Conventional Surf rod/reel

[sewwhat89]

What reel would would be the choice to cast 4 oz lead with cut bait and live bait long distance from piers and the surf with 65# braid?  I want to stay with conventional reels to keep it simple and to have a backup reel for offshore trips.  I'm wanting to have around 20# of drag at max because I can't go after fish like you could in a boat.  Would lever drag or star drag be preferred? 

I have a Torque 200 and thinking about a Torque 300, but what would you think would be a better choice?  I am leaning towards an Avet JX4.6 without MC to maximize casting distance.

[Bryan Young]

Penn's new squall are awesome for the price. Also graphite frame to help with corrosion.

[onemako]

I fish from boat, pier, surf and bridges down here. I use almost entirely Penn 555's, and Penn 113's. I have them all on a 12 foot med hvy ugly stik casting rod two piece and run 50 to 80 lb braid. The extra length gives some spring to casting the bait and weight. I use the breakaway imp set up so the bait doesnt helicopter in the air thus causing it to rip out of the hook. I use live bait and chunks of bonito. My opinion is its cheap and works to my satisfaction 100%

[sewwhat89]

I'm torn between Avet JX, Baja Special and Torque 300.

I have a Torque 200 with a 7' rod and 60-75 yard casts are the norm.  Hmmmmm.

[onemako]

most of the folks down here use the old standard type conventionals as I do. We see a few daiwas and shimanos, I think I have only seen one avet but it was a purty thang. Lot of the guys with the 555 reach over 150 from piers and bridges but alot of them are using the 13 footers and up. I do alot of trolling so my set up is ready for any location without me havin to do a lot of changes.

[Bryan Young]

How much line do you want to hold?  Torq 300 seems excessive esp. since you are using braid.

[rodent]

If you are using the Torque 300, why not the new Torque Star Drag, lighter and it has the floating spool, should give you more distance.  There are a lot more choices as far as line capacity. 

[sewwhat89]

How much line do you want to hold?  Torq 300 seems excessive esp. since you are using braid.

Well, with 65# braid about 300 yards with a 50# mono topper to pull double duty bottom fishing at oil rigs for reef fish.

[sewwhat89]

If you are using the Torque 300, why not the new Torque Star Drag, lighter and it has the floating spool, should give you more distance.  There are a lot more choices as far as line capacity. 

Price.  The star drags cost a lot more.  I can get the reel, line and rod for the price of a Torque Star drag.  It still has the floating spool.  I already have the 200, so I was just thinking I might could run 2-300 yards of 65-50# braid with 50# mono topper. 

[sewwhat89]

I fish from boat, pier, surf and bridges down here. I use almost entirely Penn 555's, and Penn 113's. I have them all on a 12 foot med hvy ugly stik casting rod two piece and run 50 to 80 lb braid. The extra length gives some spring to casting the bait and weight. I use the breakaway imp set up so the bait doesnt helicopter in the air thus causing it to rip out of the hook. I use live bait and chunks of bonito. My opinion is its cheap and works to my satisfaction 100%

How do the 555 drags compare to the 113s?

What about casting?

I guess I had not seen the 535/545/555 reels.  Penn lists the 545 with more drag capability than the 555.

[sewwhat89]

After more reading and browsing, is my choice of braid too large? Everywhere I read guys using 14-25# mono on the heavy side.  The 50# braid I use is 12# mono diameter.  Is the issue castability?  The business end will be single strand Malin wire, so am I going too large with 50 or 65# braid?

[CapeFish]

Beware of the 555 series casting with braid, nice reels but they have a nasty gap between spool and frame that swallows line. THat too me is the biggest no-no for surf casting reels. The Penn Fathom 40 Star Drag is also a great reel with a much lower price tag than the torque star. The fathom also takes a bit more line than the torque star because there is a bigger gap between frame and spool allowing you to fill the reel to the brim and still fitting a 1mm leader. Another advantage of the fathom is that it has a centrifugal brake system reducing backlash and it is easily adjustable. If you want a graphite frame reel I would rather use a Daiwa SL50SH or a Shimano Speedmaster or 20/40. Just add carbontex to them if you want a more durable drag. All three these reels are pretty much bomb proof.

[onemako]

I have not had any problems with my 555's with the braid getting caught. Just recently I had a problem with my drag sets on one of the 555 but turned out to be the washer under the main. No problems with the 113's which do have a stronger drag than the 555. For what I fish for nothing has beat the reels they just beat me due to my errror.

[john2244]

Onemake,

Are you fishing with Penn 113's or 113H reels

John

[onemako]

The original 113's 2 to 1 drags. Im old so I like old stuff. They work great for me. The only reason I use the 555s is because my son bought 3 of them and leaves them on the boat. I know the ugly stiks are cheap rods but there again they work great and so far in over several years I have only damaged one and it was my fault.