MATES....ARE YOU SURE ABOUT YOUR?......

[Robja]

Very good read Rick. Its kind of ironic that you just happened to post this after I got back from Costa Rica. On Day 2 of our fishing there were 2 reels on the boat that weren't there the day before. As bad luck would have it we were using one of them for the pitch bait. When a sail came up on the left teaser one of the guys pitched the bait to the sail and hooked up the fight only lasted a couple of minutes since the the line broke. While the mate respooled that reel I checked the other reel and found several bad places in that line in the first 10 yards I peeled off. They should haved checked those reels out before they put them on the boat.

[Going Deep]

Great thread Rick. To take it further will you elaborate on how you would set up six identical 50 wides for a typical day of offshore fishing assuming all are backed with braid and then top shot. How long on the topshot so you know exactly where they are to be placed in the spread. Longs versus shorts, wwb and flat line

Hope this isn't confusing

[Ponce]

Nice post Rick. I'm a big preperation type of guy.

I also agree with Clt_Capt that the weekend warrior needs to make every chance count.

[jbonvetti]

Great thread Rick. To take it further will you elaborate on how you would set up six identical 50 wides for a typical day of offshore fishing assuming all are backed with braid and then top shot. How long on the topshot so you know exactly where they are to be placed in the spread. Longs versus shorts, wwb and flat line

Hope this isn't confusing

I dont know if you want my opinion but with 2 feet of snow outside I need something to do...

I prefer my tackle to all be the same. I usually fill the spools 2/3rds of the way with backing and the rest with mono...on
50s I would use 80lb braid with 80lbs mono.

If your asking about the spread, Long riggers would both be 25-30 feet of 130 and seawitches, short riggers would be chugger heads also on 130, Shot gun would be a spreader bar and i like to have atleast a 15' windon of 200lbs then the snap swivel, and last would be the flat line with 25 to 30 feet of 80lb and a naked split bill

[Wound Up James]

I'm sorry I like consistency.

You are right, consistency is the ONLY way to go Baywolf.

off the gear topic, but there's a lot to be said for consistency !!

- If you rig a bait and set a line the SAME way everytime, when the sh&t is hitting the fan and the bite wide open, you won't have to think about what to do or how to do it....it'll all be 2nd nature....quite often the bite is short lived....consistency will turn a 10 fish day into an 11 fish day....or a 23 fish day into a 25 fish day......weather you are producing for charter clients, selling your fish @ market or fishing a $$ tournament, consistency will put more flags in your riggers, more $$ in your pocket and send your clients home w/ more fish...

- It'll save your life too....taking wraps on big fish...dumping the leader the same way....keeping your safety knife (and the spares) in the same place everytime...keeping the cockpit clear and clean... - watch the wiring greats like Bo Jenyns and they are looking at the fish, not where they're going or what they are doing....they know the cockpit is clear and thru repetition, don't have to think (or look) at how they are taking there wraps...

- when i went to work on the Outer Banks in the mid 90's , rigging a spanish mackeral or squid was as foreign to me as speaking french. a good friend and long time mate of Bull Tolson's 'Sea Toy' told me that when i found a way that i felt comfortable rigging a mackeral, to rig it the same way EVERYTIME....... great advice.....your way and my way might be different, but doesn't mean that one is better than the other....

- that piece of advice , i think is one of the most valuable that i've retained over the years.......i had a teenage mate that worked for me for a few years and one of the things, since day one we always stressed was setting the line the same way everytime....eyes on the lure, left hand on the spool and right hand on the drag lever....he was designated line setter this tournament season and the 2nd fish we caught took the line out of his hand as he was letting the rigger back up......reel in freespool, hand on the spool, hand on the drag lever,......can't say enough about consistency....it paid off that day big time $$$.......


great thread Baywolf !!!

[norter79]

Good stuff!

I'm just a weekend warrior, and fish maybe 20 days year. I fish with Penn 50 VSWs that are about 18 months old now. They've probably been used 20 times.

How often should I be doing this kind of maintenance on them? They haven't been serviced since they were new.

I'd service them once a year if I were you. You may not need to take everything apart inside the spool but at least clean/lube the handle side. My 50VSWs get a decent amount of salt intrusion around the clicker. If you let it go too long or if the anodizing has come off and the clicker assembly isn't very well greased, it's going to seize up. The clicker assembly is stainless and the hole it goes through is annodized aluminum.

You may get years of great performance out of the reels if you never service them but why take the chance? You spend thousands of hard earned dollars to use these things, tackle failure isn't acceptable.

I'm taking apart a torsa tonight, i'll take pictures. It was only used a dozen days so i'm not going wild on it.

[The Codfather]

Any idiot can take a reel apart, putting it back together is another story!

The key is preventative maintenance. Well worked gear will last for years, quality parts even more. Why would you run a business, not care about your work and expect me to?

All my gear gets a fresh water rinse after a trip. The reels broken down quarterly, before they show problems. I am receiving 5 custom rods matched to quality reels and they will last me years. Along with order is coming rod and reel protectors. I'll be running 50' topshots one class higher on four 50s and a 80.

[Baywolf]

How do you deal with chunking hooks with different size leaders when you take them off after a trip to be sure what size line is on them and if mono or floro? Also when replacing a wind on how do you identify size?

Roger, I saw my shadow, 4 more weeks till tuna season.

Randy, are you using circles for the chunk? Most are once and done hooks. If it is going to be a while before they are used again I'd clip off the hooks, wipe the leader with alcohol and put them in zip locks and label bags. If they are being used frequently different colored rubber bands or zip ties, red for 130, blue 150 and so on. Large coils, wipe clean and stretch before use, especially for chunking.

Going Deep, I like to have my 50's with 500yds 100lb braid and a 150 yd 100lb topshot. I have run shorter TS but don't like the braid luffing in the wind off the rigger. Plus if you've ever had braid touch mono during a tuna blitz that braid will cut right through the mono. Mono on mono is a little more forgiving.

I service reels once a year and PRN during the year.

[BTH284]

CONSISTENCY throughout the pit and the boat! Thanks Rick for writing this. It sure is nice to see a very useful thread just before the season. Glad to see a nice change in the writing prose. Been alot of fluff on the site for the past month or so.

Thanks

[CaptRandy]

I like the different color zipties, now I will have to keep an eye out for them.