Penn Senator 116L (12/0)

[Makule]

I am tearing into the 14/0 and the drag washers are still greased, but they almost look like plastic. They are fairly thick too. Is this the type of drag washers a 14 uses?

It sounds like these are the old asbestos disks, and the grease is what leaked on to them.  Looking like plastic is what happens when asbestos disks meet pressure and heat (i.e., the surface glazes over and becomes hard).  The disks are about 1/8" thick.

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

I know yall probably are exposed to this fishing, but a 14' hammer is cllose to unstobbable with out tying in to another reel. 16/0s being spooled is not unheard of. Ive pulled 30+lbs before on drag(locked down 9/0p lus gloved hand gripping spool). Im doin a 1+7 upgrade as soon as i can get a frame to. I fish with a guy who has the T-REX 50 and ive seen him hold 60lbs on a 8ft hammer. Spun him around when he did the runnin man but thats it. Also snapped a 50-130 tunastick

[Shark Hunter]

What is a T-Rex 50? An International? Do I need one instead of the 14/0's I'm Hoarding? A properly serviced 14 will bring in any giant if you have the muscle. I think a penn 14/0 is the shiznit!
A !6/0  holds more line, but if I cant turn a monster with a 14, He deserves to go on his way.

[Keta]

The "T-Rex" is Avets strongest reel series.

[Makule]

I've pulled in a 10' hammerhead on a Senator 9/0 with braid, but he eventually twisted the frame and it was all over.  Had a good amount of line left over from the run, but the overall reel strength wasn't quite enough after about 45 minutes into the fight.

The 14/0 has stopped everything on the other end ,so far, although a guy told me he pretty close to got spooled when using 200 lb. of braid (few months ago).  Didn't think it was a shark because the speed was too fast.  Anyway, we can (and do) apply more than 30 pounds of drag when the fish is running, and keep increasing the drag until the fish stops, something breaks, or we run out of line.   Let me tell you, breaking 200 lb test of braid on a straight pull is an "exciting" experience and not for the faint of heart.  It's no longer is a matter of feeling great to have a large fish on, it becomes clear that there is real danger involved and safety is the first priority.  Definitely a challenge, but not quite what one might consider fun.

I know yall probably are exposed to this fishing, but a 14' hammer is cllose to unstobbable with out tying in to another reel. 16/0s being spooled is not unheard of. Ive pulled 30+lbs before on drag(locked down 9/0p lus gloved hand gripping spool). Im doin a 1+7 upgrade as soon as i can get a frame to. I fish with a guy who has the T-REX 50 and ive seen him hold 60lbs on a 8ft hammer. Spun him around when he did the runnin man but thats it. Also snapped a 50-130 tunastick

[john2244]

IF you start out fishing 30# of drag with a full spool you will be up to 45# of drag at half spool and 90# of drag with a near empty spool.  Depending on the line strength you are using something may "let go" if you don't start to decrease the drag pressure at some point.  It is a fine line between getting spooled and something breaking (hook, line, reel, or rod).

[Shark Hunter]

I wish I could come to Hawaii and do some fishing with you Makule.
I plan on fishing in the Pensacola area of Florida in May with My 14/0.
I have a 160 to 200 lb 6' rod and a Braid power play belt and Harness. I am going to spool it up with 200 lb braid and 50' of 200lb mono top shot with a Ken anderson rig. 480lb cable with a 20/0 circle hook. I'll be using ladyfish or cownose stingray for bait.
Kayak it out about 200 yards and drop it with an 8 oz pyramid sinker for weight rigged to break away when I get a fish.
Hpoefully it will be a 6 to 8' hammerhead or Tiger.

[Bunnlevel Sharker]

Not tryin to be that guy but you need a better rig than that, last thing we need is a bunch of press about some guy gettin dragged in. Go on sharksonthesand.com join and do some research. And i can tell you, a 14/0 will not bring in every monster

[Alto Mare]

It did many years ago, way before our upgrades. Fish over 2000lb has been caught with these.
If I ever get lucky with one of those monsters, I hope I'm holding a Senator.

[George4741]

A properly serviced 14 will bring in any giant if you have the muscle. I think a penn 14/0 is the shiznit!
A !6/0  holds more line, but if I cant turn a monster with a 14, He deserves to go on his way.

I'm inclined to agree with you.  In addition, I think a narrower reel is less likely to have it's frame twisted out of shape.  Narrow reels distribute stress more evenly on the frame and bearings.

Not tryin to be that guy but you need a better rig than that, last thing we need is a bunch of press about some guy gettin dragged in. Go on sharksonthesand.com join and do some research. And i can tell you, a 14/0 will not bring in every monster

It did many years ago, way before our upgrades. Fish over 2000lb has been caught with these.
If I ever get lucky with one of those monsters, I hope I'm holding a Senator.

I think a skilled angler could catch just about any reasonable fish on a large senator.  It takes proper technique.  However, I'm definately not one of them.

[Makule]

I have a 160 to 200 lb 6' rod and a Braid power play belt and Harness. I am going to spool it up with 200 lb braid and 50' of 200lb mono top shot with a Ken anderson rig. 480lb cable with a 20/0 circle hook

I agree with bunnylevel sharker.  I wouldn't want to be tethered to a reel with that size main line and terminal tackle when a 14' shark is on the other end.  This is why we don't hang on to the reels, but leave everything in a stand until we are sure we can stop the initial run and then control what is happening.  I'm convinced that very large sharks don't even know they're hooked until maybe when they're just next to shore.  Before that, they're probably just cruising thinking they're up against some strong current (i.e., not trying to run away from anything).

[bluefish69]

If I was doing this type of fishing I would have a Fighting Chair welded to the back of a Pick Up Truck.


Hey Shark drag  this around for a while.   

[Bill B]

I have a question that's always been bothering me.....when fishing braid or other assorted line that's somewhat abrasive...I mean not smooth like mono...how long will the rod guides last before you groove them and start cutting line?  Seems like if you have 40+ lbs of drag going out at lightspeed something is gonna get abraded and eventually cut...... Would this be a worry on roller guides as well as regular guides?

[Keta]

.......................how long will the rod guides last before you groove them and start cutting line?  

....................... Would this be a worry on roller guides as well as regular guides?

This question is better answered by the rod builders here but from my experiance with braid, I fished Dacron long before Spectra came around, here is what I "think".
I've seen small diameter spectra cut mid quality guides on a friends kokanee rod, no other guide dammage that I have seen.  Hollow untreeted Spectra (like JB Line One and Izor) is actualy soft and not as abrasive as some solid braid. If a rolller is froze up even mono eventualy dammages them and if thin Spectra gets off of a roller and is on the shaft I'd think it might dammage a roller quickly.

I have seen the wind blow Spectra around a rod tip just before a fish hit and made a run cut the tip off 2 rods.

I like to set up albacore trolling rods with 100 yard topshots, high viz, to reduce the wind related problems.   I'm in the Pacific NW and we fish the often rough NE Pacifis and chop combined with swell and wind causes spectra to flop around too much, I like to leave a little mono on the reel when the spread is set.

[Dominick]

I had a lot of parts laying around and I got a spool for a very reasonable price, so I decided to build this reel.  I thought it might be helpful to post.  Here is a brief version of the assembly:

The above quote is from Sal.  Who else do you know that has enough spare parts around to build 12/0?  Does anyone have some spare parts around, I want to build a 16/0?     Dominick