Back-up reels/rods for Swordfish using 30 lb. class.

RiskTaker · 10-14-2004, 10:25 PM

Pescadors:

I have heard of multiple people stating that it may be sufficient to use 30 lb. class reels for swordfishing providing that you do it smart. I have heard a lot of talk about Shimano TLD - 30s...

I was just taking a look at spooling capacities of several reels. I happened to note an interesting thing....

See: http://www.bhptackle.com/doors/webpa...e_ID=28&DID=18 for the same information that I am seeing.

If you want to spool up some 30 lb. class reels using hollow core spectra, I happened to notice that you can load a lot of line onto a Penn 30 W reel.(The actual numbers may be reduced with longer mono topshots.)

As a matter of fact, based upon this data source, it is 1000 yds. versus 700 yds. (For TLD-30 as well as others).

This data is barking at me, and suggesting that if I would like to have some 30 lb. reels for general fishing, yet still wanted to be prepared to use these for swordfishing as needed, it is the obvious choice.

If this situation "is you" , please reply with any pertinent things that you may have learned.

There may be some deals out there for Shimano TLD-30s, but having some extra line capacity seems to be a very compelling alternate if you want to use thes reels for swordfishing as well.

P.S. - Capt. Bouncer's talk on the subject matter this evening was yet again, very informative. Bouncer's demo rod was a nicely configured 50. But I tell you, he and Bobby Boyle really hammered on the safety aspect, while out there. ( I have not yet swimmed with current for 13 miles so am not sure if I could). Keep a cyalume stick, etc. attached to your person: it does not have to be lit up.

But have fun most of the time.

RiskTaker

Mike · 10-15-2004, 07:28 AM

Hey Risktaker, I was also at Bouncers seminar. Next time I'll have to meet you... Capt Bouncer and Bobby gave a great seminar. Priceless!

Mike

hannaman · 10-15-2004, 09:55 AM

Risktaker,
Sounds like your living up to your screen name. With a TLD 30 set-up I would say sure it can be done, and you will catch probably 3 out of 5 fish. But on the other hand you can't put much more than 10 pounds of drag on the reel w/ 30 lb. line. If you get a big fish over 150 that screams your drag at 10 pounds for more than a couple hundred yards your line will most likely part. You have to sacrifice some good yards of line also if you are using a topshot and then the wind-on. Main line connected to topshot connected to wind-on connected to swivel connected to leader sounds like a few to many connections.
We may be catching the majority of small fish under 150 pounds but you need to be prepared for the big one ( Elvis) for when he comes in your spread. Prepare all your rods as if you are going to catch a 400 pound fish. Thats the excitement of Swordfishing, you never know when the big mama is going to eat and dump your spool.

RiskTaker · 10-15-2004, 10:32 AM

Mike,

Ok, deal for next time. I thought I saw Bobby B. recognize you in the audience for all the good and Hard work you have done on the multiple forums. I was in front but I did not see you when I looked to the back, otherwise I would have introduced myself then.

Yep, Capt. Bouncer cetainly made his point that swordfishing is not that difficult to do. Just refining your technique to get past some basic configurations and you will be catching swordfish.

RiskTaker

Mike · 10-15-2004, 10:44 AM

Cary - Bouncer fishes only 30's and 50's. He is very IGFA, if you know what I mean. However he packs 80lb briad on the 30's. Gets about 700 yards. This is why he uses 30's.

Bouncer made some excellent points I'll share with you.

Look for Cary and I to take the Darkside Tournament

Mike

RiskTaker · 10-15-2004, 11:31 AM

Hey Cary:

I picked up on your comment about the number of connections, from baited terminal to the bitter-end. How are you configuired? Mono main to wind-on?

You know, I never gave it too much consideration about the "risk" of interconnections when dealing with super-filaments mixed in-line (loop to loop spectra or finder-trap options). I have always tried to be consciencious with multiple swivel connections and be careful with in-line cigar weight connections.

