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Topwater Caranx Ignobilis: Giant Trevally (GT) => Tackle & Techniques => Topic started by: David Noble on December 10, 2008, 09:45:40 AM
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Thanks Dave.
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Mate mine has 300m plus 15kg mono backing!!
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you will get about 350m
cos i have varivas gt smp pe8 one my stella 20000 .
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This might help David, might not be 100% accurate but ballpark figures.
PE Diameters
PE# 6 = 0.405mm 0.016”
PE# 8 = 0.470mm 0.018”
PE#10 = 0.520mm 0.022”
PE#12 = 0.570mm" 0.023”
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Stella SW model
18000HG PE5/500m, PE6/400m, PE8/300m
20000PG PE5/600m, PE6/500m, PE8/350m
……………………………………………………………………………………………
Stella FA model (2002-2008)
10000 Spool PE3/550m, PE4/400m, PE5/300m, PE6/250m, PE8/170m
20000 Spool PE4/750m, PE5/600m, PE6/500m, PE8/350m, PE10/250m
16000 Spare Spool PE4/500m, PE5/400m, PE6/300m
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Tuf-Line
Line Test 12 18 30 50 65 80 100 130 200
Diameter . 005" .007" .009" .012" .017" .019" .021" .027" .030"
Mm .438 .475 .530 .700
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Many thanks! That pretty much covers everything ;D
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On a related note, why do people need more line capacity for GTs? For instance, I hear a lot about you guys interchanging your Stella 10000 spools with the larger 20000 spools. Do GTs run long? From my limited experience, the brutes have rubbed me off with a lot less than 100 metres of line in the water. :'( So, what I am asking is....do you need 350+ metres of line on your spool for GTs? Or is the extra capacity to assist in longer casting, to provide versatility, or what?
Also, why do GT anglers use massively heavy braid (that far exceeds the drag capabilities of the given reel they are using? Is this for abrasion resistance? Because I would have thought that it would make no difference what PE you were using, if that line touches the coral or rocks, it's gone anyway? :-\
Excuse my ignorance here, but any info on the subject would be appreciated.
Cheers
Angus
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On a related note, why do people need more line capacity for GTs? For instance, I hear a lot about you guys interchanging your Stella 10000 spools with the larger 20000 spools. Do GTs run long? From my limited experience, the brutes have rubbed me off with a lot less than 100 metres of line in the water. :'( So, what I am asking is....do you need 350+ metres of line on your spool for GTs? Or is the extra capacity to assist in longer casting, to provide versatility, or what?
Also, why do GT anglers use massively heavy braid (that far exceeds the drag capabilities of the given reel they are using? Is this for abrasion resistance? Because I would have thought that it would make no difference what PE you were using, if that line touches the coral or rocks, it's gone anyway? :-\
Excuse my ignorance here, but any info on the subject would be appreciated.
Cheers
Angus
Hi Angus,
You have made some valid points here, but yes, there are some reasons for the questions you present...
1. The STL10K spool is significantly smaller in capacity than the STL20K spool. The reason why most anglers choose to use a 20K spool is so that they can use PE10/12 on the higher-ratio body of the 10K.
2. Most GT's don't make huge runs. If they do make a significant run, you are at good odds of getting busted up much sooner than later. Mind you, hook onto a 60kg+ GT and there is definitely the possibility of being spooled 200m+ of line.
3. You don't need 350m+ of line. In general, you can get away with a minimum of 180 metres. Have a few bust ups and you can start to reduce your capacity markedly when you have a thick diameter line on - this also means that your casting distance will suffer.
4. There are good reasons why heavier braids are used. For me, the most important thing is resistance/tolerance to shock-load. Having a big GT strike while driving hooks in can generate a huge pressure spike not only causing braid to fail but such forces have also seen many a reel and rod to explode spectacularly. Not only that, under high amounts of pressure in addition to forces from angler, boat, fish and water drag - it can be incredibly easy to 'ping' lower B/S braids (e.g 80lb). I have even 'pinged' 130lb braid which I previously thought was almost impossible to do. In general, I have found thicker diameter braids to cope much better with shock-load than those that are thinner. PE10/12 is not used all the time either, it is generally reserved for murderous terrain, or when exclusively hunting GTs in excess of 40kg.
