Recommendations for SoCal 25# 40# and 60# setups?

[Rivverrat]

What Mark said.

Probably no better reel for the money than the Penn Fathoms... Jeff

[pitchinwedge]

The Fathom would drag the Avet backwards until it drowned. The shiny blue Avet is prettier though.

Haha. Lovely description.  I just might be the biggest sucker alive.   

The FTH certainly look to be the best bang for buck.  However, a good deal lured me into ordering a TRQ40NLD2.  No deal on the 25N tho.  So, as long as the darned thing ships as promised, I'm going with the gaudy TRQ25NLD2 for 40# and the 40N for 60#.  Guess I just bought a third rig after all. 

Only thing left would be to decide on a reel for the 25#.  A Penn 15 size star drag should work but I don't like the wide-ish spools.  In case I haven't mentioned it before, form factor is a significant consideration.   What do you fellas think about star drag vs lever drag vs 2-speed lever for the 25#?   For star drags  I'm eyeballin the Avet SX, Trinidad 12/14 and Saltiga 15.  But the Talica 8 looks mighty fine, too.  Thoughts?

[MarkT]

I use the Avet MXJ for 25#. It's a little narrower and taller than the SX which is a form factor I prefer.. I use a Torium 16 star drag for 25# too. For jigging for Rockfish I use a Calcutta te300 with a 25# leader.

[SoCalAngler]

The standard Avet SXJ thru the MXL all have the same drags and will fish 25 lb fine, so if one of those reels fit you go for it. Like I said in a earlier post maybe check out the Fathom 12's for 25 lb. I have reels from many manufactures like Avet, Penn, Diawa, Progear and even a Shimano I still fish but this reel has a few mods making it hard to tell the manufacture.

I think you have done well in your choices so far so just get what feels right for you. To me some reels come and go, others I love and will never get rid of but a great rod will last you a lifetime. I have rods that I bought in the 80's and 90's that I still fish, some even older rods that I bought used that I will never let go. I know the 80's may not sound too old to some but I graduated high school in 83 and spent some of my hard earned money working as a box boy in HS on gear.

The reels are long gone from that time but many of those rods I still have and fish.

Edit: unless you have some physical limiting issues I personally see no need for a two speed in the 25 lb test range. I start to look at two speed reels in the 40 lb range and above but like I said get what you want.

If you can not see the pic well in my avatar of the YT I caught on my Fathom 25N star drag which is on one setup I use for 30 lb here you go. The reel as you may know has 6:1 gears and I was fishing the yoyo iron here in So Cal. The smallest fish is over 35 lbs and the larger I'd say just shy of 40. Look at the fish on the left of the pic, it was the smallest. Can you see the V shape just below it's chin? That's there because I had to wrestle that fish away from a 300 lb sealion. Even with the Fathom's 6:1 gears I had very good power.

[pitchinwedge]

Thanks again for sharing your insights, SoCalAngler.  I certainly agree with you about fishing rods.  As a golfer, I often feel the shaft of the golf club is the most important component.  A good shaft always ends up staying with me.  No reason for me to think it would be otherwise with fishing tackle.  

Also agree about no need for 2speeds on a 25# setup.  Most likely will go with star drag anyways.  Simple, easier to handle, and better freespool.  Yea, I think I'll swing by a tackle shop or two next if I can find some time. Best to handle them and compare side by side.  

5/4 update:  I took advantage of today's eBay coupon to finish acquiring my tools.  This is what the final count looks like:

25# Trinidad 14A on RCE Mag
40# TRQ25NLD2 on RCE Monster
60# TRQ40NLD2 on RUS Predator

Need to decide now on how to string em up.... 

Thanks again everyone for the advice and guidance!