Reel Repair by Alan Tani

Man those extreme depths takes me back to the old rock cod days of the 70's.  But then we were using 6/0's (the rich folks had 9/0's 🤣), 50# Dacron, 3#+ of lead, and 10 hook ganyons.

Quote from: Bill B on February 12, 2023, 12:36:45 AMMan those extreme depths takes me back to the old rock cod days of the 70's.  But then we were using 6/0's (the rich folks had 9/0's 🤣), 50# Dacron, 3#+ of lead, and 10 hook ganyons.

Yup, all of those deep spots have been un-touched since back then!
In the interim, superbraid came onto the market, allowing drastically smaller reels that still hold plenty of line.
The much thinner line also means that you can get to those extreme depths with lighter sinkers [or jigs].
"However", while the new law allows you to go all that way down now, but you can still only use two hooks, so those 10-hook gangions are out!

I am not up to date with your laws, but I brought some 16 strand braid, 60 lbs, it is only .029 diametre and very smooth, if that helps, good luck cheers Don.

After a few years away from fishing I decided to get back into it. Slowly dusting off the old gear and acquiring some new stuff. Mainly I've been eying the speed jigging and slow pitch styles. The lack of consistent bait made me aware that these alternatives were viable options.

Anyway, I picked up a few Phenix Megaladon rods on their labor day sale and a brand new heavy duty Daiwa Saltiga slow pitch rod for a heavy discount.

Many of the reels I already had have Alan's handles and can fit the jigging task nicely. I did acquire a few longer arms from Boiling Tuna for a reasonable price ($25/$30 close out for Fathoms/Torq's).

I wanted a gen 1 Fathom 15XNLD2 but local used deals were pricey, so I tried ordering from an Aussie eBay seller. They called me after the order and said the only one they had in stock had issue with the drag, and Penn didn't have anymore available. They offered me a gen 2 but I declined, I'm not a fan of the look.

I ended up picking up a gen 1 25NLD2 for a really good deal and sourced the 15XNLD2 parts from Mystic. I ordered (71) complete spool spindle, (13B) spindle sleeve, (29) spool, (183) frame. When the order arrived (71) didn't have the small pin on the end and Mystic said all the ones in stock were missing the pin as well. I pressed out the pin on my newly acquired 25NLD2 and used it without issue.

Once assembled everything works as designed and I'm set with my 15XNLD2 with 25NLD2 side plates, lol. All in all it came out to almost the same cost as a factory 15XNLD2 from the Aussie seller. Mystic was really quick in response to the issue of the missing pin and actually suggested the same fix I had already used.

I put 300 yards of 30# Spectra on top of 50# on my FTHII15XN.  I am reluctant to use 20# Spectra due to line cuts.