smitty24

I just picked up a new to me Glacier Bay 260 and I need to get new rods and reels to go with it. I’m curious what others would recommend as a good setup given my moderate budget and location. I’m in South Texas and plan on using the boat probably 3/4 of the time snapper/bottom fishing the rigs and wrecks, the other 1/4 running out to the shelf to troll for pelagics. Target species will primarily be wahoo and mahi with hopefully the occasional YFT and billfish thrown in. Near shore (30ish miles) will be red snapper/grouper/cobia/kingfish. My rod/reel budget is about $2500 to get started with. I’d definitely appreciate any input to make sure I’m spending my limited funds wisely!

Onewolf

I would get 5 Shimano TLD-25 reels with 5'6" standup 30-80 rods and spooled with 80 lb spectra. And 3 or 4 spinning reels/rods in the 15-30 lb classes.

GulpMan_102SC

For Bottom fishing and Jigging I whould get X2 Daiwa BG's on Okuma Cedros jigging rod MH to H for snapper/BSB and cobia and x2 Torium 20 or 30 PGA's on Cedros XH or XXH jigging rods for Big Grouper/Snapper.

For all your trolling needs the Tld25s on Ande or star Aerial stand up Rods is great for Mahi, sails and even Wahoo. https://www.nssnc.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TLD25-ASU601A

For slow trolling Kings you want a live bait rod with a soft tip to prevent pulled hooks and to stop the bait from getting best up. This TLD15 Combo will do great


https://www.nssnc.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TLD15-TTBC701MLB
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smitty24

I hadn’t considered the 25s, I was mainly looking at the 2 speed TLD 30s. I definitely like the price of the 25s so that’s something I will keep in mind. I was thinking spheros 10000 for a couple spinning rods.

smitty24

That’s great info and exactly what I was hoping for, thanks! I’ll definitely take a look at those.

HTJ

I fish the same waters for mostly the same fish and agree with this 100%.

The TLD's are easily upgraded into another class of reel with power handles and better drag washers - they'll take 12# like a champ which will handle your prescribed duties without flinching.

smitty24

Thanks everyone, this was really helpful. I’m going to go ahead with getting the TLD 25s, 2 Daiwa 6500BG, and 2 Torium 30PGAs. I think that ought to cover me really well for everything I’m wanting to do for now.

highflier1

Good choices, I have a diawa bg 6500 on a cedros and like the rod, The real I think I wish I went to the diawa BG 5500 as Diawa reels are run a size or so larger than most.
Highflier

smitty24

Good to know! I might try to find one local and see the size of it first hand before ordering.

highflier1

You can use weight and line capacity to help guide you if no retail shop carries what you want to look at.

Burgmane

The BGs definitely run big. I have BG 5000s and I would say they compare favorably to a 8K or 10k shimano. Love the reels by the way, outstanding bang/buck.

SaltyDawg86

I have BG5000s and 4000s for Cobia and I'll use the 4000s to pitch to little Mahi. I think you'll be good with the 5000

95wellcraft

Don't forget some smaller reels for pitching to schoolie dolphins
Here's what I have
4 TLD 25's on 6'6" Penn Rampage
1 BG 6500 on Tiger Lite Jigging rod
2 BG. 5000's on 7' Penn Rampage
1 Battle II 6000 on Penn Rampage
and then an assortment of smaller reels for pitching.

caranxspain

First choose what RATIO/retrieve and braid lb?...For topwater light BG 4000 with 40lb j-braid. 50-65lb braid go to bg 5000, AZORES 90 or better SLAMMER HS/SARAGOSA 8000.
For jigging better go with slow reel that brings more power and tires less as that SPHEROS IS TOP!.....and you can put spool 10k in gosa8k: more retrieve, capacity! and save line....you would 37" to 46" retrieve.

65-90lb braid?you should go up to 30oz like the big bg(6500 is mammoth size!).....and low ratio as lethal100, cabo or spheros.

mth180

I fish out of Corpus Christi on a catamaran as well so welcome to the club!

I fish all Avet reels and use pinnacle rods (THT sponsor). I would start with 2 30 wides and 2 smaller reels. I use 4x SX Raptors and 4x EXW30s. The raptors work for top water trolling and can put out more drag than my 30 wides but I can also use them to drop for snapper and cast for cobia.

smitty24

Good to meet you! I haven’t pulled the trigger on anything yet, so I appreciate the input. I’ve been watching the for sale section thinking I’d pick up a couple used 30 or even 50 wides and then fill out my spread with the TLD 25s, a pair of Daiwa 5000 and a pair of Torium. That should give me a pretty nice setup to start with and hopefully keep me close to my budget. I do really want at least two rods I can run some of the larger deep divers for wahoo.

NcStateFisher

Second the comment to go with a 5000 Bg, the 6500 is a monstrosity for general use

95wellcraft

I us my BG 6500 for Jigging Amberjack.
The 5000's are good for big Snapper and what not.

Lone Ono

A standard 50 (not wide) is a better choice than either of the wides. Just a little more line capacity than the 30 wides and a much more capable reel. More user-friendly than the 50 wide.