Can't make up my mind Guadalupe 80/100lb reel

What type of heat treating do they do to the brass gears to make them stronger than SS gears? Just curious.

 

It's been a while since I've been to Guadalupe. My recollection is that most of us used 40 or 50 for flylining tuna. We used the 80-100 lb stuff for dropper loop fishing - eg pulling some really mean yellow tails off the bottom.

 

I said stronger than some SS... not all SS. There are fairly soft stainless steels that overlap with the strength of brass. Brass is easier to work, more corrosion resistant, better at conducting heat and can be just as strong as some steels.

 

Bronze is harder and is used for the pinion gear, brass is used for the main gear. The two different hardness materials are engineered along with helical gear cut to improve smooth gear mesh. Where the pinion gear needs to be hard, the main gear needs to be a little more forgiving.

 

Do you know what kind of brass alloy they use? This was discussed in a Torque v Trinidad A thread and Shimano cited frame strength and gear alignment to dismiss concerns that their gears are soft. They didn't say that the alloy they use is as strong as or stronger than SS.

Lots of guys did extremely well this year with the Talica 20 at Guadalupe. They freespool extremely well and catch a lot of fish. I'll be fishing other reels if I can get off the waiting list.

 

Does it matter if the main gear is brass, bronze or stainless steel? All that matters is it works well. The pinion gear has the wear issue, times the reel ratio.

 

If you want it as a long term purchase, stainless will hold up better and keep the tolerances tighter. Brass is a bit more susceptible to corrosion from what I've seen in reels. I also like the feel of it! However, if the pinion isn't stainless, it would be a wise upgrade.

 

Reel manufacturers have chosen harder stainless pinion gears matched with brass or bronze main gears a long time for many reasons.
Quiet, smoother mesh, self lubricating, corrosion resistant.

If you feel all stainless gears is an improvement, by all means go for it.

Personally I think the reel manufacturer considered the gear material. Certainly not about the cost of the gear.

 

SS gears do matter to me but I'm sure that many would scoff at my preference for Bx2's with their ARB's and obscene levels of maintenance. Every reel has its trade offs. It keeps us busy when the seas aren't fishable.

 

After fishing Guadalupe in nov., for the first time, I saw a lot of different gear and styles of fishing. From what I read and saw this year, it was not the normal style of fishing they had a number of years ago, before it was closed. Back then it usually required lighter line (40 and 50#)and longer soak. On the recent trips getting a good bait away from the boat (and swimming good)often resulted in a bite. If you couldn't cast a bait past the sea lions, it would try to hide under the boat being chased by the sea lions, unlikely to get tuna bit. Bait selection and a good but delicate cast often resulted in a bite. As stated above it's not just about the tools you have, but how skilled you are in using them. Watched the deck hands on shogun cast out and get quick to instant hookups during "slow" periods when almost none of the passengers were having any success. However, once a fish is hooked it is awful nice to have good gear to land it with. 60# gear was the minium, and when they were biting good 80# was the way to go. Sometimes even 100#. All the gear mentioned above is great stuff and very capable. Most of my fishing there was done with an Okuma Andros 16iia and Seeker 7460xh, 100# Izorline braid solid, 5' 80# fluro topshots. Had to go to that outfit after being spooled on 65# early in the trip. It will be very interesting to see how this year develops at Guadalupe. You could safety say I am partial to the Okumas. Just got a Makaira 15sea, looking forward to trying it out with 60# topshots.

 

talica 12ii, 16ii and Makaira 15sea!

 

before this year a talica 12II sized reel would be perfect to fish 40-50 on a long soak. I was there the last trip of the year and there were many different setups that worked. Guys were fishing Avet HX Raptors, Accurate 600, Penn Torque, Penn Fathom 40N, Talica 20II. I fished my talica 20II and was able to cast a bait really easily on 80lb. Fish what youre comfortable casting a bait with, all the reels seemed to handle the job just fine. The biggest fish was landed on a Penn Squal single speed the last day

 

OldDog8

Answer kind of depend on what you're using it for and trying to catch as there is no perfect reel or answer, they all have strengths and weakness.

