Been there.....simple answer is get quality reels that can convert to other stuff. My advice, use the Avet LX's for tuna troll & Halibut and the Avet MX series for jigging and bottomfish. Dual purpose is the way to go, then all you're doing is changing rigging. Put 50-lb (YELLOW!) braid on both sets of reels then attach a good swivel. All of your change out rigs for different species is set from the swivel back. Yellow braid is easier to see for you when driving the boat and when lines are crossing.

Do yourself a favor and put a rubber washer between the braid and the swivel. It will save the ceramics on the rod tips from customers who don't pay enough attention to reeling. High quality reels have high quality drag/reel systems = broken tips.

I used high dollar rods for a while but learned that a good $60 Shimano rod will last just as long as a Calstar in the hands of a novice. I recall my opinion specifically changed when a client tried to cast a 2-speed LX on a $400 rod for no good reason. It all went to davey jone's locker on a tuna trip. alm:

The only rods I would splurge on were Trevala style rods for jigging and bottomfish.

tc

 

I agree with all of that.:flag2:

 

Shimano Torium 16 could do double duty.

For dedicated trolling a good work horse reel is a Shimano TLD 15.



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I would not use avet for halibut, your clients may not do well without levelwind on deep drops. I tried it once and never again but they will definitely double for salmon

 

Accurate... the best reels I have ever owned for tuna fishing and I own allot of reels

 

Accurate reels are second to none. get the Valiant for bait and jig and a Fury 600 for trolling. Avets are great reels as well.

Accurate also has a new star drag reel called the Tern, this my be a good way to go also.

Rods: I am a Calstar fan and a United Composites fan.

 

There are several reels that fit your needs. Here are things to stay away from. Don't take anything (well most) here as a bad thing.

I love my 2 speed reels, you don't need to spend the extra $ for them.

Lever drag reels are nice but take some retraining. Don't get hung up on either LD or star drag, both have their strong and weak points.

Some reels require more maintenance than others and you do not want to be "fixing" reels on the water, I have done it. A bit of pre use service and occasionally opening them up, depending on use, is a good idea. Avet reels have issues but they are easy to work on, Accurate reels have issues but are not as easy to work on. Older Diawa reels fished and fished and fished, the newer ones not as well but they are still good reels. My go to reel for albacore, YT and YF to 75# is a Avet MXJ but I have been slowly moving back to Penn reels. The Penn Fathoms are hard to beat for the price and I love my FTH25NLD2 but for your needs a 2 speed reel is money misspent.

If possible stay away from levelwind reels, in my opinion the Shimano Tekota reels have the toughest LW and are proven halibutt reels but all LW reels have issues. I get a lot of LW reels it to fix with destroyed LW parts when people think LW is a good thing for albacore.....and keep your fingers clear of the moving parts. A drop of oil on the LW worm gear every day helps. BTW, I work on several Shimano Tekota 700 reels (LW) that are used for halibut and they hold up well but not for charter uses.


For most uses high speed is not needed or wanted, halibut reels should be 4:1 (mine are 3.5:1), salmon reels no higher than 4.5:1, live or dead bait albacore reels should be 4:1 to 4.5:1. Albacore jigging reels should be fast with a lot of inches per crank, IPC is more important than gear ratio. I prefer at lest 40" per crank for YT yoyo fishing and albacore on iron. The Shimano Thorium 16 and Trinidad 16 reels have 46" per crank.

I would go with Shimano Thorium 16N reels for albacore jigging and Penn Fathom LW reels for salmon trolling. For bottom fishing the Penn Warfare reels are a good "low price" reel at less than $100 each. Avet HX or HXW RAPTOR reels would be a good choice for halibut, mine are all 2 speed and in this "need" you might consider spending the extra $ for the 2 speed Raptor reels. I would not consider any non Raptor Avet but will not get into the reasons why here. Diawa 450 or Penn 113H both hold up, the Diawa a bit better, and both make good mid depth (600' and up) halibut reels. I'm not sure if Diawa still sells the 450 and Penn's 113H reels are made in the PRC.
Listen to Tailchaser on rods, I never liked to see clients abusing $200-$400 rods, especially mine.

Whatever reels you end up with a end of the day wash down and mid season servicing will extend the life of your reels, learn to service your gear if you don't do it now.

 

Thanks for the input I really appreciate the replies. I knew I would get some good options to start with with all the knowledge on this board. I am going to start researching some of the options referred, and purchase a few different reels to try out.

 

Another vote for Shimano Toriums. Tough multi- use reels that don't break the bank and if your client bangs one up or dumps it overboard you won't be crying too much. They have a higher gear ratio for quicker retrieves. Quality reel.

 

They have a higher gear ratio for quicker retrieves.

The trend to go higher gear ratios is a big mistake for many applications, 4:1 is better for most uses than 5:1 and higher. High speed is needed for yoyo and some iron fishing and inches per crank (IPC) is more important than gear ratio. Several smaller high speed reels have less IPC than lower geared reels that have spools with a larger circumference.

