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Hi Guys,
I am getting 8 new reels for tuna fishing off of Virginia. Four reels will be 50 lb class and four reels will be 30 lb class. Unless someone can give me a very good reason to look elsewhere, I would like to go with Shimano (I think have a connection to get a very good deal). For the 50’s I like the TLD 50 II LRS. I will fish 50 or 60 lb mono on these reels. For the 30’s I don’t whether to go with the TLD 25 or the TLD 30II. I have read that two speeds aren’t really necessary for 30 lb tackle, but I have also read that the insides of the TLD 30II are much beefier than what is inside the TLD 25. I will fish these reels with 30 or 40 lb mono and set the drag with a scale to 8-10 lbs at strike. The average tuna caught chunking off Chincoteague weights 35 to 70 lbs. If the TLD 30II is overkill in this application, I’d be happy to save the money, but I also don’t want to be cheap up front and then come to realize down the line that I bought the wrong reel. This is an expensive mistake that I can’t afford to make. Any and all help is appreciated.
here's how one might set up on the west coast with a full set of shimano tld's
tld 50 II LRS - 100# spectra, 80# topshot, 24#'s of drag at strike
tld 30 II - 80# spectra, 60# topsot, 18#'s of drag at strike
tld 20II - 60 or 80# spectra, 50# topshot, 15#'s of drag at strike
tld 20 single speed - straight 40# mono, 12#'s of drag at strike
tld 15 - straight 30# mono, 9#'s of drag at strike
cleaning the stock bearings will help freespool if you need to cast. re-shimming belleville's will increase your drag range, but at these settings it is unnecessary. carbon fiber drags in the single speed tld's are nice but not necessary if you're careful about keeping water out of the reel. over sized handles are always a plus. t-bar makes some. here's what mine look like....
tld 20/25 single speed
tld 15
your east coast requirements may be vastly different from our west coast needs. check with your local dealer. good luck. alan
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eddie's brother, grady white 258 journey
I fish the tld25's with 40 lb and the 50 lrsII with 80 lb, both over 80 and 135 spectra. Very happy.
173 lb yft in 2.5 hours on tld 25. Going after larger yfts with the 50,s this fall.
I've used the TLD30 with straight 40# mono a lot and it's a great reel that should be just perfect for your size tunas plus it'll be great for white marlin on the troll. Light weight, excellent drag and the gear shift makes a real difference if that 70# yellow is playing stubborn. The TLD25 is an ok reel too but I'd go for the twospeeds if at all possible. Actually I'm not all that sold on the TLD50- there have been reports of frame failure when used on heavy drag, apparently the harness pulling hard one direction and the fish pulling the other way can be too much for the frame to take - I'd go for a Tiagra 50 or 50W if I had the choice. JMO though, you'll probably be just fine.
While the guys fishing the long range boats like lighter grear, so they're not worn down by their gear, many of their reels of choice need a lot beefing to get up to the drag requirements.
As an offshore troller, I don't want or need those kinds of drag setting, I'm not anchored up, and I can chase a big fish. There's enough drag range on those reels to wear a fish down if it's used correctly. They weren't designed for those higher drag limits and Shimano won't honor their warranty if they're altered.
I use TLD30II (two speeds) for my fifties. Spectra to a topshot of about 150 yards of Jinkai mono.....For my 80 I use a TLD50 LRS - spectra to an 80# top shot. I keep the drag range with in factory limits,that way I can maintain free spool. I'm pleased with, and I've used these reels on 10 day trips, without all the custom work to "beef 'em up." Don't underestimate the potential of that two speed - you'll only regret not having it once....then you'll hate yourself.
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Capt. Mike Fisher
Stock Reduction Sale Ongoing
A TLD 25 is certainly adequate for a 70# tuna. The TLD 30II is a better reel but the going price is around $300 versus about $130 for the 25. Frankly, for $300, I'd rather have the Daiwa SLD30-2SPD but the 30II is a proven reel.
Thanks for the replies guys. One of the things that scared me about the TLD 25's was that I have read that the drags have been "burned up" by 100+ pound tuna. What does "burned up" mean and is this reasonable or simply an exaggeration?
I guess it means drag failure, either the drag locking up or becoming inconsistent/jerky. If the reel is well maintained this should never happen unless you have gone crazy trying to wring the maximum possible amount of drag out of the reel. As a rough guide a TLD25 should be fished with 30# line max (I'll use 40# but purely for abrasion resistance) and strike settings of about 7 to 9 lbs and will work fine within those parameters. Anything much over that mark is asking for trouble. A TLD30 is more robust and can be fished with slightly heavier drag settings but I wouldn't go much over about 10 lbs strike with it. Incidentally - I pull my drag settings off the rod tip, at a slow walking pace. The faster you pull the scale the higher the reading you can get on the scale.
Since you say you'll be chunking you probably won't need that many outfits. It's better to go for the best quality you can afford.
Drags may have gotten burned up and a lot of things may have happened that people have told me or I have read about including small fish destroying reels and this and that.
Last year I know for a fact a guy landed a 250# plus sword on a TLD 25 and if you ever fought a big sword you know who tough they are to get in. The reel was fine. Simliarly I have experience fighting big fish like makos on spinning tackle and getting them in and the reels were fine. So I wouldn't worry about small tuna burning up my TLD 25's drags. Even, f you hook a big BFT you will probably get spooled or the line will break long before your drag burns up.
I fish offshore from VA Beach and reality is that TLD 25's will work fine for short lines (flat lines) and chunking. Of course, if you can swing the TLD 30's, get them. The 50's will be fine for long riggers, short riggers or way back lines.
Average Yellowfin Tuna will be a 40 pound fish but you'll certainly run into some 50-70 pound class fish. Also, you'll run into Spring Bluefins in the 60-150 pound class which will test you but we've landed them easily on Penn 9/0 and 6/0 senators so either reel you mentioned can handle them no problem.
White marlin, Wahoo and Mahi will be your other catches and all are under 100 pounds so again, no problem. You don't need to topshot them unless you planned to fish the 30's way back in the spread...I've never had a fish take more than half a spool down over the past five years. We have not raised a blue marlin or a Bigeye...the only two that I would be concerned about. We also see some large Bluefins come through in Oct/Nov/Dec and for those, 50's are a minimum with 80's being better...but that is a hit/miss fishery.
My reply about the reel being fine for tuna under these conditions did not take into account the possiblitly that you were thinking about fishing 50# or 60# braid and setting the drag as high as you could. In that case, I would definitely not go for the TLD 25 but then again I probably wouldn't go for the TLD 30II either - in fact, I would stay away from graphite reels all together if that is your intent.
TLD 25 of TLD 30II
