witch so many reels

[don'thaveaboat]

I am getting a shark reel for a '6 100 class stand up rod. I am ooking at the shimano 2 speed tld 50ll,the quantum aruba,Fin-Nor Santiago,and shimano tiagra.

[livetofishnj]

none of the above would be bad purchases. dollar for dollar the TLD 50 will do what you need for the best price and a quality reel. Going up to the gold reels isn't a bad thing by any means but don't expect that the performance is going to change any great amount for shark fishing.

[don'thaveaboat]

I figured that I mean just look at the tld next to a tiagra they look the same aside from the graphite vs the metal same for the gears and everything else really the 2 reels that I am looking at the most are the aruba and tld but no place in richmond has a aruba not even bass pro. What would you think the max size fish for the tld it seems to be dum thing to ask but still.

[gradyfish265]

It all depends how you plan to fight the fish. If your fishing stand up, a TLD has its advantages being lighter and carrying a quality drag system. The lighter weight reel will keep you from getting fatigued quickly and will give you more energy to fight the fish to the death!! Only down side to a TLD...you should never use a full harness, any drop harness where you will attach straps are not good on these reels. If you fish them with light drags, 15-17lbs with drop straps you will skate by, but big sharks will require more drag at various times during the fight...every turn a sharks head when its deep and fighting hard, or running like a bullet. I've seen 4 TLKD's crack and then "explode" in the past 3 years fighting fish. All were using a harness with drop straps and 20+lbs of drag. Two were on swordfish, one was on a big eye and one on a big thresher shark. Tld's are great bang for their buck but you need to know their limitations and need to decide how you plan to fight a big fish, and what your willing to deal with if you do encounter a big fish and need more drag...two guys holding the rod, switching off anglers every 5-10 min to keep up with the fish? Reels with aluminum bodies are great and will usually last longer under more stress, but they are heavier in weight and can fatigue an angler quicker. There are ways around this, using hollowcore braid as backing and mono topshot, this will let you fish a class smaller reel and hold the same amount of line. It costs more but is a better investment as holowcore lasts longer and can have bad sections cut out then spliced back not wasting your whole spool which could happen to regular braid or mono. I fish 30W reels as 50's, they hold 560yards of 80(400 80lb JB hollowcore and 160 80lb momoi mono) And my 50narrows hold about 700 yards of 80 and I just purchased 2 50 wides which will hold roughly 900-1000yards of 100 and will be fished like an 80class reel. As for the reels you mention above, all are good reels, but the best you mention is the tigra. It is top quality and only one of two brands I'd fish offshore. I personally like avet's and have had great luck with them but would proudly run tiagra's off my boat and have before. I am not a penn fan, I've owned them for years and always sold them off, too much maintenance to upkeep them. Great reels but not worth the extra maintenance they required imho. I have not run the Fin Nor Santiago's but have heard good things about them so far. I talked to a charter captain I know and he runs them and had them for half a season and was happy with them so far but they were too new to really know how years of abuse will affect them. The quantum aruba is nice, but not really a shark reel, it might work but your other choices are all better ones. I'd go with a TLD hands down over an aruba. A 30 class reel would be a minimum, but a 50 would be a good reel unless you are putting hollowcore on a 30W. I know plenty of guys who fish 80's for sharks but I think thats overkill personally unless you tangle with some monsters on a regular basis. You will want a reel that can handle big drags since you might fish heavier line and apply more drag.
For a shark reel you want 80lb line ideally, some may say more but these fish get big. All guys I know who fish shark tourneys use 80 and 100lb test to battle these fish, anything less leaves too small of a margin of safety when fighting a fish with big drag pressures. My rule of thumb, try to stay under 1/3 the line rating drag wise, this gives you a good safety factor and if something goes room you still have room to breathe. I fish 17lbs of drag at strike on sharks but can bump up to 28lbs on them at full if needed and it has been done before.

Not sure what species your targeting, but as for shark rigs, remember teeth can cut threw 49 strand wire so unless you hook it perfect use heavy single strand for the first 6 ft, then a swivel to connect it to heavy mono or preferably heavy 49 strand wire. The single strand to 49 strand if my perfered rig, this will keep you from being bit off, but if you get a shark that jumps and hits your line it won't kink like 49 strand can and break off. The swivel in the middle keeps the wires from kinking and twisting. Most guys I know who fish tourneys use this setup as well.

Be safe and be smart...and have fun!!!

