devoker Posted November 22 Posted November 22 I bought an ultegra 2500shg but I wonder what I can do if I get spooled by a salmon or decent sized fish. I kinda realised I might have been better of if I got the 2500 but it is too late for that. I had it spooled with 8 lb kairiki braid, and not sure what I can do if a big fish start pulling all the line. Even when I tighten it all the way down I can pull drag with some force. Should I replace the drag washer with carbontex and hold the spool with my hand as tight as possible if I ever get spooled?
GoldenHourFishing Posted November 22 Posted November 22 No fish inside the harbour will spool you because when you are using 8lb braid it will snap before that happens. Also hooking up to a fish that is capable of completely spooling you inside rivers and estuarys is extremely rare. People have watched too many Cavvy and Briggsy videos and think that drag peeling fish are just an everyday catch. With proper drag management you should never be getting spooled. The only fish that will do that are large pelagics and you just arent going out to chase those fish on that gear. If you want extra stopping power for a fish that is capable of doing that you will need minimum 4000 size and up. With that reel you are targeting bream and bass. Anything else should just be considered a lucky bycatch. Dont upgrade the washers just use the reel for its intended purpose and enjoy mate. 8
slothparade Posted November 22 Posted November 22 8 minutes ago, GoldenHourFishing said: No fish inside the harbour will spool you because when you are using 8lb braid it will snap before that happens. Also hooking up to a fish that is capable of completely spooling you inside rivers and estuarys is extremely rare. People have watched too many Cavvy and Briggsy videos and think that drag peeling fish are just an everyday catch. With proper drag management you should never be getting spooled. The only fish that will do that are large pelagics and you just arent going out to chase those fish on that gear. If you want extra stopping power for a fish that is capable of doing that you will need minimum 4000 size and up. With that reel you are targeting bream and bass. Anything else should just be considered a lucky bycatch. Dont upgrade the washers just use the reel for its intended purpose and enjoy mate. Well said
devoker Posted November 22 Author Posted November 22 47 minutes ago, GoldenHourFishing said: No fish inside the harbour will spool you because when you are using 8lb braid it will snap before that happens. Also hooking up to a fish that is capable of completely spooling you inside rivers and estuarys is extremely rare. People have watched too many Cavvy and Briggsy videos and think that drag peeling fish are just an everyday catch. With proper drag management you should never be getting spooled. The only fish that will do that are large pelagics and you just arent going out to chase those fish on that gear. If you want extra stopping power for a fish that is capable of doing that you will need minimum 4000 size and up. With that reel you are targeting bream and bass. Anything else should just be considered a lucky bycatch. Dont upgrade the washers just use the reel for its intended purpose and enjoy mate. https://linelaboratory.com/braid-summary/ According to this test, this braid breaks around 15 pound which is way higher than the max drag though. I mostly fish inside the harbour sometimes using 15 g metals and there is a high chance hooking a pelagic with those.
GoldenHourFishing Posted November 22 Posted November 22 (edited) You are asking for trouble going out throwing 15 gram metals on a 2500 shalow spool. The distance you can chuck them will basically bottom out the spool on that reel. So if you are worried about getting spooled you have already done it just by casting The max drag on those reels is not made for the purpose of targeting pelagics Many people start with 8lb on a 2500 reel its fine. I wouldnt overthink the max drag because again you are targeting bream and bass with that gear and 1-3kg of max drag is more than enough for those fish Whipping 15gram metals on 8lb through micro guides give a higher chance of the line snapping and losing the metal to the heavens. (Ive done it many times) Ive done a fair bit of light shore jigging and you want at minumum a 3000 full sized spool. And even then I dont bother using that setup in the harbour anymore, Its just for the beach because I can let them run with only a small chance of being reefed at the beach. You need stopping power if you are targeting pelagics. You mentioned you have a high chance of hooking pelagics. If you know that for sure then just go out with a second rod with heavier gear. Edited November 22 by GoldenHourFishing 4
PaddyT Posted November 22 Posted November 22 Getting spooled is a very rare event, i used to spend huge amounts of time throwing lures for longtails on the Nth Coast-the benchmark was a reel that held 4-500 meters of 20lb mono (no braid back then). The theory was that you could punch the lure out 80-100 meters , before you started the retrieve you might have another 20 meters of line out as "belly" from the cast. Hook a decent tuna on the first few cranks and it might take of on a 200 meter run-the operative word "might". A heck of a lot of the time they would go sideways. Never once came close to being spooled on what were a very hot running fish especially on 20lb mono. The only time i can think I was even concerned was when a shark got involved, and they would either rub /bite you off or once I realised it was a greycoat-lock up and bust them off. 1
dirvin21 Posted November 22 Posted November 22 It's very rare to get spooled, tuna are tye only real culprits and to hook one big enough in tye harbour would be very very unlikely Even a massive salmon would be on sterroids to spool you If you're ever worried about a spooling drop your rod lock up and break your leader 1
slowjigger Posted November 22 Posted November 22 Posting the line capacity would be helpful. You went to the trouble of posting the specs but managed to leave the critical bit out. Speaking generally for saltwater fishing you want at least 200m of your chosen line. Your average target fish like salmon won't take much line, but it's possible a jewfish could spool you (often they will grab small lures) and are known for their big opening runs.
slowjigger Posted November 22 Posted November 22 2 hours ago, dirvin21 said: If you're ever worried about a spooling drop your rod lock up and break your leader I wouldn't have thought that was much of a solution, ie losing the fish.
