TUNA Jigging Reel
 

In the market for a new jigging reel for Tuna. I narrowed it down to either a SALTIST 35 or AVET HXJ. Any thoughts would be helpful. I'm leaning toward the AVET.

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

What's your budget?
What line will you pair it with? How many yards do you want? How much drag?
What size fish?

I take tuna jigging very seriously and personally I would avoid both reels for different reasons.
If its in your budget the best tuna jigging reels (and best reels in general) are the Jigging Master PE reels.

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

What line will you pair it with? daiwa samurai braid 55 - 70lb haven't decided yet.

How many yards do you want? 220 yd

How much drag? Strike 21lb/Full 27lb

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

Go with the Avet..

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

99% will go with Avet.

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

The saltist won't fish that kind of drag, they fall well short of their specs.
The avet will be pushing it, it may be OK but reels generally don't fair too well when always fished at their max for prolonged time. If you can deal with the "backslap" of the avet it's otherwise not a bad reel, but I personally cannot tolerate it. If you want to stick with one of these two reels this has to be the one.

I know these reels are priced higher than what you are already looking at, but the Shimano Talica 12 or 16 two speeds are good reels. My only "complaints" are the rather sharp drag curve once you go past strike, the rubber handle (prefer T-bar), and they don't have the power I've become used to from JM reels (but then again, nothing else does either). JM PE are the best choice but also the most $$$. Just depends how much you are OK with spending.

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

Thanks Sea Bear! I'll keep all that in mind before I make my decision.

A

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

I am not a big fan of avets for jigging, chunking the 30 and 50 are great. If I was going to use an avet for jigging tuna it would be a JX. It has plenty of capacity and enough drag for the yellowfin we catch locally.

A couple of issues I see with your specs. You say you want 21# of drag at strike and 28# at full, but fishing with 55-70# line your drag should be more like 12-18# at strike and 18-23# at full. Also 220 yards is not going to be enough line if you hook a bigger fish. I would go with at least 300 yards of line, I prefer 400 or better.

Like Seabear said the JM reels are the best of the best. I love mine and am looking to pick up another, it is the best jigging and bottom fishing reel I have ever used.

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

Going to go with the Avet JX. Thanks guys

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

what size JM would you use for jigging tuna

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

PE5N or PE5 for around here.
PE8 when you're targeting the big ones in deep water.

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

My arm is twisted:) . I'm getting the JIGGING MASTER. No reason not too. Which model do you guys recommend? Braid,
#test, capacity. Anything else you recommend would be appreciated. Thanks guys

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

See my last post.
I personally use hollow core line, either Jerry Brown or Tuf-Line.

PE5N will hold 300-325 yards of 60-65LB line
PE5 will hold 350-400 yards of the same
PE8 will hold 450 yards of 80 or 100LB line

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

Canyon just released 2 new reels. The HS18 & HS16. Both are monster reels. The 16 is small, light weight, twin drag and I got over 300yds oh Fins Marked HC on mine. The 18 is a bit larger, but has more capacity. Take a look at them. Been waiting for them to announce these reels.

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

How does the JM line compare to Shimano Torsa?

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

They're pretty different reels.
JM reels have a slower 4:1 retrieve and a very long handle arm. This gives them tremendous cranking power.
The Torsa reels have a fast retrieve that is unnecessary for tuna jigging. They are heavier and more expensive.

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

sea bear, your knowledge on these reels is appreciated.thank you

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

Thanks for the info. Stopped by friends house who has several JM reels including the one you mentioned. Love the long handle. 2 things i did not like was the clicking sound reel makes when reeling in. Sounds like you have clicker on even thogh it is not engaged. Also if using as a jigging reel i found that the handle will rotate when jigging. Curious what your thoughts are on both concerns.

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

actually there is a youtube video showing a quick clip on how noisy and/or annoying the Powerspell PE5 reel is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZqoYMo7baI

I will still consider it.

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

The clicking noise has raised concern by several. The noise is a result of the double dog anti-reverse system. As we all know, when jigging you can get slammed by fish in an instant, putting a large jolt on the anti-reverse bearings and/or bushings. JM's double dog design is to survive that kind of punishment.

When listening to those videos, keep in mind anything will sounds noisier when we are in the confines of a quiet room. Throw in some wind in your face, the idling of twin diesels, a running generator, yelling and screaming of excited fisherman, and suddenly the noise rapidly dissipates into the background. Even so, it doesn't take long to become desensitized to it. I almost like it, to me, it's the sound of a JM. :)

I'm not entirely clear on what you mean by the handle rotating while jigging. Do you mean the T-bar spins very freely? The T-bar is always quick to settle down. It's hard to grab the handle awkwardly when you're moving your hands about while fighting a fish/doing whatever. The handle is usually right where you expect it to be thanks to gravity, no matter how you have the rest of the rod situated, so no fumbling around with your grip.

I'll just add, between all my tuna fishing friends and myself, JM's are the only reels we use for conventional tuna fishing, save one Accurate that I happen to also own, and one Talica. Collectively we have brought thousands and thousands of pounds of tuna to the boat, from NJ, to CC, NC 300+lb BFT, west coast long range 200+lb YFT, Panama, and more. Through everything, not a single reel has received any sort of routine servicing or any sort of care beyond a rinse after each trip. The biggest issue that has ever come up from anyone was a loose internal screw that happened on my PE 5. A quick tightening and all was good. I consider the JM's to be no-nonsense reels, just buy one and fish it hard, that's it.

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

To me the noise in not an issue at all. Its no different than the larger avets, my 30n makes the exact same noise on the retrieve. To me a little noise is well worth the performance, as they blow other reels away.

Also not sure what you mean about the handle rotating while jigging.

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

Now that I decided to get a Jigging Master do you think the PE 8 is overkill for overnight canyon trips from either a head boat or a charter? The price difference is 40 bucks between the PE5 and the PE8.

Thoughts??

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

Its definately more than you need, but if you fill it with 65# you can also use it for deep dropping and if you ever decide to head down to north carolina for bluefin you can just swap out the line. If you only plan on only using it for local tuna I would get the PE 5.

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

I agree with Mike. The PE5 is everything you need and more for local tuna. As Mike said, for line capacity for deep dropping or for targeting large fish 200+lbs then I would go PE8.

Re: TUNA Jigging Reel
 

Mike and Sea Bear, thanks again the PE5 is ordered. Mike once I recoup some $$ from the reel I'll call you for a rod.

Thanks again,
A