A fishing rod question

[The Moose]

These bad boys:



Got a set of teeth on them eh

[blindswelledrat]

slow_poke said:

That's a star drag. I didn't know they did a 220 in a star. Mine is a 220 LD that I used in the Norwegian fjords and for general wrecking hereabouts. It's loaded with 30lb Rapala braid. That one in your link looks too cheap, unless they've really come down in prices in the last ten years since I bought mine.

There's a question, lever drag or star drag for your multis? Personally, I'd go with lever. Also, I'd but expensive, quality multis that you can sell on afterwards and recoup most of your monies. Avet would be a good brand to look at.

Whats the difference? Also- what is that silver bar on the left hand side of the reel? Is that not the drag that you push up to free spool and pull down to tighten it?

[Rosscow]

http://www.goliathtigerfishing.com/sites/fishing-m...

A quick Google and these guys seem to suggest 40lb mono is fine, along with 3-5lb test curve rods.

[blindswelledrat]

Rosscow said:

http://www.goliathtigerfishing.com/sites/fishing-m...

A quick Google and these guys seem to suggest 40lb mono is fine, along with 3-5lb test curve rods.

Yes Ive seen that, but they are in the minority. They also talk about them running 300 metres or so and I just wouldn't want a fish to run that far

[leglessAlex]

blindswelledrat said:

slow_poke said:

That's a star drag. I didn't know they did a 220 in a star. Mine is a 220 LD that I used in the Norwegian fjords and for general wrecking hereabouts. It's loaded with 30lb Rapala braid. That one in your link looks too cheap, unless they've really come down in prices in the last ten years since I bought mine.

There's a question, lever drag or star drag for your multis? Personally, I'd go with lever. Also, I'd but expensive, quality multis that you can sell on afterwards and recoup most of your monies. Avet would be a good brand to look at.

Whats the difference? Also- what is that silver bar on the left hand side of the reel? Is that not the drag that you push up to free spool and pull down to tighten it?

Slow_poke is right, Avet are an excellent brand, in fact they are probably my favourite reels that can be had for sensible money. I think something MX sized would suit the purpose but you could possibly get away with the smaller SX sized ones.

[blindswelledrat]

leglessAlex said:

Slow_poke is right, Avet are an excellent brand, in fact they are probably my favourite reels that can be had for sensible money. I think something MX sized would suit the purpose but you could possibly get away with the smaller SX sized ones.

Noted. Ill look into that.
On a tangent a friend who saw this thread spotted your contribution and reckoned that you were one of only three people in Ireland he would describe as "a true water craftsman" with your mullet fishing.
Ill bet that will annoy you as to who that might have been

[blindswelledrat]

SLowpoke/Legless.

Looked into those Avet reels and I am absolutely not going to spend £600 on 3 reels.
I realise it makes sense to buy good and sell it, but I know myself too well and in 40 years I have never sold anything I have bought with this in mind and I know I wont do it this time. My shed and loft just fill up with single use expensive items and this trip is already expensive.

[slow_poke]

How much are Penn Senators going for nowadays? They've been around since Moses was a lad, and they're practically both bomb and bullet proof. More importantly for bsr, idiot proof too. (No reflection on him, but on the environment he's going to and the availability of spares/repairs). They should be cheap enough.

[ManFromDelmonte]

Catching (or more likely losing) big fish on a cheap reel is a recipe for disaster though. If the trip is already costing a lot, why compromise on arguably the single thing that has the greatest potential to lose you that fish you have paid so much to target?

Can you not rent equipment?

Edited by ManFromDelmonte on Wednesday 24th September 13:41

[slow_poke]

How much are Shimano TLD15's going for nowadays? Gotta be sub £90. That's the two I reckon - star drag a Senator, or lever drag a TLD15.

[blindswelledrat]

ManFromDelmonte said:

Catching (or more likely losing) big fish on a cheap reel is a recipe for disaster though. If the trip is already costing a lot, why compromise on arguably the single thing that has the greatest potential to lose you that fish you have paid so much to target?

I'm honestly not sure I agree with you there (although admittedly I have zero experience of multipliers beyond big game ones on charter boats)
from the course fishing I have done I have always said that expensive fishing tackle is the worst thing in the world for diminishing returns. I have dozens of rods and reels of all prices and I cannot imagine a situation where a cheap rod and reel would lose me a fish.

MFD said:

Can you not rent equipment?

I had a quick google for "fishing tackle rental, Congo jungle" and drew a blank unfortunately.

[blindswelledrat]

slow_poke said:

How much are Shimano TLD15's going for nowadays? Gotta be sub £90. That's the two I reckon - star drag a Senator, or lever drag a TLD15.

The older senators definitely seem like the way forward, price wise. Lovely looking old things too.
GOod suggestions. Ill report back on my purchases.

Incidentally there are quite a few on ebay. Are the model differences just size?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=shimano+tld...

[ManFromDelmonte]

blindswelledrat said:

ManFromDelmonte said:

Catching (or more likely losing) big fish on a cheap reel is a recipe for disaster though. If the trip is already costing a lot, why compromise on arguably the single thing that has the greatest potential to lose you that fish you have paid so much to target?

I'm honestly not sure I agree with you there (although admittedly I have zero experience of multipliers beyond big game ones on charter boats)
from the course fishing I have done I have always said that expensive fishing tackle is the worst thing in the world for diminishing returns. I have dozens of rods and reels of all prices and I cannot imagine a situation where a cheap rod and reel would lose me a fish.

