Which line for tuna

[will101]

I read all the how-to's and re-checked them but I still have a question about spooling up with new line on 2 new 50lbs standup rigs. HT I think said replace the mono every so often end even the "1st couple of hundred?" meters after a big fish. Also remember that braid lasts up to 5 times longer.

I'm considering using braid on my 50lbs setups and maybe even upping the breaking strain to 65lbs or whatever. Just for a bit of safety. 50lbs Braid is THIN! Any comments folks?

 

[miles]

Hiya

STAY VERY, VERY FAR AWAY FROM BRAID FOR TUNA!!

Why:

Braid is very thin and will EASILY cut OFF your fingers or hand. A few commercial tuna guys have lost fingers or parts of their fingers to normal mono fishing line. A novice with braid is definitely looking for trouble.

Braid has almost no stretch, so you will lose more fish due to hook pulls.

Not all rods have eyes that can handle braid. Most roller tips have too big a gap between the roller and its cage, which can cause the braid to get caught up in it. When fishing with braid, you will also need a softer rod,  to absorb the shock.

You will also need to spool your reels at a tackle shop with a line spooling station, IF you use braid. It needs to be wound on VERY tight, or else it will just bite into the lower layers and cut itself off when a fish runs.

Braid is VERY expensive. Remember, you'll need anything from 300-600m+ of 50lb braid, PER reel. Much cheaper and safer to simply spool with regular 50lb mono. If you want to save some $$$, buy normal 50lb line and NOT IGFA rated line. Its considerabily cheaper. If replacing line is a issue, bump up your line class to 80lb. You'll be able to fish longer. How-ever, after 2 or 3 good trips, you'll have to change even 80lb line.

Its not a big deal, as most of your fish will be caught on your bait rods. This means that you only need to change the line on your bait rods often, as they will take the most abuse.

Even if my lines have NOT tangled, or NOT touched the boat, or has NOT been damaged, i STILL change my line after a very good trip. I've learnt the hard way of being penny wise and pound foolish.

Keep it simple. Stick with what works, 50lb or 80lb mono........

 

 

[will101]

OK well that settles it shot Miles. Case closed I was particularly concerned about line cutting into the spool. Oh, yes and I kinda need my fingers.

 

[Hammertime]

Put 24kg Samurai, Stren, Ande, Momoi or a 100 others if you want on.
I agree with Miles about braid. Keep that for your Stellas etc but on your pump stick. Not worth it.

 

[tackle whore]

dont put braid on rather go with spectra its fairly cheap thin diameter, spool up with 800m 200lb on a 70vsw and still get a good topshot on it we use it commercially for tuna cant go wrong lasts for ever.most of our tuna dont run us into the backing anyway so unless you using small reels you dont really need braid backing, it just saves me respool all the line now its qiucker to replace 100m topshot on the way out .

 

[tkei]

Guys what about dacron backing??? Most of the marlin bays put dacron on, then 200m topshot of what ever class you want. change the 200m every so ofen.
I dont fish for tunny like you guys, just a question! I agree about braid and from amrlin mag etc, very few guys use it and those that do are very experience and usually only on small reels but are fishing up in class, ie the long range tunny guys out of california using tiagra 20's and 30's with 80-130lb braid on them as thay need to move around the boat as boat is still.

 

[miles]

Hiya

For COMMERCIAL fishing, you spool up entirely differently, as mentioned above by Tackle Whore.

For commercial applications, dacron is used by a number of boats as backing. I was going to switch over to dacron as backing, but my normal 80lb backing has held up very well and i needed to finish all my 80lb line that i have stored away in the garage first!!

Dacron IS more expensive than mono, but you WILL save $$ in the long run. I cange my backing once or twice a season, more out of habit than need. Very rarely will a fish run us into the backing, so the backing see's very little wear.

 

The original question how-ever is for 50lb recreational fishing. If you're a novice tuna angler, you do not want any knots in your line, especially 30-50lb line class. Its easier to simply spool up with a entire 500 or 600m roll of 50lb. If you do wish to save some $$$ you could always turn the line around after a few successful trips, IF the line has not been damaged too far down.

