Offshore Trolling reel questions
 

I have plans to get offshore this year and I am trying to decide if I want to buy avet exw30s or 50s to outfit the boat. I am looking to do some sharkig and trolling around chicken. A buddy of mine told me he had been spooled multiple times on the 30, and of course I have heard people say the 30 is ample. I'm just curious what some of you guys run because this offshore game is brand new to me. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

Re: Offshore Trolling reel questions
 

We run 80 bent butts on corners. 50s on riggers and sometimes 30s n flats but usually 50 unless we white fishing then we go to tld 15 and 25

Re: Offshore Trolling reel questions
 

IMO, the 30s are fine for sharking and trolling around the chicken. If iI was consistently trolling for bigeyes in the canyon I'd want 50s. We use 30 s most of the time and never had a problem. Most sharks are under 200 lbs and unless u hook into a giant but then your in trouble with a 50 to.

Re: Offshore Trolling reel questions
 

50's. Because you just never know.

Re: Offshore Trolling reel questions
 

For the area you are planning on fishing I would go with the 30's. I would go with hollow core backing with top shot of mono which will give you the best of both world increased line capacity and lighter weight of reel.

Re: Offshore Trolling reel questions
 

Come on down to the shop ..I have some offshore combos set up and we also have some rentals. Yes , rentals .....Out fitting for offshore , can be rather expensive....So stop by and we can help you out ...Pete

Re: Offshore Trolling reel questions
 

30's is all you need. we actually just sold all our 50's and 30's and switched to talica 25's. 500 yds of spectra with a 200 yd top shot

Re: Offshore Trolling reel questions
 

For trolling, I'd probably go with a mix of 30s and 50s. 3 50s and 4 30s.

I'd be running a 50 for the center way back line in your spread. If a big boy does happen to show up, that's usually what he's going to hit. I'd use 50s for your spreader bars as well and 30s for your 2 flat lines and the 2 lines your run close by and in tandem with the 2 spreader bars.

You could also use the 30s if you decide to bait fish. If you're working bait lines all day, 50s can get heavy and clumbsy real fast. You could probably get away with a 30 for jigging too, although the lighter special purpose jigging outfits are much better suited for that. You probably want to have at least one of those outfits. Jigging has become very popular in the areas inshore of the Hudson and there are a lot of guys who fish this way exclusively.

Re: Offshore Trolling reel questions
 

Go with 30's with plenty of braid/hollowcore backing. The weight difference between a 50 and a 30 is usually more than the difference in drag. Good braid under good mono will give you more than enough line on the reel. If you get spooled on a 30 with 600-700 yards of line on it, you're doing it wrong, or you've got a 600 lb bluefin. More likely you're doing it wrong.

Re: Offshore Trolling reel questions
 

the 30s should be fine if your just sharking and trolling the chix canyon. then again with today's technology you never really need to go much bigger than 50. have fun and brush up on your spreader bar and ballyhoo knowledge its the entire game up here.

also: release small makos.

Re: Offshore Trolling reel questions
 

be fine if you run spectra backing. If you are fishing mono I would go 50's because you may need the capacity when dealing with larger sharks.

If you are looking to outfit your boat give me a ring and I can set you up with a set that will put fish in the boat.

Re: Offshore Trolling reel questions
 

Nice... must feel great fighting a good fish on a light set up with equivalent power to a Tiagra. Prob save a ton of energy... I hear many good things about the Talicas.

Re: Offshore Trolling reel questions
 

Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts, your input is greatly appreciated.

Re: Offshore Trolling reel questions
 

Much, much more fun. The "30s" and "50's" are obsolete with what's out there today. We troll with Jigging Master PE 5 and PE 8 reels as well as a Talica 16 on jigging rods and contrary to old school mythology it works completely fine and is infinitely more fun. The only time anything bigger is used is when bigeyes or large-medium/giant BFT are the target and for that we'll include Makaira 20's and Talica 25's in the spread which are more than enough.