Question for the deep drop guys.

[shore-power]

Bought a 2 speed Avet to put on my Shimano Trevala jigging rod and I put 300 yards of 65 lb. Power pro braid on it. I rarely fish deeper than 300 ft. but was thinking that I should maybe take the 300 yards of 65 off the reel and FILL it with 65 or 80 lb. The reel has alot more space left on it now as it is with the 300 yards of 65 lb. braid on it. Opinions?

[Graceland]

Well if you ever make it dropping with me you are for sure going to drop in more than 300 ft. All the newbies get to hit the 1,000 feet mark at least once. Now seriously, 300 yards will do most of the time, but accidents do happen out there, and lines get cut, or sea monsters break you off. So if you pack your reel full of braid, hopefully you'll have enough left to keep on fishing. Last trip I had a knuckle head chop into me 3 different times. I could only make it to 500 ft when he was done, but I was still fishing. If I had only had 300 yd top shot I would have been sitting and watching.

Now a question for you. Will that jigging rod handle 20 plus onces? I have a Torsa and a F Series rod on the way.

[shore-power]

Darren: Dont know how much lead it will handle but I whupped some BIG amberjack with one of these rods a friend of mine let me use on a trip last fall. I was really impressed by the rods. I have 2 of them now..

[Graceland]

Planning on trying mine out on some AJs as soon as I get it too. Just looking at the rod rating I figured it would be too much to ask of it on deep dropping when we usually use 20 ozs or more. We have had some luck on groupers, wrecks and goldens with jigs though. Just tough to find a 20 oz that isn't 2 feet long.

[Stormtrooper]

We do some deep drops here in NC with the jigs for snowies and tiles at least once a month in 800-900ft.My setup is a 20000 Stella with Diawa PE braid 85lb(500yds) on a 200 class Trevalla.The jigs we use are 400gr Nagamasa,600gr Fisherman and Williamson Benthos 400gr.The Diawa PE is a million times better than power pro,thiner diameter for less resistance,changes color every 10 meters for help dropping to exact depths in the water column for tunas,ajs etc. and way stronger than power pro.Leader material i use130-200lb jinkai that is tied with a PR knot about 12-15ft will do.I will try to get some pictures posted of the jigs.

[budwiller]

how do you connect that leader to the jig.....knot or crimp?

[Stormtrooper]

Jig connection by nail knot.

[m2wideload]

Jigs pics from deep drops off NC coast...Wrightsville Beach area usually in 800ft of water..

[Uncle Buck]

I guess it depends on what your definition of "deep-dropping" is. Deeper than 300, I use my Daiwa Bull TB1000 with a traditional 5-hook chicken rig. But I've also done 20+ manual drops to 900ft for barrelfish and rosies, and over 70 manual drops to 1800ft for daytime swordfish.

If you're talking about deep jigging, 65 PowerPro is fine. Electric, you wanna go with 65 PP minimum, or 80 solid-core spectra. The swords folks have caught from the bottom down here in South Florida have been on 100-130lb hollow-core spectra, using Lindgren-Pitman LP1200s or Daiwa MP3000 electric reels.

In shallow waters (100-300) I prefer Williamson Benthos 7 or 9 jigs with 80lb spectra mainline, 80lb flourocarbon leader and a 10" trace of 80lb 7-strand cable attached to the jig. We have a lot of toothy critters that will gladly remove a $15 jig from the end of our line. Kings, cudas, and wahoo are common.

[Uncle Buck]

Weaky wacker? When am I gonna upgrade? I've been a 3k+ member of a few other forums... and host my own forum dedicated to deep-dropping. www.100ffc.com

How can I get a more respectable user title? Shouldn't I get an honorary title based on my forum admin status?