08-31-2012, 02:10 PM
Greetings folks. My name is Adam. I live in Cali.
I’ve fished many times just casually (e.g. on the side of a lake, off a pier on the beach, etc.), so I never really paid any attention to what kind of rod or reel I bought. Now I want to get into deep sea fishing (e.g. for large fish like tuna) and I’m seeing that the equipment is a bit more important.
Just last week my wife purchased for me as a birthday gift an Okuma CJ-80S reel and Okuma 601M spinning/jigging rod (she was told by a sales rep that these would be good for my purposes). I have no clue if these will suffice.
I have done a lot of reading about fishing equipment and the explanations are plenty, but none of them go into much detail. So if you folks would be kind enough to take the time to answer mine, I’d really appreciate it.
1. I know that baitcasting reels are better for big game fish, but I’m more familiar with using spinning reels and would prefer to stick with them.....even if it makes the job of catching big fish a little tougher. What sort of “numbers” am I looking for in a spinning real that can handle big game fish? That is, how strong a fishing line does it take? How much of that strength of fishing line can it take? How much drag? What numbers are considered adequate for catching big fish?
2. And what about the rod? Just looking at my Okuma Cedros 601M and I can see that it’s too scrawny a rod for catching 100lb tuna, even though it’s rated for 30-65lb test line.
3. I understand what drag is, but what I’m wondering: many of these reels can take (braided) 80lb line, but they have only 30-35lbs of drag. Even though the line is strong enough, how can you pull on a 100lb fish with it when the spool gives way after only 30-35lbs of force?
4. I noticed that I cannot find any specs on the Okuma CJ-80S regarding the use of braided line. Does this mean that the reel cannot use braided line optimally?
Your help guidance would be much appreciated!!
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I’ve fished many times just casually (e.g. on the side of a lake, off a pier on the beach, etc.), so I never really paid any attention to what kind of rod or reel I bought. Now I want to get into deep sea fishing (e.g. for large fish like tuna) and I’m seeing that the equipment is a bit more important.
Just last week my wife purchased for me as a birthday gift an Okuma CJ-80S reel and Okuma 601M spinning/jigging rod (she was told by a sales rep that these would be good for my purposes). I have no clue if these will suffice.
I have done a lot of reading about fishing equipment and the explanations are plenty, but none of them go into much detail. So if you folks would be kind enough to take the time to answer mine, I’d really appreciate it.
1. I know that baitcasting reels are better for big game fish, but I’m more familiar with using spinning reels and would prefer to stick with them.....even if it makes the job of catching big fish a little tougher. What sort of “numbers” am I looking for in a spinning real that can handle big game fish? That is, how strong a fishing line does it take? How much of that strength of fishing line can it take? How much drag? What numbers are considered adequate for catching big fish?
2. And what about the rod? Just looking at my Okuma Cedros 601M and I can see that it’s too scrawny a rod for catching 100lb tuna, even though it’s rated for 30-65lb test line.
3. I understand what drag is, but what I’m wondering: many of these reels can take (braided) 80lb line, but they have only 30-35lbs of drag. Even though the line is strong enough, how can you pull on a 100lb fish with it when the spool gives way after only 30-35lbs of force?
4. I noticed that I cannot find any specs on the Okuma CJ-80S regarding the use of braided line. Does this mean that the reel cannot use braided line optimally?
Your help guidance would be much appreciated!!
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