 

Riveratt,

Accurate all the way.

Two years of free service (they don't even charge me return shipping) is awesome- essentially I get functionally new reels for free for two years.

We have run the Fury's and BV's and both are great.

You will not find smaller, lighter reels that can still hold up to big fish.

PM me if you want info on their guide/charter deals.

Mike C

 

My only complaint of the TLD-15 is the drag getting wet. They have a sealed drag by design but not in reality. I don't know how water gets in them but it can.


For swim baits and live bait conventional reels, the TR2000-LD is really nice and doesn't break the bank. Folks will say level wind reels can't take tuna fishing but this reel can for the purpose I mentioned. If you want, you can remove the level wind system, I've heard of people doing that. The only down side is a slower retrieve than some reels but that lower gear helps put pressure on fish. It's a compact reel with big gears and drag.

 

The first tuna I hooked fishing bait on a TR2000-LD tore the wire level-wind about 30 degrees off plumb, and immediately jammed on the frame, stripping the pawl and worm gear simultaneously and breaking off the fish. The reel worked OK after ripping the remains of the level wind off with a pair of pliers. I ended up giving it away to a fresh-water home after replacing rusted bearings several times. Even with daily rinses, the handles have a habit of corroding at the knob, eventually just allowing the knob to break free.



They do have decent drag capacity, and are smooth enough once greased.

 

Yeah Accurate is good..Make sure you have no intrusion of salt water at all. The engineering is so tight that any intrusion will hamper your reel. I have done the same thing as you guys buying gear for customes use here and in Mexico. I don't like the price fixing that shimano does but, I can take them out of their boxes all the way to 50w and use them. and abuse them..For customer use..I'd go shimano..

 

Chuckarhead: Daily rinses are what ruins a lot of reels. They aren't made to have water on the inside and any reel will fail with regular dunkings. I can't believe how much people spend on parts and stuff (time cleaning) because they think a hose down is somehow good for a reel. I don't deal with rust and I don't buy reel parts because I take care of them.

 

The above is super important.

Hosing down your reels forces salt from the outside to the inside.

Wipe your reels down with a rag and they will last a lot longer than if you hose them down.

Mike C

 

I have a spray bottle with about 20% saltaway I use on my reels then wipe and a little oil.. Seems to work great..

 

Chuckerhead,

I don't think this dunking them is much better.

Around 8 years ago I got a freshwater washdown on my boat and on the way in my crew sprayed down all our Accurates.

A bunch failed (first time for me) and I called Accurate to see what was going on.

The guy I talked to told me not to hose them down or dunk them, pointing out the obvious (except to me) that water pressure on the outside pushes the salt inside the reels when it becomes saltwater again.

He said that I should use a rag with water and salt away (or similar) and just wipe them down.

We started doing that and the failure rate went to close to zero.

Since we started running a charter, we do ZERO maintenance other than wiping them down with WD40 a couple of times a year to make them look prettier.

Another thing we started doing is keeping the rods down below when running (they used to get 4 hour salwater baths on rough or windy days)- this sucks when you see jumpers and have no rods out, but it has cut down on failures a bunch.

I got cheap one year and bought a bunch of Avets and that was a big mistake- touchy drags and the worlds WORST clickers.

There is an old Yiddish saying that "we are too poor to buy cheap things" and Avet sure proved that.

Even though I was paying retail back then, I had a fire sale on Avets and never looked back.

Accurates may cost a little more up front (depending on model) but 2 years of free service and higher resale more than make up for it.

Mike C

 

So that's the reason I get the evil eye when ever I take an Avet on a trip:doh: I get it now.

 

I grew up working the boats in So Cal. Keta gives good advice.

Boats often provide trolling gear. If that's the case don't waste your money. If not, any reel that will hold 60/80 lb mono and any matching rod will work. Often boats won't allow braid on the troll. Trolling is not finesse fishing.

You need a jigging rod. Braid is good and any quality 40 size reel will work. You can also double this rod as a heavy live bait set up. 65lb braid, splice, a few feet 40/50 lb leader. I prefer a star drag for this application but LDs also work.

If you buy a new set up I'd put the money in a live bait outfit. 25lb test is very common. You can use mono but most new reels are designed for braid. 50lb braid to a few feet of 20 to 30 lb flourocarbon works. LDs work very well in this application.

You need an assortment of live bait hooks (size depends on size of bait) and some yo yo iron.

They have been targeting BIG bluefin the past few seasons. If this is the case I'd ask the charter if they have the gear as its spendy. I've seen a boat stop on bruisers and half the boat hooked up. Every fish was lost. Skipper not happy. You need lots of 80/100 lb braid, 100lb flouro leaders, and a quality lever drag reel to hold it all. I almost got spooled with 600 yards of 80lb once. Reel was so hot you couldn't touch it.

