O.K. Penn conventional people, I'm going for black drum in the Delaware bay in April. What reel would be suited for these 50+ pound bulldogs. I'm thinking a small Senator? Tell me what you think. Too much ,something better suited, whatever. Let's have some opinions......bob v
Hello sir, I too fish for these brutes at the Coral Beds in the DE bay. Honestly though, I've seen them taken on spinning gear with 20 lb braid as well as heavy gear. They vary in size from puppies up to the 70+lbers. I would say it depends on what you are looking for. A Jigmaster w/ 30 lb mono would work out fine, if you wanted to go bigger a 3/0 or 4/0 with 40 lb would still be fine. When soaking my clams I use 40 lb or 50 lb fluorocarbon, some guys use wire. There are quite a few big sharks there as well, the croakers got overwhelming so I started to catch them and drop down whole croakers on a 8/0 and had a 8'+ shark nearly flip my kayak, haha; broke off luckily. Next year I'll go more prepared for the sharks ;)
The Black Drum here in SW Florida are mostly around the pilings and bridge supports. I use my 4/0 most, rigged with 80# braid with a topshot of 100ft 60# floro leader. We use 1/2 a large blue crab for bait. http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=11443.msg116116#msg116116