Well for swordfishing I really do not want to be too reckless. Maybe my handle is more appropriate for the Cave-diving activities, but generally I am a safe person, not a wild man. The setups of the 30 lb. reels were not intended as my primary swordfishing lines. Hopefully between myself and other fishing buddies equipment we will have a complete spread with 50s and lots of spectra line to-boot. But just in case I wanted to send out another line, as back-up, I wanted to have a rod that would not be an embarrassment if a pretty good size "sword"fish was on.

I forgot to insert one of those important details on my thoughts for the 30 lb. reels. I was contemplating spooling up with 80 lb. hollow core (almost 1000 yds. on a Penn 30W or 700 yds. on the others). So the drag limit is not on the line but on the limits of the reel. I imagine I could pump up the full drag settings on a smaller reel to have reserve drag for "Elvis".

Still going down this path, would you then possibly recommend a direct connect from spectra to wind-on and skip the "elastic" top shot for this smaller spool configuration? I did here you say rig them all big, but I did want to have some smaller reels for the other near-shore fishing days.

I am trying to keep my trolling rod collection down to 4, so I wanted to have a versatile spread, since my spinners are also back-ups for reef trolling, until I upgrade again.

Thanks for your advice, RiskTaker

kai akua · 10-15-2004, 01:31 PM

if you are going to use your 30 for trolling purposes i would put on a top shot of mono for the strech properties. if it wont be used for trolling go spectra all the way to the wind on (loop to loop).

R

Captain Joe McGivern · 10-15-2004, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike

Look for Cary and I to take the Darkside Tournament

Mike

HA HA HA HA HA I DONT THINK SO BUDDY...U TO GIRLS BETTER WATCH OUT FOR ME

Litetackleredneck · 10-15-2004, 05:39 PM

Risktaker- 30lb tackle is plenty suffecent for most swords (500lbs and smaller). I reel loaded with 30lb mono, especially a 30W is plently fine. No braided line is needed. As long as you have over 700 yds of line you'll NEVER get spooled. I know some people will disagree.
As for what hanna said about 10lb drag max, i think thats abserd. Most 30lb lines today, especially Sufix, highly over-test. 20+ lbs of drag is no problem.
So if you want to swordfish with 30lb, i say you'll have no problem, and have alot more fun.

Darkside · 10-15-2004, 06:06 PM

30lb for most swords (500lbs and smaller) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHa thats the funnest thing i've heard all year. Good luck catching one 500 on 30lb i just think you can't put enough heat on a fish that big to hurt him with 30lb tackle. Yes you can catch them on 30 but do you want to get the fish of a LIFE TIME and be under gunned. Don't go to gun fight with a SWORD. Look i made a funny.

hannaman · 10-15-2004, 06:14 PM

If you have a lifetime free supply of 30 pound maybe. You'll be good for one nice fish and then you will have to respool your streched out and kinked up mono.

If your going Swordfishing to count on 100 pound fish you might as well stick with Sailfishing. The big fish are out there and will show themselves to be bigger and bigger each season. I bet we will see many fish over 300 pounds before February 2005.

kai akua · 10-15-2004, 06:45 PM

its time to put the sport back in sport-fishing :!: anyone one can crank on an 80 in the chair or holder. 50 stand up is damn fun. a 30 stand up, HELL YA!

more power to the guys that use the light tackle. its way more of an acomplishment and one hell of a better memory. if you use anything bigger than 50 off of florida you might as well put an electric motort on it, and flip the switch, till the big one comes. dont get me wrong, the big one will come. but with the majority of the fish in the 100lb area, i would have some 30's as tip rods in a heart beat.

just remeber thier is a diffrence in tackle selection between the charter boats and private boats out thier.

RiskTaker · 10-16-2004, 08:19 AM

Thanks for all that good discussion and opinion-ations. Good discussion stuff. Since you all have a pulse, can fog a mirror, and are obviously inflicted with sword fever, you will all qualify for that car loan to pick up a new Dodge Magnum, if you like that style of macho toy.

