114H stainless upgrades

[Capt. ahab]

I have 4 penn 114h reels that are used for big-game trolling off Virginia and North Carolina. I purchased them all on eBay in 2010 and serviced them with the known procedures at the time - carbon fiber drags greased with cal's, Yamaha grease on all metal parts, and corrosionx in the spool bearings. We have caught yellowfin tuna to 70# on these setups. We fish on a 26' center console with no chair, although we do have a standup harness. We troll at 12# of drag at strike, with more to be used to put extra pressure on the fish. Reels are spooled with 500-600 yards of 130# hollow braid.

Since then, I've noticed the additional upgrades available, mostly the stainless replacement parts such as gears, gear sleeve, yoke, and dogs.  I've also seen the double dog thread. In addition to these upgrades, there also the tiburon frames for rigidity and the aluminum spools for weight reduction.  This can get quickly expensive, especially since I have 4 reels.

To beef these reels up, what's the best bang for the buck upgrade?  Where can I order all of these parts?

I'm assuming to get the full effect of the double dogs, you have to rig it so they both engage simultaneously. Are there specific instructions for this? 

Is it worth adding the gears that use hex-cut drag washers?

[Shark Hunter]

You are talking a lot of coin to upgrade all four.
Just the gears will run you $320 for all of them. I'm not exactly sure if the Hex gears are still available.
You would have to contact Pro Challenger. I know the standard ss gears are available. I would go with those and Bryan's 7 stack kit.
Sleeves from Alan Tani.
Gears from Alan Chui/aka Black Pearl.
SS Dogs from Lee/ Keta.
SS yokes from Dawn/aka smoothdrag. She has a lot of these parts in stock.
As far as the frames. I buy mine from Greg/chowderpuff.
You are probably looking at a cool G to hot rod all four!

[Keta]

SS Dogs from Lee/ Keta.

Alan is selling SS dogs in a kit with a gear sleeve, a much better deal.

[fIsHsTiiCkS]

You have been using these reels for awhile and from what you say they have worked out well. I wouldn't go crazy upgrading these unless it is just for fun and you have the money to burn. The best way to go about it is as things wear out upgrade to the ss counter part or if you needing a specific performance upgrade we can point you into the right direction of what to do first. Yes, the double dogs are best to be engaged simultaneously when going after big game like tuna. Plus, the dogs are among the cheapest thing to change.

[Three se7ens]

If you havent been outgunned with the stock 114H's, I wouldnt go nuts unless you just want to spend money.  Stainless gear sleeves, double dogs, and a new drag(bryans 7 stack, or my insert kit, soon to be released) and you are a few steps more capable and durable. 

[Shark Hunter]

Adam's inserts are going to be the Bomb!
Paired with Black Pearl's gears. This will be our best upgrade to the 114H yet.

[fIsHsTiiCkS]

Adam's inserts are going to be the Bomb!
Paired with Black Pearl's gears. This will be our best upgrade to the 114H yet.

Even better is that insert in a 9/0! Which is a slow build I have in the progress

[Shark Hunter]

I haven't got my paws on any yet, but I can't wait!

[Keta]

Adam's inserts are going to be the Bomb!
Paired with Black Pearl's gears. This will be our best upgrade to the 114H yet.

Even better is that insert in a 9/0! Which is a slow build I have in the progress

Some 15-115 dogs are in the polisher right now.

[fIsHsTiiCkS]

Adam's inserts are going to be the Bomb!
Paired with Black Pearl's gears. This will be our best upgrade to the 114H yet.

Even better is that insert in a 9/0! Which is a slow build I have in the progress

Some 15-115 dogs are in the polisher right now.

Sign me up!

[Capt. ahab]

Thanks for the input everyone. I guess my question is - what's the weak spot on this reel? What's going to fail first? They're good for yellowfins and wahoo and dolphin, but I always worry about that 200# bigeye lurking down there. In a long fight with a large, unexpected fish, I'd like to have the confidence that a common failure has already been prevented.

[fIsHsTiiCkS]

Thanks for the input everyone. I guess my question is - what's the weak spot on this reel? What's going to fail first? They're good for yellowfins and wahoo and dolphin, but I always worry about that 200# bigeye lurking down there. In a long fight with a large, unexpected fish, I'd like to have the confidence that a common failure has already been prevented.

What I would do for such a thing is, SS sleeve, a tib frame and drag upgrade (about $150). Then that should cover all bases of failure, maybe a double dog as well. Then (only if you want more) the SS gears and yoke.

[doradoben]

The end of the gear sleeve, where the handle is attached, seems to distort first from excess drag pressure. You may want to consider a stainless sleeve and dog. It'a a cost effective improvement, besides in a center console you can chase the fish if necessary. 

[foakes]

Hi Captain --

It is possible to spend a small fortune on these 4 6/0s.

And there is nothing wrong with that, if that is where you wish to end up.

If it were me, and I was going to fish these in typical salt conditions -- this is all I would do:

Greased CF & SS drags
Under gear washer either Delrin or CF greased with metal plate between sleeve and gear
SS sleeve
Tiburon frame

Yes, there are many things you could do -- but these will take care of 95% of nearly every situation out there -- without spending $1200 for upgrading 4 reels.

The handle you have is good, the gears will hold up fine, the single dog will work well -- all you are doing is strengthening the frame, improving the smoothness & drag numbers drastically, and insuring no stripped sleeve end where the handle attaches (make sure your handle nut is tight).

And you are good for years and years -- just my personal opinion -- probably a little more conservative than some -- but I try to be practical and economical.

And if you find you need a little more later -- that can be done at that time very easily.

You will have 4 solid reels that you will likely do nothing to for the next 20 years -- except for routine maintenance and service.

Again, these are just my own personal opinions -- others may/will have different viewpoints.

Best,

Fred

[marc77]

Capt. Ahab:

A few years ago, while tuna fishing on a party boat, a guy fishing next to me hooked and landed a 300 lbs Big Eye with one of those reels.  He had 100 lbs test mono on the reel.  The reel was stock.  No modifications whatsoever.

The second day of the trip, on the Sunbeam Express.  We were anchored on the edge of the Fishtails (Block Canyon).  At about 7:00 a.m., the captain told everyone to reel up, it was time to go home.  The guy next to me was fishing a live squid, which had been soaking for hours at a depth of about 180 feet down.  As he started to reel his line in, the fish hit his bait.  Typical with Big Eye, the fish made one long run and under heavy drag pressure, went down to the depth it was at when it hit the bait, and stayed there.  Three hours later, with a lot of give and take, the fish was gaffed and brought on board.  The reel and the angler both performed flawlessly.

Over the years, many Big Eyes have been caught with stock Senator 114H reels.  With the medium gear ratio of that reel, it does require a lot of pumping of the rod to fight a large fish.  One simply cannot rail the rod and crank the handle.