Heavier line than reel is rated for?

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by BrokeLoser

Bellcon just sent me a pm and enlightened me as well.

Private info..how cool is that!!! He should know: two years ago he was asking the same questions you are...

The deal is there is nothing new in this. People have been fishing short topshots with spectra for everything from long range cow tuna to rockfish to halibut to paddy and kelp yellows for over a decade now.

As to value I used to respool my mono every year on my reels. Now I have reels that I've had the same spectra on for at least ten years and it's as a good as new. This is especially true for my big game reels I use for sharks and Marlin. Almost ever single quality fish I have caught in the last decade has been caught with spectra with a short top. Though I occasionally have to cut off small amounts of worn line off the top I have never had to replace a whole spool of spectra, like I used to routinely do with Mono

From offshore to kelp to bottom fishing it's the only way to go IMO.

Jim

[BrokeLoser]

Originally Posted by Jim Day

Private info..how cool is that!!! He should know: two years ago he was asking the same questions you are...

The deal is there is nothing new in this. People have been fishing short topshots with spectra for everything from long range cow tuna to rockfish to halibut to paddy and kelp yellows for over a decade now.

As to value I used to respool my mono every year on my reels. Now I have reels that I've had the same spectra on for at least ten years and it's as a good as new. This is especially true for my big game reels I use for sharks and Marlin. Almost ever single quality fish I have caught in the last decade has been caught with spectra with a short top. Though I occasionally have to cut off small amounts of worn line off the top I have never had to replace a whole spool of spectra, like I used to routinely do with Mono

From offshore to kelp to bottom fishing it's the only way to go IMO.

Jim

I'm sold Jim!
I'm starting a Top Ramen based diet tomorrow...I should be able to swing a few thousand yards of spectra by the end of next week...haha
BTW...what would it cost me to get the phone number to your "red phone"..you know the one you always answer?

[bus kid]

Originally Posted by RedSledTeam

Has anyone had any experience with "Jerry Brown" Spectra?

casts like izor and cuts as good or better then power pro. for those that have never used spectra, It does cast differently,Be sure to spool it tight, and level, if you don't and you get a birds nest it will sink deep into the spool. if your not sure have it done well worth it. I don't care for power pro because of the wax, it tends to stick to its self, Although i did get the hollow core, I have cast it but not yet fished it. also never cast a dry spool. get a little water on the spool before that first cast. wasn't there a thread about spectra not too long ago?

here it is
http://www.bigwatersedge.com/bwevb/s...ead.php?t=9612

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by BrokeLoser

I'm sold Jim!
I'm starting a Top Ramen based diet tomorrow...I should be able to swing a few thousand yards of spectra by the end of next week...haha
BTW...what would it cost me to get the phone number to your "red phone"..you know the one you always answer?

LOL...

The deal is you just do a reel or two at a time and eventually you get kind of a critical mass going

Often when I get a new reel I just take something I'm not using that has the same capacity specs and move the spectra over.

Check this out...


I bought those reels at the same time, but see the reel on the left: how the spectra is a lighter color? That spectra is maybe eight years old and it's faded from use to a olive green. It started out it's life for me on a TLD5 fishing offshore tuna, then got moved to a Avet SX that I used for halibut, then got moved to that tyrnos eight.

Still good though. Here's a black I released that day while fishing with it...


I put ton of pressure on that fish to get it up and that old spectra held up just fine.

As to the phone.... LOL

Well that clears up a mystery on my end.

I gather I gave you my shop number. I use a voip phone at the shop and for a while everything kept getting bounced to visual voice-mail where things get transcribed into text and sent to my email. I got several calls that got garbled with chopped up nonsensical text all from the same area code, and I couldn't figure out who they were from. If that was you man... You have my sincerest apologies.

Jim

[Amish Ed]

For me the only reason I haven't gone to spectra w/ a short topshot is because of casting. I hate the knot banging through the guides, killing my distance. What knots are you guys using for short topshots?

