Advice on Multiplier Reel

[Vagabond]

Just not sure if to go for 200 or 250 main line.

 

Will the Penn Squall 60LDLH be good for the job?

Can't see it matters. If there is not an abrasive rock problem, then both are well in excess of the maximum drag setting of 30 lb of the reel you mention.

 

If abrasive rocks are present, then again it won't matter - the thicker line may take a few extra seconds to saw through - after which you will change to a hard mono anyway.

 

Have not used that model, best advice is to look carefully at the various line capacities quoted for that reel on Penn's website and decide which combination of thickness of line and capacity best suits your needs.

 

I don't know how much experience you have of big fish, but I can say there is a lot of bullshine talked about tackle strength. It is a very strong man indeed who can lift more than 30 lb at the end of a big game fishing rod. Butt pad and harness will increase that a bit, and a fighting chair equipped with a gimbal a bit more. Even the biggest Penn reels - for 140 lb-class big-game - have a maximum drag setting of around 70 lb. You might consider the logic of a 200lb BS line coupled with a maximum drag setting of 30 lb ! The strength of the line relative to the size of the fish is not the main reason why fish are lost. The main enemy in freshwater is abrasive rocks. Continental rivers coming off mountain ranges are big and fast flowing, and scour out deep rocky pools with many underwater ledges. That is why I favour a hard mono in such habitats.

 

Anyway, I hope you have a good trip, whatever you decide. Tell us about it when you get back.

 

PS Just thought of this. If you use fish baits, think of a way to prevent it being ejected (Big bead on trace ? Ping-pong ball ?) Otherwise the cat will eject the bait, and then, as the fish runs, the bait will slide up the trace, and onto the main line. Along comes a piranha, and SNIP ! I lost a good cat in the Para system to such an event, and several tigerfish in Africa as their competitive siblings went for the ejected bait. . Sharks do it also.

Edited July 14, 2015 by Vagabond

[Disturbed]

I was thinking of putting a wire trace on the end just for safety. Wanted to use 200lb braid main line and 300lb braid leader. I will order thick mono just incase. I think I will go for the Squall in the end after seeing a video on youtube of a 13ft shark being caught on one! Haha. And I am not planning to come back, getting married to my fiancee over there so will hopefully have plenty of time to gain experience catching the big ones! Haha

[Ken L]

200lb line sounds like overkill. 40 or 50lb mono or 80lb braid with a rubbing leader is easier to handle.

I suppose the wire is needed because of the Piranha, it's certainly not needed for the cats - I had to put my hand into the mouth of a 50lb red tail last year and had him bite down on me. A few minor cuts from the teeth but nothing that would worry heavy mono - I had a few bruises though.

[Vagabond]

I am not planning to come back,

But tell us about it anyway. My total of six weeks spent in Brazil was all too short !

[OTIB]

Talking of big fish vs tackle, how about a 94 lb Wells from the Severn 3am Monday last,on my local bit, on a 2.0t.c barbel rod 12lb line and a 18mm boilie attached to a 10 wide gape hook. Took the captor 70 minutes to land, but land it he did.

[Ken L]

Talking of big fish vs tackle, how about a 94 lb Wells from the Severn 3am Monday last,on my local bit, on a 2.0t.c barbel rod 12lb line and a 18mm boilie attached to a 10 wide gape hook. Took the captor 70 minutes to land, but land it he did.

I think that warrants a thread of it's own - with pictures.

Sticking with this thread though, it makes the point that you can land big fish on lighter lines. I've landed fish of well over 100lbs on 30lb mono.

Edited July 15, 2015 by Ken L

[OTIB]

I think that warrants a thread of it's own - with pictures.

Sticking with this thread though, it makes the point that you can land big fish on lighter lines. I've landed fish of well over 100lbs on 30lb mono.

In the comics next week.

[Vagabond]

I think that warrants a thread of it's own - with pictures.

Sticking with this thread though, it makes the point that you can land big fish on lighter lines. I've landed fish of well over 100lbs on 30lb mono.

Yes indeed. Alec Allen's sturgeon being a case in point, as this badly-written article shows. There is, somewhere, a better account for those keen to search - so make with the search engines folks.

 

http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/sport/anglinglines/gamefishing/3213525.Giant_Sturgeon/

 

Several people who fish the Sound of Mull and adjacent waters have found themselves attached to a big skate of 150 lb-plus on lines as low as 20 lb whilst fishing for other species. With no snags around, any reasonably competent angler should land the fish. Davy Holt, who , alas, no longer posts on here, has done it at least twice. Several of the anglers who used to go out on his boat have also done it at least once - myself included. Time consuming, but no big deal - although when an angling newspaper journalist did the same the paper concerned thought it on a par with "loaves and fishes" miracles.

 

But a 300-plus sturgeon (or a piraiba) in a river with the angler on shore is a very different proposition from a skate in deep open water, so Alec Allen's feat deserves respect. I've caught big White Sturgeon from the Frazer River, and they jump, just like marlin (BTW that was on 60 lb braid - no rocks about) If you read a decent account, Alec's fish jumped a few times.

 

I would agree with Ken. For very big catfish, 80 lb braid for snag-free waters, 50 lb abrasion resistant mono if there are rocks. The choice of trace sounds fine - unless one has experience of piranhas, it is difficult to envisage how destructive of tackle they can be - one I hooked escaped by biting my Heddon plug in half !

 

BTW "Disturbed" there are plenty of good anglers in Brazil, so take local advice if you can - as I said before, I hope you get some good fish.

[gozzer]

Talking of big fish vs tackle, how about a 94 lb Wells from the Severn 3am Monday last,on my local bit, on a 2.0t.c barbel rod 12lb line and a 18mm boilie attached to a 10 wide gape hook. Took the captor 70 minutes to land, but land it he did.

 

I do hope it wasn't returned to the river alive.

 

John.

[OTIB]

I do hope it wasn't returned to the river alive.

 

John.

I did ask Birmingham AA what their policy was on this, yet to have a reply. But at the moment there doesn't seem to`be any policy of not returning, they have also now taken Zander off the 'kill' list. All good publicity for them though.

There have been many reports of anglers hooking into big catfish, I personally have had two episodes that could be attributed to cats, there also have been a few sightings.