Conventional reels for surface irons

[Corroded]

I'm looking into purchasing a conventional star drag reel for throwing surface irons and was wondering what I should look for as far as features. A reel  I'm considering doesn't  have a cast control knob. Is that a major disadvantage? Would proper training of my thumb make up for the lack of a cast control? Also if I run braid backing what would be a good amount of mono to have to make a good cast? Thanks

[MarkT]

A Fathom 25n would be great. I use just a few feet on mono on my iron rigs but lots of people prefer the length to be a little longer than they can cast so they're only casting with the mono.

Any more I use baitcasters for throwing iron. I use a Lexa 400 or a TranX 500. The Lexa has an external mag control and with it set correctly  it's pretty much thumb free casting. Just stop the spool on splashdown.

What you want is a light weight spool that spins freely.  The Fathom/Torque with the live spindle cast really well.
Other good surface iron reels to look at are the Torium/Trinidad 20, Tesoro 10/12 or the Sealine/Saltist 40.

[Swami805]

I still use mostly mono for jigs and a star drag reel, Newell or shimano trinidad. Heard good things about the fathoms too. I'm not a fan of cast control but it has it's place. You won't being catching many fish picking out a bird nest. Fun way to fish,well worth the effort.

[Alto Mare]

A Fathom 25n would be great. I use just a few feet on mono on my iron rigs but lots of people prefer the length to be a little longer than they can cast so they're only casting with the mono.

The Fathom is a nice reel, mine was gifted by Handy2 ( Keith).
When I received it, two of the plate screws were stripped, this was a while back. Now I'm wondering if anyone has experienced the same since then, or am I the only lucky one.

here is a pic of the fine threaded screws. Not sure why Penn would go with those on a cast aluminum frame...I think it is cast.

But if no one else had or is having issues, I guess it doesn't really matter:

I tried copper stripps, but wasn't comfortable with those

so I re-tapped the holes and decided to go with the 5-40 socket head screws, those are on the right

I also replaced the gears with stainless steel, lower ratio.


I put this here, I think it's good information, but could move it or deleted it if it's a bother.

Besides the screws issue, I do like the 25N Fathom very much,

Sal

[Cor]

A Fathom 25n would be great. I use just a few feet on mono on my iron rigs but lots of people prefer the length to be a little longer than they can cast so they're only casting with the mono.

The Fathom is a nice reel, mine was gifted by Handy2 ( Keith).
When I received it, two of the plate screws were stripped, this was a while back. Now I'm wondering if anyone has experienced the same since then, or am I the only lucky one.

here is a pic of the fine threaded screws. Not sure why Penn would go with those on a cast aluminum frame...I think it is cast.

But if no one else had or is having issues, I guess it doesn't really matter:

I tried copper stripps, but wasn't comfortable with those

so I re-tapped the holes and decided to go with the 5-40 socket head screws, those are on the right

I also replaced the gears with stainless steel, lower ratio.

I put this here, I think it's good information, but could move it or deleted it if it's a bother.

Besides the screws issue, I do like the 25N Fathom very much,

Sal

I wonder if copper strips in Aluminium would have been a good idea, may corrode like crazy.

I've had issues with these reels as well and also fish exclusively with Iron and other surface lures.

I think these reels have been very nicely designed, look good but they are not up to the robust type of fishing we do here.

[oc1]

Sorry to go astray here, but I've come across that problem of striped holes in thin aluminum plate more than once.  It was a different reel so no offence to Fathom.  I know that going up a size will give the screw more bite, but what about the thread?  Does coarse thread bite better than fine thread or is it the other way around?  I once ground a nut down to where it would fit behind the frame and epoxied the nut to the back of the plate to create more thickness.  It went together and held well until the next service when the epoxy let go and the threads striped again on the aluminum while trying to get the screw back out.  The next try was to drill the hole out really large, put a 1/8 inch long piece of brass tubing in the hole, peen both sides, then tap the piece of brass tube to a 5-40 screw.  That is still holding but I moved on to other reels and do not know if it is a long-term fix.
-steve

[Cor]

Sorry to go astray here, but I've come across that problem of striped holes in thin aluminum plate more than once.  It was a different reel so no offence to Fathom.  I know that going up a size will give the screw more bite, but what about the thread?  Does coarse thread bite better than fine thread or is it the other way around?  I once ground a nut down to where it would fit behind the frame and epoxied the nut to the back of the plate to create more thickness.  It went together and held well until the next service when the epoxy let go and the threads striped again on the aluminum while trying to get the screw back out.  The next try was to drill the hole out really large, put a 1/8 inch long piece of brass tubing in the hole, peen both sides, then tap the piece of brass tube to a 5-40 screw.  That is still holding but I moved on to other reels and do not know if it is a long-term fix.
-steve

I think it's inevitable that they will eventually strip, that's why I make sure screws are well lubricated and don't over tighten!
If I were to use these reels like I do some others, and service every 2 weeks, they will eventually go that way.

