# 20w, 30w, and 50w line size questions??



## ltsheets (Mar 31, 2009)

I was curious what line size you guys spool your 20w, 30w, and 50w size trolling reels with? Thanks.


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## Hired Hand (Nov 25, 2008)

Never had a 20w but the 30s and 50s I have are spooled with 50lb.


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## TheRoguePirate (Nov 3, 2011)

For land based shark fishing I spool my 50's with 150# braid and my 30's with 90#braid and 120# topshot of 150 yards.


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## gator7_5 (Oct 4, 2007)

30 on 30's, 50 on 50's. You can catch most anything out there on 30lb if you have a good captain and a little luck. I don't pull big artificials on 30 though because the 8lb of drag can make the hook set a little tough.


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## ltsheets (Mar 31, 2009)

gator7_5 said:


> 30 on 30's, 50 on 50's. You can catch most anything out there on 30lb if you have a good captain and a little luck. I don't pull big artificials on 30 though because the 8lb of drag can make the hook set a little tough.


Why does 8lbs of drag on a 30 with 30lb line make a hookset tough?? In my little experience it seems like the boat sets the hook rather well on it's own when they strike.


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## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

My 30W's are spooled with 60 lb Ace Hollow Core braid and a 100 yd top shot of 60 mono. 50W's are spooled with 80 lb Ace Hollow Core Braid and a 100 yard top shot of 100 lb mono.


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## gator7_5 (Oct 4, 2007)

ltsheets said:


> Why does 8lbs of drag on a 30 with 30lb line make a hookset tough?? In my little experience it seems like the boat sets the hook rather well on it's own when they strike.


I hear what you are saying, but your still only getting about 8 lb's of pressure on the hook set. Just my opinion that sometimes 8lb's of pressue isnt much when trying to get a very large hook into a bony billfish jaw. I've hooked plenty of billfish on 30's with artificials but I just run my bigger lures on 50's.. Just my .02, though.


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## Island24 (May 12, 2008)

I have 50 on the 30 and 80 on the 50


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## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

It really depends on what type of fishing you plan on doing with them. What I put on mine might not be as beneficial or cost effective. I use my 30s and 50s for a ton of different things so I need them set up in a way that they can be used for anything without limiting their abilities. I spool 60-80lb braided backing onto my 30s and 80-100lb braided backing onto my 50s. I use 50lb topshots on my 30s and 80lb topshots on my 50s and try to keep a ratio of about 2/3 spool braid and the rest mono topshot. This allows me to get about 850-900 yds on my reels. Is it overkill at times? Absolutely, but I won't get caught under-gunned if a big blue crashes a smaller rod. I use my 30s and 50s for trolling, chunking, live baiting anything from a pinfish to a 10lb blackfin and swordfishing.

If you are planning to sticking to trolling almost exclusively and are going to be using other rods and reels for other types of fishing, you could get by with the respective line classes for each reel and be fine. Plenty of big marlin, tuna, etc, etc were caught well before the braided line craze and plenty are still caught on very light line. 

One thing I will say, use 500yds of line as a rule of thumb. Less than 500 yds of any line size when bluewater trolling is playing it risky. You can back down, but sometimes it isn't enough.


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## Capt. Alex Pinney (Jan 23, 2008)

Chris V said:


> It really depends on what type of fishing you plan on doing with them. What I put on mine might not be as beneficial or cost effective. I use my 30s and 50s for a ton of different things so I need them set up in a way that they can be used for anything without limiting their abilities. I spool 60-80lb braided backing onto my 30s and 80-100lb braided backing onto my 50s. I use 50lb topshots on my 30s and 80lb topshots on my 50s and try to keep a ratio of about 2/3 spool braid and the rest mono topshot. This allows me to get about 850-900 yds on my reels. Is it overkill at times? Absolutely, but I won't get caught under-gunned if a big blue crashes a smaller rod. I use my 30s and 50s for trolling, chunking, live baiting anything from a pinfish to a 10lb blackfin and swordfishing.
> 
> If you are planning to sticking to trolling almost exclusively and are going to be using other rods and reels for other types of fishing, you could get by with the respective line classes for each reel and be fine. Plenty of big marlin, tuna, etc, etc were caught well before the braided line craze and plenty are still caught on very light line.
> 
> One thing I will say, use 500yds of line as a rule of thumb. Less than 500 yds of any line size when bluewater trolling is playing it risky. You can back down, but sometimes it isn't enough.


