or no rod action. Much different than Speed or Vertical jigging you would most likely be doing.

Good luck, hope you get the big one and share some pictures with us.

Scott

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

I too don't have any experience with this type of jigging or any type of on the boat saltwater fishing(that's about to change) but was so interested to learn more about it so i used google and youtube. to make the long story short it led me to this site 360tuna.com and it seems one of the most respected person's name in this type of jigging is Kilsong, owner of jignpop located somewhere in NJ and the virtual store is jignpop.com. i highly recommend that you register at 360tuna.com for more info. hope this helps...

[SoCalAngler]

With a spinner vs a conventional reel with amost things being equal like stopping power, meterials used ect. a spinner will cost twice as much or more. I also like being able to adjust the reels drag during a fight accurately with a lever drag.

[johndtuttle]

Different tools for different jobs or in the case of spinners versus conventional different muscle groups too. I fish both to maximise my time with a lure in the water. There is only so much you can do before one arm or the other is worn out.

@OP you have to define your jigging technique more precisely for us. You *can* fish iron with a Mak 20. The question is how long can you do it? Most likely not very long.

Spinning is very popular worldwide because of the ability to do more things with the jig more easily and how much faster you can get deep (ie with conventional the lure has to pull line off of the spool in addition to fighting current). It is not only a familiarity thing, until you have used a Stella, Saltiga or Torque class reel you do not understand how capable these tools are on extremely big fish.

If you want to to jig with a very active style you should be looking at Shimano Talica 2-speed in the 20-25 size or a Penn Torque LD 2 in the 40 size. I couldn't recommend the Torque more highly.

Fundamentally you have to decide if you want something that is as light as possible and that will keep you fishing longer versus something that is ideal for the fight or the biggest possible fish but you simply cannot fish for very long due to it's heavy weight. Until you spend some time doing it and assessing your own fitness no one else can tell you what is best.

regards


ps SamiG of Saltywatertackle.com just landed a 442lb BFTon a Stella and 7' popping rod. Not saying anyone can do it but that the gear is up to it if the Angler is.

[mohamedhashem21]

I have never used a spinner for jigging and never will, I really believe the only reason they are as popular as they are is because the learning curve is so much easier with a spinner. I can't see any advantages with a spinner over an overhead reel apart from casting light weights. I believe the mechanical design of an overhead reel is much stronger than a spinner will ever be.

thank you
i see the same too