Benefits to upgrading to SS Gear Sleeve

[Surf Slayer]

Hello everyone,

I apologize for the newbie question, but what are the benefits to upgrading to a SS gear sleeve? I understand that SS is stronger than brass, but do you think it is absolutely necessary?  As many of you know, I have recently purchased an Senator 10/0 (my first conventional reel) and intend to use it for land based shark fishing. I am going to upgrade the drag to HT-100's, but have been told it is also a good idea to upgrade the gear sleeve as well. I don't have a ton of money for upgrades, so i want to know how important the gear sleeve upgrade is before I shell out an extra $50 on it. Thank you so much for your help and friendliness. I apologize if this has already been covered before. I spent some time looking through the site, but could only find tutorials on how to do it.

Also, what is your favorite line setup for land based shark fishing? I plan on using either 130#braid backing with 100# mono top shot or 100# braid backing with 80# mono top shot. I have had a hard time deciding which setup and how much braid vs mono to use. I have read up a lot on it, and everyone seemed to have a different opinion. That is why I am curious to hear yours. Again, cost is a factor for me.

Thank you again for all of your wisdom. This site is gold.

Sincerely,
Demetrius

[Swami805]

A good analogy is a car. If you put in a new motor with a ton of horse power you'll need to upgrade the transmission, then the rear end etc or you'll star breaking stuff. Same with the reel, the brass gear sleeve wasn't designed to take that much drag and will likely round off over time. A SS sleeve should hold up just fine

[mo65]

Yep...like the Swami said...bumping up the power will round the handle mount end of the stock sleeve pretty fast. Most here will agree, the best place to start hot rodding is to slap in a stainless steel gear sleeve.

[Surf Slayer]

That makes perfect sense. Thank you both for the response. I will definitely be making the upgrade now.

[mo65]

I don't have a ton of money for upgrades, so i want to know how important the gear sleeve upgrade is before I shell out an extra $50 on it.

   I forgot to mention this...a ss dog is a great low cost upgrade!

           https://www.cortezconversions.com/product-page/penn-senator-116a-replacement-dog-15-116-acc

[Rivverrat]

 you will want more than 80 mono for your top shot.  Shark can cut that easily with its tail or side. 100 mono top shot would be, for me the bare minimum when using large live or large chunk bait. A steel leader longer than a shark you might catch is needed   if you hope to land one of any size on regular basis... Jeff

[Surf Slayer]

you will want more than 80 mono for your top shot.  Shark can cut that easily with its tail or side. 100 mono top shot would be, for me the bare minimum when using large live or large chunk bait. A steel leader longer than a shark you might catch is needed   if you hope to land one of any size on regular basis... Jeff

Thank you. I was leaning more towards the 100lb, but the guy at bass pro swore up and down that only 80lb was needed. For my leader I am going to use about 8-10ft of 360lb single wire connected to 20ft of 500lb monoleader. All double crimped, at least 500lb swivels and a 18/0 or 20/0 circle hook.

[thorhammer]

Part of it depends on where you will fish: will you have shells, logs pilings, etc to contend with? Heavy mono is more abrasion resistant and cheaper to replace. If you are going to back with braid, go heavy for increased abrasion reistance tho you won't need the strength fighting stand-up. 500yds of 130 or 150 braid and top with 100- you'll have close to a half mile of line and still have enough mono to paddle out your bait a couple hundred yards.

You may want to research your leader set-up: while it will certainly work, you will have a swivel at the rod top and be 30-40 feet up the dune with the rod away from the action- especially at night you might want to be a bit closer in case things get exciting. Single wire is also harder to glove than stranded wire. I run about three feet of single strand to 10 or 12 feet of cable, all circle hooks. Weight depends on size of rig I use. You can run heavier mono shock leader if you wish, but I'd do it as a wind-on; you'll be 15 feet from the fish at the end game- in range of head lamp. Not sure you can stop a fish larger than 12-13 feet with a 10/0 standing up, not on that particular rod. Depending on species that may be 1000 pounder.

This is my 0.02- there are a bunch of guys on here that fish Fla and are way more experienced than me on this stuff.

John

[Shark Hunter]

I don't use a top shot. I Run Straight 100 or 130 lb depending on the reel. Then A Good section of at least 300 lb for the sliding trace and then my leader is another 10 feet.
Not all my leaders are the same. One might be 20' and one might be 30. That is when you have to hand line him in. Once that leader is in hand, its all over.
Some of my leaders are 480 lb cable and others are #19 tooth proof. I even have some #22. My wire is never smaller than #19.
I like my leaders long because I have had them try to roll up in it to get to the mono more than once and they sometimes still pull it off.

[Surf Slayer]

I don't use a top shot. I Run Straight 100 or 130 lb depending on the reel. Then A Good section of at least 300 lb for the sliding trace and then my leader is another 10 feet.
Not all my leaders are the same. One might be 20' and one might be 30. That is when you have to hand line him in. Once that leader is in hand, its all over.
Some of my leaders are 480 lb cable and others are #19 tooth proof. I even have some #22. My wire is never smaller than #19.
I like my leaders long because I have had them try to roll up in it to get to the mono more than once and they sometimes still pull it off.

How much 100 are you able to get on your 10/0? i would like to run straight mono for the cheaper cost but I am concerned about not having enough line if I have to make long drops. what do you consider a minimum amount of line? I was considering the braid backing just to have some reserve line. Also, do you worry about warping your brass spool with running straight mono?

[Shark Hunter]

I can't give you an exact amount as I don't use a line counter.
I spool all my reels by hand. I know a 12/0 can hold close to 1000 yards of sufix.
If you have an upgraded carbon fiber drag stack and a stainless sleeve, There is not many fish that reel can't catch within reason.
With a new carbon fiber and washer upgrade and the stainless sleeve. That reel can hold 30 lbs of drag all day.
A complete service of the reel with these two simple upgrades will make it a Machine.
Complete Service means tearing it completely down. Make sure bearings are good, dog and spring, eccentric, Jack plate and yoke springs are all in good condition.
Cal's Grease on the Drag washers and penn blue on all other internal parts.
You would be surprised what that can bring in. It is not about the max drag, It is steady drag to wear them down.
That spool can take it, trust me.

[Bill B]

What Darin said.....he's the resident expert......Billi