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$100ish Saltwater Surf Reel Opinion

4K views 36 replies 11 participants last post by  Trevfishin 
#1 ·
It's been a while since I bought a reel for surf fishing, so I'd figured I'd ask the experts, or at least the ones using them more than me. I have an old Diawa 7000C and Penn 850SS, but would like to add another one to the arsenal. I've never used a conventional one, not gonna lie, they scare me with my ability to bird nest anything I touch.

So what's out there in the $100ish range, which would be under $150 that's good and won't break the bank. Mind you I surf fish twice, maybe three times a year.

Thanks in advance.
 
#7 ·
So my issue with braid is attaching a shock leader to it. I have braid on my other reels but it’s 65 and 80lb power pro and that’s too heavy to surf cast. I have 20lb on my Sedona’s, but those are too small for the OBX surf. Sorry, should have clarified that in the beginning.

braid will cut through a shock leader in my experience
 
#10 ·
For surfcasting, it's hard to beat a good non-level wind conventional reel that's magged. The cost new will be in the $155 and up range (Penn Squall II 15) but there are LOTS of alternatives that will be far more cost effective, and I've explored and used pretty much all of them. My latest is a Penn Surfmaster 200 (300yds 20#) in very good condition that I bought for $42/shipped. It has an aluminum reel, so it was easy to add some mags ($5 from Home Depot) to the clicker side plate and now it's a very viable surfcasting reel.

 
#17 ·
So I have reels for ponds, river/stream, lake, inshore and surf. I fish from a kayak and have caught tarpon, sharks, jacks, snook, etc.

The purpose of this reel will be for chunking bait from shore, OBX, Florida east coast, gulf coast and putting it in a rod holder.

Will be getting it tomorrow, will do a combo of 30lb mono and 30lb braid on it. First trip is in July to Florida northeast coast. I’ll let you know how it goes.
 
#20 ·
You want the shock leader to go around the spool a good 5 to 8 turns. I only use mono exclusively so my line to leader knots are line uni and leader blob or leader overhand knot, but for mono to braid you should consider the FG knot instead of uni to uni.
 
#22 ·
With regard to line and shock leaders, lots depend on the kinda reel and its intended application.

For a typical 12' to 13' surf rod, my typical leader will be about 30 feet long.

Does a heavy mono shock leader affect casting ability? Nope, nothing at all that matters. It should be the same for fixed spool reels as well. The main line to leader knot will offer some resistance as it bangs through the guides, and with a revolver the line is being "pushed" off the reel whereas with a spinner it's being "pulled" off.

For weight & bait and lures in the surf I only use open face revolvers (non-level wind) and with payloads ranging from 2 to 10 ounces (typically 5 to 8) and that means mono shock leaders up to 80 pounds (10 pounds per payload ounce), 5 to 8 times around the spool and then double the rod length because the line drop of the payload off the rod tip guide can be as long as the distance to the reel (OTG or Hatteras or big pendulum casts).

Yer flinging a payload that travels at 150 to 200 mph and the spool is running at 20k to 40k rpm - that's a lot of force on the line and sole reason for a proper shock leader. The same applies to spinners, but they are at a definite long distance disadvantage when compared to multiplying reels.

Level wind reels are different, because getting a leader knot through the line guide can be problematic if casting distance is the goal.
 
#24 ·
You are absolutely correct - casting technique is numero uno! Most casters do that overhead "thump" cast with the payload hanging a foot off the rod tip and arms close to their body. Wrong. Learn about arms waaay out, payload overhang, and start with a ground or Hatteras cast first. Check out youtube videos of tommy farmer ... here he's doing a Hatteras ...
 
#26 ·
You will have less instant backlashes with a conventional reel with only one or two turns around the spool with Shock leader.

It is nice to have a long shock when you have a fish on but for casting ease of mind less wraps of shock around the spool is better for fishing purposes. Ask me how I know this

I transitioned to a Bimini and then the no-name knot for Shock to running line due to people laughing at my Spider to UNI. The Bimini to no name will not break even with 0 wraps around the spool as long at the Shock is still long enough to have the Bimini only a foot or two from the reel. I think the 8 or 10 wraps came from some pendulum guy and people take it for verbatim.

When I was young we used a twenty-five foot long Spider hitch with 25 pound test for the shock, when one leg of the Spider finally broke it was time to retie another one in.

There are plenty of new casting reels with and without mags that are available under $200 that would be perfect to learn on.

You can get a new SL20SH on Ebay for one hundred and change or spend a bit more for a Fathom 15 or 12 if you want to learn quicker.

One thing about a conventional reel and spinning reel holding the identical amount of line is that the conventional reel will be half the weight of the spinner most time.

When I was 15 years old on Kitty Hawk Pier I saw a man bomb out a bait using an ABU 8000 and 10 foot long Heaver with a 24/32" Tip, I knew at that point my days of using a spinner were numbered when I saw that cast fly out beyond where ever I had been before..

Spinners are great for a good many purposes, but bombing out big baits and big sinkers is not one of them.
 
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