A tail of three reels - keep two, sell one. Pair the two to rods

[Joel.B]

Just bought three nice reels- can only keep two. Plan on using for NorCal Bluefin fast trolling MadMacs and slow trolling live mackerel.

#1 Penn International II 16s Two Speed in Excellent condition. No mods

#2 Shimano TLD 20 2 Speed Tiburon Full Topless Magnum Conversion Kit (Frame, Drag/PLate/Lever, Bearings Etc) clamp  Excellent

#3 Shimano TLD 30 2 Speed Full Tiburon Conversion excellent condition.

Which two should I keep? Of the two I keep- what spec rod should I look to match them to for what I want to do with them?  Want to wrap the rods with my son as he wants to learn how, should be fun project and one set-up will be his anyway....maybe

[alantani]

crud.  joel, these are all single drag systems with a limited drag range.  also, the tld's might have an aluminum frame, but the single dog is screwed into the soft graphite right side plate.  i would not recommend any of these for our local bluefin.  line capacity might also be an issue.  i would typically recommend a 130 pound line class reel like a makaira 50, a penn 50 visx or a penn 50 international II.  the penns will need a little work, the makaira can be fished out of the box.  you might also consider the wide versions of these reels if you are thinking about fishing 300 yards behind the boat. 

for rods, i would recommend a united composites invictus, a seeker osp 3x, or a fishing syndicate 3xh.  at some point, we should talk.   

[Joel.B]

Crud indeed Alan

Guess I sell them all and start over.

Can I just keep one? The TLD 20 has drag lever that says MAGNUM 50# on it. No way it has 50# of drag right?

[Brewcrafter]

Joel - Modern reels are great, but the unfortunate side effect is that you regularly get experienced anglers landing larger than average fish on good, undersized equipment.  I'm going to let Bill B fill in here; he let me use his Fathom 60 on the last SOA 8 Day and it was a great reel.  I believe he has used it to catch two large bluefin, and I'll let him tell the story but the two fish he caught, while similar in weight class, acted entirely different.  I believe his qoute was something along the lines of 'that was not fun' or similar.
Just like in drag racing, "Bring all you got and hope you brought enough!" - john

[alantani]

Can I just keep one? The TLD 20 has drag lever that says MAGNUM 50# on it. No way it has 50# of drag right?

you currently have albacore reels, good for 15 pounds of drag at strike.  part of the problem is the drag range.  i would look for a 130 pound line class reel with a 30% drag setting at strike.  i set these to 40 pounds of drag at strike and hope to get 60 to 65 pounds of drag at full.  the other problem is line capacity.  guys are fishing 1000 feet behind the boat.  if you run two rods, these lines can cross and slice into each other.  better to just run a single rig. a standard width mak 50 or penn 50 will hold 700 yards of 130 and deliver plenty of drag.  the topshot and 300 yards of braid will give you the 1000 feet that guys have been looking for. 

a buddy just brought in a penn 70 with 900 yards of 130 pound braid and a 200 pound topshot. i just repacked the braid and set the drags.  this thing is massive, but the large size should not matter when trolling.  just add a united composites invictus, and you'd be ready for anything.

[Joel.B]

in other news- Albacore and and Yellowtail being caught right now out of Bodega- crazy.

I will sell them all (even though I really like the 20) and scrounge around for proper gear.

[MarkT]

I caught a 60# BFT trolling out of Dana Point on a framed TLD 20II. I wasn't trolling a Madmac way back! It handled it just fine.

[Keta]

Joel - Modern reels are great, but the unfortunate side effect is that you regularly get experienced anglers landing larger than average fish on good, undersized equipment.  I'm going to let Bill B fill in here; he let me use his Fathom 60 on the last SOA 8 Day and it was a great reel.  I believe he has used it to catch two large bluefin, and I'll let him tell the story but the two fish he caught, while similar in weight class, acted entirely different.  I believe his qoute was something along the lines of 'that was not fun' or similar.
Just like in drag racing, "Bring all you got and hope you brought enough!" - john

He got the 2 plus size BFT on a FTH 40NLD2.