# Surf Casting Reel Recommendations...



## Wolf6151 (Jun 13, 2005)

I just bought a Tsunami Trophy TSTSC 1002H 10', line weight 20-40, and lure weight 4-6 oz. surf casting rod ($60.00 at Academy) and would like some reel recommendations. I've been considering the Penn 545GS, Penn Jigmaster 500L, Abu Garcia 9000, Daiwa Sealine-X 40HV, etc... Any other reels that I should give serious consideration to and is this the proper size reel for this rod? I'll probably load up with 25 lbs. test mono or 100 lbs. test/20 lbs. diameter Power Pro. Pros and Cons of reels and recommendations please...


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## pelican (May 22, 2004)

Wolf, my wife runs a Squidder on her 10' Tsunami, but I have a 10' Tica (similar line class, etc) and much prefer the Jigmaster. Very good casting reel, inexpensive (especially if you get a good old one off eBay), and holds a good amount of line (I use 25# mono on that one as well). 

The wife also uses a 555GS on a heavier Lamiglas ... nice reel, but it needs Power Pro backing under the mono to get enough line ... doesn't cast as well as the Jigmaster or Squidder, so the 545 or 535 would probably be better for that on your Tsunami. Heard really good things about the Daiwa (I think Jolly Roger has one) but haven't used them myself or the Abu's ... pretty much stick to Penns for the sand.

Oh, and I saw your other post ... levelwinds are not the way to go ... slows down the reel speed when casting and your mainline/leader connection will probably hang up.


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

I'de say go with a 140 squidder or my personal fave is the jigmaster,,,just mag it out and have fun.


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## LongRodMaster (Mar 5, 2005)

Jigmaster, 545, 555, The squider and abu are great casters but line capacity and drag are esential and not far off in cast ability from the others. As stated before stay away from levelwinds. Also I would not sujest a lever drag either the drag is really to snoth for the surf when you have a high sea condition or when the weed starts rolling in.


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## Jolly Roger (May 21, 2004)

I would go with a Sealine-X 30SHV, it is a great casting reel off the self and is a good fit to that rod.

If you get a Dawia sealine SHV or a Penn GS series, rember to set the brakes. Both reels come with centrafuge braking systems. But you have to set the brakes on the Penn, the Dawia you have to install them when new.


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## Wolf6151 (Jun 13, 2005)

I bought a reconditioned Jigmaster 500 at FTU today for $40.00. I know there are better reels on the market but I was trying to get into this inexpensively and may move up to better equipment in the future. I'll probably spool up with 80 or 100 lb. Power Pro. I use PP on my baitcasting reels with a mono backing of about 10 yds. and want to know if it's necessary to use a mono backing on the Jigmaster as well or if there's a better way to spool PP on this reel. Thanks.


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## gundoctor (May 20, 2004)

Wolf6151 said:


> I bought a reconditioned Jigmaster 500 at FTU today for $40.00. I know there are better reels on the market but I was trying to get into this inexpensively and may move up to better equipment in the future. I'll probably spool up with 80 or 100 lb. Power Pro. I use PP on my baitcasting reels with a mono backing of about 10 yds. and want to know if it's necessary to use a mono backing on the Jigmaster as well or if there's a better way to spool PP on this reel. Thanks.


I don't understand why people keep wanting to load line that is strong enough for the drag on a 14/0 on a reel that is only strong enough for 40# at most(and that is pushing it a bunch). 
Is it a macho thing about how heavy your line is or what?
Jigmasters are great reels, if you use them for what they were designed for. Thats 30# class line. The frame and drag ain't built for double that and 100# PP ain't going to handle any bigger fish than 30# mono would on that reel. It ain't going to be anymore abrasion resistant than 30# mono either.

