TLD for TUNA! ?

[fish_on]

I'm looking to buy a couple TUNA! reels but can't justify the Avet or Accurate's yet. I was looking at the TLD 20 single speed lever drag, or Tekota 600's. The 600's I could also use for salmon. I want to stay less than 170/each for reels but want something that will last a couple seasons before a rebuild. Any other suggestions?

[Tacklebuster]

Tekota 600's. They hold 420 yards of 50 pound braid and have been the sole reason why 47 tuna has died this year for me.

Don't leave home without em...

[flapbreaker]

Originally Posted by fish_on

I'm looking to buy a couple TUNA! reels but can't justify the Avet or Accurate's yet. I was looking at the TLD 20 single speed lever drag, or Tekota 600's. The 600's I could also use for salmon. I want to stay less than 170/each for reels but want something that will last a couple seasons before a rebuild. Any other suggestions?

I really like lever drag reels. So simple to operate. I don't think the Tekota's are lever drag. They will work just the same though. You can get brand new TLD 20's off ebay for $125 pretty consistantly.

[Grady252]

Originally Posted by fish_on

I'm looking to buy a couple TUNA! reels but can't justify the Avet or Accurate's yet. I was looking at the TLD 20 single speed lever drag, or Tekota 600's. The 600's I could also use for salmon. I want to stay less than 170/each for reels but want something that will last a couple seasons before a rebuild. Any other suggestions?

Over the TLD, or Tekota, I would get the Torium 30, they are retail $179.... and e-bay 149.00

Very good reels, great for casting live bait, 6.2:1 ratio, and easy to work on. Lever drags are nice, but a star is not tough to use..... I use both.

[Nalu]

Fish On- I have to concur with Grady252.

First off- Don't get TOO hung up on Avet or Accurate. Top notch reels? Yes. Needed for OUR tuna? No.

In addition to the Torium, you might also look at the Daiwa Saltist. Both of these reels are star drag, but are open faced non-levelwind. The Saltist shares the same components as the Saltiga in a cast instead of machined frame. While levelwinds are certainly ok, non-level winds are a better alternative for a number of reasons.

[Paddler]

The Daiwa SLD 30 at $195 is an excellent reel. Holds 450 yards of 40# (or 350 yds of 50#) mono. I think it's a lot more reel than the TLD's, which seem to get more attention:



By the time you change the drag washers to carbon fiber the TLD's aren't a great bargain.

[Nalu]

Originally Posted by Paddler

The Daiwa SLD 30 at $195 is an excellent reel. Holds 450 yards of 40# (or 350 yds of 50#) mono. I think it's a lot more reel than the TLD's which seem to get more attention:



By the time you change the drag washers to carbon fiber the TLD's aren't a great bargain.

Excellent point Paddler. This is a good choice in a tuna reel.

[5 Salt]

Originally Posted by Grady252

Over the TLD, or Tekota, I would get the Torium 30, they are retail $179.... and e-bay 149.00

Very good reels, great for casting live bait, 6.2:1 ratio, and easy to work on. Lever drags are nice, but a star is not tough to use..... I use both.

Roger that.

Torium or Tyrnos 16 or 20's respectively.

[olybirds]

ive got a TLD 25 that I purchased online at River Marine Supply.


Reel alone is $99.00, the cheapest I found it anywhere.. They have everything from Avet's to Tiagras there, all at great prices.

Aslo check out the combo's. I got a rod/reel combo for $179, so it was like getting the rod for free.

Havnt used it for tuna yet, but it puts the hurtin on Halibut and BIG sturgeon.. I'll pop its Tuna cherry this Sat, and I'll repost feedback

[CATCH AND EAT]

If you are just starting out penn 320 or 321 work just fine. Kind of nice to count the passes as you let out line and have a system that putts gear just where you want it. Heck I have even trolled fish traps and tuna bites on salmon gear with ambasseduer 6500's and had the time of my life. What is fun about that is when you reel up the other gear you can cast the traps/bites out and hook up right away again without even trolling gear.

However the lever drags really are the bomb for the troll fishery. Avets, tld's work just fine. I have a takoda 700 in the mix and i have to say it is actually my least favorite reel.

[fish_on]

What is it about the Tekota 700 you don't like? Want to sell it? I have a couple 320's 330's and a 700. At $99.00 it's hard to pass on those TLD's.

[CATCH AND EAT]

Don't like the drag, the clicker just don't really care for it.

[flapbreaker]

Originally Posted by fish_on

What is it about the Tekota 700 you don't like? Want to sell it? I have a couple 320's 330's and a 700. At $99.00 it's hard to pass on those TLD's.

Looks like the $99 if for the TLD 15. You have to add $20 for the TLD 20 and $30 for the TLD 25. So Ebay is still a bit cheaper.

[fish_on]

Originally Posted by flapbreaker

Looks like the $99 if for the TLD 15. You have to add $20 for the TLD 20 and $30 for the TLD 25. So Ebay is still a bit cheaper.

Do you think you would need the 20? The 15 holds 450/20lb. How much line should I expect to use with tuna?

[flapbreaker]

Originally Posted by fish_on

Do you think you would need the 20? The 15 holds 450/20lb. How much line should I expect to use with tuna?

You know, I'm not sure. I'm wondering if the drags are smaller in the 15 and that would be the issue versus line capacity but I just don't know. Maybe someone else can chime in.

