Quotegoindeep - 12/7/2008 7:37 PM - I live most of the time in Cabo. I troll lures with Shimano 50 two speed reels, live bait with Accurate Boss Magnum's and Shimano 6500 Baitrunners, and cast into the surf when fishing for Pargo with the Baitrunners. This past year, on two occasions, while drifting sardines, the boat hooked up tuna large enough to spool the Baitrunners...nothing we could do without ruining the reels. With the Spheros and 40# of drag I believe we would have had a chance. My question is do you start with the drag set heavy or do you crank it down after a hookup?? Thanks in advance, Tom
i set them and leave them.
i would look to setting up your reel within certain parameters, then deciding which reel to fish based on those parameters. first, you want line capacity. decide if you want 300, 400 or 500 yards. for most applications, 300 yards is more than enough. second, pick a line weight. you can load the line with 250 yards of 50# spectra and a 50 yard topshot of 40# fluoro or mono, but your "line weight" is now 40#. finally, choose a drag setting. you can pick anything from 10 to 40%, but typically you are looking at a 30% drag setting. and, by the way, you should have already selected a reel that will deliver the amount of drag and carry the line capacity that you need. so with a 40# topshot, 300 yards total, and a 30% drag setting of 12#'s, you are now all set up. set the drag and leave it. if you can't beat this fish with 12#'s of drag and 300 yards, step up to the 50# reel, or the 60# reel. otherwise, you're just taken a knife to a gunfight.....