Yeah, I'm not going to a gunfight with a band of Swordlords without my back-ups, even if they're only top-gun pea shooters.

Hey Darkside, those are my funnies! Yeah, let's go try to catch any swordfish in the 300-500 lb. range with our fishin' stuff. I am not picky: anything in that range will be just fine and dandee.

My decison is not final yet, so it is a good opportunity to hear from y'alls opinions and stuff.

I just priced out a 30 combo, Avet reel w/ Crowder stand-up, spooled up + flouro wind-on for about $525.( oops - correction, add another $125 for wind-on guides: this changes things a bit). When I setup my last two 50s they were about $900 each. So, that is the price delta, mas o menos, if you are putting together the comparison to do it in one shot. So I could just about get two more setups for, ~ $1200 vs. 1800 . Christmas is coming, jingle, jingle, but this is not pocket change for me.

Keep up the good discussions. Any takers to open up a 50/80 forum topic. It could be very interesting, once again.

RiskTaker

Litetackleredneck · 10-16-2004, 11:24 AM

Darkside, just because you cant doesn't mean good anglers can't.
Kai Akua, im with you 110%. Anything over 50 is B.S., and i think sportfishing is no longer that. Its not a sport (to most people), but at least some people still like to have fun.
Hanna you have probably never caught a 100 lb sail out here. I'm 10 times happier with my 104 sail out here than my 331 sword... 0n 30

FinalPoint · 10-16-2004, 02:45 PM

There he goes again...slasher, wake up.

Captain Joe McGivern · 10-16-2004, 04:25 PM

104 lb atlantic sail? was that using a live bait?If it was then that would make u a live bait googan....

Litetackleredneck · 10-16-2004, 05:16 PM

final whats wrong... need someone else to talk?
chum no it was a rigged hoo under a small hawian eye

FinalPoint · 10-16-2004, 07:33 PM

104 lb sail, awesome. 300+ sword on a 30, sweet. But it's an attitude that pisses me off.

Colonel Klink · 10-17-2004, 08:13 AM

104 Atlantic sail? 331 sword on 30? Pictures????????????????????????????

Litetackleredneck · 10-17-2004, 08:47 AM

pictures are no problem. how many you want? And no i dont have them on the computer.
The attitude is because most the people on this forum cant swallow there pride and admit that they havent or CANT do things others can.

10-14-2004, 10:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
RiskTaker Grander Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pompano Beach, Florida, USA Best Catch: Had one once, then it took the boat away Posts: 1,962	Back-up reels/rods for Swordfish using 30 lb. class. Pescadors: I have heard of multiple people stating that it may be sufficient to use 30 lb. class reels for swordfishing providing that you do it smart. I have heard a lot of talk about Shimano TLD - 30s... I was just taking a look at spooling capacities of several reels. I happened to note an interesting thing.... See: http://www.bhptackle.com/doors/webpa...e_ID=28&DID=18 for the same information that I am seeing. If you want to spool up some 30 lb. class reels using hollow core spectra, I happened to notice that you can load a lot of line onto a Penn 30 W reel.(The actual numbers may be reduced with longer mono topshots.) As a matter of fact, based upon this data source, it is 1000 yds. versus 700 yds. (For TLD-30 as well as others). This data is barking at me, and suggesting that if I would like to have some 30 lb. reels for general fishing, yet still wanted to be prepared to use these for swordfishing as needed, it is the obvious choice. If this situation "is you" , please reply with any pertinent things that you may have learned. There may be some deals out there for Shimano TLD-30s, but having some extra line capacity seems to be a very compelling alternate if you want to use thes reels for swordfishing as well. P.S. - Capt. Bouncer's talk on the subject matter this evening was yet again, very informative. Bouncer's demo rod was a nicely configured 50. But I tell you, he and Bobby Boyle really hammered on the safety aspect, while out there. ( I have not yet swimmed with current for 13 miles so am not sure if I could). Keep a cyalume stick, etc. attached to your person: it does not have to be lit up. But have fun most of the time. RiskTaker

