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Looking for something to spool some 100# mono and quit getting wrecked by big fish.

Doesnt need to be new or fancy, just strong.



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You can buy a new Penn Senator Special 114H2 with star drag for $135. Might be able to find a used one at a pawn shop, but then you don't know how it was treated/cleaned.

22 pounds of drag. But why mono? Virtually no stretch and more abrasion resistance with braid, plus more line capacity. If you're in less than 100 feet, you could even scale down in reel size and still load a mile of braid on it.

The Shimano TLD is a beast and it has a lever drag instead of star. The TLD-25 sells new for $190 and also has 22 pounds at full drag. It'll hold 845 yards of 80-pound PowerPro.

silverking wrote:You can buy a new Penn Senator Special 114H2 with star drag for $135. Might be able to find a used one at a pawn shop, but then you don't know how it was treated/cleaned.

22 pounds of drag. But why mono? Virtually no stretch and more abrasion resistance with braid, plus more line capacity. If you're in less than 100 feet, you could even scale down in reel size and still load a mile of braid on it.

The Shimano TLD is a beast and it has a lever drag instead of star.

Definitely fishing in under 100'. My 65# braid keeps getting vaporized, and I thought mono had better abrasion resistance on structure.



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On my bottom fishing rod( XXh jigging rod w a big spinning reel) I use 65 lb braid. About 10-15’ of mono top shot ( fg to the braid). Then 6-8’ of 60-80 fluro leader. The mono gives just a little stretch (I was having a problem pulling hooks without it) and it is easier to see knicks from the structure. Braid has more abrasion resistance than mono, but small knicks are hard to see on braid.
It really doesn’t matter how big of a line you use. If you can’t turn the fish, it will break you off in the wreck/rocks

You also need to pair your reel with a "manly" rod. It's the rod that does the work, the reel recovers the line.

fishinfool wrote:You also need to pair your reel with a "manly" rod. It's the rod that does the work, the reel recovers the line.

I have a broomstick of a rod, ready to go!

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what do you believe is breaking you off? ie. how is the fight? screaming drag scoping out=shark. Downward like a bus without a sense of urgency=goliath. small fish turning into downward bus on the way up=goliath. fast, downward jack-hammer= AJ. Depth and amount of relief you're fishing over are also helpful to determine species and source of break-off. Once you think you know the culprit answers become easier.

Goliath isn't very leader shy, so bent butt with 50W and heavy leader. Winch it!
AJs will usually come up higher in the column, and can usually be turned with heavy stand-up tackle if hooked well above the wreck.
who wants to catch a shark anyway...

I know I cant stop the sharks or Goliaths, but I do want to stop the AJ's when the season opens again, so that would be my primary goal for this rod/reel.

I have certainly felt the Goliath attack, and the shark...

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These 35-40# almaco jacks were a couple weeks ago. When I go to the rigs we routinely catch AJs that are much larger. 90% of the time it's on a Torium 20 on a Terez xtra-heavy with 65# braid. Lock down the drag and try not to bruise your knees on the boat. Good luck!

I have a Penn 14/0 spooled with 130 lb dacron line on a Dynaflex custom roller rod all in excellent condition i will let go for $500 pretty sure it will help with the issues have.

I'm running a Penn Fathom 20 with star drag on my bottom rods(30# of drag, 5.5:1 ratio) and 100# Powerpro/80# Fluro leader. If I can't stop whats on the other end with that (assuming our local Big Bend small boat offshore scene) I want it to break off fast so I can get back to fishing for something I'm going to keep. They are not terribly expensive but have held up well thus far and they make them up to a 50 class. Same drag rating but different capacity/ratio.

I've got them on cheap Penn Mariner "Heavy" 30-80 rods, they have a triangular foregrip that keeps them solidly in your hand when cranking stuff up and simple SS guides so I don't have to deal with inserts getting busted out... my wife loves them when she is cranking up snapper and grouper but they may not be manly enough for you

First time I ever went offshore at Mexico Beach my buddy laughs at my old 1st time Penn little conventional reel and rod (I thought they could handle a Marlin being a freshwater guy recently converted to a trout guy) I've got a picture our buddy boat took of me at the gunwale and that rod is literally doubled over tip almost touching the butt on my first pinfish drop. I landed that AJ (eventually) and we moved immediately cause I didn't want no more reef donkeys from 100' on that gear. FWC checked us later and decided he didn't need to measure the AJ considering his tail was hanging out of the 72 qt cooler by a foot.