I want to experiment with the whole jigging craze and want to get a rod set up for jigging and bottom fishing for grouper and what not. I’ll be in the Keys for the next year so I’ll have easy access to fish all sorts of water from the 30 ft shallows on the reef to the deeper wrecks in 400 ft of water. I’ve got a 6’6" Shimano Trevala 50-100 lb jigging rod on the way and I’m just trying to make up my mind on a reel to fit. I plan to run 300-400 yards of 80 lb braid on the reel and am not looking for something crazy expensive, heavy, cheap, etc. There are A LOT of these smaller conventional reels with similar attributes so I’m looking for some advice one way or another. I’m trying to stay under $250 if possible.
I have a few questions…
What is the advantage to the narrow spool models?
Is there a reason to go for star drag over lever drag for bottom fishing/jigging besides the price?
I’ve read about upgrading drag washers. Is this a common practice or is it unnecessary?
High speed (~6.0:1) or Low Speed (~4.3:1)?
Some of the models I’m looking at are the Fin Nor Marquesa Lever Drag 16, Fin Nor Off Shore Conventional Star Drag 16L, Shimano Torium Star Drag 20, Shimano Tyrnos Lever Drag 12, Avet LX 4.6:1, Daiwa Saltist Lever Drag 30H, Okuma Cedros Star Drag 10, the new Penn Fathom Star Drag 25N, Quantum Cabo PTs Star Drag 20.
should have gone with the 5’8" XXH, trevalla. It is much better for running 7 oz jigs than the 50/80 rod (I have both) If you are going to use a dedicated bottom rod then don’t waste the money by spooling the whole reel with expensive braid. Fill the reel with cheap mono, and then top shot it with good braid. I have a Fin Nor 20, that is a beast! It has taken many scamps in 155’ and has only had the drag redone once. I still prefer a spinning reel to a conventional for jigging, and a Shimano Spheros is the best for the money yet. We have a Stella on the boat, but for nearly 1K it is awful expensive (the spheros was under $200). I have caught everything from wahoo to AJ’s to giant snapper on the Spheros and it is the bomb
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NMFS = No More Fishing Season
“Back home we got a taxidermy man. He gonna have a heart attack when he see what I brung him”
Capacity, retrieve, and drag are what you want. Many of the reels you mentioned will not give you the drag out of the box and they do not have a great retrieve… Retrieve really gets to be an important factor the deeper you go. Stella if you have the cabbage. I like spinners as well and the strongest jogging rod you have. I have several bottom combos that I like but for one, I would look at the fin nor 8500.
Narrow spools- the line lays in or near the middle of the spool without you even trying. On a wide frame reel you need to pay attention to the line lay while high speed jigging which is no good.
Answer- Narrow spool if truly a jigging reel
Star/lever- Star affords a thumb ■■■■■ to pay out more line, lever you need to move further. Although there are inherent difference in the way those drags work it won’t matter to you in the class reel you are looking at.
Answer- whatever fits your budget and style
The drag upgrade is for reels (like Toriums) that use Dartanium or other such nonsense. Call the folks @ SmoothDrag when you buy a reel and see if they have an upgrade. It will just be fiber replacements like the HT-100 in the Penns. Most of the reels your looking at will be fine out of the box.
Gear ratio- Don’t go 2-speed, to heavy. High ratio(6:1) is better for fast fish and fast jigging. Problem is that it doesn’t have the torque when loaded down on a wreck or heavy structure. You can reel fast enough with 4:1. Spool diameter place a role as well.
As a side note- Spinners are harder to jig with. If fishing for larger models that eat on the drop, it’s much harder to come tight trying to flip the bail as opposed to sliding the lever.
Head over to 360Tuna and pick up a OceaJigger2000 or maybe a Saltist 16-20.
I second pauls post I have the 58 xxh and you can honestly anchor the boat with that rod. I prefer spinning over conventional as well. I have Fin Nor, Penn 750ss, 750ssm, 850ssm, Battle, and two Diawa saltist all on 58xxh. My favorite right now for the money Its new but I like the battle. I have broken the bell off twice now but fixed both times. All in all we all know Fin nor has a great name it was my favorite but the battle is new so… U have to play with the new toys of course!! Good luck Chrs, I also have an extra Penn 750ss If you wanna try a spinning reel!! Give me a shout!!!
I took the advice and just picked up a 5’8" 80-200 lb Trevala. I had the feeling the other would be a bit light and don’t think I’ll regret going a bit heavier. The Tyrnos 20 seems like it’d be a good fit with the high line capacity, high speed retrieve, and decent drag. I figure if it comes down to it, the rod can double as a trolling set up as well. Any opinions on the Tyrnos 20?
i have a XXH Trevala with a Avet sx “Raptor” and its the best combo i have ever used but reel was a little expensive, but love the size of it, and have dropped it in the spread in the spring and have caught some gaffers with it. Also Sells turned me on to an Okuma Cedros spinner. I bought a okuma speed jig combo with the cjs80 and MH rod. can’t say anything bad about that combo, and the price was awesome right at about $200 for the combo…
Chris, personally for what your doing I would grab a spinning reel (or Avet)!! You can use it for a pitch bait bottom fishing as well!! Plus probably less expensive. Avet is by far hands down I feel the badest reels made (IN AMERICA) but expensive!! When you headed back down south?? Tyrnos I have heard good and bad!!!
