ARTICLE - Chuckin'Metal Part 2

[PaddyT]

Metal lures have been around for a very large part of fishing history, from the humble spoon lure to the most sophisticated of slow jigs the are essentially a lure which attracts a fishes attention by imitation of a fleeing or wounded baitfish. Whilst these havent changed much (despite marketing hype) the delivery systems have simply gotten better and better since i started fishing and i really cant see the quantum leaps in gear of the last 25 years recurring

REELS

Its often speculated that high speed spinning started on the east coast of Oz at the Avoca rock platform . When i started there were a couple of older guys (cant remember names) who claimed that in the 50's and early 60's huge schools of uncatchable tuna would ignore every lure thrown at them until some one worked out that by throwing a lure at the fish and then running backwards as fast as he could while trying to wind the reel that hook ups would come. The reels were typically Penn Squidders , Grahame overheads all with slow gear ratios and these were the limiting factors to hooking fast moving pelagics. Ironically the Penn Squidder was designed by the Yanks for throwing metals for bluefish (tailor) and striped bass off the beach-both species that respond better to a slower , wriggling pattern of lure . The first and most revolutionary reel was built in a shed in West Wallsend by Don Charlton -the Seascape. This reel first came in 4-1, then 5-1 and finally a 6-1 gear ratio which would rip in a meter of line for every crank of the handle -the gold standard for a true high speed retrieve. I used a Seascape for one season in the late 1980’s (it was one of the re released ones made in 1985. I bought it from a mate and sold it back to him when I bought a Shimano Speedmaster) and they were a bugger to cast and the drag was pretty ordinary. They were notorious for blowing pinion gears but this never happened with the one I used.

The next really good reel out on the market was the Shimano Speedmaster IV which had the required speed (it was faster than the Seascape) and it was a massive step up from the Seascape , they were tough, fast and had a smooth and robust drag system. Mine stayed in my collection until about 6 or 7 years ago when I sold it on the old Sydney Angler webpage (funnily enough I think Frank S may have been the buyer). Loaded with 20 or 25lb Maxima I could land cast after cast with an easy swing . An 80 gm Shiner would plonk in the 90-100 m range and a 50-60 gm 1/2x1/4 or Raider would consistently go 70-80m. Casting with an overhead has always been about the easy swing and getting kinks out of your swing before attempting the big throws. The best caster I ever saw was a Central Coast local -I only knew him as “Red” who had a roundhouse cast that pulled the lure from in front of the left side of his body in a 270 degree arc over his right shoulder- he could chuck a 1/2x ¼ well past 100 meters-probably 120 if the wind was good. He was dangerous to fish beside (he probably preferred that!!!) but his cast was long because it was so damn smooth. Some other notable high speed reels included the Diawa SLOSH series , Penn Jigmaster (a bit slow and hard to cast) and the later Diawa Sealines which i last used(very smooth but not an easy casting reel). Shimano also released the Toriums later on but the lack of a decent thumbing ledge limited them and Penn had similar reels.

The most obvious change these days is that overheads have become a lot less common on the rocks with the massive improvements in threadline’s or as they are more commonly known -spinning reels. The first candidate in the large high speed category was the Mitchell 499.They were very fast, a bit tricky to cast (the reel had a ball bearing line guide rather than the bail arm system and if you didn’t trap it with the outside of your palm it would catch the line on the cast and stop your lure dead in its tracks and often snap it off!). I caught stacks of fish with mine but the drag was very ordinary-the biggest fish I hooked from the rocks was a yellowfin that I watched eat my lure at my feet at North Whale from the low ledge there (not a normally fishable platform ) on an incredibly calm day. The run was earth shattering , the amount of vibration that came through my arms from the shaking drag was incredible and the line popped with the fish well over 250 m out. I preferred an overhead , it was lighter, easier to carry round and once I got my trained thumb easier to cast (especially really heavy metals over 80 gms because the line didn’t rip the tip of my index finger off). Later on I used an 8000 Stradic loaded with 30lb braid-my son used this to catch a 22 kg Spanish Mackeral at Muttonbird Island and I used it from the boat for years for an allrounder before a mate bought it from me. Again it met the 1 m per crank of the handle that I regard as essential . With the overall move to braided line I doubt there will be a return on mass to overheads but the quality these days is so good I don’t see that as a problem. A good quality 8000 sized reel that holds 4-500 m of 30 lb braid  will handle ANY medium sized pelagic off the east coast rocks (as long as the taxman isn’t too close by). Smaller reels will restrict casting distances (line slap on the cast ) and retrieve speed and probably be less robust and if I was still rockfishing that would be my choice.

