What are the cons of using surf reels for game fishing?

Southern Bluefin Tuna, Kingies, Marlin and other game fish.
efendy
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Re: What are the cons of using surf reels for game fishing?

Post by efendy » Mon Apr 10, 2017 3:50 pm

dazz999 wrote: a bit off the topic what do you think of the baitrunner Long Cast XTA compared to the Daiwa Emcast Plus thanks Dazz
I haven't had the chance to use the emcast plus a lot as I still have 2x emcast sport on the rods. But my general feeling is baitrunner Long Cast XTA is in a different league. it's so smooth and tight. Emcast plus is I guess between XTA and emcast sport. Drag on the shimano is very smooth when compared to emcast models.

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Re: What are the cons of using surf reels for game fishing?

Post by Basti » Mon Apr 10, 2017 11:53 pm

not sure how the emcast compares to a windcast 5500brlda, but i've fought a big ray on the windcast and noticed that the reel stem was flexing under the drag pressure (30 or 40lb leader). i've done the same thing on an aerlex, which is the bottom of shimano's beach reel lineup and it didn't break a sweat (I, on the other hand, did)

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Re: What are the cons of using surf reels for game fishing?

Post by mr plow » Tue Apr 11, 2017 4:26 pm

Ok one is a b70mh. Other one is b64bj. The reason I'm selling is I brought alot of gear off a bloke who needed cash badly . He only used once and I couldn't say no to the price. Pick up moe

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Re: What are the cons of using surf reels for game fishing?

Post by efendy » Tue Apr 11, 2017 6:21 pm

mr plow wrote:Ok one is a b70mh. Other one is b64bj. The reason I'm selling is I brought alot of gear off a bloke who needed cash badly . He only used once and I couldn't say no to the price. Pick up moe
Thanks. I sent you a pm. Cheers.

efendy
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Re: What are the cons of using surf reels for game fishing?

Post by efendy » Tue Apr 11, 2017 6:24 pm

Basti wrote:not sure how the emcast compares to a windcast 5500brlda, but i've fought a big ray on the windcast and noticed that the reel stem was flexing under the drag pressure (30 or 40lb leader). i've done the same thing on an aerlex, which is the bottom of shimano's beach reel lineup and it didn't break a sweat (I, on the other hand, did)
Havent had a similar problem with emcast sport and battled with big rays as well (including the sweat part) don't know if the materials are the same?

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Re: What are the cons of using surf reels for game fishing?

Post by SFP Guy. » Wed Apr 12, 2017 5:58 pm

efendy wrote:I have been daydreaming about buying a 6+ metre boat and going offshore for tuna/kingie fishing :rofl:

I do a lot of surf fishing and have a number of reels such as Baitrunner Long Cast XTA, Ultegra CI4+ 5500 XTB and a couple of daiwa emcast plus. all with power pro braid 50 pound in all of them, 300 metres or more in each. All of them have 15kg drag.

So my question is, while this dream is at least a couple of years away and need to spend big bucks on the boat, can I pair these reels with appropriate rods for game fishing? apart from being big and heavy what are the cons? is it possible at all?
Yeah, you could do it! I would only be concerned about the reel gear speed ratios.

Your Baitrunner only has 4.6:1 ratio, your Ultegra is 5.3:1 and the Emcasts 4.6:1 ( I think those numbers are right!)

I just prefer a higher gear ratio on fish like Tuna / Kingies. For the uninitiated the higher the ratio, the more line you retrieve per turn of the handle.

The lower the gear ratio the longer / harder you're gonna have to work to land your fish.

Your reels certainly have the line cap and drag to do it.

Give it a crack!

Cheers,

Cam.

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Re: What are the cons of using surf reels for game fishing?

Post by efendy » Wed Apr 12, 2017 6:21 pm

SFP Guy. wrote:
efendy wrote:I have been daydreaming about buying a 6+ metre boat and going offshore for tuna/kingie fishing :rofl:

I do a lot of surf fishing and have a number of reels such as Baitrunner Long Cast XTA, Ultegra CI4+ 5500 XTB and a couple of daiwa emcast plus. all with power pro braid 50 pound in all of them, 300 metres or more in each. All of them have 15kg drag.

So my question is, while this dream is at least a couple of years away and need to spend big bucks on the boat, can I pair these reels with appropriate rods for game fishing? apart from being big and heavy what are the cons? is it possible at all?
Yeah, you could do it! I would only be concerned about the reel gear speed ratios.

Your Baitrunner only has 4.6:1 ratio, your Ultegra is 5.3:1 and the Emcasts 4.6:1 ( I think those numbers are right!)

I just prefer a higher gear ratio on fish like Tuna / Kingies. For the uninitiated the higher the ratio, the more line you retrieve per turn of the handle.

The lower the gear ratio the longer / harder you're gonna have to work to land your fish.

Your reels certainly have the line cap and drag to do it.

Give it a crack!

Cheers,

Cam.
Yeah, great point Cam.

I would give them a crack first to get the feeling as you said, then upgrade. What would be good reels with right gear ratio and in terms of size, price/performance? A stella would be nice but would break the bank!
Cheers

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Re: What are the cons of using surf reels for game fishing?

Post by Paulanderson » Wed Apr 12, 2017 6:49 pm

If you are going to target large game fish, particularly over the shelf, you need a lot more than 300 m of line. You would be amazed just how quickly a Marlin or a big Yellowfin will take line off the reel. Smaller Tuna and Kings should be fine on your tackle.

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Re: What are the cons of using surf reels for game fishing?

Post by efendy » Wed Apr 12, 2017 8:04 pm

Paulanderson wrote:If you are going to target large game fish, particularly over the shelf, you need a lot more than 300 m of line. You would be amazed just how quickly a Marlin or a big Yellowfin will take line off the reel. Smaller Tuna and Kings should be fine on your tackle.
Thanks Paul. The first target will definitely be small tuna and kingfish. Then i can add more serious outfit to the collection!
Cheers

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Re: What are the cons of using surf reels for game fishing?

Post by cobby » Wed Apr 12, 2017 9:02 pm

SFP Guy. wrote:
efendy wrote:I have been daydreaming about buying a 6+ metre boat and going offshore for tuna/kingie fishing :rofl:

I do a lot of surf fishing and have a number of reels such as Baitrunner Long Cast XTA, Ultegra CI4+ 5500 XTB and a couple of daiwa emcast plus. all with power pro braid 50 pound in all of them, 300 metres or more in each. All of them have 15kg drag.

So my question is, while this dream is at least a couple of years away and need to spend big bucks on the boat, can I pair these reels with appropriate rods for game fishing? apart from being big and heavy what are the cons? is it possible at all?
Yeah, you could do it! I would only be concerned about the reel gear speed ratios.

Your Baitrunner only has 4.6:1 ratio, your Ultegra is 5.3:1 and the Emcasts 4.6:1 ( I think those numbers are right!)

I just prefer a higher gear ratio on fish like Tuna / Kingies. For the uninitiated the higher the ratio, the more line you retrieve per turn of the handle.

The lower the gear ratio the longer / harder you're gonna have to work to land your fish.

Your reels certainly have the line cap and drag to do it.

Give it a crack!

Cheers,

Cam.
The only thing you missed is torque. A lower ratio offers more torque which is less crank effort for the same amount of line retrieved. It's why 2 speed overhead game reels have a 1:1 or close enough to it low ratio and their high speed is very rarely above 4:1. Example being a Shimano Tiagra 30wlrsa is 3.9:1 high and 1.7:1 low. Also a 20k Stella only offers 4.4:1, a 4k is 6.2:1

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