Hope that helps :)
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Also, why do GT anglers use massively heavy braid (that far exceeds the drag capabilities of the given reel they are using? Is this for abrasion resistance? Because I would have thought that it would make no difference what PE you were using, if that line touches the coral or rocks, it's gone anyway? :-\
Irrespective of being a sensible decision or not, don't forget that some of these top-end reels CAN be locked up and palmed to effectively generate more drag/resistance than the drag system can generate itself.
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Thanks Luke, some very well made points there. Truth be told, I hadn't thought of the idea that repeated bust-offs can really eat into your line capacity, so the more line you start with, the better. The reason I asked the above questions is that I may have the opportunity to purchase an unused (but superseded) Stella 10000FA, and I am really weighing up whether the extra expense of a larger spool is going to be required, before I decide whether to buy the reel in the 1st place. Strange way of deciding, I know. :P
After a recent series of GT failures on my Spheros/monster mesh outfit, I am leaning towards purchasing this reel and combining it with a decent GT stick so I can give myself the best chance next time.
Thanks again for your very informative comments.
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Its a catch 22 isn't it - use heavy PE and get busted off less however when you do get busted off you lose a greater volume from the spool. Or use lighter PE, you get busted off more but lose less volume each time.
I personally think the 10000 spool is big enough - GTs are strong but they aren't going to outrun a billfish over any distance, any popping is generally done from a drifting boat and as such if you hook a monster GT that for some reason does the bolt into clear open water the skipper should have plenty of time to get the boat following the fish before you even get close to losing 180m or so of line (even if you do hookup immediately after a 80m cast).
I can see sides of the points made by everyone however, as usual there's no straight out correct response, just horses for courses. Being the occasional angler i'm more than happy to run my 10000 spool Angus.
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I personally think the 10000 spool is big enough - GTs are strong but they aren't going to outrun a billfish over any distance, any popping is generally done from a drifting boat and as such if you hook a monster GT that for some reason does the bolt into clear open water the skipper should have plenty of time to get the boat following the fish before you even get close to losing 180m or so of line (even if you do hookup immediately after a 80m cast).
I can see sides of the points made by everyone however, as usual there's no straight out correct response, just horses for courses. Being the occasional angler i'm more than happy to run my 10000 spool Angus.
Travis, have you ever hooked up to a 60kg+ GT?
Yes, they don't run like a Bill but don't underestimate these larger fish. They have and will continue to spool unlucky anglers. Been there, done that - been humiliated :)
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same same man,i been pretty closed to spooled in new cal a few times!!
60kg beast.... >:(
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i would use the 20000 spool so it can hold more line eg 300m.
due to casting 60-90m away plus they run 200m from where you are if a 60kg is hooked up so it will come to 260 - 290 spooled
you will have a chance to get him back to the boat
one day if i get him then i will be so so HAPPY ;D.
10000 spool can hold 300m of pe5 i guess you will be busted off at the hook up :o.
but if this is armed with pe8 on your 10000 then you can say good bye to your line :-X ::)
luke look like you have been there so did you catch the big gt yet ?
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One really needs to go to New Caledonia, if only to experience how a GT can spool you using PE10. :o
I did not believe it until I made the trip - and I believe there are very few places that allow that.
Fishing with the normal 10000 spool in NC, without carrying spare spools, is asking for a very short trip.
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One really needs to go to New Caledonia, if only to experience how a GT can spool you using PE10.
Hi,
How much drag you get spoiled?
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In some areas , you give a big GT 20 m to run and you are a goner , for sure .
Jon .
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One really needs to go to New Caledonia, if only to experience how a GT can spool you using PE10.
Hi,
How much drag you get spoiled?
Normal drag setting (~15kg). I'm not kidding - because in NewCal the reef is a vertical dropoff into very very deep water, the GT cannot always find structure immediately. Cast (60m) + GT run (60m) + boat driving in opposite direction (100m) = spooling.