Have fun,

 

I fog mine with Penn reel cleaner then wipe them down. Only when I started servicing my own reels did I understand why spraying them with water was so harmful.

 

I have the new Avet G2 and the clicker is way better then my old avets.
I haven’t got a change to use accurate reels yet.

 

how about a recommendation from the repair guy?

i think the best reel is the one that you can service yourself. you don't want to have to send them in to someone like me every 2 months. you want reels that will last years with before needing full service. be honest. just a fresh water rinse is all anyone ever does. and mostly it will be 10-20 pound albacore.

so with that in mind, the absolute last reel that i would recommend for a 6-pack guy chasing northern albacore is a reel with a full aluminum chassis. they require the most daily maintenance. for trolling, give your customers a 4/0 size two speed. a hotrodded shimano tld 20 two speed with 80 pound braid and a 60 pound topshot is my choice for trolling.

for bait, there are plenty of good 20 to 25 pound reels out there. my choice would be the shimano tld 15 lever drag or the now discontinued shimano tld star 15/30, appropriately hotrodded. daiwa still makes the old sealine graphites.

lastly, you can see one common thing in all the responses to your post. it's not about performance, it's about failure. these reels will all fail given enough time and enough water. if you will service yourself the reel that you pick, then you can pick anything!

here's what i use for old school albacore trolling.

 

A number of the responses above are from 6 pack guys, and their all using aluminum reels, I have one 6 pack friend that uses the TLD's, because he doesn't want good freespool for his clients. I service all of them, and as far as I'm concerned the aluminum (Avet, Accurate) reels have better free spool out of the box and better than the hot rodded TLD's, and hold up just as well.
I commercial day boat for Albacore and use Avet, Accurate, Shimano Tallica. All of these are Aluminum. I only service them once a year.

 

I love my Daiwa sea lines.
I have several of the 30 series that have lasted for over 15 years. They have been serviced a couple of times but I expect to get a few more years out of them.
Keta is going to be going through 3 of them for me.
I used to be able to do the service myself but with the neuropathy in my hands and my eyes getting bad I'll have him do them.
I just picked up a brand new one in the box off eby for less than $90
About $50 less than retail price at a sporting goods store

 

Oh yeah I wanted to mention that I use a very fine mist setting to rinse off the salt then I wipe them down with a rag that's been soaked in 3in1 machine oil and squeezed between paper towels to soak up the excess oil. I never use pressurized water for rinsing them off

 

I think I can find a whole book about that question. I tried a lot of options and did not find my favourite coil. Now I ordered and I am going to test the model ST2500HGFK.

 

What Alan Tani said. I have and can service all of them. Shimano Star 15/30's, TLD 15 lever, TLD 20's, and 20 2 speeds.

 

I spent 10 days on the Salt with Ken, of Ken's Custom Reels in Oceanside, Ca. He sells, and works on all brands of reels. What did he bring on the trip? Penn's. I had a Daiwa Saltist failure, and he loaned me a Torque 15 lever drag 2 speed. I used that reel for 95% of the fishing I did. Jigs and bombs weren't the ticket on this trip; live bait show. Landed an 85# striped marlin on it; 30# braid, 20# fluoro top shot (fish were skittish that day). Lots of quality reels, but I think I'll stick with what the guy who fixes and sells reels to the offshore crowd uses; Penn. My 2 cents.

 

I have been upgrading to Avet over the past few years, some Penn and Shimano and Diawa still in service.

 

When I was looking for two more troll reels I was looking at the avet HX 2 speed and Shimano TLD 20 2 speed. Alan recommended I pick up the TLD 20 2 speed off eBay and do the hot rodding as documented on his website. I couldn't be happier with the outcome, the TLD 20II is great in the albacore trolling role and can be had pretty cheap used. With a graphite frame, they should last forever and I have been told only require minimal maintenance. Other that pre service and hot rodding I have done nothing in terms of service thus far. I also have Penn fathom 40N-2 speed, can't say enough good things about these either.

For live bait reels, I'm still happy with Avet-they are dirt simple to work on and service. Also, if you grease the drags they have smooth drags like the rest of the options out there (when are they going to start factory greasing the drags?). Alan's website has good how to instructions. 50# braid on a MXJ5.8 G2 seems about right for live bait to me.

Accurate and Shimano talica are also nice, daiwa saltist lever drags are miserable to work on. Okuma Makaira and Penn torque are awesome but totally overkill for our fish. Penn fathom lever drag makes a great product at price point, 25N size.

I still think the Shimano Torium 16 is the best value jigging reel on the market, but you have to upgrade the drags to carbontex drag washers. Love my daiwa Saltiga star drag but I don't think I would ever drop $450 on one of I hadn't won it.

Shimano trevala TVC66MH is a pretty good value rod for both live bait and jigging.

Great thread, lots of good info here.

CB




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