Squidder Mod

[ez2cdave]

Nice reel Dave! I always wanted to build a 145 Squidder Magnum.

Thanks !

I had a beautiful Red 140 Squidder Magnum that I stupidly sold, almost 10 years ago . . . When the man said, "I'll give you $400 for it, I temporarily went insane" . . . That reel is somewhere in Hawaii now, I think !

Tight Lines !

[thorhammer]

that's a lot of cash tho....but then you have to figure could you ever replace it.

[ez2cdave]

that's a lot of cash tho....but then you have to figure could you ever replace it.

Doubtful . . . It was flawless !

[Homer Hiers]

So what's everyone's opinion on slow pitch jigging with with a squidder? Could it handle a grouper when upgraded?

[Rancanfish]

Whoa, step back from the edge,lol.  My gut instinct after upgrading dozens of Penns is 'Not the groupers I've seen on videos'. Fish to maybe 20lbs I think you may pull it off. Note: I have zero experience with grouper fishing, so more or less subscribing as they say.  I would like to know for sure.

[Swami805]

If you're fishing deep water for grouper that small spool and 3:1 gears will make an awfully slow ascent. Probably has the power but it's painfully slow

[thorhammer]

Hey Homer,

    While you can catch pretty good size fish on a Squidder, it would not be my first choice for groupering, because it has small gears that will not like getting a full lock-down to keep from getting rocked, and may shred if you try to winch him out. Same slow ratio will make it difficult to winch quickly to begin with. At the least I'd make sure I had steel main gear and SS sleeve upgrade. An upgraded jiggy will work pretty tho. However, science is magic until it's science, as they say, so give it a shot and let us know.


John

[Homer Hiers]

Well I'm currently using a Ocea Jigger for grouper, tuna, snapper, etc. It's got a slow gear ratio too but the decrease in line take up is traded for more torque, which I really appreciate when trying to turn big fish. I haven't caught a big grouper on that set up but I have caught big snapper, blackfin, cobia, kings, and big AJ's.

Well I will have to try that squidder with braid and upgraded guts and report back. Worst that could happen is I spend more money at mystic parts, haha

[JasonGotaProblem]

I'm all for pushing the limit to see how big of a fish you can catch on small tackle but....

Just kidding there's no but. Go for it! I for one vote for before/after pics.

[Shellbelly]

Whoa, step back from the edge,lol.

I for one vote for before/after pics.

I've never hauled a pallet of bricks off the bottom either.  I have landed some rather large fish that out-classed my gear.  Each time, I wished I would have had "a bigger boat" so to speak.

I agree with these two guys....caution and anticipation.  

[ReelFishingProblems]

When I lived in Tampa I used to take out my Extra Narrow 113H and it was always more than enough for good size grouper and ARS. I think an upgraded jiggy would be no problem. I have a squidder magnum and an upgraded XN squidder. I used that for mangrove snapper. I never hooked up with a grouper on the squidders though. I think the magnum might have been fine.

[jurelometer]

A Squidder has a 3.3:1 gear ratio.  I thought that the "low gear" Ocea Jiggers were more toward a 5:1.

If you want to use a Squidder, the 146 has reasonable  basic dimensions for slow pitch.  The most important upgrade for this type of fishing is improving the strength of winding  under load, which means an aftermarket stainless gear sleeve, plus upgrade the drag stack to carbon fiber.  Anything else is getting  into diminishing returns. 

Grouper don't pull hard for long once you get them away from the rocks.  If the size is small enough to  stop  with 8 lbs of drag, an upgraded Squidder will work, but wouldn't be my first choice because of the gear ratio.  A common SPJ retrieve requires a bit of a rapid wind on the lift.

Other than that, SPJ  isn't very demanding on a reel (just dropping and winding, no casting- generally not targeting jumbo fish), so any reel that is light enough to jig all day and easy enough to pack line evenly (narrow spool or levelwind) will get the job done.

If you want to go old school, I think that a Newell 220 makes for a very nice SPJ reel around the size of a 146 squidder. 
-J

[MarkT]

Yes, a Newell 220 is the size of a 146... by design it's a magnum squidder! If you want a magnum 145 just get a Newell 229 or if you want it all blinged out get a Pro Gear 251!  My old GS 525 from back in '89 is way better than any Squidder ever made!  You used to be able to get extra GS gears in 4.25:1 and 5.3:1 too.  I had the 4.25:1 in a 555 and the 5.3:1 in a 545 and 535.  I kept the 6:1 in the 525 and 525 mag.

[MarkT]

So what's everyone's opinion on slow pitch jigging with with a squidder? Could it handle a grouper when upgraded?

THe gear ratio is too slow and with that tiny spool will hardly pick up any line! THe dime size drags wouldn't help either!  I use an Accurate BV-300 for SPJ but that's a whole different class.

[Brewcrafter]

Mark - I'm guessing the reels you put the 6:1 sets in came out whenever wahoo were in the mix? - john