SportFishing and Charters Forum - penn senator for tuna

I have a 4/0 senator and 3 6/0 senators. I am on a very small budget for tuna this year but is the 4/0 with spectra bid enough to handle a bluefin?

Sure......with a lot of patience and a little bit of luck 150 pounds or less is a reasonable expectation......more than that and you will need more patience and more luck...............

Fish em myself.............exactly what offshorebri said, he's right on

Yeah lever drag is better, gold even better blah, blah, blah, but on a budget they'll work fine. Bait, lure selection, boat handling etc.....all play a roll.

Look at Alantani's posts & rebuilds. Use carbon fiber washers greased like he does it and go fishing and have some fun. If they can land 100# fish on spinning gear then you'll do fine :thumbsup:

Spectra should work fine at 80#. I boated a 76 pound Bfin with a 4/0 filled with 50# mono. We were down to only a couple of turns on the spool twice. I was very lucky to boat the fish on the 4/0 with 50# test. I have killed a $hit load of Bfins with 6/0 and 80#mono. But start saving you money for sold Gold Reels or more 6/0's.

Yup, they'll work. I've fished offshore since 1987 with Senators and just this year finally got some Internationals. The Internationals sure are nicer machines but the fish don't seem to know the difference!

They are all right. You can kill a big fish especially if you choose to get off of the ball and chase him for a while. a lot of 150-300 lb fish were caught at the Mudhole on 6/0's during the '60s on 50 lb mono.

The 4/0's 3.25 gears are good and you hardly ever touch the drag anyhow. I have an Accurate converted 4/0 with 65# Tuf Line that will do the job fine. However, my last YFT (80#) sounded at the boat and stood me up in the chair, lever drag is better in this situation.

i have accuplate 4/0's with smoothie drags and i spool them with 50# momoi diamond and troll with them. anything over 120# or so gets a bit hairy but most of the time the fight is straight up and down after a bit anyhow. i have trouble trolling with spectra as its seems to want to bury itself in the corners of the spool even when wet packed so i just stick with mono and i still manage to eat lots of sushi.

Thanks guys........ill post some pics if i catch anything