10-15-2004, 07:28 AM	#2 (permalink)
Mike Grander Join Date: May 2004 Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL Boat: Coming Soon! Best Catch: 250lb Swordfish Posts: 1,323	Hey Risktaker, I was also at Bouncers seminar. Next time I'll have to meet you... Capt Bouncer and Bobby gave a great seminar. Priceless! Mike __________________ Fishing Reports

10-15-2004, 09:55 AM	#3 (permalink)
hannaman Charter Captain Join Date: May 2004 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Boat: 32 Donzi w/ twins Best Catch: 300+ pound Swordfish club, still. Occupation: Charter Boat Captain Posts: 672	Risktaker, Sounds like your living up to your screen name. With a TLD 30 set-up I would say sure it can be done, and you will catch probably 3 out of 5 fish. But on the other hand you can't put much more than 10 pounds of drag on the reel w/ 30 lb. line. If you get a big fish over 150 that screams your drag at 10 pounds for more than a couple hundred yards your line will most likely part. You have to sacrifice some good yards of line also if you are using a topshot and then the wind-on. Main line connected to topshot connected to wind-on connected to swivel connected to leader sounds like a few to many connections. We may be catching the majority of small fish under 150 pounds but you need to be prepared for the big one ( Elvis) for when he comes in your spread. Prepare all your rods as if you are going to catch a 400 pound fish. Thats the excitement of Swordfishing, you never know when the big mama is going to eat and dump your spool. __________________ Captain Cary Hanna New Lattitude SportFishing Charters 954-907-0967 Florida Fishing Charters

10-15-2004, 10:32 AM	#4 (permalink)
RiskTaker Grander Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pompano Beach, Florida, USA Best Catch: Had one once, then it took the boat away Posts: 1,962	Incognito Mike, Ok, deal for next time. I thought I saw Bobby B. recognize you in the audience for all the good and Hard work you have done on the multiple forums. I was in front but I did not see you when I looked to the back, otherwise I would have introduced myself then. Yep, Capt. Bouncer cetainly made his point that swordfishing is not that difficult to do. Just refining your technique to get past some basic configurations and you will be catching swordfish. RiskTaker

10-15-2004, 10:44 AM	#5 (permalink)
Mike Grander Join Date: May 2004 Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL Boat: Coming Soon! Best Catch: 250lb Swordfish Posts: 1,323	Cary - Bouncer fishes only 30's and 50's. He is very IGFA, if you know what I mean. However he packs 80lb briad on the 30's. Gets about 700 yards. This is why he uses 30's. Bouncer made some excellent points I'll share with you. Look for Cary and I to take the Darkside Tournament Mike __________________ Fishing Reports

10-15-2004, 11:31 AM	#6 (permalink)
RiskTaker Grander Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pompano Beach, Florida, USA Best Catch: Had one once, then it took the boat away Posts: 1,962	Thanks for your feedback Hannaman. Hey Cary: I picked up on your comment about the number of connections, from baited terminal to the bitter-end. How are you configuired? Mono main to wind-on? You know, I never gave it too much consideration about the "risk" of interconnections when dealing with super-filaments mixed in-line (loop to loop spectra or finder-trap options). I have always tried to be consciencious with multiple swivel connections and be careful with in-line cigar weight connections. Well for swordfishing I really do not want to be too reckless. Maybe my handle is more appropriate for the Cave-diving activities, but generally I am a safe person, not a wild man. The setups of the 30 lb. reels were not intended as my primary swordfishing lines. Hopefully between myself and other fishing buddies equipment we will have a complete spread with 50s and lots of spectra line to-boot. But just in case I wanted to send out another line, as back-up, I wanted to have a rod that would not be an embarrassment if a pretty good size "sword"fish was on. I forgot to insert one of those important details on my thoughts for the 30 lb. reels. I was contemplating spooling up with 80 lb. hollow core (almost 1000 yds. on a Penn 30W or 700 yds. on the others). So the drag limit is not on the line but on the limits of the reel. I imagine I could pump up the full drag settings on a smaller reel to have reserve drag for "Elvis". Still going down this path, would you then possibly recommend a direct connect from spectra to wind-on and skip the "elastic" top shot for this smaller spool configuration? I did here you say rig them all big, but I did want to have some smaller reels for the other near-shore fishing days. I am trying to keep my trolling rod collection down to 4, so I wanted to have a versatile spread, since my spinners are also back-ups for reef trolling, until I upgrade again. Thanks for your advice, RiskTaker

