# Need advice on deep sea fishing reel& rod



## qcangler (Mar 9, 2009)

Can anyone recommend a light reel & rod set up that can be used for deep sea fishing? My first trip on the Hurricane Fishing Fleet's 12hr Gulfstream trip was fun, but I had a rough time with the reels they provided. I purchased a Penn 330 gt for my second trip, but it was still a struggle. I'm thinking a lighter reel/rod set up would be the key because I could feel the bite better and catch more fish, but I do not know where to start. We were fishing in 125ft of water for Snapper, Grouper, Amber Jack, Sea Bass, Trigger Fish, etc. Any advice would be appreciated.


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## Carolina Rebel (Aug 25, 2005)

You don't want to go too light, because the key on those boats is getting the fish, even if it's big, up as quickly and in as straight a line as possible, thus avoiding tangles. If a Penn 4/0 on a 5'6 to 6' 30-80lb class rod would be too heavy for you, I would lean towards something like a Daiwa Saltist 50 on a similar rod. Since your drag will be locked down, a small reel will make you work harder for every crank, even if you know how to pump a fish up. 
I personally use a Penn or Daiwa 9/0 on a 6' 50-80lb class rod; it's heavy as hell, but you learn to balance it and get used to it quickly. Most importantly, when a big fish hits, there's minimal drama getting it into the boat.


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## qcangler (Mar 9, 2009)

Thanks for the input...think I will try this!


Carolina Rebel said:


> You don't want to go too light, because the key on those boats is getting the fish, even if it's big, up as quickly and in as straight a line as possible, thus avoiding tangles. If a Penn 4/0 on a 5'6 to 6' 30-80lb class rod would be too heavy for you, I would lean towards something like a Daiwa Saltist 50 on a similar rod. Since your drag will be locked down, a small reel will make you work harder for every crank, even if you know how to pump a fish up.
> I personally use a Penn or Daiwa 9/0 on a 6' 50-80lb class rod; it's heavy as hell, but you learn to balance it and get used to it quickly. Most importantly, when a big fish hits, there's minimal drama getting it into the boat.


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## dutchbros (Jun 3, 2012)

​On the Hurricane 12 hr trip, I always take 2 rods. One is a lighter longer spinning rod (Stradic 5000 reel) ready to free line a cigar minnow off the back if you get a chance to be on the back of the boat. For the bottom fishing, I use a Shimano baitrunner 4500 loaded with 100lb power pro braid on a Star spinning boat rod with a lighter tip but good back bone. The power pro and soft tip rod gives me the senstivity to feel the bites and less stretch on a deep drop for quicker response on my hook set. The power pro also has the strength to handle the larger grouper and amberjacks too. The reel is not my 1st choice but does the job because of its good strong gearing and was the best reel I owned for that application without going out to buy another reel. A Daiwa Saltist spinning reel would be perfect as it is designed and geared for deep jigging and I think the higher end Shimanos are as well. I find that it is easier to get leverage with a spinning set up on long drops than I do with a conventional reel/rod. And the spinning tackles' higher gear ratio definitely has a faster retreive to speed up your fishing when you need to quickly get that undersized unwanted snapper or porgy off of your line. Just my two cents.


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## Carolina Rebel (Aug 25, 2005)

dutchbros said:


> ​On the Hurricane 12 hr trip, I always take 2 rods. One is a lighter longer spinning rod (Stradic 5000 reel) ready to free line a cigar minnow off the back if you get a chance to be on the back of the boat. For the bottom fishing, I use a Shimano baitrunner 4500 loaded with 100lb power pro braid on a Star spinning boat rod with a lighter tip but good back bone. The power pro and soft tip rod gives me the senstivity to feel the bites and less stretch on a deep drop for quicker response on my hook set. The power pro also has the strength to handle the larger grouper and amberjacks too. The reel is not my 1st choice but does the job because of its good strong gearing and was the best reel I owned for that application without going out to buy another reel. A Daiwa Saltist spinning reel would be perfect as it is designed and geared for deep jigging and I think the higher end Shimanos are as well. I find that it is easier to get leverage with a spinning set up on long drops than I do with a conventional reel/rod. And the spinning tackles' higher gear ratio definitely has a faster retreive to speed up your fishing when you need to quickly get that undersized unwanted snapper or porgy off of your line. Just my two cents.


Spinning reels are def. fun out there, and their drag is very strong. A spinner made for heavy applications (like that Saltist) would be great, as long as it had the power to keep the fish coming up. I never got to try them much because some of the boats I would frequent prohibited braid. I did slay b-liners on 24hr trips with a Penn 550SSg on a little 6' M Ugly Stik, man they pulled hard on that setup!


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