Reels 101 - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

Billy V · 03-08-2010, 10:43 PM

I like the Saltist star drag as well.

The Sealine X is still my Kayak favorite. That is a tuff reel at a great price.

-scallywag- · 03-09-2010, 06:15 AM

Bob,
For your application (live bait) i would also recomend the TLD 15 with 65 or 80lb spectra, i really like the lever drags for trolling live bait cause you can give the big greenies that the WSB's love a little drag so you don't have to hear the clicker all day. It also is a great reel to target seabass in the kelp with its 4:1 gear ratio and fairly heavy drag. The best part about the reel is the price, I think they are around 120.

If you do decide to go this route I recomend spending 15 more on the greasable cardontex drag washer, the factory drags are dry and as soon as they get even a little wet they get sticky....the greased ones are smooth even if they get dunked plus it'll up the max drag from 12lbs to about 14-15lbs, which is just enough to rip the lips off a WSB. ohh yeh, and they are super easy to service.

The only reason I could justifiy buying a torium or saltis instead of the cheaper sealines is for the heavy iron. The Torium/saltis do not have that noisy anti-reverse clicking as you are reeling in, if you're dropping the iron all day that clicking can get annoying, other than that I don't see much advantage for us to spend the extra money on the torium/saltist type reels.

PescadorPete · 03-09-2010, 08:29 AM

Since you already have a Sealine and a Torium (same as me), I'd also recommend the TLD-15 for the reasons given above. It retails for $140 but Squidco has better pricing. If you are handy with reel service, change out the stock canvas drag. I use a greased Penn 6-25 drag washer. The reel is very simple inside and easy to keep going in the salty environment.

-scallywag- · 03-09-2010, 09:06 AM

The drag on the tld15 in the "strike position" is 12 from the factory, max drag is 22, which is the same as the torium/saltist but with lower gearing and leverdrag, which may explain why it is so much fun to grind fish out of the kelp with.

Another cheap trick for broke asses like myself:

If you are lucky enough to have a dedicated flyline/bait reel there is really no reason IMHO to not use spectra. But spectra is not cheap, so I put 100 or so yards of old 40lb mono (off a heavy iron rod) as a backing and then 150-200yds of spectra, this allows me to spool up 2-3rods for the price of one, which saves about $30 and i don't feel all that bad when my OCD forces me to change my line.

03-09-2010, 09:06 AM	#4
-scallywag- Banned Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: on the road... Posts: 598	i lied... The drag on the tld15 in the "strike position" is 12 from the factory, max drag is 22, which is the same as the torium/saltist but with lower gearing and leverdrag, which may explain why it is so much fun to grind fish out of the kelp with. Another cheap trick for broke asses like myself: If you are lucky enough to have a dedicated flyline/bait reel there is really no reason IMHO to not use spectra. But spectra is not cheap, so I put 100 or so yards of old 40lb mono (off a heavy iron rod) as a backing and then 150-200yds of spectra, this allows me to spool up 2-3rods for the price of one, which saves about $30 and i don't feel all that bad when my OCD forces me to change my line.

03-08-2010, 10:43 PM	#1
Billy V Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Bay Ho Posts: 1,382	I like the Saltist star drag as well. The Sealine X is still my Kayak favorite. That is a tuff reel at a great price.

03-09-2010, 06:15 AM	#2
-scallywag- Banned Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: on the road... Posts: 598	Bob, For your application (live bait) i would also recomend the TLD 15 with 65 or 80lb spectra, i really like the lever drags for trolling live bait cause you can give the big greenies that the WSB's love a little drag so you don't have to hear the clicker all day. It also is a great reel to target seabass in the kelp with its 4:1 gear ratio and fairly heavy drag. The best part about the reel is the price, I think they are around 120. If you do decide to go this route I recomend spending 15 more on the greasable cardontex drag washer, the factory drags are dry and as soon as they get even a little wet they get sticky....the greased ones are smooth even if they get dunked plus it'll up the max drag from 12lbs to about 14-15lbs, which is just enough to rip the lips off a WSB. ohh yeh, and they are super easy to service. The only reason I could justifiy buying a torium or saltis instead of the cheaper sealines is for the heavy iron. The Torium/saltis do not have that noisy anti-reverse clicking as you are reeling in, if you're dropping the iron all day that clicking can get annoying, other than that I don't see much advantage for us to spend the extra money on the torium/saltist type reels.

03-09-2010, 08:29 AM	#3
PescadorPete Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Leucadia, CA Posts: 261	Since you already have a Sealine and a Torium (same as me), I'd also recommend the TLD-15 for the reasons given above. It retails for $140 but Squidco has better pricing. If you are handy with reel service, change out the stock canvas drag. I use a greased Penn 6-25 drag washer. The reel is very simple inside and easy to keep going in the salty environment.