I took the advice and just picked up a 5’8" 80-200 lb Trevala. I had the feeling the other would be a bit light and don’t think I’ll regret going a bit heavier. The Tyrnos 20 seems like it’d be a good fit with the high line capacity, high speed retrieve, and decent drag. I figure if it comes down to it, the rod can double as a trolling set up as well. Any opinions on the Tyrnos 20?
yella bote
black motor
I’ve never scaled a tyrnos for max drag, but they advertise 16.5lbs, which isn’t enough. I’ve you’re going to be dropping at the hump you’re gonna need alot of braid and alot of drag. I like my Avet HXJ for stuff like that. 2 speed is nice, and its light enough to use all day. Narrow spool doesn’t wobble much compared to regular or wide reels which is nice, and plenty of drag.
FWIW, if you’re looking at spinners, I wouldn’t but another Fin Nor offshore, the anti reverse sucks, IMHO. The spheros is nice.
I’m pretty set on a conventional set up for jigging and bottom as I already have a few heavy spinners for casting and what not.
As for the Tyrnos 20, I believe the Strike Max Drag is 16.5lb and the Full Max Drag is 33 lb. I am looking into new drag washers as well before I buy to see if there’s an upgrade available.
The Fin Nor Offshore 20L or 30L seem like good reels as well with a **** load of line capacity, 10-12 oz lighter than the Tyrnos, advertised max drag of 35 lbs and the Fin Nor name. It’s also available in the 6.1:1 or the 4.3:1 which would allow me to go with the lower gear to get more torque.
I’m not worried about the reel being too large for the rod as it’s a very stout and heavy duty rod. If anything, I don’t want a reel that’s too small.
I’m pretty set on a conventional set up for jigging and bottom as I already have a few heavy spinners for casting and what not.
As for the Tyrnos 20, I believe the Strike Max Drag is 16.5lb and the Full Max Drag is 33 lb. I am looking into new drag washers as well before I buy to see if there’s an upgrade available.
The Fin Nor Offshore 20L or 30L seem like good reels as well with a **** load of line capacity, 10-12 oz lighter than the Tyrnos, advertised max drag of 35 lbs and the Fin Nor name. It’s also available in the 6.1:1 or the 4.3:1 which would allow me to go with the lower gear to get more torque.
I’m not worried about the reel being too large for the rod as it’s a very stout and heavy duty rod. If anything, I don’t want a reel that’s too small.
I really like the Avets as well.
yella bote
black motor
Keep in mind that a reel that is well suited for jigging may work well for traditional bottom fishing, but the opposite is not necessarily true.
Jerk on a jig for the better part of the day and your tennis elbow will feel differently about having a reel that is “too big” vs. “too small” for your rod.
One last thing to keep in mind, is that just because the reel can make the drag (upgraded or stock), if the anti-reverse isn’t built to handle it, it’s useless…
I agree with most of what’s been said above, but I have a different opinion on some of it.
It ultimately comes down to what you prefer just like when chosing electronics or even a boat.
Sometimes price is a big factor. To me it’s value. I look at what I do offshore as something that costs me a lot of time and money, and the 200 bucks difference between two rod/reel combos is peanuts. I still don’t like to waste money though. I want to see the value there, and if it is there, then I will outfit my whole boat with really nice stuff even though I can only personally fish with one rod at the time.
A couple things.
1)Drag pressure on the box isn’t as good of an indicator of a reel’s power as you might think. This is like buying a pickup based on rated horsepower. A truck with more HP is typically going to be better than a truck with less BUT torque is the true measurement of which truck will WORK the best. 30lb drag isn’t 30lb drag if it’s sticky or if it surges. If it scales out at 30lb, it doesn’t always do that when fishing. Some reels have jerky drag, and the shock can go way over 30lbs and the surges can go way under 30lbs. You need consistent, usable pressure- very much like torque of a truck engine- it’s usable power… not something measured when an engine might even be redlining or something unrealistic for comparison’s sake like that.
The Avet HX5/2’s will not hold up to me fishing them at their max rated drag for long. I learned this and do most of my cranking without going all the way into full power. If I ramp all the way into full power and crank 100’s of times per trip in low gear, then I will eat up the pinion bearings. So again, 28lbs on the leverdrag HX is not the same as 28lbs on a heavier lever drag that may be able to max out at 50lbs but is only being fished at 28lbs. Make sense?
2)star drag vs lever drag
star drags will blow thru anti-reverse systems at an astonishing rate if you truly fish them hard. You will have handles turn backwards on you quite often if you are fishing
Some of the models I’m looking at are the Fin Nor Marquesa Lever Drag 16, Fin Nor Off Shore Conventional Star Drag 16L, Shimano Torium Star Drag 20, Shimano Tyrnos Lever Drag 12, Avet LX 4.6:1, Daiwa Saltist Lever Drag 30H, Okuma Cedros Star Drag 10, the new Penn Fathom Star Drag 25N, Quantum Cabo PTs Star Drag 20.
Of these, I would first consider the Avet (but JX instead of LX), then the Fathom 25N or Saltist 30N (although not able to fish more than 65lb test very well)…
I don’t have any knowledge of the Cedros or Marquesa, and the only knowledge of the quantum saltwater products is of their spinners. The 3 or 4 boca’s I’ve got have been great. Hold up very well to hard offshore fishing.
You should look for a used Penn 113HN or Daiwa Sealine narrow frame. Those are tough but not ridiculously expensive star drag options.
I just bought one of Phin’s Trevala rod with Avet JX reel and used it on Saturday for jigging and bottom fishing. I can tell you that it is the best, most efficient setup that I have used. Don’t let it’s light weight fool you. This thing can pull up the fish from 150’ with ease. Thanks for passing this on Wes.
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