I like your thinking David, especially on your choice on the smart shift 4 to 1 high. Good for night fishing jigs too. Two reasons I like my 80 and 200# is it is very efficient cranking a heavy drag. Sometimes I need to go to full and crank, mostly it is just fun to do... (50# of drag sometimes) The most efficient line retrieve is a taller spool and bigger gears. Anyway an 80 is not for everyone...As far as 200# I have witnessed a few issues using 130#. One being line breaking at the release clip, where I think a ceramic ring could help. Make sure the line in the ring is clipped the right way... Another is abraision factor on the boat hull and when there are sharks in the water.
Fishy, Make sure you dial in the auto shift pressure properly for fishing the heavy stuff on the kite. I have 2 Tiburon SST 50's and the shift to low happens when the spool has 20lbs of pressure on the spool... had to play around a bit with tightening the pop out handle that controls the auto adjustment (its buttoned down tight). I was also able to get 38lbs at strike (52lbs at full) with excellent free spool... had some help from Richard at Tiburon to accomplish that, he knows his stuff when it comes to Tib reels as he invented them! I think you are going to love that reel for the kite, it was made more for the billfish world like most large big game two speed reels are, but it has the distinct advantage of being in high gear for the fast crank needed to retrieve slack quickly that is par for the course in the billfish arena and in the kite fishing application while then auto shifting into low gear for the power cranks needed when the fish gets more vertical. Has excellent free spool right out of the box, has a smaller spool arbor as well so better line capacity than most other big game 50 size 2-speed reels. And truly "tank tough" with massive stainless gears, the reel is a proven fish killer in the billfish world and not well known in the cow tuna world. G
I know on the INDY there skipper wants you to use 150lb on the kite rig minimum, although, I have never broken 130lb on the kite, just the boat recommendation. I use 150lb tuff line hollow with approximately 40/ 50 feet 200lb soft steel as a top shot on a 50 wide, approximately 900yds, never been spooled, several tuna in the high 200's. With spectra I don't see using my 80 wide anymore....Paul
I only had one kite turn and only got a 120# fish with it....straight grind no issues but not a real test......so maybe next trip I will get a better fish to test it on...
It's nice when things work as expected, but I agree...not much of a test. When is your next long trip?
I feel so old school. I have a Penn 50VSW done up by Cal. 1000yds of 130. Loop to loop 200-300# whatever I have more of. Topshot crimped to whatever I am supposed to be using on my rotation turn. I have a 50SST. Its a very nice reel. Caught a few cows on it. Does what it is supposed to do. I have the shift adjustment tightened as tight as I can make it. I want it in high as long as possible.
