Which Overhead?

[kbark]

hi everyone,

first post. i've been enjoying this site way too much over the past couple of months. need to do more work.

i also need some advice on an overhead reel. i'll be primarily using it for kingfish (downrigging) and currently have a 6 foot rod rated 7-15 kg. I was thinking of using 10kg line.

the reel i'm looking at is a shimano tld 20. it's a lever drag and i think it holds 700m of 20lb. my first question is the size of the reel. i won't be going outside very often so i was wondering if the tld 15 might be better. 700m seems like a lot of reel in closed waters. the second issue is that it doesn't have a level wind and i'll have to thumb it across. this seems like a hassle and means i'll have to go mono so i don't cut my thumb up. those issues aside, this reel comes highly recommended for its class and only costs $225.

any thoughts would be much appreciated.

also thinking that i could go a little lighter and longer in the rod? 7 foot 7-10kg? any recommendations ther?

cheers,

kit

[Guest Jewel]

The TLD 15 would be more than adequate particularily if you are using braid (which wont cut you up laying it across the spool).

The outfit in question seems pretty heavy for an inside one. Just as reference for you I am using a Shimano Dam Raider and a Curado 200BSF spooled with 6kg fireline.......... you work hard, but its taken a lot of kings so far up to 65cm.

Additionally that price on the reel is a bit high you can find much better.

[kbark]

thanks Jewel. should I spend a bit more and get a level wind?

[Guest danielinbyron]

i just went through all these questions with a guy who has been land based game fishing for thirty or more years and has landed some significant catches so i listened..... he wasn't into level winds on overheads and was into big spools ... the reason for the no level wind factor is he is into catching big yellow fin and marlin off the rocks and said it was too much work on the gear it heated up or died in the ass from the speed just when ya didn't want it to..... having said that i've never heard of anyone having a problem with a charter special...but if you watch the vid marlin on the rocks where they're poring water on there rollers to cool them down cos they are litteraly smoking , its not hard to imagine it happening.......

definately a lever drag....the advantages are obvious.... with those big unstoppable fish like tuna etc all you have is line if your on the rocks you can't chase them..,.. when you hook up you hope that they head out into open water so you've got some chance at tuckering them out before they swim around a corner.. they swim around 60kms an hour at top speed which i think equates to a minute a kilometre.....so line capacity..... my final point with the smaller non level wind shimanos is i don't quite get the point.... why not get something you can cast with...like an abu or a calcutta..laying line is easier to get used to than ya first think and a good trick is to under spool your reel until you do....

eventually i settled on a tld 25 as a happy medium ... i've been happy with it on rocks and boat and man bottom line

they're only $179 now...

[big_steve]

i just got a shimano charter special ld 2000

cant fault the baby been out bottom bashing and trolling

absolute recommend it,

cheers steve

[Carpe]

G'day Kit,

I've had a TLD15 for more years than I can remember.

Recon I must have got it when they first came out.

I've used it off the rocks on LBG sticks and in the boat on a 6' 10kg stick.

It has never let me down and I've never been spooled.

It is now loaded with 20lb braid.

I'm with Jewel, if your chasing kingies, mainly inshore, and want to put it on a 7-15kg stick

then the TLD15 is likely to give you a better balanced outfit.

Take your rod to the LFS and try the 15 and 20 on your rod to see which feels better.

Good Hunting,

Carpe.

[stevefish]

Q. does the level wind on a charter special operate in freespool and on drag? i dont think so but not sure.

if im correct this means the line will come off the spool at an angle turn a sharp corner thru the line guide then thru the rod guides, not good on a fast running fish. line will not be laid back on the spool the best either.

you may as well learn to guide the yourself, its not hard and if you go serious game fishing you have to do it then.

charter or tld , either way they are bulletproof.

you may as well stick with a 15 if you go that way, sounds like you wont be using a harness, dont need the extra capacity, and extra weight is never wanted.

either reel can be used for 15 kilo or maybe more.

[kbark]

thanks guys. i took the rod down and both the 15 and the 20 felt fine. went with the 15 since i'm not going to be heading outside very often and i'll get 500 metres on the 15 anyway. thanks for all the advice. good to know i didn't need to worry about the level wind and that tlds are good value.

saturday week will be the christening. just woke up from a dream where i was catching squid. i've got problems.

a quick follow up question...do i need to worry about using a double if i'm using 30lb fireline and a 40lb flurocarbon leader? will a double uni knot do the job?

cheers.

[Mondo Rock]

Kbark, if you're going to fish from a boat with fireline then you need to use a double. Reason being that fireline, whilst extremely strong if you pull it, is quite easily frayed and/or broken if it rubs against anything sharp, like the side of a boat. When you're landing a kingy you will eventually (and probably sooner rather than later) have the fireline rubbing up against your boat and it's at this time that having a double is necessary.

I've never caught a kingy myself, but after many barra trips up north I've seen several instances where the fish has rubbed against the boat at the end of the fight, broken one strand of the double, and then been landed with the remaining strand still intact. Obviously these fish would have been lost with only a single line attached to the leader.

Besides, learning to tie a bimini is a thoroughly satisfying experience!

Mondo

[kbark]

thanks Mondo,

i will be fishing from a tinny. if i use a 40lb flurocarbon trace of about 3meters, would I still need to double it?

cheers and thanks for the advice,

Kit

Kbark, if you're going to fish from a boat with fireline then you need to use a double. Reason being that fireline, whilst extremely strong if you pull it, is quite easily frayed and/or broken if it rubs against anything sharp, like the side of a boat. When you're landing a kingy you will eventually (and probably sooner rather than later) have the fireline rubbing up against your boat and it's at this time that having a double is necessary.

I've never caught a kingy myself, but after many barra trips up north I've seen several instances where the fish has rubbed against the boat at the end of the fight, broken one strand of the double, and then been landed with the remaining strand still intact. Obviously these fish would have been lost with only a single line attached to the leader.

Besides, learning to tie a bimini is a thoroughly satisfying experience!

Mondo

[Warpig]

Go the double. Biminis are easy as to tie in heavy Fireline.

[kbark]

Go the double. Biminis are easy as to tie in heavy Fireline.

ok, cheers

[Mondo Rock]

3 metres of trace is pretty long - would probably be long enough to cancel out the need for a double.

The problem comes, however, when the trace starts to be whittled down over time through tying on and cutting off rigs, clearing off damaged line etc. What do you do when the trace is down to 2 meters? Or 1 meter? Do you cut the whole trace off and start again?

With a good sized double this will not be an issue. You can hold on to the trace until it gets down to about 1 foot before you have to replace it (depending on the type of fishing - I'm sure the kingy fishermen would want more than just 1 foot of mono trace).

Mondo