Salt water reel questions

[quackaholic1]

I picked up a couple of used Penn H International reels the other day. They seem to work great. My question is do you put backing on the reel first or just line? What poundage and what kind of line? Mono? Braid? For now I will probably only be going out a couple miles. All info is appreciated.

Thanks and God Bless, Joe

[DapperDan]

I’m sure someone with more knowledge than I will step in, but personally, I wouldn’t run braid on those. If you hook up on a decent fish, that braid is going to dig into the spool. I’d run mono myself. And then a leader appropriate to what ever you’re fishing for.

But I don’t run offshore and just basing it off a small amount of knowledge. I know there are guys on here that can help you out.


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[BobbyJoe]

What model/size are the reels and what is your primary target species? If they’re going to be used off of a boat versus running baits out from the beachfront then I’d say straight mono would do the trick. 30 or 40# will handle nearly any species within a few miles of shore.

[captainsling]

You said H Internationals. there are H series reels and Internationals. What models do you have. 12, 20, 30, 50, 80, or 130? The H series reels are usually a 112H, 113H, 113HLW, or 114H. The internationals usually class at whatever the number is. A 30 would take 30pound line. Most use a backing if they are using braided line. Some fill with Mono. Just depends on hat you want to do.

[kyle1974]

on my 30 lb class reels I put about 600yards of 100 lb braid on, with 100-ish yards of 50 lb top shot mono. on my 50's I put 100 lb braid with 80 lb mono topshots.

I don't need the 100lb strength of the braid, but I like the bigger diameter to help with it digging into itself.

if you're going to troll with them you need the mono. if you're just going to drift with big baits or whatever, straight braid is fine. almost all of my offshore reels have either all braid, or braid with mono topshots.

all my bottom fishing rigs have braid with just a long mono leader about 25-30 feet long for abrasion resistance. bottom fishing with mono is like using AOL dialup for the internet.

[kaizen]

All my large reels are mono. I don't fish from the beach. So, 30 lb class still have enough line for what I do. I just match up lb class and spool up with whatever mono I'm liking at the moment. Used mainly for trolling and drifting. Bottom fishing I'm usually using something smaller and lighter spooled with braid.

[Pope]

I use braid on all my saltwater reels, inshore and offshore. 30 size and up have 100lb JB hollow core and 100 yard top shots for trolling, live baiting or chucking. Spinning outfits for popping and jigging have 60-100lb JB hollow core with 5 yard top shots.