MFD said:

Can you not rent equipment?

I had a quick google for "fishing tackle rental, Congo jungle" and drew a blank unfortunately.

Fair enough.

For carp fishing or similar I agree that adding £££ doesn't always gain you very much but I imagine any fish that can pull off 300 yards of line could quite happily seize or simply wear out the drag unit of a cheaper reel. I predominantly fly-fish for salmon, where the reel spends 99% of it's time doing literally nothing but when you hook a fish you need to be sure that you can trust it 100%. I have seen people paying upwards of £200 per day to fish (not including accommodation, fuel etc. etc.) lose fish because there cheapo £50 reel has let them down. It just doesn't make sense. The same goes for line, hooks and to a lesser extent, rods.

When I referred to renting I was imagining that it might be possible to rent something before you go. Crazy idea I know.

It sounds like one hell of an adventure though, good luck.

[blindswelledrat]

ManFromDelmonte said:

Fair enough.

For carp fishing or similar I agree that adding £££ doesn't always gain you very much but I imagine any fish that can pull off 300 yards of line could quite happily seize or simply wear out the drag unit of a cheaper reel. I predominantly fly-fish for salmon, where the reel spends 99% of it's time doing literally nothing but when you hook a fish you need to be sure that you can trust it 100%. I have seen people paying upwards of £200 per day to fish (not including accommodation, fuel etc. etc.) lose fish because there cheapo £50 reel has let them down. It just doesn't make sense. The same goes for line, hooks and to a lesser extent, rods.

On reflection I think you're probably right. Not worth the risk and my experience doesn't apply to fish stripping 300m on a run generally. Although one of lifes best memories is sitting holding a big game rod struck completely useless as a marlin stripped several hundred yards off the reel. Absolutely awesome sight sitting there for over a minute watching the reel slowly emptying with nothing you can do about it.

mfd said:

It sounds like one hell of an adventure though, good luck.

Thanks. It's my mid-life crisis trip I think

[Liokault]

Can I suggest that you drop a line to Joe Taylor of JK Tackle for advice. He basically specialises in far flung big game adventure type fishing. Not sure of his contact details but I'm sure that the shop he runs can direct you to him.

http://www.jktackle.co.uk/acatalog/Contact_Us.html

[leglessAlex]

blindswelledrat said:

On a tangent a friend who saw this thread spotted your contribution and reckoned that you were one of only three people in Ireland he would describe as "a true water craftsman" with your mullet fishing.
Ill bet that will annoy you as to who that might have been

Humm, I can only think of one person who I know for certain is in both the PH and fishing circles. Either way, they are being too kind. I'm alright at Mullet fishing but was never as good as I wanted to be. Damn fish.

[grand cherokee]

I've fished/do fish for most species and when you come to something like the Goliath Tiger its foolish to skimp on either line or reels - its a disaster waiting to happen

for line you will not find better than Powerpro Braid - be careful where you buy as ebay has lots of 'fakes' from China etc - I get mine from a guy in the UK who imports 'fresh/new line' from the USA at very reasonable prices and spools up to 1500m which makes a big saving

mail for me details if interested

reel wise , lets just say apart from fly reels I use nothing apart from Shimano - at last count I had over twenty five!

have a look at the Shimano multipliers not the baitcasting range - may be worth looking at US Ebay for prices and a larger range? - any multiplier used for Tarpon will be fine

a friend who has fished for Nile Perch/Goliath Tigers has always had high quality tackle supplied by the 'outfitters' - local experience is priceless

Edited by grand cherokee on Sunday 28th September 09:39

[otolith]

I like Shimano reels, but there seems to be a strong body of opinion that they ain't what they used to be.

[grand cherokee]

otolith said:

I like Shimano reels, but there seems to be a strong body of opinion that they ain't what they used to be.

if you get the Japan made models then the quality is still there

Malaysia etc now seem to make the 'lesser' models

same with Daiwa - their top end reels are made in Japan

Edited by grand cherokee on Sunday 28th September 12:26

Edited by grand cherokee on Sunday 28th September 12:44

[blindswelledrat]

grand cherokee said:

for line you will not find better than Powerpro Braid - be careful where you buy as ebay has lots of 'fakes' from China etc - I get mine from a guy in the UK who imports 'fresh/new line' from the USA at very reasonable prices and spools up to 1500m which makes a big saving
mail for me details if interested

Its lucky you had said this as I only just discovered how much proper braid costs. I was gobsmacked, particularly as I had mistakenly assumed from ebay that bulk was relatively cheap. They idea of going on a trip like that with 'fake' line is terrifying. Anyway, I will definitely be in touch to ask for your help in sourcing that once I have bought reels.

gc said:

reel wise , lets just say apart from fly reels I use nothing apart from Shimano - at last count I had over twenty five!

have a look at the Shimano multipliers not the baitcasting range - may be worth looking at US Ebay for prices and a larger range? - any multiplier used for Tarpon will be fine

I favour shimano for most of my fishing but in this instance it is over budget by a long way unfortunately. Whilst I have dismissed the idea of going cheap, Im still not going to break the bank for a potentially one-use trip.

GC said:

a friend who has fished for Nile Perch/Goliath Tigers has always had high quality tackle supplied by the 'outfitters' - local experience is priceless
]

I could imagine that with the perch, but Ive only found 2 outfitters that do the Goliaths and neither supply tackle.Most internet searches that come up with trips terminate, via other travel agencies, with one trip provider in the congo.