Rods and Reels

For someone thinking  to pick up a 2-speed reel at a good price.  I recently picked up Shimano Tyrnos 8II which I found online for under $155 shipped.   

http://www.greentophuntfish.com/browse.cfm/shimano-tyrnos-8-2-speed-reel-tyr8ii/4,12814.html



This is around $100 less than I found them going for from most other sources.   I have been a big fan of 2 speeds and have picked up a number over the years.  Being new to kayak fishing I fear taking one out because of the cost should I donate it by accident to the ocean floor.  At this price, I have much less concerns.

I ended up getting this real. It feels a little awkward and heavy, by that I mean it rolls the rod to the right pretty bad, but for the price its worth putting up with some of that. Green top is now selling them for 140 shipped. I had to beg them to ship to this crazy country Alaska though You guys are lucky you don't have to deal with shipping nonsense like we do. And I will be getting a Shimano trevala rod. Sportsmans up here has them for 99 bucks. And I like the length and the weight of them compared to the ugly stik.

As always it depends.

For downrigging applications the lamiglass kenai Special might be too stiff (fast action).  I picked up an uglystick lite because I can really load it up into a nice U when I am downrigging.  But i'd never use the uglystick lite for bottom bouncing kings for example, it will wear you out!

The Lamiglass Kenai Special is probably a better jigging stick than a downrigger rod.

I use the Shimano MH Trevala Sticks for jigging and bottom fishing.  I use the medium heavy 6'6" one piece casting version.  LOVE it.  I'm not sure how well its going to handle a 100 pound halibut but I will worry about that when it happens.  It's light enough for it to be fun catching rockfish and small chickens, but it can handle jigging 7 to 10 oz butterfly jigs.  Combined with an avet SX two speed, its light enough to fish with all day.

Alright I went down and picked up two rods. I did get the trevala 6'6" Medium Heavy power. I will use this as my salmon mooching and rockfish rig. I picked up a penn 320 gt2 reel for it. I plan on putting 50lb power pro on it.

Then I picked up a okuma SST Halibut rod. I wanted to get a dedicated halibut rod. If I hook a big one I want some power to deal with it. I think this is especially important If fighting one in strong currents. I don't want to be fooling around trying to get a halibut up. And Ill tell you what for 75 bucks this seems like a nice rod. My favorite part is the handle grips. They are Triangle shaped instead of round. I like to hold my halibut rods sideways and this triangle shape seems like it will make that all the more easier. And it ought to make handling that heavy shimano reel a little easier too.

I'll probably make do with that kenai special rod for my trolling setup. And I might still have another rod or two floating in the shed that I forgot about that might work.

Kenai special will be awesome for trolling with sinkers or a diver like the pink lady.

Pick up a few shimano butterfly or Williamson speed or vortex jigs with the assist hooks. They outfish everything for rockfish and they get to the bottom twice as fast as regular shaped jigs. They seem to hook everything as well.


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I dug my way into the shed! That was some work, but I had to do some tackle recon. About 5-6 years back I invested in some salt water gear. Actually quite a bit. Anyway, I finally laid eyes on that Rod. Its a lamiglass trophy series, and I found a ugly stick rod too that I forgot about. And to top it off, I found about 300 yards worth of power pro that my neighbor gave me last year and I forgot about that. Im not sure what #test it is though. It seemed more than 30lbs so I put it on that penn reel/trevala combo. I didn't realize what that stuff was worth till today!

I also noticed it was side heavy.    This is typical with 2 speeds though I do notice it more with this reel than I expected  considering it's small size.   Maybe after an entire day on the water from a kayak,  I will miss the belt w/ gimbal pin.  In researching the Tyrnos reels,  I came across a video addressing a mod regarding the lever drag adjustment.



 

Great post!!!  Thank you for doing the due diligence I was to lazy to do.  This will help me out tremendously!!  Let's just put it out there, a $1 fix for an infuriating problem is a kayak fisherman's dream come true!

Didn't see the video above but if you have a Tyrnos go to smoothdrag.com buy a new carbon fiber drag washer and replace. (The stock ones have been known to frey and the upgrade is bomber.) Don't forget to add some Cal's grease. There's a tutorial on Alan Tani's website on how to do it for a Charter Special which is almost the same. Pretty easy to switch of you have some technical skills but if not you can also send to Alan and he can do it for you for relatively cheap. I believe it's about $20.

BTW forget the PowerPro. Sufix 832 all the way! Much better handling and I have yet to see this line frey or unravel.

Couldn't resist the deal on this reel. Ordered one yesterday and will be updating the drag before use.

Scott

I was researching reviews of this reel, and read that it clicks when reeling.

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=1832.0

Mine does have a noticeable fine ratcheting sound, almost like a very subtile clicker.  Infact, when you engage the clicker,  it sounds exactly the same, but just twice again as loud.   If this transponds down the line and past the guides to the fish 
Who knows,  maybe it does and will attract fish.    Maybe there will be a new trend to leave clickers on
 

Zee,

Thank you VERY much for your gooogling skills.   I had not come upon any negative reviews other than their being a heavy reel.  Granted they are in the same range as most other 2-speeds of equal line capacity.  Your post made me search further.    I am guessing this is the info you found which again I am very glad you did.

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=1083.0

    I am looking forward to checking mine and seeing if I need to upgrade the drag washers.

THe reason for the subtle clicking is the anti-reverse pawl, they are there in lieu of an anti-revere roller bearing, which is a good thing----roller bearings fail.  The best (ie, $$$) reels have both anti-reverse bearing and one or two pawls, called "dogs",for some reason.  Some mfrs call them docking pawls.
  There's a high-end jigging reel called the Jigging Master, it's so noisy some guys can't stand it and get rid of them.  They're about $550 or so, they put out a fantastic amount of drag,
I've seen vids of Kilsong landing 150# tuna on this little PE4  reel.



and Kilsong fighting a 900 # tuna---   

and the PE4 noise:

It is a light click but when the clicker is engaged, WOW! Strong and loud. A great live bait reel.

It is a light click but when the clicker is engaged, WOW! Strong and loud. A great live bait reel.

Also when shooting video with the waterproof gopro backing, the anti reverse click adds extra dimension to the video when a big fish takes off.  Nothing like the sound of drag ripping off a reel!