Max Drag

[skip]

TLD 25 Upgrade to Carbontex Drag Washer : $19.00
+ Cals Drag Grease $7.00

Penn 113H upgrade to Carbontex Drag Washer set of 6 : $17.00

www.smoothdrag.com

114H doesn't seem to be listed but I'm sure he does it. The 113's and 114's well basically all the Senator's also have metal washers in between the drag washer's themselves and smoothdrag do upgraded metal washers as well that go for between $14-16 depending on the model.

The upgrade won't necessarily give you lots more drag pressure but it will make them feel smoother and keep sustained drag pressure.

Alan Tani's recommended limit for the TLD25 is 18lbs at strike as apparently anything more than that and you start to place undue pressure on the graphite frames which are known to crack at the base if pushed. You can also re-orientate the belleville washers from their stock config to get more sustained pressure.

Alan Tani the god of reels has a rebuld article here that includes the upgrade:
http://www.big-game-board.info/english-spoken-section/tackle-rigs-and-knots/reels/1718-tutorial-shimano-tld-20-25-rebuild/

The pictures form this rebuild are not working as the site where they are hosted seems to have been suspended! The power handles are also considered to be an excellent upgrade, either the Tiburon http://www.tiburonengineering.com/html/t-bar_handles.html or Reels colours http://www.reelcolors.com/reelcolors_004.htm

You can also do the handle upgrade to the 114's.

Suggest you all have a read of this article attached as well.

[maltembu]

Alan Tani's recommended limit for the TLD25 is 18lbs at strike as apparently anything more than that and you start to place undue pressure on the graphite frames which are known to crack at the base if pushed.

Are the tld xt7 graphite bodies reliable ?  as i'm seriously considering either the tld30II or tld50II..

Thanks..

[skip]

The XT7 bodies are definately stronger than the single speed TLD's, but either way I don't think you will be approaching the stage of placing undue pressure on either locally.

[maltembu]

Found this site to reinforce the body.. Even though we won't need it... 


http://www.tiburonengineering.com/html/reel_frames.html

[bobbyjoe]

 
maltembu nahseb li qied tifissa iz zejjed

[ganni]

ur right bobbyjoe!!

maltembu you don't have to worry about these things!! i saw a dvd in which a 89kg tuna was caught on a tld25!! and another one on which a tiger shark of 250lb estimate was caught!!

is that enough mate??

[skip]

As the guys said, there's no need to go that far.....if you're going to go with the TLD30II or 50II that's more than enough and leave them stock. If you catch loads and loads of fish and wear your drag washer down then you can always change to a carbontex one. Offhand I'm not sure what Shimano use in their TLD II speeds. Even the stock TLD25 is fine for what we come across. If you do get a whopper which so far I've not come across trolling yet, sod-it if you lose it!

Ganni in that dvd you saw, was he fishing all mono, or spectra backing with a mono top shot? Unless the fish was tired to start with an 89kgs fish pulling on only 18-20lbs of sustained drag pressure is likely to empty the TLD25 pretty quickly as it doesn't have the drag pressure of 26lbs plus to limit the runs. Or was the skipper backing down on the fish etc?

[bigboy]

Noel kevin and myself told you many a time that you are going to far

Se tonfoq hafna flus zejda sihbi ax li issib mostru jekk inkunu trolling tkun darba f mitt qamar.

Go for a tld 25

And if we go by the tune pens forget using a rod as many here on the forum can tell you

[skip]

Tell you what Noel, if you buy the TLD25 or if you really want to spend more $$ the TLD30II, and you repeatedly come across big fish, I will lend you my Penn International 50V Wide on a 50/80lbs rod and you can try to your heart's content!

The only reasons I would choose a TLD30II over the TLD25 is if I wanted to do some jigging without buying another reel and then you could utilise the more versatile gear ratio's of the TLD30II High 4.0:1 Low 1.7:1 or if I found a great deal on ebay.

example: http://stores.ebay.com/SHIMREELS-TACKLE_Big-Game-Trolling-Reels_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZQ2d1QQfsubZ5QQftidZ2QQtZkm

TLD 25 $160
TLD 30II $240 

[maltembu]

Ok guys..  just didn't want to make a bad decision and wanted to know a bit more about reels.. Thanks for your help..

Skip at the moment not even the small fish are coming across 

[bigboy]

I was gonna mention that noel but kept it aside

[ganni]

@ skip they were following the tuna, but still the tld25 holds 600yrds of 30lb line which is still quite a lot!! they were using mono and were trying to do a new IGFA record.  do you know if in malta there are any IGFA members??

and skip regards the tldII, it is suitable for jigging!! there are 3 main reasons:
-if you go for a multiplier jigging reel it must be an N version it is very important and usually a size 16, like the trinidad / torsa 16N.
-it is too heavy for a jigging reel
-and finally its gear ratio is not high enough, it must be at least 5:1 like the tld star 15/30 (not the 20/40 since it is too wide) or the 2 reels i mentioned above which if im not mistaken have an approx. 6:1 ratio

[skip]

As far as I know there is no IGFA body here in Malta, not sure about paid up members, there might be a couple. I doubt that the TLD25 they were using was standard....it had probably been fully worked, drag, bellevilles etc, as I dont think (but I dont know) that IGFA rules restrict you from hot-rodding your reel so long as you stick to the line class. They may do as I know they are very strict with the line, one would have to read up, still I don't pay much attention to one off's done for records as they are rarely what one would encounter in real life situations, though still impressive.

As to whether the TLDII can be used for jigging, again we go back to the whole issue of over fixating what we can and can't do with a reel! No idea what an N version is nor would i bother with a size 16 trinidad/torsa unless I was out jigging every day or for several hours a go. Too heavy I don't think you mean physical weight because I was jigging with a full aluminium 30wide reel, you just wont spend so long. As for gear ratio there are no hard and fast rules, anything over 5 is idea, 6 even better but again all this is translating to is less effort for the angler and more action on the lure.

Compared to a 3.6:1 or similar straight trolling reel like the TLD25, the II series offer some more versatility, but you're not going to call them a jigging reel, but I'd happily use them for a spot of jigging here and there.

[ganni]

skip N stands for narrow version. if you go for a jigging multiplier it must be narrow even if it holds less line!!

during your jigging action you cannot give attention to how the line is spooling up and with an Wide of normal version you will have problems, on the otherhand, in an N version the line will be layed on the spool much better while jigging.

Yes skip i was referring to the physical weight!! The problem isn't if you just jig for 30minutes but if you are going to try to spend a day jigging.  The weight of the tackle is of extreme importance in jigging.  It is one of the disadvantages of the Saltiga when compared to a Stella.  Even if the Saltiga is more heavy duity and has a stronger drag (if not mistaken about a max of 30Kg) it weighs more than the Stella and even a difference of 100g in your tackel's weight will have a great difference

[skip]

Have you tried the new B series Shimano Spheros, like the 14000FB? Far more affordable than the Stella or the Saltiga both very nice but high end spinning reels.

Thanks for the N clarification. Over in the US they use things like the Spheros for jigging/popping....again I doubt spending all day doing it but more than 30 minutes and seem to report back well. Here I haven't seen a decent range of jigging rods at all. Check out OTI rods