[don'thaveaboat]

It all depends how you plan to fight the fish. If your fishing stand up, a TLD has its advantages being lighter and carrying a quality drag system. The lighter weight reel will keep you from getting fatigued quickly and will give you more energy to fight the fish to the death!! Only down side to a TLD...you should never use a full harness, any drop harness where you will attach straps are not good on these reels. If you fish them with light drags, 15-17lbs with drop straps you will skate by, but big sharks will require more drag at various times during the fight...every turn a sharks head when its deep and fighting hard, or running like a bullet. I've seen 4 TLKD's crack and then "explode" in the past 3 years fighting fish. All were using a harness with drop straps and 20+lbs of drag. Two were on swordfish, one was on a big eye and one on a big thresher shark. Tld's are great bang for their buck but you need to know their limitations and need to decide how you plan to fight a big fish, and what your willing to deal with if you do encounter a big fish and need more drag...two guys holding the rod, switching off anglers every 5-10 min to keep up with the fish? Reels with aluminum bodies are great and will usually last longer under more stress, but they are heavier in weight and can fatigue an angler quicker. There are ways around this, using hollowcore braid as backing and mono topshot, this will let you fish a class smaller reel and hold the same amount of line. It costs more but is a better investment as holowcore lasts longer and can have bad sections cut out then spliced back not wasting your whole spool which could happen to regular braid or mono. I fish 30W reels as 50's, they hold 560yards of 80(400 80lb JB hollowcore and 160 80lb momoi mono) And my 50narrows hold about 700 yards of 80 and I just purchased 2 50 wides which will hold roughly 900-1000yards of 100 and will be fished like an 80class reel. As for the reels you mention above, all are good reels, but the best you mention is the tigra. It is top quality and only one of two brands I'd fish offshore. I personally like avet's and have had great luck with them but would proudly run tiagra's off my boat and have before. I am not a penn fan, I've owned them for years and always sold them off, too much maintenance to upkeep them. Great reels but not worth the extra maintenance they required imho. I have not run the Fin Nor Santiago's but have heard good things about them so far. I talked to a charter captain I know and he runs them and had them for half a season and was happy with them so far but they were too new to really know how years of abuse will affect them. The quantum aruba is nice, but not really a shark reel, it might work but your other choices are all better ones. I'd go with a TLD hands down over an aruba. A 30 class reel would be a minimum, but a 50 would be a good reel unless you are putting hollowcore on a 30W. I know plenty of guys who fish 80's for sharks but I think thats overkill personally unless you tangle with some monsters on a regular basis. You will want a reel that can handle big drags since you might fish heavier line and apply more drag.
For a shark reel you want 80lb line ideally, some may say more but these fish get big. All guys I know who fish shark tourneys use 80 and 100lb test to battle these fish, anything less leaves too small of a margin of safety when fighting a fish with big drag pressures. My rule of thumb, try to stay under 1/3 the line rating drag wise, this gives you a good safety factor and if something goes room you still have room to breathe. I fish 17lbs of drag at strike on sharks but can bump up to 28lbs on them at full if needed and it has been done before.

Not sure what species your targeting, but as for shark rigs, remember teeth can cut threw 49 strand wire so unless you hook it perfect use heavy single strand for the first 6 ft, then a swivel to connect it to heavy mono or preferably heavy 49 strand wire. The single strand to 49 strand if my perfered rig, this will keep you from being bit off, but if you get a shark that jumps and hits your line it won't kink like 49 strand can and break off. The swivel in the middle keeps the wires from kinking and twisting. Most guys I know who fish tourneys use this setup as well.

Be safe and be smart...and have fun!!!

Thank you and I should have told you guys I am pier and beach fishing. I would go up up up but I am not looking to spend $850 on a tiagra the senators do not pull any where as much drag as I like wen I started sharking I had some xpeneince from hooking them with a 4/0 I wanted a 14/0 but I did not get it I got tickets for the who and a 9/0 for a rod I got at a yard sale with a sealine 610 witch I also got a rod for witch is this stand up rod and I eneded up selling the sealine and so I just know I will lose monster after monster dew to the drag on the 9/0 or 12/0. I am after 350 pound plus '8 to '10 foot. I am stand up fishing with a tuna belt What I really want is a tiagra 80 and tullus stand up rod. So here I am stuck should I get a senator or scal down and get the tld I always fish 130 braid on shark reels or at least a cap of 130.

[gradyfish265]

Since your landside and cannot cchase a shark you want something with a really good drag to put a hurting on the fish and stop it cold in its tracks. A 50W is plenty, an 80 might be overkill for beach fishing I think personally. I think you have two things to consider fishing from a pier, you will be fisahing with as you stated 130lb line, so it needs to have the drag of a bigger reel and it needs a good capacity. As long as you do not use a drop harness and can use just the belt a TLD 50wlrs is your best bet, light but has the drag of an 80lb reel, the lrs reels are the upgraded 80lb drag which is what I'd recommend for your use. It also won't put a hurting in your wallet. Your about a year too late, I sold 2 in excellent conditions for under $275 each last year. Check on ebay, used you can get some great deals on tld's, and new they are very reasonable as well. Hope this helps and suits what your looking for.

[don'thaveaboat]

So still the tld all right thank you and you said there is a drag up geade.

[gradyfish265]

Yes, the 50TLD comes in just a 50TLD 2 speed and a 50lrs 2 speed. The lrs stands for long range special and it comes with a drag to handle 80lb line standard. When you buy one make sure the model is an lrs, if not it does not have the drag you want. They are the same price , I believe new they are both $379.99. Used you could probably get one for $250 if you looked around. If you do not buy an lrs model you will burn that drag up quick fishing 130lb line if you ever bump the drag up so its worth the effort to find that model, shouldn't be too hard.