50-70kg beast, there is nothing you can do if you cannot turn its head. 1 run gone
Of course, it is still more common to be busted off, but the chances of being spooled by GT in NC is very high compared to places like Komodo or Shoalwater (instant death).
Like I said, I did not believe it when I first heard it, thinking it must be angler weakness - but ask any reputable angler who has been to NC and I am sure they will agree. You can be spooled by GT! :o
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Brandon's report will give you a better idea:
http://www.gtpopping.com/forum/index.php?topic=784.msg7999#msg7999 (http://www.gtpopping.com/forum/index.php?topic=784.msg7999#msg7999)
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I personally think the 10000 spool is big enough - GTs are strong but they aren't going to outrun a billfish over any distance, any popping is generally done from a drifting boat and as such if you hook a monster GT that for some reason does the bolt into clear open water the skipper should have plenty of time to get the boat following the fish before you even get close to losing 180m or so of line (even if you do hookup immediately after a 80m cast).
I can see sides of the points made by everyone however, as usual there's no straight out correct response, just horses for courses. Being the occasional angler i'm more than happy to run my 10000 spool Angus.
Travis, have you ever hooked up to a 60kg+ GT?
Yes, they don't run like a Bill but don't underestimate these larger fish. They have and will continue to spool unlucky anglers. Been there, done that - been humiliated :)
:) Nope, sure haven't Luke - where we fish the biggest i've caught would be 35kg or so with the average being smaller than that. Although we get up to shoalwater occasionally it's not all that often - hence, being the occasional fisherman, i'm not prepared to spend the dollars to have multiple spools rigged up with varying different PEs. Because of the average size of the fish i'm also not prepared to fish a 20000 spool with PE 10-12 just in case a 60kg GT jumps on the end of it. Popping isn't something I do for a living, nor do I spend thousands on thousands of dollars each year on charters so rigging up purely to chase that fish of a lifetime isn't important to me. My 10000 spool with 80lb tufline has handled everything thats been thrown at it so far and I feel its good do deal with 98% of the fish I will ever be likely to encounter.
Disclaimer - I reserve the right to revoke all above statements when I get unceremoniously spooled by a monster GT of a lifetime on my next trip out ;) :D
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I am going to try N C GT's next month
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I am going to try N C GT's next month
Good luck Adrien - I know it has been a long time waiting for you.
You will be fishing the great fringing reefs...drop to over 60m. BIGGEST POPPERS 8) ;D
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In some areas , you give a big GT 20 m to run and you are a goner , for sure .
Jon .
In NC, even 60m can have you hot under the collar. Particularly when the big boys are out to play :o ;D
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;DI hope to figth a very BIG ONE..........ready ;D
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:) Nope, sure haven't Luke - where we fish the biggest i've caught would be 35kg or so with the average being smaller than that. Although we get up to shoalwater occasionally it's not all that often - hence, being the occasional fisherman, i'm not prepared to spend the dollars to have multiple spools rigged up with varying different PEs. Because of the average size of the fish i'm also not prepared to fish a 20000 spool with PE 10-12 just in case a 60kg GT jumps on the end of it. Popping isn't something I do for a living, nor do I spend thousands on thousands of dollars each year on charters so rigging up purely to chase that fish of a lifetime isn't important to me. My 10000 spool with 80lb tufline has handled everything thats been thrown at it so far and I feel its good do deal with 98% of the fish I will ever be likely to encounter.
Disclaimer - I reserve the right to revoke all above statements when I get unceremoniously spooled by a monster GT of a lifetime on my next trip out ;) :D
Travis, this is probably about where I am at too.......and on our Whitsunday trips, the average GT we encounter would be probably 25kg. We have seen bigger but the class of fish is clearly not like the Coral Sea, Shoalwater, or a myriad of exotic overseas destinations.
As a result, I think I should probably take your approach and just go with the 10000 spool/80lb at this stage. I simply wouldn't use the outfit often enough to justify further expense, but anything less would continue to result in being bricked by fish that (by GT standards), are still only in high school. :-\
But I see plenty of merit in both approaches, and I do appreciate everyones comments and experiences. Thanks all.