first post

[Shark Hunter]

Welcome Daniel and Kevin!

[mo65]

Welcome fellas! 

[mley1]

Hey everyone. Marty Ley here. I've been trying to sign up for a while now, but was having some technical difficulties. Alan got me all fixed up. Thanks Alan!

Just a little about me. I'm 52, been fishing since I could walk. I live along the Texas gulf coast south of Houston. I fish with Abu's, Penns and Daiwas mostly. I love working on my own gear and look forward to learning a lot here.

Thanks again for having me.

Marty

[swill88]

Welcome young man!

Steve

[foakes]

Welcome, Marty --

Best,

Fred

[alantani]

Martin, sorry about all the hassle.  Glad you finally made it through!

[Shark Hunter]

Welcome Marty.
Glad you made it.

[mley1]

Martin, sorry about all the hassle.  Glad you finally made it through!

No problem Alan. Thanks for your help. I tried a long time ago, and had technical difficulties. I never gave up. For a while I didn't really know where to look to get your email addy. When I finally found it I sent you the email. I sure do appreciate you taking the effort to get me sorted out. I look forward to participating here. There is tons of info here that will sure help me out. I really don't like sending my gear off to someone else to fix, or the factory to fix. I've had to do it before, and hated it. That's one reason I gravitated toward the Swedish made Abu's, the US made Penn's(the older ones). Here lately, I've sorta gotten the bug for some more modern gear. I fish with a friend who likes to go offshore. He goes after sharks, king fish, large rays, large bull reds, large jacks, and any other fish that will pull his line. He mostly uses lever drags. He likes the Okuma Solterra line of reels. They've done well for him, and I've used them several times off of his boat. But, I've never been an Okuma man. No matter how good they've worked for him, I just really enjoy my Penn's and Abu's.

However, I've been wanting some newer and possibly better gear. So, I went on the hunt for some better gear and ran across a few good deals on Daiwa's that I couldn't pass up. And, I know zilch about working on Daiwa's. I picked up a Sealine Tournament SLT30 2 speed lever drag. It's a big heavy reel, and should be great for the shark fishing me and my partner do. I also picked up a couple of Saltiga 30's on Shimano Trevala jigging rods. I think they'll work great for the bull reds, kings, smaller sharks. And, I couldn't help myself. I ordered a Penn Fathom FTH30LD2 when J and H had them on sale here recently. It just came in today. The tutorial I read here helped me make the decision to get the new Penn. I think it will do great for the sharks we catch, and anything else we've been catching here lately.

I'm gonna be reading everything I can on the above mentioned reels here so I can learn all I can about working on them. And, hopefully I won't screw the pooch and mess anything up when I do. lol

[Tiddlerbasher]

Welcome Guys

[alantani]

that big old daiwa lever drag is going to be tough.  i tried working on one once and it was a nightmare.

[mley1]

that big old daiwa lever drag is going to be tough.  i tried working on one once and it was a nightmare.

Yea, I saw a post about that. I'm a sucker for a big heavy girl. I took a chance when I bought her. I got her off eBay. Paid 153 bucks for her. I haven't cracked the reel open yet, but everything seems to function well. She looks like a lightly used reel. Got some scratches here and there. Mostly looks like just being marked while in a rod holder.

Just holding it, working the parts, my first impression is that it's a very smooth and powerful reel. I haven't even spooled any line on her yet. My plan is to put 100lb braid on her with a 100lb mono leader of around 30ft. We add a 24" wire leader at the end with a circle hook. That type of set up works well for us from a boat. If I fish from the beach I put a couple hundred yards of mono on the reel cause the line will rub the sand bar. And, braid rubbing the sand bar won't last long.

[Treebeard]

Hi all!! I been lurking here for a while and I thought I'd join up.. if only to say thanks to Alan and the rest  for providing such a valuable resource with this board... I live in upstate NY, and fish for everything from Bluegills to Bluefins..but in recent years I've been doing about 75% of my fishing in saltwater...  Again, thanks for all the great info here, and hopefully I may find a way to contribute..

[Bill B]

Welcome Treebeard, gotta love the Old Entish language  ......Bill

[JohnDeereMoxie]

Hi my name is Sam, new member here.  Live in MA.  Finally got around to gathering my grandfather's old fishing stuff and using it.  I found an old Penn No. 115 I'm in the middle of cleaning up.  Seems pretty sound but I need to get to gears.  Thanks all.

[foakes]

Welcome aboard, Sam --

Show us some pics of your old reels when you get a chance...

Best,

Fred