[Alto Mare]

Sorry to go astray here, but I've come across that problem of striped holes in thin aluminum plate more than once.  It was a different reel so no offence to Fathom.  I know that going up a size will give the screw more bite, but what about the thread?  Does coarse thread bite better than fine thread or is it the other way around?  I once ground a nut down to where it would fit behind the frame and epoxied the nut to the back of the plate to create more thickness.  It went together and held well until the next service when the epoxy let go and the threads striped again on the aluminum while trying to get the screw back out.  The next try was to drill the hole out really large, put a 1/8 inch long piece of brass tubing in the hole, peen both sides, then tap the piece of brass tube to a 5-40 screw.  That is still holding but I moved on to other reels and do not know if it is a long-term fix.
-steve

Yes Steve you are correct , I've had that pleasure before on Tiburon frames, but never two stripped screws on the same reel. The screws on the Fathom are really fine and yes I do believe coarser thread would hold better in this situation, but Penn might have had a good reason to use those.
As everything else, When servicing reels you need to be cautious while  tightening the screws, one of the main reason I do not use power drivers.
It's no a good idea having a stainless steel screw going into a softer aluminum frame faster and with more force than it should.
I service all my reels by hand, no matter how many I'm doing. You can only do them one at a time.

I'm not knocking this reel, as I stated above and at the bottom of my comment, I really like it.

Maybe it is just a matter of someone over tightening the screws. I do know Penn used power drive screwdrivers, I was there.
I was actually sitting at Tony's work bench, I have pics🙂

Sal

[Porthos]

I don't have any Fathoms to encounter this issue with but have so with used Daiwa Sealine H frames and Tiburon one-piece Penn frames. The solution also were inherent to both--the screw holes were tapped sufficiently deeper than the length of the factory screws so that a correspondingly longer screw would be able to properly tighten past the stripped section. May not be the case with the Fathoms but worth exploring.

As for Corroded's original post, the desired qualities would be high ratio (6:1 or higher) and cast control. The former is limited to gear sets available for the reel. The latter, as discovered, is also determined by original design, however, there may be options to customize a mag control depending on the gap spacing manufacturing allowed between the left side plate and the spool. The fundamental technique is described here:

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=8230.0

What is the reel being considered?

[enfish]

A Fathom 25n would be great. I use just a few feet on mono on my iron rigs but lots of people prefer the length to be a little longer than they can cast so they're only casting with the mono.

The Fathom is a nice reel, mine was gifted by Handy2 ( Keith).
When I received it, two of the plate screws were stripped, this was a while back. Now I'm wondering if anyone has experienced the same since then, or am I the only lucky one.

here is a pic of the fine threaded screws. Not sure why Penn would go with those on a cast aluminum frame...I think it is cast.

But if no one else had or is having issues, I guess it doesn't really matter:

I tried copper stripps, but wasn't comfortable with those

so I re-tapped the holes and decided to go with the 5-40 socket head screws, those are on the right

I also replaced the gears with stainless steel, lower ratio.


I put this here, I think it's good information, but could move it or deleted it if it's a bother.

Besides the screws issue, I do like the 25N Fathom very much,

Sal

I had that issue with 1 screw hole stripped out with my brand new Fathom 40NLD2 2-speed. The first time I pulled the clicker side plate off, a curly-Q came out with the screw. Original screw size was M3x0.5 by 6mm long. Luckily there was enough hole thread depth that I replaced all of them with 8mm screws.

[Porthos]

As for the length of mono to braid, I used 2-3 rod lengths of mono top shot. This allows for the index finger or thumb to be in contact with mono when the line and lure is in starting position before casting. There's enough length for several re-ties before needing a new top shot

The splicing knot becomes problematic as line weight increases...if the knot profile is greater than the lines profiles, it will slap against the guides and tip on the cast out to eventually unravel...this is with the RP/John Collins knot. From experience, 12lb mono to 15lb braid is no problem but 30+ lb mono and higher is problematic. A different knot and/or glue may help but the slapping also does decrease distance even if the knot holds. This season I've started splicing with a hollow core connection starting with 4' for 20/25 lb mono and increasing to 6' for 80lb mono. The hollow core ends are secured with nubs, nail knots, and glue; so far I have felt no connection slapping with any of my test casts. Will see how well it works with real fishing on this year's SOA trip.

[Decker]

Smooth casting with fast retrieve?   Daiwa Sealine SL20SH, SL-X20SHA?

[SoCalAngler]

I second the Fathom 25N. I have one mounted to a Calstar 270 8-H and use this as my surface iron setup at times. It casts jigs up to Salas 7X lights great. The 6:1 gears are a little fast but work fine for the 30 lb toppers I use. I'm a long topshot guy and run around 75 yards of mono on top of my braid backing.

Sooner or later you should learn how to use your thumb as your cast control, so why not start now? Thumb control over the spool will give you maximum distance when you finally get dialed in and will transfer over to bait and other setups you cast like plastics. I think all fishermen should know how to do this but hey that's just me.

Sometimes I also use the 25N mounted to a 7' rod and use it for the yoyo iron. I feel in both applications this reel is great. If I want both a surface iron and a yoyo iron setup for local So Cal fishing I use a 25 lb test setup I have for the surface. Or, I use a 40 lb setup for the yoyo. It just depends on how I feel and what the fish are biting on.

[steelfish]

I know there is some love for penn products on the site but dont forget the gold old Trinidad 16 or 20, toriums, the new Okuma Tesoro 10, those are reels perfect for irons

[sabaman1]

The Shimano Trinidad 20 is a great reel but pricey. If you are just starting out the Daiwa Saltist BG 40H is also a great Jig caster at a more moderate price. Both reels have a decent line capacity if you fish 65lb braid to a 75 to 100yd topshot of 40lb mono. By the way they are both thumb experience controlled.