 

With smaller outfits spinning reels have been my choice ever since braid came on the market. I still spin with a baitcaster here and there-just because I love the feel but the versatility of a 2500 eggbeater with 6-8lb braid is hard to beat. When I first used small spinning reels for pelagics drag rebuilds were part of the art- I can remember one trip to Port Stephens chasing tuna on 2 and 3 kg where I rebuilt the drag on my little Diawa every night. That’s a very rare problem these days and a good quality 2500 outfit will catch bonnies, frigates, rat kings, striped tuna without many issues at all. I have a 2500 Stradic that is 20 years old , just got new bearings and it still catches fish. Ive used it for my light metals for that entire time-it has caught thousands of fish. I did manage to cook the drag on another Stradic I own , a 3000 when I hooked a black marlin on it jigging bait but that was a bit above the reels paygrade-they are tough reel. The advantage of spinning reels over baitcasters in these smaller sizes really becomes apparent when throwing really small lures at fussy feeders (like spring time salmon for example), it’s a job that only the most educated thumb can achieve with a baitcaster but the spinning reel user is in the game immediately.

Probably the most versatile pelagic outfit anyone could own would be a 4000-6000 sized spinning outfit with 15-20lb braid .  I have 3 reels in this size range-a Diawa Seagate , a Stella 4000 and a Saragosa 6000. They all do slightly different jobs on my boat and the Seagate got used off the rocks a lot when I was finishing up my landbased career for chucking 30-40gm metals for bonito etc. The Stella is my favourite spinning reel (no surprise I guess) but the Saragosa is better value for money and actually has a better handle for fast retrieves – as a hint here you want a handle that is large and can be gripped with more than thumb and forefinger when you are doing cast and fast retrieve after fast retrieve. All three of these reels have very good drags and get minimal maintainance from me other than a thorough washing and a spray with Inox here and there.

 

Next Installment Rods,Line and Lures (depending on how much I ramble on!!!)

Edited May 9, 2021 by PaddyT
left a bit of text out

[wazatherfisherman]

Another fantastic read Paddy! "Ramble on" as much as you want, this is gold and would be great left as an article for the future.

I always tell new spin fisher's -"you just can't wind too fast" - they don't usually believe me.

I still have my Speed Master and it's still in great nick, in my opinion is one of the best overhead casting reels ever made, great for "genuine" jigging also.

Looking forward to the next instalment, thanks for a great and detailed post.

[Green Hornet]

Great stuff Paddy. 

This brings back some great memories, like the "growl" a Seascape made during a cast and the bigger "growl" when the drag worked overtime.

I used to take 3 'Scapes with me on a high speed spin trip and still had a spot in my tackle bag for spare drag washers and pinion gears.

I still vividly remember when my Dad took me out to Big Beecroft as an 8 year old in the mid 1960's and was totally blown away watching him land a southern bluefin on his old Penn Squidder and solid 'glass, 10 foot Jarvis Walker.

 

[Rebel]

Great story and Info. Super days. 

Thank You.

Edited May 9, 2021 by Rebel

[little fisho]

this should definitely be pinned or in the article section !!

[mrsswordfisherman]

6 hours ago, little fisho said:

this should definitely be pinned or in the article section !!

Good suggestion. Part 1 and 2 are in the Articles section