10-15-2004, 01:31 PM	#7 (permalink)
kai akua Hooked Up Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Califorina, Ft. Lauderdale & Hawaii! Boat: um, Fishing... Occupation: mate/student/mate Posts: 168	if you are going to use your 30 for trolling purposes i would put on a top shot of mono for the strech properties. if it wont be used for trolling go spectra all the way to the wind on (loop to loop). R

10-15-2004, 05:39 PM	#9 (permalink)
Litetackleredneck Hooked Up Join Date: May 2004 Location: Ft. Lauderdale Occupation: HS student, and employee at Kingsbury Tackle Posts: 115	Risktaker- 30lb tackle is plenty suffecent for most swords (500lbs and smaller). I reel loaded with 30lb mono, especially a 30W is plently fine. No braided line is needed. As long as you have over 700 yds of line you'll NEVER get spooled. I know some people will disagree. As for what hanna said about 10lb drag max, i think thats abserd. Most 30lb lines today, especially Sufix, highly over-test. 20+ lbs of drag is no problem. So if you want to swordfish with 30lb, i say you'll have no problem, and have alot more fun.

10-15-2004, 06:06 PM	#10 (permalink)
Darkside Hooked Up Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 380	30lb for most swords (500lbs and smaller) HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHa thats the funnest thing i've heard all year. Good luck catching one 500 on 30lb i just think you can't put enough heat on a fish that big to hurt him with 30lb tackle. Yes you can catch them on 30 but do you want to get the fish of a LIFE TIME and be under gunned. Don't go to gun fight with a SWORD. Look i made a funny.

10-15-2004, 06:14 PM	#11 (permalink)
hannaman Charter Captain Join Date: May 2004 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Boat: 32 Donzi w/ twins Best Catch: 300+ pound Swordfish club, still. Occupation: Charter Boat Captain Posts: 672	If you have a lifetime free supply of 30 pound maybe. You'll be good for one nice fish and then you will have to respool your streched out and kinked up mono. If your going Swordfishing to count on 100 pound fish you might as well stick with Sailfishing. The big fish are out there and will show themselves to be bigger and bigger each season. I bet we will see many fish over 300 pounds before February 2005. __________________ Captain Cary Hanna New Lattitude SportFishing Charters 954-907-0967 Florida Fishing Charters

10-15-2004, 06:45 PM	#12 (permalink)
kai akua Hooked Up Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Califorina, Ft. Lauderdale & Hawaii! Boat: um, Fishing... Occupation: mate/student/mate Posts: 168	its time to put the sport back in sport-fishing :!: anyone one can crank on an 80 in the chair or holder. 50 stand up is damn fun. a 30 stand up, HELL YA! more power to the guys that use the light tackle. its way more of an acomplishment and one hell of a better memory. if you use anything bigger than 50 off of florida you might as well put an electric motort on it, and flip the switch, till the big one comes. dont get me wrong, the big one will come. but with the majority of the fish in the 100lb area, i would have some 30's as tip rods in a heart beat. just remeber thier is a diffrence in tackle selection between the charter boats and private boats out thier.

