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I am looking to but two TLD 20's. I will mainly use them for inshore trolling for dolphin, and small tuna. Does it make any sense to get the two speed, or should I save the bucks a just get the regular TLD. Also, should I buy a trolling/standup combo rod or just a standup rod to go with them? Thanks Guys!
It all depends on the size of the roller guide. For that class reel there is no reason to go with rollers I don't think. I have 50 class reels and none of them have rollers. The reason why I didn't go with rollers because I am using wind ons too. Good luck
Not only can you pass on the rollers but I don't think you need anything more than a regular 7' live bait rod with a maximum rating of 40 or 50 for dolphin and small tuna. I'd rather have a more sensitive tip than a shorter stiffer rod if I wasn't catching tuna bigger than 40 pounds or so.
As far as the 2-speeds go, they're always nice to have but you can get a TLD 20 for around $120 while the TLD- 2 speed costs around $320. Frankly, I think the 2-speed TLD is a little pricey when you consider for a $100 more you can get a Shimano Trinidad which is a really nice one-speed reel with a very fast retrieve.
Get the TLD 25, not the 20. About $135 at www.charkbait or firehouse, one of our sponsors. This single speed will handle up to 150 lb fish with braid and a mono topshot.
captain, what are your operating paramaters? what line weight do you intend to use? how much line capacity do you need? what type of drag settings are you talking about. what type of retrieve rate is required. are your crew members all young bucks that can handle a single speed with 17#'s of drag at strike, or do you have more experiences anglers that would benefit from a lower gear ratio and a power handle. are you fighting this fish from a chair or stand up?
let's compare three reels that will all hold around 350 yards of straight 40# mono, a penn 113h, a shimano tld 20 single speed and a tld 20 two speed. you get a max of 25#'s of drag with the 113h, 13#'s at strike with the single speed, and 17#'s with the two speed. you have oversized handle options for all three reels. then there's cost. $100 vs. $150 vs. $309. then there's drag reliablilty. straight out of the box, no modifications, only the tld II has a drag system with absolute reliablilty.
for our local tuna, i personally run penn 113h's with accurate frames, penn international 30 handles, greased carbon fiber drags, straight 50# mono and 15#'s of drag. the rods are 6.5 foot calstar west coasters rated at 20-50, with a roller tip and roller stripper added. i don't know how this would apply to your situation, but i would be interested to hear. alan
Since your original question was about fishing for dolphin and small tuna, a TLD 20 single speed is fine and not terribly expensive. Or you can get the TLD 25 which is a little bigger for almost the same price.
If you start to consider fishing for larger fish or how much drag you can apply then there are better reels for the job. Even if you modify the drag to get more strength, at a certain point you are stressing the graphite frame more than it was designed for.
So if the question is I want to apply 25# of drag pressure with a small reel which I assume means the poster is talking about fishing something in the neighborhood of 80# braid, then I would spend $400 and get something like a Daiwa Saltiga. These are small reels with super stainless steel drags designed to put out that kind of pressure and milled metal frames capable of withstanding that kind of pressure so you can fish for large tuna on a small reel. But that wasn't your original question as I recollect.
Since your original question was about fishing for dolphin and small tuna, a TLD 20 single speed is fine and not terribly expensive. Or you can get the TLD 25 which is a little bigger for almost the same price.
If you start to consider fishing for larger fish or how much drag you can apply then there are better reels for the job. Even if you modify the drag to get more strength, at a certain point you are stressing the graphite frame more than it was designed for.
So if the question is I want to apply 25# of drag pressure with a small reel which I assume means the poster is talking about fishing something in the neighborhood of 80# braid, then I would spend $400 and get something like a Daiwa Saltiga. These are small reels with super stainless steel drags designed to put out that kind of pressure and milled metal frames capable of withstanding that kind of pressure so you can fish for large tuna on a small reel. But that wasn't your original question as I recollect.