A 500 Jigmaster will hold 400+yds of 30# mono and that is enough to catch any fish a jigmaster is up to.
If you have to have more than 400yds of line, put 300yds of 50# PP on the bottom with a topshot of 30# mono. That will get you out past 600yds. If that ain't enough line, get a 4/0.
If your jigmaster doesn't have a pin in the arbor of the spool to tie the line to, you'll need a few feet of mono backing to keep the power pro from slipping.
Make [email protected] sure you get the PP on the reel tight as hell, or it will dig into its self under the pressure of a fight, and jam the reel.
The only place I use PP is on narrow versions of reels like the 501 and 506 Jigmasters. Those reels have the same 30# drag and frame as the wider 500 and 505 Jigmasters. So I use 300yds of 50# PP and a topshot of 30# mono to get the total line length up to what the wide reels will hold. I use 50# PP under the 30# mono so that if I decide to break off a fish for some reason, the mono should break first. I very seldom get any of the PP off the spool, unless I get a good fish that takes some major drag.

BTW: A couple of magnets will help your jigmaster in the casting department.


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## Freshwaterman (May 21, 2004)

Thank you Gundoctor,,,,I like the way you say it like it is..


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## Mustad7731 (May 23, 2004)

*Jigmasters*

I agree with GD on on most the stuff...On my Jigmasters I have 50 spectra
with a 50 mono topshot... 50 is the absolute max you want to put on a 
Jigmaster...The Jigmaster is not a 4/0, it WILL NOT handle a 400 yd run on
50 lb line...
I use the spectra on my reels as much to save a trip if I loose a couple 100
yds of line due to anything...you can still fish comfortably without concern
that you will loose that once in a lifetime fish....
Mustad7731
Jackie


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## fluidation (May 16, 2005)

I am wanting to get a daiwa shv, just not sure about which one. I would prefer the 50, just because of line capacity, but dont know about castability. Does anyone know how the larger shv's (40 & 50) cast comapred to the smaller ones (20 & 30).
Mark


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## surfcowboy (Jun 29, 2005)

I have a question how do you attach PP to mono.


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## Mustad7731 (May 23, 2004)

I have never used Power Pro....But I have used a blood knot...double the spectra...
tie the knot...snug it up, But DO NOT overly tighten it {you will pull the spectra out}.
I then put a drop of superglue on the knot...Have never had a knot failure...
Mustad7731
Jackie


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## Stinger (Aug 13, 2005)

This is the link JR sent to me awhile back. Took me a few tries to get it right but its not to hard to learn.http://www.stren.com/knot11.htm


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## gundoctor (May 20, 2004)

surfcowboy said:


> I have a question how do you attach PP to mono.


I like a modified shocker knot. To tie it, start with the standard shocker knot. http://www.leadertec.com/tipsandtechniques/fishing_knots/knots_shocker.html
then take the tag end of the larger line and thread it back through the loops in the smaller line. With Power Pro, use at least 10 turns. You can trim the tag ends very close without causing problems.
So far this knot has not failed me.


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## Wolf6151 (Jun 13, 2005)

According to Penn the Jigmaster is rated for 275 yds. of 30 lbs. mono, the reason I said 100 lb. PP was because it's the diameter of 20 lbs. mono and I could probably get about 325-350 yds. of it on the reel and then add a top shot of 60-80 lbs. mono. I know the drag of a Jigmaster won't hold up to 100 lbs. test line, but the drag would be set far less than 100 lbs.. If I spool up with 50 lbs. PP it's the equivelant diameter of 12 lbs. mono, how much 50 lbs. PP will a jigmaster hold and what lbs. mono top shot do you guys reccommend? Also how do you attach PP to the spool on a Jigmaster? Does it require a mono backing? Thanks.


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## gundoctor (May 20, 2004)

First, Penn under rates their reel capacities a bunch, so don't pay much attention to how much they say it will hold. Pay lots of attention to what size line they recommend.
You can get all of a 1/4# spool of line on a jigmaster. Thats 440yds of 30# Big Game, according to the label. I'd recommend you don't load the last 40 or 50yds because the spool gets a little too full. 400yds of 30# IMNSHO, is plenty for a casting reel. I have decided(after thinking about it since last night) to set up one jigmaster size reel(GS555) with 300yds of 50# PP and a topshot of 30# mono. That should give me a little more fish fighting cushion when I yak out baits with this rig. Total line length should be somewhere around 600+yds. If it works out, I may do a 505 jigmaster and a 140 Squidder the same way.
I use about 10yds of 50# mono as backing under the PP. If a reel has a stud in the spool arbor, I skip the mono backing and tie a loop in the PP that drops over the stud. All the backing is there for, is to prevent the PP from slipping on the spool.