[Threemuch]

Hard to believe we ever got it done with a few Penn Senators.

My first DIY tuna trip was with four Penn 320Gti reels that I took the level wind off the night before. Never did put those level winds back on. They needed new drag washers after a season, but, heck that's just a few bucks.

Don't let a lack of fancy gold or silver reels keep you off the fish. It can be done with less. Much less.

[olybirds]

pricing must have changed a little. I got my TLD 25 over a year ago.

Ive got a couple more things from that place metntioned above, and shipping was always fast, and I thought it was a better solution than ebay should a customer service issue arise..

Id agree that the 15 or 20 should work well.. This 25 has a ton of line, and is a pretty big reel

The drag is suprisingly smooth too, for a lower end reel in its size.

[Freakwater]

Penn GLD20. Great reel for the dough. $159.99 at Charkbait with free shipping and mono.

http://www.pennreels.com/01_products...drag/gld20.htm

Freakwater

[StickFish]

Kurt makes a couple really good points - back in the day the Yellow Pole Ugly stick and the senator ruled the fleet - or so I've been told. So you can get it done with that combo without much difficulty. The next point he makes is the level wind - ya it is easier to keep the line level on the spool, but if that cog jams once and the line breaks you will soon see why folks don't generally like level winds - ya there are exceptions.

The Tekota is a pretty smooth reel, but it has a level wind. I've used one for halibut and it did a reasonable job, but I wouldn't use it for tuna.

The TLD, I've used on both butts and tuna and they do a decent job - BOE has equiped his boat with them. But I would follow Alantani's recommendation to replace the drag washers and grease up the reel before putting it into service.

I don't like reels with a ratio greater than 4:1 trolling for tuna. They have their place with jigs and other applications. I have one Penn 45gls and that reel @ 5:1 just isn't as nice to pull a smoking hot tuna back to the boat. The 225LD worked much better @ 4:1, same with the Avet JX, the Avet Ex Pro 30 was a dream and so was the Avet Ex 4/0 wide, Penn 10gld and Penn Baja Special performed perfectly as well.

Point being use what works - they all do - have fun out there

[TROPHY1]

Originally Posted by Paddler

The Daiwa SLD 30 at $195 is an excellent reel. Holds 450 yards of 40# (or 350 yds of 50#) mono. I think it's a lot more reel than the TLD's, which seem to get more attention:



By the time you change the drag washers to carbon fiber the TLD's aren't a great bargain.

I used The SLD for the first time this year, and it is heavy and Smoooth, worked great, used it on ;my short line the tuna peeled the line off and was as smooth a drag as I have used. Also used it at Hallibut hill and the retrieve rate is good even with 4lbs of weight. 80 lb sprectra 500+yards.
I also am using this year two Senator 4/0 that I greased the drag washers new from the box and they also worked well. I almost popped an older Penn3/0 tuesday as the drag heated up and started jerking. loosened the drag just in time to save it, the reel bearing cap was too hot to touch.
tuna tuesday was great as Seelicious posted earlier.

[FINZ]

I was thinking about taking the level wind off my reels (Penn 321) to get started as well. It is very difficult to remove the level wind?

Originally Posted by Threemuch

Hard to believe we ever got it done with a few Penn Senators.

My first DIY tuna trip was with four Penn 320Gti reels that I took the level wind off the night before. Never did put those level winds back on. They needed new drag washers after a season, but, heck that's just a few bucks.

Don't let a lack of fancy gold or silver reels keep you off the fish. It can be done with less. Much less.

[Tinman]

Like Threemuch said, don't let a lack of fancy tackle keep you from fishing. After all, we are talking about 20 to 30 pound tuna, which are the babies of the big-game world. Lever-drag reels are simply not necessary. Standard gear for albacore in So. Cal is 15 to 25 pound line on a star-drag reel for live bait fishing. These tuna are just not that big.

Almost any quality conventional reel will work, including old Penn Jigmasters, Squidders and Senators. Just make sure the drag washers are in good shape.

[Paddler]

The SLD's are way better than the TLD's. The TLD's have a canvas washer, and carbon fiber washers are ~$25 if I recall correctly. The SLD's aluminum frame is much stronger than the TLD's, and the SLD 20 is $185, as opposed to the TLD at just a bit over $145. The SLD is super smooth, and feels like quality in your hands. The TLD will work fine, it's just not a great value. There are several better choices out there.

You can buy a 6/0 Senator for less than the TLD, and it has the HT100 washers, of course. I love mine, simple, inexpensive, with greased drags I get 32# at max. They hold 450 yard of 50# mono, and have a lower gear ratio and bigger drags than the 4/0's.

[fishitis]

I use a TLD15 and Tekota 700 as my primary halibut and tuna reels. The TLD is better at tuna (lever, non-levelwind) and the Tekota is better at halibut. I usually have some inexperienced people on the boat and the TLD gives them fits or makes them sick from looking down all the time. Both reels work. If it's just for tuna, I would highly recommend the TLD15 - I like the open top better than the closed top of the TLD20. It can cast, too.

[Nalu]

Daiwa does indeed make a great reel for the money.

[Salty Walty]

There were a few of the Saltist and Saltigas at the SD Convention. They looked to be very nice reels and a good value for the price.