Komodo 463 - After two, four, and five years of abuse

[Cor]

"Wind wind wind..." is the LR mantra for Wahoo. It supposedly lands more fish because the bony mouth is often not penetrated through by the hook. Keeping tension 100% is essential as far as the LR fleet is concerned and I've heard more than one boat exhort their sportos to keep winding.

The place where I grew up fishing for Yellowtail the older guys were always mentoring the youngsters.   This was one of many rules I was taught, keep on winding when you see a Yellowtail take your lure, do not lift the rod before you feel him solidly on.

The reason is that firstly the fish often take the lure from behind at speed and then create a slack in the line before they turn and secondly we nearly always fish in fairly strong side wind with a significant bow in the line which is then already slack when the fish gets it in his mouth.

Some other "rules" affected those fishing around you and beware, some of those guys in days gone bye would think nothing of giving a youngster a clip around the ears when he did something considered stupid.

[jurelometer]

"Wind wind wind..." is the LR mantra for Wahoo. It supposedly lands more fish because the bony mouth is often not penetrated through by the hook. Keeping tension 100% is essential as far as the LR fleet is concerned and I've heard more than one boat exhort their sportos to keep winding.

Heehee.  Of course, winding when not taking line is not increasing the load, but at least the message is simple.

Brings back memories:

Every rookie party boat customer: "I have a fish on, what do I do?"

Every partyboat deckhand:  "Turn the handle." 

-J

[Rancanfish]

Reading thru this makes me wonder if the old Penn 525 Mag wouldn't work well for this application. (I'm not up on the durability of the 525, but I have three and they seem to be sturdy).

[jurelometer]

Reading thru this makes me wonder if the old Penn 525 Mag wouldn't work well for this application. (I'm not up on the durability of the 525, but I have three and they seem to be sturdy).

I always admired those 525 Mags (except for the one way bearing), but never tried one.  As mentioned earlier, I have a similar sized Newell 220 that I consider  in many ways to be a better reel than the Komodo, but it stays at home most of the time as the the levelwind covers more situations, and I have more fun fishing it.

I used to think of levelwinds on saltwater casting reels as sort of like training wheels.  But one I got into throwing poppers at tuna and dorado with braid, I tried a low profile levelwind, and I ain't going back.

Much more ergonomic to use, and you can get a much faster retrieve with less work.  It is impossible to wind fast, jerk the popper, and not have a mess on the spool that is going to birdsnest on the next cast.  Same advantages with modern drop jigging.  Anything where the line tension fluctuates on the retrieve.  This what I think the setup should look like:



Which reminds me: I should post another update.  Busted a second part on the Komodo before my latest trip.  Took a new Daiwa Lexa 400 with me, and can now make some comparisons.

-J

[Rancanfish]

What speed for the Lexa 400?

[jurelometer]

I like the ones around 6:1- for both my Komodo and Lexa, but I think 7:1 is the most popular ratio in this size.  There are even 5:1 and 8:1 Lexas! Daiwa has a bigger set of choices. It is a tradeoff from hooking more fish by being able to wind lures faster and being able to land the bigger ones that you hook.
 

[Cor]

All these ratios , now 40" per handle turn makes a lot more sense.

[boon]

Much more ergonomic to use, and you can get a much faster retrieve with less work.  It is impossible to wind fast, jerk the popper, and not have a mess on the spool that is going to birdsnest on the next cast.  Same advantages with modern drop jigging.  Anything where the line tension fluctuates on the retrieve.

You mean a spinning reel? 

[jurelometer]

Much more ergonomic to use, and you can get a much faster retrieve with less work.  It is impossible to wind fast, jerk the popper, and not have a mess on the spool that is going to birdsnest on the next cast.  Same advantages with modern drop jigging.  Anything where the line tension fluctuates on the retrieve.

You mean a spinning reel? 

On my personal 1-10 fun scale, I would give spinning reels a 0.5. Just the thought of  watching the rotor go round and around, and that spool going back and forth... blech.

But for folks that like their reels upside down, I hear that a spinner is a good solution 

-J

[Keta]

I ended up with a few spinners, they are OK for tossing light jigs and lures but not my favorit.

[MarkT]

I prefer spinners for poppers and stickbaits. For surface iron I prefer a levelwind. I have the Lexa 400 HD and TW, both 7:1, and the TranX 500 HG's. I prefer the HD over the TW... it feels stronger. The TW is a gimmick to allow the levelwind to be closer to the spool. It doesn't seem to cast any better than the HD to me.

[Gfish]

You can't beat a spinner for that first quick cast when you see/hear something going-on, and/or when fishing in the dark. One adjustment; the drag. Maybe it's just me, but I've backlashed too many times on the first cast(baitcaster), unless I have time to start-out slowly with very short casts and make adjustments.

[JasonGotaProblem]

After a few years every thread becomes tempted to turn into a baitcast vs spinners debate.

[Keta]

I do not feel it is a debate, sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

Both have their place, for me not so much for spinners.  I trout and kokanee fish with Curado and Calcutta 50 level wind reels. The only thing I use a spinner for (and then rarely) is mini micro jigs for kokanee.

[jurelometer]

Its my fault.  I took the bait.  On my own thread too While I like to razz the spinner fans, I am going to restrain myself and get back on the Komodo to keep this thread on topic for future readers.  Request that others do likewise.

-J