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## bigfost (Oct 11, 2004)

I recently set up my 500 as a yakking reel. I have 150 to 200 yards of 50# PP, followed by about 400 yards of 30# Big Game. I can yak out 300 yards (at a guess, I have trouble judging distance off the beach) and still have plenty of line on the reel to handle most anything that's going to come along.

Incidentally, I joined the PP and the BG with a blood knot. I used six turns on the BG side and 10 turns on the PP side.


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## word-doctor (Sep 20, 2005)

I wanted to echo what gundoctor said about (mis)using reels. On another board a guy wrote to say he'd never buy another Abu, because the new ones were junk. He was fishing muskies using a 5500 with 50 or 80lb braid, mostly throwing huge (footlong) floater/divers. Well, no surprise, that kind of usage will pull apart a reel designed for 1/4 oz. jigs and 12lb test mono. Funny thing is that he was mad at the company, because "their old reels had worked fine" 20-30 years ago; I somehow doubt he was putting 50lb line on them!


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## Big Sherm (Jul 8, 2005)

Man if you using that 10 Tsunami rod I'd recomend going with either the Jiggmaster, Squidder or the Diawa shv 20 or 30. The Shv 40 and 50 are way to much reel for that rod if you plan on getting a decent cast at all. I'd say the 555gs is a little over the top as well. You may get some good out of it, but with the way the Tsunami's are built I'd go with the 12' rod. Don't go any higher the 6500 Abu either or you'll just throw the balance way off and not get a good cast to much. Just my half a nickel


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## Wolf6151 (Jun 13, 2005)

How long should the top shot be and what lbs. test line?


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## Big Sherm (Jul 8, 2005)

hey Wolf I'd go 2 full cranks and to the tip of the rod and back down to the reel and that's enough for good casting. As far as what size line to use.take the amount of ounce you are going to cast, multiply it by 10 than turn that number into lb.'s. 
Ex. 8 oz.'s total= 80 lb. test. top-shot
Now if your going for a shark set-up and yakking the bait I'd go with at least 50 yards.


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## gundoctor (May 20, 2004)

Wolf6151 said:


> How long should the top shot be and what lbs. test line?


Minimum length for the topshot, is how far you can cast. Going from mono to braid during the cast, is asking for trouble. For practicality, I put a 300 yds spool of braid on the bottom and just fill the reel on up with mono and don't worry about exact length of the topshot.
I like 30# mono for the topshot on a casting rig with a jigmaster.

What Big Sherm is talking about is the shock leader. Its added to the top of the topshot to keep you from breaking off your weight during the cast. I use a piece of 80# mono for that. I also generally tie on a new shock leader for each days fishing. The bottom is hard on shockleaders.


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## surfcowboy (Jun 29, 2005)

One more question what do yall recomend for a 114h and a 114hlw if pp how much will they hold and what do you recomend to top shot it with.

i'm bidded on 50lbs. PP that is 1500yards on ebay.


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## gundoctor (May 20, 2004)

For a 6/0, 50# mono top shot over 500yds of 80# braid. Works for either the standard or wide. 
With that set up, you should be able to handle as big a fish as a 9/0, loaded with 50# mono, would be able to. The total length of line would be about the same and the drags ARE the same.


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## Mustad7731 (May 23, 2004)

*Spectra to Mono Rule of Thumb*

Most of the spectra and spectra blends are about 1/3 the diameter of the
mono equivilant...So if your looking at how much a Jigmaster will hold...
The label says 275 of 30lb so if you just put 30 spectra it should hold about
800 yds...Years ago I put 720 yds of just 30 spectra on a Jigmaster and left
enough space to add a 50yds of mono topshot...
I don't think I'd do that now I'd probaly stop with 400 yds of spectra and 
a couple hundred of mono topshot...
Mustad7731
Jackie


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