10-16-2004, 08:19 AM	#13 (permalink)
RiskTaker Grander Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pompano Beach, Florida, USA Best Catch: Had one once, then it took the boat away Posts: 1,962	You're all qualified for that car loan. Thanks for all that good discussion and opinion-ations. Good discussion stuff. Since you all have a pulse, can fog a mirror, and are obviously inflicted with sword fever, you will all qualify for that car loan to pick up a new Dodge Magnum, if you like that style of macho toy. Yeah, I'm not going to a gunfight with a band of Swordlords without my back-ups, even if they're only top-gun pea shooters. Hey Darkside, those are my funnies! Yeah, let's go try to catch any swordfish in the 300-500 lb. range with our fishin' stuff. I am not picky: anything in that range will be just fine and dandee. My decison is not final yet, so it is a good opportunity to hear from y'alls opinions and stuff. I just priced out a 30 combo, Avet reel w/ Crowder stand-up, spooled up + flouro wind-on for about $525.( oops - correction, add another $125 for wind-on guides: this changes things a bit). When I setup my last two 50s they were about $900 each. So, that is the price delta, mas o menos, if you are putting together the comparison to do it in one shot. So I could just about get two more setups for, ~ $1200 vs. 1800 . Christmas is coming, jingle, jingle, but this is not pocket change for me. Keep up the good discussions. Any takers to open up a 50/80 forum topic. It could be very interesting, once again. RiskTaker

10-16-2004, 11:24 AM	#14 (permalink)
Litetackleredneck Hooked Up Join Date: May 2004 Location: Ft. Lauderdale Occupation: HS student, and employee at Kingsbury Tackle Posts: 115	Darkside, just because you cant doesn't mean good anglers can't. Kai Akua, im with you 110%. Anything over 50 is B.S., and i think sportfishing is no longer that. Its not a sport (to most people), but at least some people still like to have fun. Hanna you have probably never caught a 100 lb sail out here. I'm 10 times happier with my 104 sail out here than my 331 sword... 0n 30

10-16-2004, 02:45 PM	#15 (permalink)
FinalPoint Hooked Up Join Date: May 2004 Location: Lighthouse Pt., FL Boat: Contender 36 Fisharound Best Catch: 1183 lb. Swordfish Occupation: School Posts: 883	There he goes again...slasher, wake up.

10-16-2004, 04:25 PM	#16 (permalink)
Captain Joe McGivern Charter Captain Join Date: May 2004 Location: MIAMI FLORIDA Boat: 32 fountain twin 275 verados 60+mph Best Catch: 488lb sword, 1070 Black Marlin, 720 Blue Marlin,203 Yellowfin Tuna Occupation: Captain Posts: 707	104 lb atlantic sail? was that using a live bait?If it was then that would make u a live bait googan....

10-16-2004, 05:16 PM	#17 (permalink)
Litetackleredneck Hooked Up Join Date: May 2004 Location: Ft. Lauderdale Occupation: HS student, and employee at Kingsbury Tackle Posts: 115	final whats wrong... need someone else to talk? chum no it was a rigged hoo under a small hawian eye

10-16-2004, 07:33 PM	#18 (permalink)
FinalPoint Hooked Up Join Date: May 2004 Location: Lighthouse Pt., FL Boat: Contender 36 Fisharound Best Catch: 1183 lb. Swordfish Occupation: School Posts: 883	104 lb sail, awesome. 300+ sword on a 30, sweet. But it's an attitude that pisses me off.

10-17-2004, 08:13 AM	#19 (permalink)
Colonel Klink Lines In Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 96	104 Atlantic sail? 331 sword on 30? Pictures????????????????????????????

10-17-2004, 08:47 AM	#20 (permalink)
Litetackleredneck Hooked Up Join Date: May 2004 Location: Ft. Lauderdale Occupation: HS student, and employee at Kingsbury Tackle Posts: 115	pictures are no problem. how many you want? And no i dont have them on the computer. The attitude is because most the people on this forum cant swallow there pride and admit that they havent or CANT do things others can.

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