 
i agree 100 percent. Ill also add that if you use braid or some kind of backing it last longer so therefor you dont have to re spool the entire reel , just the top shot time to time pending on your usage. If you decide to go with backing take it to your local tackle shop and let them splice the lines together , quicker and much easier.


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

I also agree with Chris and Capt Pinney, unless you are tournament fishing then line class comes into play and the heavier braid can penalize you. On our Yellowfin where our rods are used for a wide variety of fishing from live baiting and chunking for tuna to trolling for billfish, we do exactly what Chris says, as a matter of fact he spooled them for me.

However on our dedicated trolling rods on the Viking which are 7'4" bent butts we stick to the class rating of the reel, i.e. 50 lb mono on the 50 Tiagras and 80# mono on the 80 Tiagras. Idea being if catch a bill on the 50 we want the line class multiplier for points, if we were to catch a billfish on our Tiagra 30s that are spooled with 80# braid backing we would not be able to get the multiplier points.

Robert


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## Kim (Aug 5, 2008)

This guy tests the braided lines and he has the results posted on his website by brands tested. It will help you choose the braid line to best suit your need, tournament rating/points or meat fishing where the extra breaking strength is wanted.

http://www.paulusjustfishing.com/4linetesting.htm


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## ltsheets (Mar 31, 2009)

Thanks Chris...you pretty much sound like you're using your 30s and 50s exactly how I'm planning so I'll probably try and spool them similarly to what you have done. great advice!



Chris V said:


> It really depends on what type of fishing you plan on doing with them. What I put on mine might not be as beneficial or cost effective. I use my 30s and 50s for a ton of different things so I need them set up in a way that they can be used for anything without limiting their abilities. I spool 60-80lb braided backing onto my 30s and 80-100lb braided backing onto my 50s. I use 50lb topshots on my 30s and 80lb topshots on my 50s and try to keep a ratio of about 2/3 spool braid and the rest mono topshot. This allows me to get about 850-900 yds on my reels. Is it overkill at times? Absolutely, but I won't get caught under-gunned if a big blue crashes a smaller rod. I use my 30s and 50s for trolling, chunking, live baiting anything from a pinfish to a 10lb blackfin and swordfishing.
> 
> If you are planning to sticking to trolling almost exclusively and are going to be using other rods and reels for other types of fishing, you could get by with the respective line classes for each reel and be fine. Plenty of big marlin, tuna, etc, etc were caught well before the braided line craze and plenty are still caught on very light line.
> 
> One thing I will say, use 500yds of line as a rule of thumb. Less than 500 yds of any line size when bluewater trolling is playing it risky. You can back down, but sometimes it isn't enough.


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## ltsheets (Mar 31, 2009)

MSYellowfin said:


> I also agree with Chris and Capt Pinney, unless you are tournament fishing then line class comes into play and the heavier braid can penalize you. On our Yellowfin where our rods are used for a wide variety of fishing from live baiting and chunking for tuna to trolling for billfish, we do exactly what Chris says, as a matter of fact he spooled them for me.
> 
> However on our dedicated trolling rods on the Viking which are 7'4" bent butts we stick to the class rating of the reel, i.e. 50 lb mono on the 50 Tiagras and 80# mono on the 80 Tiagras. Idea being if catch a bill on the 50 we want the line class multiplier for points, if we were to catch a billfish on our Tiagra 30s that are spooled with 80# braid backing we would not be able to get the multiplier points.
> 
> Robert


Thanks Robert. That's good to know as I'm considering trying to fish the upcoming Pcola Billfishing tournament in July.


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