Jigging reel suggestions...?

[Steve-O]

I'm looking for some suggestions on heavy duty but light weight jigging reels and wonder if I should consider spinning reels versus conventional. These would be for jigging darts, and huge lead head jigs in up to 300 - 350 feet of chilly Alaskan waters for halibut from 10 to possibly 300 pounds hence the need for good gearing and drag plus line capacity.

First trip is in mid June mooching and trolling for Kings and jigging  and bait fishing for Hali's but some other bottom fish  may be targeted also.

What would you suggest for this application? I'll be using 4 to 6 foot rods in the 30-50 and 50-80 pound class spooled with 65 and 80 pound spectra.

On the coffee grinders, my budget would not include Van Staal reels but I wonder are Shimanos, Daiwas or others going to be reliable and sturdy for a week of hard fishing?

Most all my AK trips over the last 11 years have been Sliver Salmon specific with only 2 ocean trips using supplied tackle.

TIA-Steve-O

[akfish]

I have yet to see anyone with a spinning reel fishing bottom fish in Alaska, but I guess there's always a first time. One thing to keep in mind when picking a reel is to not get anything with a high gear that's too high to comfortably fish heavy weight; pulling up 2 or 3# of lead with 6:1 gears just isn't fun. If I were buying a reel for jigging up here I'd consider the new Penn 12VSX or Shimano TLD 20II in a two speed or perhaps a Baja Special or Avet HX single speed for a one speed reel. This year I'll be fishing an Accurate 665 two speed most of the time -- not a bad choice since the rule on my boat is that we don't bottom fish if we need more than 1.5# of lead.

[Roger]

For a spinner, at the bottom would be the Shimano Spheros 18000FB. Then you could come up a step and the Shimano Saragossa 18000F and at the top of the pile would be the Shimano Stella 18 or 20000SW. Every time you take a step up the costs go up but you get what you pay for there.......

[alantani]

how much drag do you need?

[Steve-O]

How much drag do I need?  Well....15-20 #'s would be where I would want to start and upwards towards 25 on FULL to the button if I have to. My week will hopefully be something like this. Hit the water early morning and depending on the tides go straight for halibut habitat during the slack tide. Then switch gears and switch gear for King Salmon trolling and mooching. Then back to halibut during the afternoon slack tide. 100# 'buts are not uncommon in the area I'll be staying with a chance for a barn door sometime during the week from the number of hours put in. Of course all depends on the fish and the weather cooperating, too. Sunrise at 345AM and sunset at 1130PM will have me on the water 10-12 hours each day.

So I want the lightest possible, highest drag reel I can use and service with a decent gear ratio. I  won't be casting and wearing out the arms that way but will be going deep, reeling up and re-baiting when needed and cranking up big 
'buts all week. Too much drag and things may start going POP! and POW!

BTW-the  squid and grub jigs will weigh between 12 and 16 ounces. The bottom spreader rigs up to a pound of lead max.

[alantani]

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=1141.0

[Steve-O]

Roger- thanks for the ideas on the Shimanos. I'll take a look at them.

AKFIsh- same here about seeing spinners  on boats in use during my trips up there though only a couple of my trips have been on boats. I saw lots of Penns and Shimanos in the 300 series. Everything else has been land based freshwater fishing where the majority of reels are spinners...at least on Prince of Wales Island.  I always take my Abu 6500's just to change the pace.   I'll be in the Juneau area in June.

Alan- thanks for the link. I have read this but had forgotten about it.

I asked the lodge I'll be at what they use rod and reel wise. The rep told me Shimanos and Ugly Sticks.... IIRC. I found another lodge in nearby Gustavus and they had their gear used listed as " Shimano TLD-20's and some Avet 2-speeds" for reels and GLoomis Halibut rods.  Several lodges in the area mention spectra and dacron in the 65 to 80 pound range as the lines of choice with jigs like I mentioned being used. This gives me a good idea of how much arsenal I'll need. I'll certainly post about it under fishing trips when I get there and back.

Steve-O

[conor]

For what its worth, I use a Avet LX6 for all my AK halibut fishing. I havent had any issues with the high gearing being much of an issue and the 15lbs. of drag has been fine for Halibut up to 75lbs. I am using a penn torque rod and it s a light weight and strong combo.
As far as mooching, I use an SX paired with a shimano jigging rod, a impressive combo.