For about $350 you can get the Avet EXW 4/0 2 speed. This reel is a tank, and can get @ 40 of drag. IMO this is the best reel deal out there. Here on the west coast I've seen more than a few TLD 30 frames break. Granted these guy's were on 200# plus yellow fin, but the reel still let them down. What happens is that there is not enough material were the reel seat meets the frame. Take a look, in some areas its less than 1/4". If you are even thinking of fishing for anything big, I would stay away from any graphite frame. Here's a link to Avet's web site. http://www.avetreels.com/flash/main.html
I am looking to but two TLD 20's. I will mainly use them for inshore trolling for dolphin, and small tuna. Does it make any sense to get the two speed, or should I save the bucks a just get the regular TLD. Also, should I buy a trolling/standup combo rod or just a standup rod to go with them? Thanks Guys!
the tld 20 was originally designed to fish straight 20# mono, hence the name "tld 20." it has the same line capacity as the lowly penn senator 113h. on the west coast, guys started loading it up with 30, then 40, the 50# mono, and started to look for 10, 13 or 17#'s of drag at strike. they started losing it at the upper end. then they started having problem with the cheap canvas drag washer because it would seize up. then their hands started cramping because of the dinky handle. it was one problem after another, because they were pushing the limits of the reel.
there are several upgrades that can be done to improve this situation. heavier belleville washers will increase your drag range. using a greased carbon fiber drag from the tld 20/30 two speed will eliminate drag failure. cleaning out the bearings will improve freespool. an oversized handles will eliminate cramping. as for the issue of frame failure, as long as you stay below 17#'s at strike, there appears to be zero risk of failure. the only frame failures for this series of reels that i am aware of occured at greater than 20#'s at strike. i can take a box of unmarked pieces and put these reels back together without a schematic. i feel that i have a clear idea of what this reel can and cannot do.
now, i still don't know what your operating paramaters are. what line weight, how much line capacity, how much drag, stand up or sit down, physical strength and stamina of the operator? i understand why people like the tld series of reels. at one point it was state of the art, but it is no longer. spectra has changed all of that. in many ways, you're better off with a penn 113h. that's what i use......
Sorry for the late reply. I will most likely be going with a TLD 20. I would expect to get 14-15 lbs of drag. I would spool up with 30lb Momoi. It would strictly be an inshore setup and would be geared toward fish up to 75 lbs. I considered the 113h, but I like the idea of being able to lable the reel with different drag settings so no matter who the angler is I can direct him to where he needs to be. I planned on also purchasing a couple of TLDII 30's for sharking and heavier rigs in my trolling spread. I thought that since I have a couple of 113h's, and I am purchasing the 30II, that I should have a couple middle weight setups. I really want them to be lever drags. If I was going after real bruisers, I think I would definetely be looking at the Tiagras. But maybe not....
Check out the TLD 25's that Shimano makes & brand names for Bass Pro Shops under the BPS name "Ocean Master OLM-25-B". The 25's for example are currently on sale for $100, with a rod & reel combo priced at $130.
good luck with the 20's skipper. one hint. while the lever is engaged, the drag chamber is sealed. in free spool, there is a slight gap. when the reels are on deck while running, or while hosing them down, you might wish to leave the drag lever at strike to try to avoid water intrusion.
i splashed a tld 50 lrs two speed one time. after 3-4 minutes being dragged in the water by a 5 foot safety lanyard, i pulled the rod and reel back on board. inspection that next day revealed no water in the drag chamber. the drag was engaged and the reel was fine.
literally 30 seconds ago i pulled apart a tld 30 two speed. this was after reading your post. i examined the spool with the drag cover intact. with the spool removed from the reel, the pressure plate pushes up against the drag cover and i think it seals off the drag chamber. however, by pushing the pinion gear down along the shaft to push the drag pressure plate against the drag washer, a rubber lip or gasked is seated against the drag cover and THE DRAG CHAMBER IS NOW COMPLETELY SEALED TO PREVENT WATER INTRUSION. by pushing the drag cover in part way, a small gap is formed that allows the reel to free spool. i think this gap while in free spool will also allow water to enter.