devoker Posted November 22 Author Posted November 22 1 hour ago, slowjigger said: Posting the line capacity would be helpful. You went to the trouble of posting the specs but managed to leave the critical bit out. Speaking generally for saltwater fishing you want at least 200m of your chosen line. Your average target fish like salmon won't take much line, but it's possible a jewfish could spool you (often they will grab small lures) and are known for their big opening runs. I had 170 metres but lost a good chunk today to a wind knot. 3 hours ago, dirvin21 said: If you're ever worried about a spooling drop your rod lock up and break your leader What do you mean? Should I grab the line and stop it pulling? Won't I cut my hand?
slowjigger Posted November 22 Posted November 22 56 minutes ago, devoker said: I had 170 metres but lost a good chunk today to a wind knot. What do you mean? Should I grab the line and stop it pulling? Won't I cut my hand? Perhaps use 6 lb braid the next time you spool up - that will give you over 200m. Remember braid is typically a good bit stronger than the rated strain (provided your knots are good).
dirvin21 Posted November 22 Posted November 22 1 hour ago, devoker said: I had 170 metres but lost a good chunk today to a wind knot. What do you mean? Should I grab the line and stop it pulling? Won't I cut my hand? Grab the spool 1
slothparade Posted November 22 Posted November 22 1 hour ago, dirvin21 said: Grab the spool Just don't burn your hand, hurts a lot, especially soaking it straight into salt water 😅😅
Little_Flatty Posted November 22 Posted November 22 11 hours ago, devoker said: I had 170 metres but lost a good chunk today to a wind knot. And herein lies the biggest threat to your line supply! To be honest my biggest worry in your situation would be losing enough line due to wind knots, that it starts to impede casting performance. Even then, with the shallow spools, that is often not a problem either; I had a shallow spool Sedona once where I let my line supply dwindle to the point where I could see the spool at the end of a long cast! It was still casting fine, but obviously I got new braid for the next session 🤣 I’m not harbour pelagics expert but I suspect 170m would be plenty for anything you’d encounter in the harbour. A king for instance would probably wipe you out on structure before you get spooled. That’s been the case in my 3/3 experiences, all less than 50m away (note I fish light gear and don’t specifically target them, hence the odds are always stacked against me as they will for you with 8lb). Do people get spooled? Well if you’ve fished for decades you will encounter some unusual experiences. I have almost been spoiled once, and only because I was tempting fate to the extreme as a stupid teenager (1kg mono on quite large but finicky fish). So no need to overthink things. 170m is plenty of line and will tolerate quite a few wind knot losses before it starts to impede your performance in any way. 3
slowjigger Posted November 22 Posted November 22 1 hour ago, Little_Flatty said: And herein lies the biggest threat to your line supply! To be honest my biggest worry in your situation would be losing enough line due to wind knots, that it starts to impede casting performance. Even then, with the shallow spools, that is often not a problem either; I had a shallow spool Sedona once where I let my line supply dwindle to the point where I could see the spool at the end of a long cast! It was still casting fine, but obviously I got new braid for the next session 🤣 I’m not harbour pelagics expert but I suspect 170m would be plenty for anything you’d encounter in the harbour. A king for instance would probably wipe you out on structure before you get spooled. That’s been the case in my 3/3 experiences, all less than 50m away (note I fish light gear and don’t specifically target them, hence the odds are always stacked against me as they will for you with 8lb). Do people get spooled? Well if you’ve fished for decades you will encounter some unusual experiences. I have almost been spoiled once, and only because I was tempting fate to the extreme as a stupid teenager (1kg mono on quite large but finicky fish). So no need to overthink things. 170m is plenty of line and will tolerate quite a few wind knot losses before it starts to impede your performance in any way. A jewfish can run 100m - could see him spooled if he has lost some line due to wind knots. I nearly got spooled at SWR on the Macleay River by a jewfish around of 10 kg on 10lb line. The line just melted off the spool. We were in a boat so were able to ditch the anchor and chase after it (sounds like he is land based). Had the assistance of a run out tide though.
bluefin Posted November 22 Posted November 22 14 hours ago, dirvin21 said: Grab the spool Yes quite common for me on my 3 lb outfit and Bream around fallen trees ! Why do I do it? Its fun Adrenalin rush. Do I loose fish ? Not many ! 1
noelm Posted November 22 Posted November 22 Most people only get spooled/near get spooled in the pub after a dozen beers, or in magazines articles and fishing shows with creative editing……go fishing, live life on the edge, take your chances. 1
noelm Posted November 22 Posted November 22 Caught literally dozens of big Jewish, including a couple over 30kg, never seen one run, in a single direction more than 20m or so. 4
bluefin Posted November 22 Posted November 22 Really It is not something I even think about. I think about what are not what if's! I have only been spooled once in my life. Off the rocks on a huge Yellowfin. I came close with the Jew in my top left photo. 23.5 kg on 8 lb mono off umina beach. Down to a few turns on the reel. Have I been lucky ? How often are members spooled in the river ? Kings in the harbour maybe ?
slowjigger Posted November 23 Posted November 23 12 minutes ago, noelm said: Caught literally dozens of big Jewish, including a couple over 30kg, never seen one run, in a single direction more than 20m or so. Well known for a big opening run, I said 'can' run 100m, it typically will be less. Professor Kearny described it in his book, delving into their physiology. He described how a guy using whipper snipper style line actually getting pulled into the water. They tire quickly so you don't get tuna or marlin style runs.
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