Unfortunately, tuna fishing is an expensive story. You'll burn anything from 200-500ltrs of fuel, have anything from 5-30 box's of bait onboard. Its going to cost around R2000 as a minimum to put to sea. After spending all that money and LOSING a fish because one tried to save a few pennies on line, will be DEVASTATING to you!!

 

[Hammertime]

Yup...
There is no need to use dacron backing on recreational fishing trips down here in the Cape for Tuna.
Will 101 you will find you not only rigging up one rig either. You got anything from 4-12 rigs on your boat. 12 if you have crew that use your stuff.

I have NEVER had to replace line in the middle of the season on more than 4 of my 12 rigs, and that is normally the heavy bait rigs that will need a change and in particular it will be two of the 4 bait rigs. That being mine and juniors two rigs that take the most punishment. Our backline rigs get changed every one or two seasons.

Buy line in bulk, it works out way cheaper. Buy line out of season, the guys prices always chop and change around a season.

There are lines such as T-line who people will turn a nose up at. I been fishing it for a while and it does the job just fine. Granted it's the 37kg line I use but I would not hesitate to use their 24kg red line.
You paying about R250 for a 1000m roll last time I looked.
Shop around, you'll find the guys that have good line for a decent price. If not, drop me a PM.

Like Miles said, it's the one department you should actually spend cash on because it's the part that will fail first.
I normally only use ANDE and Samurai. Neither of these are cheap. I prefer the Samurai because I do believe the red line disappears faster than any of the other on my bait line.
On my troll line I will stop using the red lines and go back to ANDE/Samurai yellow once I'm out of Samurai red. The reason is simple. When you got six lines out on the troll you can spot the yellow lines easily and spot a crossed line ASAP. White lines are a mare to see, especially if the sea is up. BUT on a commercial boat 60kg white line is not so hard to see, unlike the 24kg on a recreational boat. Simply put the line is just a lot thicker on a commy boat and you have more deck hands to manage the lines.

Which is the next part. On a commercial boat you want 60+ kg line. You not going to get too much of that on a 50w. So backing is ideal to give you a lot of line.
Again not necessary when you recreational fishing on 24kg line or even 37kg.
I've fished 37kg line on 30wides and that is not a lot of line on your reel. I've never had a fish strip us on those 37kg lines.

I HAVE been stripped on 50 wides on 24kg line where there is almost 700m of line on a reel. That fish is gunna strip you no matter what, that's just how it is. There are some fish that you just don't stop on that first run.

But in all honesty for recreational fishing I reckon spool up on normal line of any one of the decent brands around and you will last a season with a change on one or two max.
Try not have joins in the line where possible. It's just a peace of mind thing, especially when you starting out. Those first few yellowfin on a novice boat are landed against all odds and my reason for saying that is simple. The more of them you catch, the more you relax. The more your crew see these beasts circling 2-4m under the boat and stop screaming for gaffs and "mind out the roads" etc, the more fish you start catching.
Once the bug of landing a "few" beast is out, then you relax on your knots, joins and techniques.

When I think back I am amazed we landed any fish just because my old crew member who is now living in the UK permanent and I used to start high fiving and dancing around the deck the minute we had colour. Man it's been a long learning curve but one I would go through again tomorrow.
The best part has been the learning and the experimenting for sure.

Good Luck and tight lines. I hope this season brings you and the new boat some seriously good catches.

 

[Arrie D]

Yip HT - must say i'm quite nervous for my first trip to try and land one of the special fish. Dont now what i'm more nervous about, the fact that I will be doing the trip in a 18.6 CC boat or the first fish at the boat ready to set the gaff.

Be as it may - my mind is ready and cant wait for the fish to appear.

Thanks for the advise on the line - as choosing line and spooling is my next step in the big Tuna rig preparations.

 

 

[will101]

Shot fo all the good info - Agreed it' not worth scratching where there's no itch. I'll have a look at both ends of the spectrum and settle at about 80% from the top.