i sorry, i do not have a tld 20 or 25 single speed reel to examine at this exact moment. i actually do not own a single speed lever drag because i believe that the basic design of the lever drag is inferior to a star drag. the only reason i even own lever drag reels is because it's the only way to get two speeds. but i digress..... it is possible that the design tld single speed is different than the tld two speed, but i doubt it. please do not misunderstand, bullshipper. i am not doubting for a moment what you say. as a matter of fact, i totally believe you and the fact that this is found in a shimano manual does not surprise me a bit. bottom line is this. the drag chamber of the tld 30 two speed is sealed with the drag engaged. intuitively, it would make sense. the single speed reels should be exactly the same. the manual is wrong....
lots of guys leave the drag off for storage and that's fine. however, i would assume that if you're taking spray on deck while running or hosing the reels down after a long day of fishing, you would want the spool in a position so that it is sealed against water intrusion. you can decide for yourself by just pulling the side plate and checking the spool. it only takes 30 seconds to open one up. why don't you do that and let us know what you find....
btw, captmj, what we typically do is tear the reel down, clean and relube the bearings, install heavier bellevilles, cut down a tld 20/30 two speed drag washer to fit the single speed, grease and install the washer, reassemble the reel, install a larger handle, spool with straight 40 or 50# mono, set the drags to 25-33% of line weight (skipper's choice) and go fish. personally, i would rather see you use a plain old penn 113h. it has the same line capacity, it's simpler to use, more reliable, it has a wider drag range and you're not sending your money overseas. if i can be of assistance, let me know. and again, captain, just so there is no misunderstanding, i am a pharmacist, not prostaff, not a tackle rep, not a shop owner and not affiliated in anyway with any company. lots of us out here to do this. does anyone on the east coast do custom drag work?
one more side note. several guys have voice concern about too much drag on these graphite tld frames. for the sake of arguement, let's say that you set your drags at 30% of line weight. a tld 15 is roughly the same size as a jigmaster and holds maybe 350-375 yards of straight 30# mono. the tld 20 single and two speeds are the same size as a standard width penn 113h and both hold about 350 yards of 40# mono. a tld 25 single speed and tld 30 two speed are roughly the equivalent of a wide spool penn 113hlw and hold maybe 350 yards of 50# mono. i know this is not exact, but let's go with this because it makes the comparison easy. i'm also going to guess that if a fish can run the lengh of three and a half football fields on you, you'd be willing to let him go.
the stock tld 15 will give 8-10#'s of drag before you start to lose free spool. the stock jigmaster will give 8-10#'s of drag before you run the risk of rounding off the gear sleeve (part # 98-60). the stock tld 20/25 single speeds give 11-13#'s of drag before losing free spool. the stock tld 20/30 two speeds give 17-18#'s of drag before losing free spool. the stock 113hl/hlw's can easilybe cranked down to 15#'s of drag before they lock up, although i can get 20-25#'s with drag grease. note that if you fish any of these reels within these specs, frame failure is not an issue.
so what causes the line to snap, the gears to shred and the frames to crack? is it an initially high drag setting? not necessarily. when the drags stick, the "functional" drag setting can quickly double. drag failure (sticky drags) is the leading cause of lost fish and damaged gear. or at least it is on the west coast. the only drag system i have ever found with a zero failure rate is a combination of carbon fiber and teflon grease. please note that the single speed tld's have canvas drags and they have a known failure rate. bullshipper, when you open up the reel to inspect the cover for the drag chamber, you can remove the cover and you will see a canvas drag.
this information is, or at least should be, common knowledge throughout the industry. i say that deliberately providing a product with anything less exposes to operator to known risk of failure and possible injury. now, you may not have guys on the east coast that do custom drag work, but you certainly have lawyers. hmmm, and after this post, i may be hearing from one of them....
Another TLD question!!
