Secret Spoons

[Little Round]

Some use TLD's

[keeperreaper]

Using wire on a levelwind and big spoons/fish puts a lot of stress on that levelwind and its gears. I would not recommend using levelwinds with wire. The last thing you want when dealing with big fish is a mechanical reel failure.

[ProfessorM]

I can't find the article about J. George and the spoons but I do remember he uses really big Senator reels, much bigger than 113 's. He is also using lots of wire, which as mentioned above causes lots of pressure even before you have a big fish on. For regular size bunker spoons I use a Penn 112 with a steel spool and have no problem. I prefer them to the 113 which I find heavy. I also jig with these reels so I like the lighter weight. If I try the larger spoons I wouldn't use anything smaller than a 113. I prefer non levelwind reels for all my trolling, lead included, but that is just me. I like the Penn's because they are easy to maintain. P.

[BasicPatrick]

Originally Posted by keeperreaper

Using wire on a levelwind and big spoons/fish puts a lot of stress on that levelwind and its gears. I would not recommend using levelwinds with wire. The last thing you want when dealing with big fish is a mechanical reel failure.

Keeperreaper,

Have you personally had experience with running wire on a quality level wind reel. I am very interested as MANY Charter Captains in certain area have gone to using level winds and are reporting great success. If you have experience please share with us here.

[thefishingfreak]

Originally Posted by BasicPatrick

Keeperreaper,

Have you personally had experience with running wire on a quality level wind reel. I am very interested as MANY Charter Captains in certain area have gone to using level winds and are reporting great success. If you have experience please share with us here.

i've used nothing BUT level winds for wire. penn 330 gti's and 320 gti's with 45-50# wire.
the 320 is smaller but it's faster than the 330. they have plastic spools but so what, the plastic spools worke fine.
and they'll hold 400' with backing no sweat. way eisier for people who don't know how to fish wire to use a level wind. just the first 10 feet or so letting it out is tricky but no more so than any other wire setup.

[Bob Senior]

FWIW, I had a pair of Penn Senators that my grandson had trouble using because he'd get the wire all balled up in one spot and they would jam. So I got a 330GTi for him to use.

Now I use two 330GTi's and the Senators are in a drawer in the cellar somewhere.

I've never had a problem with the GTi's loaded with wire; I drag bunker spoons all over the place.