112H Narrow or 506

[Rancanfish]

Tried looking up parts and specs but couldn't find the answers I was looking for.

West Coast guys would have a better idea so here goes.......

If you were going to go White Sea Bass fishing, which get pretty darn hefty at times (50lbs),
would you rather have a 112H with a Tib. kit,  or a 506 Tib. kit.  The 112h is going to set you back $169.00 for the frame and spool, whereas a 506 frame is $69.00.

Both have bearings and a narrow spool. I don't know inches recovered per crank revolution.

I'm considering performance first, price second.

[Bryan Young]

Tried looking up parts and specs but couldn't find the answers I was looking for.

West Coast guys would have a better idea so here goes.......

If you were going to go White Sea Bass fishing, which get pretty darn hefty at times (50lbs),
would you rather have a 112H with a Tib. kit,  or a 506 Tib. kit.  The 112h is going to set you back $169.00 for the frame and spool, whereas a 506 frame is $69.00.

Both have bearings and a narrow spool. I don't know inches recovered per crank revolution.

I'm considering performance first, price second.

Hi Randy,

I don't know the specs, but I've built a few narrow 112Hs with Tiburon kits, and they do have greater line capacities than the 506.  OD is a little larger and the width is a little wider on the 112H Narrow. 

I know guys fishing Avet SXs or MXs for White Sea Bass with great success.  I believe they said that they fish the reels with 3#-5# of drag, nothing more, and let the fish run then crank them in. 

I have yet caught a white sea bass, but when I do, I'll let you know.

Bryan

[SoCalAngler]

I'll let the other experts talk about the reels but I will give a little info about WSB. The WSB can get big 50 lbs plus but they have soft mouths so lighter drags and softer rods are used more often than not for them than other fish of the same size. They have big fat tails giving them power which also means that they cant make repeated long runs like tuna or yellowtail. All the ones I have caught make one good run, then what seems like a half harted run them come right to the boat. If your fishing tight to the kelp stronger drag should be used but when I'm away from structure 5-7 lbs of drag is about all I will ever use so 20lb rods and reels are fine. Close to the kelp 30 lb setups are the norm for me.

Let me state I have not caught one close to 50 lbs and neither have many other people, my largest went about 35 lbs and I have caught over 15 maybe closer to 20 WSB. So, no expert by any means just letting you know what I use and what I have seen others use that like to hunt the gray ghost.

[MarkT]

I caught my 1st WSB on a 112h with 30# mounted on an old D8!

[Rancanfish]

If the runs are not that far then a 506 would work just fine with a limber rod. 

I'm finding it hard to justify some of my reels, lol.

Thanks for all the excellent info, made for a good read.

[swill88]

Would a suitable setup for wsb be similar to a salmon trolling rod & reel except using braid for more capacity?

Going to San Quintin. Baja in september and WSB is on the list.

[Keta]

Both reels are similar, more "goodies available" for the Jigmaster.   

[steelfish]

You are asking about the specs, but I was on the same boat few weeks ago and What I found out is the 506 jigmaster has tons of goodies while the 112h have only few, but with those few upgrades you can fish and catch almist anything That swims inshore.
I like more the look of a "tanked up" 112h so I went That route.
Lee has a nice 112h narrow and Salty dog a 112h stock width, both reels are beautiful I like them 3x than a modded 506

[doradoben]

I caught several of them in the 35 to 40 lb. range about 10 years ago off the So. Cal. coast and on the back side of Catalina Island. They made one or two good runs and then gave up. All were near the kelp line or the coves near shore. A reel that held lots of line seemed less important than smooth drag performance..