Truth LGN

SoCalAngler · June 09, 2016, 04:05:55 AM

I played around with one of these reels today and I'm a little confused on what they were trying to do with these.

The fit and finish are great, better anti reverse on the newer model Truth's as well as the detent I always thought was needed that they added a while back to their LD reels.

My confusion was how the reel was marketed to me. I was told it would be a great surface iron reel. This may be in fact true, but the design to me seems counter productive to its own way of use, unless it was just misrepresented to me.

This is what I mean. The reel has 6/1 gears with 52 inches per crank which is really not needed for the surface iron. Then the LGN has a longer handle which will offer more cranking power for those 6/1 gears but with the handle being longer it takes longer to make a full revolution on the reel. While gaining more line per crank it will take just a bit longer to make that full crank.

This may make a good yoyo iron reel but with the 6/1 gears it may make it harder to turn a fishes head away from structure. With the yoyo type of reels that's why most like a two speed reesl. Most bites come close to the bottom and dropping the reel into low for more power is often needed to turn a fish before your rocked.

Don't get me wrong the new reels look awesome and I bet they fish great but I'm not exactly sure where they would fit for the type of fishing I do.

So my question is would these reels fit for the type of fishing you do and if so how?

Rivverrat · June 11, 2016, 12:30:46 AM

You know my fishing is much different than yours. That reel would work but the high speed & no other gear to drop down too shoots it dead for any consideration for me. I know.... the gears are big... more leverage & all that.However it will not crank like a reel with proper gearing for task at hand. What ever market share they are reaching for is I agree a very narrow one. I grew tired of the high speed gears some time ago. But I found out with the right rod I can still make use of them. Only do this anymore if the reel has some redeeming qualities.

Okuma hit the mark with their Andros 12 offering it in both high & low speed. One of the few companies that seems to listen to what fisherman want & can make use of....Jeff

boon · June 11, 2016, 05:35:29 AM

With these high-speed only reels you have to stop/turn the fish with the drag and the rod. We use this kind of reel a lot for mechanical jigging over reef structure, if you hook up near the bottom you just have to ram the reel to sunset and lean into the rod hard. Then gain line by pump + wind rather than just grinding.

Edit: This video is an excellent example:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/2utbVGUyhN0
Plus check out the run at ~30 seconds in, that's one bent rod!

Cor · June 11, 2016, 06:14:51 AM

For fishing with Iron and other Surface lures I won't use a reel with a retrieve rate of less then 40" per handle turn, preferably a bit faster!

A friend has a Truth SM, a nice reel as far as I can see, (a bit over my budget), but the retrieve is to slow at 38"PHT.

I've never quite understood why you would want to have "cranking power" on a reel as you use the rod to pull the fish and retrieve the line when the fish is not pulling. I suspect guys in your end of the world have a different methodology.

This having been said, a retrieve rate of 52" PHT seems somewhat over the top.

Rivverrat · June 12, 2016, 02:53:13 AM

Quote from: boon on June 11, 2016, 05:35:29 AM
With these high-speed only reels you have to stop/turn the fish with the drag and the rod.
Edit: This video is an excellent example:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/2utbVGUyhN0
Plus check out the run at ~30 seconds in, that's one bent rod!

The fella tending that fish was a good hand on that boat. I dont get to witness that much.
I understand the need for fast reels. With the right rod I can make any appropriate reel work regardless of it's gears. But its not the best thing for all situations. While I dont like using my reels like a winch or grind with them & do not most of the time, there is a lot to be said about proper low gearing for a lot of situations.

It appears that Truth has made another great reel with a profile that would attract a lot of people & then turned some of them away with it's gearing. Just my thoughts....Jeff

SoCalAngler · June 12, 2016, 03:46:30 AM

Ok guys I don't want to go too far off topic but I never mentioned anything like just cranking a fish in. Here of the left coast there is only type of fish I just try to just crank in and that's rockfish. There is a saying when rockfishing "you pump them you dump them". This is mainly to the ganions or dropper loop type of setups we use on these fish. On these the weight is below the hooked fish and once you start to pump in the fish in this can work the hook out of the fishes mouth.

I'm very familiar with what we call yellowtail here on the west coast of the USA, jurel in Baja Mexico or kingfish in Aus or NZ that was shown in the vid. Here is a pic of just two I caught last year on 30 lb test on a star drag reel. No pushing the lever forward for increased drag on star drag reels. Also like any fish of size you must pump them in. I don't know where you guys thought we just winch fish in?

Mainly my question was about the use of a reel which should be a 40 to 50 lb test reel with 6/1 gears and 52 inches per crank. I don't fish everywhere in the world, boy I'd like to but I was just wondering how and what type of fishing others may do with this reel.

I think Truth may have limited them self to a very small nitch with these reels but then again I don't know. That was why I asked the question.

Even Prochallenger on this site came out with 4.5 gears for people fishing the Penn Fathom reels like the 25N that have 6/1 gears so you can bump these reels up to 40 or more lb test if wanted. In my mind a single speed 40 lb or more test reel with a mid to high 4/1 gear ratio would fit a whole lot of fishing applications, more than the same reel with the 6/1.

But, like I said I don't fish everywhere so what do I know about where this reels gearing, the type of fish being targeted, method of catch where it will stand above the others?

Rivverrat · June 12, 2016, 04:39:22 AM

SoCal, didnt believe you were inferring anything at all. My response was in reply to the other's post. I agree what you seem to be thinking, that yes there is a market for this reel. However it is I think a more narrow one than it could be because of the gearing....But heck I live in Kansas...SOooo

day0ne · June 12, 2016, 06:43:45 AM

I really have no use for a 6:1 reel, even though I own several. This craze lately with manufacturers trying to have a faster reel than the other puzzles me, and makes a lot of otherwise nice reels of little use to me.

SantaBarbarian · September 04, 2016, 01:47:03 PM

This reel has a massive main gear and reminds me of Shimano's TN 40N which to this day brings better than $500 for a lightly used model. These reels have the speed and power for yellowtail and wahoo both of which a 2 speed reel isn't needed. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have a low gear when need and Okuma's Andros 12SN II is a reel that competes in this category.