spinning setup
 

Thinking about jumping into the football game this year. I have an 18' cc and am considering purchasing a spinning setup capable of tuna.

Any suggestions? Have heard good things about Fin Nor reels, how about Penn? Not looking to break the bank.

Any other gear needed?

Thx.

i've got a penn 950. it works, it's big and clunky but get's the job done on the occasional fish. i've had a few shimano thunnus's and they were nice. in an ideal world we'd all be fishing stellas and van stalls. i've played around with the fin nors - they were clunkier than the penn but i hear good things from guys who own them

Fin nor is cheap and reliable. Cabo also wont kill the wallet.

Don't have on but have been told the fin-nor 950 gets 50 lbs of drag

I believe Buckman or his son have used the Fin Nors with pretty good success based on some of their pictures. Might want to shoot a private message that way.

Fin-nors work well.

I've got the 75's and 95's. Like them alot.

Btw - If anyone wants to buy a Penn 9500SS - older style metal body, loaded with 50lb braid - very good condition - $100 and its yours. Good reel, but my Dad thinks everything should match -- evidently we're getting fancy on L-J these days.

Thanks all, I assume 50 or 65lb braid is the way to go on these reels? How do you tie to a leader, with a swivel? Do you double the line with a bimini twist? What is the best line/leader connection. Also do you tie direct to the plug/lure or use a snap? If a snap, what works best for you?

Thanks again...

Best line to leader connection is double loops cat pawed together. You can put a bimini in the braid and then use one of Basil's looped leaders.

bunch of info here for you:

Streamline: Links

I used his leaders last year - very nice. Wish I had the knowledge and patience to create myself.

Fish are bigger and badder especially using spinning gear. Shimano Spheros 18000, Saragosa 18000, Penn 950, Fin Nor 850 all good reels that won't break the bank and have capacity for lots o line.

My Fin Nor 850 has ~450 80lb braid.

Yeah Mike , I did too,they fly thru the guides like nothing.

My problem is I haven't leaned to splice yet and I broke off the spliced loop he did for me at the end of last year :wall:

I gotta get some hollow JB and try practicing it.

Jeff next time I see ya I'll show you how to splice and do the loop.

i wouldn't mind a slicing lesson too, maybe with a few beers

No problem. I takes about 3 minutes to learn to do it the right way. Drinking beers takes a bit longer.:devil2:

cool, thanks Matt......... Paul ,yr a boat ho, thead ho ,splice ho,

lol j/k dude more the merrier

ho- ho- ho...

If beers and splicing doesn't work, I'm doing a little thing on splicing at SaltwaterEdge during their "Tuna-Day" in March.

Doesn't mean there won't be quite a few beers after...

ahhh I wondered if you were doing that session, I hope to get down for that afternoon. Looks like a nice lineup.

fin nor 9500 is awsome.
i got this one on the 8500.

Jay you are one of the best and I'm sure that your seminar is going to be killer. I might come down to hear ya kid as long as you get the first round. Toast to the magic bluefish........

Thanks Matt, but I've got a long way to before I get to my dad's or any of his buddy's levels - I'll get there someday.

I think the SWE thing is going to be less formal than those other seminars. I think the idea is to just take a bunch of guys that tuna fish or are interested in learning and get them all together. There are going to be a few demo's throughout the day, and I'm helping out with a few of them.

The good stuff always comes out while guys are just hanging around talking - and even more when there's beer involved.

Salud to the Magic Bluefish!

When is the show?

Great info guys, especially that link to streamline.

Thanks.

SWE Tuna Seminar
 

March 13th– Tuna Seminar 12pm to 4pm

• How to make a blind splice – 12PM
• How to rig a harpoon – 1PM
• How to on crimping – 2PM
• "Light" Tackle for tuna from 20 to 200 pounds – 3PM

Should be a good time.

capecodder - that streamline link is excellent. The senor tuna link on the wire flip method is the same way that I make my loops. It's alot easier than the old school latch needle technique.

That is an excellent tutorial on loops. So do you use the hollow spectra for the entire spool or just a top shot? Is the hollow spectra thicker than say a Power Pro? I would think it is meaning a lot less line on the spool?

If I got a Fin Nor 8500 or 9500 would I put on 80lb braid (like PP) then a top shot of hollow spectra? Or Spectra on the whole thing???

Also, what is a good quality rod to match with a reel like the Fin Nor. Looking for a good value, not cheap not top of the line...

I've been using diawa boat braid 70 lb think it's called PE5 spliced to hollow Jerry brown 80lb with a loop. The diawa casts well and comes with a color change every 30ft which is helpful when your marking fish at a particular depth. The japanese lines go by a PE rating ,not lb rating.
He tested my line and says its break at about 65lb fyi.

Roger, the guy at Streamline uses Jerry Brown hollow 60lb on the whole spool. He says this line has been testing at around 90 lb breaking strenght and it casts fine.

The nice thing about hollow is when you splice you lose no strength. Also if you lose a bunch of line off your spool ,you can just splice more on.

That daiwa line is a huge help when vertically jigging and you are marking down at depth. Helps on charters running to the canyons. You know exactly how deep you are. Great stuff. If you do go on a "party"boat out tuna fishing remember to account for the distance above the waterline that you are. ex. if you are marking at 100 and you are 15' above the water you need to drop 115' of line to be in the "zone".

Lots of talk about reels, what rods are you guys using/recommending?

OTI rods have performed flawlessly.

I have a calstar CMS built which I like but it's a little heavy. I'm trying the OTI new carbon fiber popping rod this year, wrapping the blank now. There's a few companys coming out with carbon fiber rods this year, OTI, Black hole from Kilsong's shop is another. These rods are less susceptible to breaking than straight graphite rods if you high stick the rod.