Fishing Reels ??

[CaptJRivers]

Just wanted a little input on a few reels.. What are your thoughts?

Toruim ?

Takota?

I was going to King fish with the reels

I use my Speedmaster for offshore much.. so I really don't need a reel for offshore fishing. Remeber I caught my first Wahoo on my Speed-master spooled with 400+ yards of 20lbs.. It handled it just fine.

I have 2 Speed-Masters and I'm looking to buy two more reels for my business.
I like light tackle but if we get a good fish on then I want a good reel that can handle it.

I was looking at the Tekota's maybe the Tekota 600 for light tackle King fishing. The level wind will help with my clients not being able to put the line back on.

Remember that I'm not tournament fishing most of the kings are in the teens and a few 20 lbers and just a few over 30 lbs each year.

I might also buy a couple of Toruims for bigger fish like Wahoo's and Bigger Kings and like you said Scott. I could bottom fish with it to.

The weight difference in the two is 7oz's, the Torium is a little bigger.
I just thought it would be to much reel for the smaller kings and spaish that I would be catching.
What are your thoughts??

Just wanted some opinions on this. Thanks Capt. John
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[tubeN2]

Those are pretty good reels Skipper. Have you ever looked into the Saltist reels?? They have a bigger bearing to handle a little more torque and the side load that most of the Greenhorns subject the equipment to. They are available in both 5:1 and 6:1 ratios.

As far as the level wind goes, I had many problems with the Tekotas. Have you ever seen the Okuma Convectors?? They have a very good series of levelwind reels. Otherwise the Penn GTI series are also very good for strong levelwind reels.[cool]
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[CaptJRivers]

No I've never seen the Saltist Reels. I don't think they sell them in our area.

What do you think of the Shamino Speed-masters reels?

One Reason I like the Tekota reels is the level wind for my clients so that the line goes back on right.

I like the Torium reels, but I just think they are a little big for med sized kings.

I think the Torium is good for , big Kings, Wahoo and bottom fishing, but like I said I don't get out that far much and I don't want my clients holding a big reel or using a reel that is over power to bring in med sized kings... I want them to have some sport fighting the fish.

Also I don't see the difference in the Speed-master than the Torium, except the price and that one is made of metal and one plastic.
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[tubeN2]

The Saltist is made by Diawa. It is a very good reel. It is very comparable in size, weight and handling as the Torium. I have a few in my arsenal.

The Okuma Convector line is rather nice too. They have sizes from the 30 series, 40 series, 50 and 60 series. They are a level wind and backed by one of the nations best warranties.

You may even want to consider the Okuma Catalina series. They have the narrow and wide spools.

I also use the Avets but can't use them in photos at this time.

I am currently sponsored by Okuma and work almost full time fishing fresh and Salt water. Some may think of me as a part timer but I do spend around 6 hours a day in the fresh water in 2 shifts and 20 hours in the salt on the weekends on 2 different days.

I am helping Okuma better their product from what it was in the past. They have come a long ways over time and are getting better.[cool]
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[CaptJoeVerdino]

I have two turium reels spooled with 20 lb mono, they are used only for kings. To date I have had no problems with them and they are about 4 years old.
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[CaptJRivers]

[font "Arial"][size 2]Thanks for the input, I bought two of the Takota 600's and two of the Torium 30's that way I have variety.
I'm thinking about getting the Takota 700 or 800 for a bigger reel for bottom fishing.

Later
Capt. John[/size][/font]
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[tubeN2]

How deep do you guys fish out there?? What is the maximum depth allowed? I'm just trying to figure out if only CA is messed up with the regs on depth restrictions.[cool]
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[CaptJRivers]

[font "Arial"][/font]If you mean how deep do I fish for kings it varies.

Most my king fishing is just offshore anywhere from 1/2 mile off the beach to 3 miles offshore. We don't have to go far to get them.

The water depth I'm catching my kings is 20ft to 60ft. We also catch them in our pass and in the bays, we usually don't start catching them in the bays until later on in the summer, like around sept. While bottom fishing deeper offshore a lot of anglers catch kings by putting out a drift line when they are anchored up and from time to time a king will grab the bait. In the early summer the smaller Kings are caught in close and the bigger one's farther offshore. Then in Aug. adn Sept. the bigger fish start to show up closer in 30 - 40 lb fish.

Now for bottom fishing again we don't have to travel far, it gets deep off of Pensacola fast. 6 miles out it's 80 - 90ft.

Just a few days ago a couple of anglers in our area caught a wahoo 6 miles offshore which is very rare, usually you have to be in 200+ ft of water to hook them, but the water is has been very clear as we haven't had much rain.

To get to 200 ft of water we have to travel 30 miles out. That is where the 600 fathom shelf is. after 30 miles it starts to drop off quickly, 200, 300, 400, 600, and so on. It goes from 300 to 600 in only a few miles in that area, this is where a lot of our anglers catch Marlin, Tuna, Wahoo, and Mahi -Mahi.

Hope this answered your question.
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[tubeN2]

Thanks Capt. That is a good answer.

Over here, we reach some deep waters a little quicker. There is a nice shelf at just 2 miles out that makes a drop from @15ftm to a 100ftm.

Unless we are fishing pelaegics, we can only fish a maximum of 60ftm. Later in the year, they drop us to 40ftm and then 30ftm for the last 2 months.

It is kind of a good thing though. We have over 400 species to fish for at different depths. Some people will never know what is out there unless they go deeper and others will never know other species unless they shorten their scope.[]
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[CaptJRivers]

[font "Arial"][size 2]Yea, I have a buddy who lives down in south Fl, on the Atlantic side and he's in 1000ft of water a mile or two offshore. It's craze we have to travel 50 miles out or farther to reach those depths.

I have to travel 8 miles from the boat ramp to get to our pass and then 2 - 8 miles out for Kings and a little farther for Snapper. So here in the Panhandle we burn a lot of fuel fishing, which can be costly.
The day I caught my Wahoo, I ran a total of 80 miles round trip $$$ [shocked].

Sometimes I hate going to the gas pump to fill back up.
Oh well thats fishing.
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[tubeN2]

It takes money to make money[cool]
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[HunkaBunka14]

you made a really good choice with the tekota, a friend of mine uses it and it is an excellent reel. ive never used the torium but im sure that its a nice reel aswell, seeing as most shimano reels are good performing and top quality. how the reel been so far?
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[CaptJoeVerdino]

50 miles for 100ft that's what I get here in the South West Florida area. 1000 ft is so far out I could easily go around the Keys to the Atlantic for a shorter trip.
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