# Tuna Jigging Reel



## ksong (Jun 30, 2004)

Here are my guidelines to choose a tuna jigging reel.

1. *max drag*

It is simple. More drag, shorter fighting time.
My starting drag is about 22 - 25 lb. I should be able to land under 100 lb tuna within 5 - 15 minutes. 
Check your jigging reel whether it has at least 24 - 25 lb drag at strike. 
When you target tuna over 200 lbs, reels which can produce over 30 lbs drag at strike is recommended.

2. *gear ratio*
When jigging, many fishermen believe higher gear ratio reel is better for tuna jigging. I found the optimum gear ration for jigging and fighting tuna is 4:0 - 4.9:0. My favorite tuna reel Satiga40 is 4:9:1 and JM PE reel is 4:0.

3. *Two-speed vs Single-speed reel*
I prefer single speed reel to two-speed reel.
I tested Accurate 600 two-speed for three years extensively and caught lots of tuna with it. But I found that jigging with 6:1 gear ratio reel is very tiring compared to 4:1 gear ratio. 
Even for 200 plus tuna, I can fight more efficiently with single speed with 4:1 - 4.9:1 gear reel like JM PE reel, Saltiga 40 or Ocea JIgger 4000P than two speed reels as high speed is too high and low speed is too low in case of most two-speed reels. I saw so many guys never use low gear when fighting tuna with two-speed reels. 

4. *Star drag reel vs Lever drag reel*
I loved star drag reels in the past.
It cast great and it is very easy to handle.
My favorite star drag reel was Saltiga40/50. It has right gear ratio (4.9:1). it is light (about 25 oz), it has very smooth drag with max drag of 24 - 25 lb and strong enough to land upto 200 lb.
But when I fought a cow in 250 lb range on a jig with the reel on a long range boat out of San Diego, the reel got really hot and the handle got seized. But the real problem was I couldn't shorten fighting time with only 25 lb drag. Two years ago, mighty Ocea Jigger 5000P( Japanese version of Trinidad50) was completely destroyed by a big bluefin in NC.
Nowadays, all my jigging reels are lever dag reel as bigger tuna over 200 lb are common. 
If you target only 50 - 150 lb tuna, star drag reels are fine.

5. *line capacity*

Most tuna under 100 lb takes about 100 yards or less on 25 lb drag and under 200 lb tuna takes about 250 yards or less on 25 lb drag.
So as long as you have about 400 yards line which can handle 25 lb drag are good enough for any tuna under 200 lb.
When you target bigger tuna in 200 - 300 lb, you need at least 400 yards of line which can handle 30 plus lb drag.


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## BullyARed (Jun 19, 2010)

Great info! THANKS.


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## Ex Boat Capt. Carp (Jul 19, 2011)

Thanks for the information. always look at your posts to see what you have to say about the jigging world.


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## hog (May 17, 2006)

Wonderful information Kil....


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