If it was just a dropper loop any reel with a lock down drag and 100 yds of line works

For your application of casting a sardine at Guadalupe: You want a reel with the lightest spool for casting. The issue is line capacity. Recently there have not been any cows there. The YFT there are typically 75-150# and don't run very far, at least the ones in tuna alley. You could get away with 400 yds and use a 6VSX, ATD 6 or similar. I'm not advocating using anything less then 500 yds of backing for 100# TS which would be a HXJ or MAK15sea or similar. For more versatility I'm thinking 600 yds which would be HX, MAK16sea, 16VSX, ATD 12 or Tac 20, just in case something bigger comes along.

I'm in the Shimano Tac20 camp because I like the size, light weight, smooth drag and gears, low maintenance and probably the lightest spool for casting. The one reservation I have with mixed feelings is the low gear ratio. It's 20" per crank while other have 11-16" per crank for more cranking power. The problem with the extra low ratio is the BFT and YFT at lupe like to charge the boat after I think they've settled down for the grind in. No time to switch from low to high, just crank like heck and don't give'm any slack.

The third scenario is Cows on the low bank or low zone. I gave up 2 of my 50's to the boat, (RS) for practically nothing because I can't justify lugging them around. One never leaves the rack, one is used for DL, (dumb) and I saved one for cows. The 50 is too heavy, hard to cast and needs to feed line out for sardines, not a good lupe reel without current, need to up grade tackle. Ok, a new reel!

I go on the RS twice a year, I take care them, they take care of me. Asked them point blank, what do you recommend to replace the 50s with for 80-100#. Their response without hesitation; if you're using 100#, you NEED line capacity of the Tac 25 for cows. It's 800 yds of backing using either 80# hollow or 100# solid with some 135# on top for ware resistance. It's about 1/2" wider and 1 oz heavier than the Tac 20 and cast almost as well. Meaning, other than the width, I can't tell the difference.

Other reels that would fit the 800 yd backing requirement: Avet HXW or ex 30, ATD 30, 30VSX, Mak 20sea or Tac 25. On the Avets, always get the raptor. I put the Ex 30 in there because I like the tall narrow reels for easy of handling. The HXW is really wide and wobbles for me. The short wide reels do have a small advantage over their tall narrow cousins because lower rotation inertia for better casting.

PS, Doug Taylor who test reels various manufactures was on board. I listened in on some of his comments. My buddy loves the Avet, but he also like taking them to the factory for serving annually.

Pull hard and WIND
Jonathan

 

I got all mine at Lupe on an HX with 50 and 60. Remember this is short topshot fishing so I don't think the wide is necessary. Maybe an HX Raptor for 80 would also work.

 

Do you happen to remember how much braid the reel took?

 

Use your mak 20.
Less tackle = more trips

or just flip a coin, both are good reels IMO

 

Thanks Jonathan for the detailed response. I'm still confused on what I need (more of a want a new toy) but you explained it quite well. I'm leaning towards the MAK16SEa. Those big 160-200lb bluefin that showed a lot of optimistic anglers an empty spool last year will be even bigger this year (and probably still around), I want to be prepared. Castability of a sardine is extremely important when they decide to show and go. Guadalupe should keep producing too.

 

Olddog8

The MAK16sea is a great 80-100# Lupe reel, just heavy.

I pulled in a 135# lupe YFT on 60# 400yd rig (Tac 12). Not close to being spooled, (maybe 300 yds at most). But I'm also the guy that sent my 60# 500 yd rig over the side on the lower banks and watched the 800-1000 yd backup rig nearly spooled when the line gave up at hook. Really painful winding in a mile of line with nothing to show for it.

Pull hard and WIND
Jonathan

 

Oh heck I would not fret over that. Plan/think longer trips . Because a tld 20 -2speed will do it fine. It can cast. Or a small live bait reel Omoto triple wide.
Avet HXJ-Raptor is sweet also . And it's got mag braking . Great for jig toss also.

Guadlupe is not always open as an option.

 

X2