[grey zone]

Uni to Uni, 10 wraps of spectra around the mono and 3 wraps of mono around the spectra. For the shortest top shots a ball bering swivel works well. I recommend it for top shots to be used with dropper loops and halibut drifting.

[BrokeLoser]

Originally Posted by Jim Day

As to the phone.... LOL

Well that clears up a mystery on my end.

I gather I gave you my shop number. I use a voip phone at the shop and for a while everything kept getting bounced to visual voice-mail where things get transcribed into text and sent to my email. I got several calls that got garbled with chopped up nonsensical text all from the same area code, and I couldn't figure out who they were from. If that was you man... You have my sincerest apologies.

Jim

Holy crap...that black looks like a toad....how big?
The phone thing: No, that wasn't me and sorry about your troubles....Remember Batman? The commissioner had the red phone that only Batman would call.


Anyway, thanks for all the help peeps...much appreciated!

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by BrokeLoser

Holy crap...that black looks like a toad....how big

That's a Santa Barbara Island fish and it is the largest black I have ever seen. Freddie whose pretty much an SBI expert, and practically knows the Blacks out there on first name basis said that it was well over 250 pounds.

Here's a few more pics of it




For the record I've caught and released many blacks but never killed one. The issue is not air in the swim bladder like with rockfish but air in the digestive system, that causes them to roll over and essentually get disoriented at the surface or puts them in kind of a sleep state. That fish was farting like a pig in a bubble bath but once I rolled him over and he quickly got his orientation back and took off no problem. The problem was turning him over. Every time I tried to grab his jaw he'd grab my hand and almost rip my arm off. Big old fish no doubt.

Jim

[jhook]

Originally Posted by Jim Day

Jim

I like the blurry shots. It looks like some sort of mythical creature, like the Loch Ness monster.

[taggermike]

To join the spec to mono/fluoro I usually use a back to back uni. I've tried the Tony Pena knot but have had better success with the uni. I've used the bimini twist/albright but that's a big hassle with too many knots to pass through the guides. A small ring or swivle can be a good conection sight as long as it doesn't have to pass through the guides. Mike

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by jhook

I like the blurry shots. It looks like some sort of mythical creature, like the Loch Ness monster.

Yeah they are pretty funny. I shot those with my vest mounted cam, and I was trying to get some shots but I was a little hurried and honestly a little intimidated. He's just come up in those pics, and once on top he just turned and came straight at me. I put my foot out to stop him because I was afraid he'd freak out slam into the kayak and knock me out of it, at the time I was like holy shit what am I going to do with this thing.

It's funny the kinds of things that go through your head in a situation like that. He'd towed me well off the island and it' was getting dark.


That's prime full sized adult Mako territory out there, and right before dark is the time they like to feed. I was totally concerned that a big 800 pound or better Mako was going to come up and attack him. I've seen them out there killing swords, and I know several guys that have got them there, and it was the perfect time of year for them to be there.

I tried to get the hook out but he kept biting my hand, and I finally said screw this and cut him off tight to the jaw. Then I had to get him to roll back over. My usual MO is to grab them at the narrow point of the tail and turn them over, but that narrow part was over ten inches tall, so I couldn't even get my hand a 1/4 of the way around it. I tried to roll him over a variety of ways. Every time I tried to grab his jaw he'd literally almost pull my arm out of the socket, and at on point I thought he'd broke my wrist. After while he just swam around me in circles not allowing me to get close to him.

There was NO WAY!! I was going to leave that fish floating so finally out of desperation I paddled right at him, pushed his huge belly sideways with both hands almost falling out of the kayak in the process and which point he first went on his side then rolled over and took off. As soon as he was right side up he was gone, made a huge splash that soaked me too

After that I was jacked, but when I was taking those pics I was pretty nervous. My take is that if you hook them you then have to be responsible for them. There is no problem with fighting them to your yak and releasing them if your are willing to put in the time and do it right. I cringe every time I hear one of those guys that say just cut them off. Leaving a fish like that trailing a bunch of line is just a recipe for disaster.

Just my take though.

Jim