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simon carey

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new smith keyolhu
September 06, 2007, 12:39:24 PM
Well I have finally bit the bullet after much searching and research and bought my first serious GT stick. I had pretty much decided on the Seed 76 but found a Keyolhu at a great price in Perth. The same place also had a really good price on a Stella 20000 so it ended up on the Visa as well. Whilst I would have loved a Saltiga Gt6000 I figured that the stella would do the job and also double as a Sambo reel in SUmmer as well as for trolling sails and big Tuna so it is a bit of a better allrounder. MY first ?? is what class line would you all recommend. My thoughts are to fill the 20000 spool with PE8 and then buy a spare 10,000 spool and put pe5 or 6 on it. I cannot find a lot of info about this rod so anyone with experience and opinions would be a great help. I have two weeks coming up in Exmouth in November and am towing a boat up so I am hoping that this outfit will get some serious use.(Had a play with it last night and there will be some serious gym work in the next two months). Great forum by the way guys.

Brandon Khoo

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Re: new smith keyolhu
September 06, 2007, 03:34:41 PM
Simon - the reason you don't read much about the Keyolhu is that most people here tend to opt for the Komodo Dragon which is rated up to PE12. The Keyolhu is rated up to PE10. Considering the Smith rods are able to fish a wide range of line weights as well as cast a wide range of lure weights, I tend to recommend that people opt for the Komodo generally. Most people only get one popping rod so I've tended to recommend one that will give them maximum flexibility.Still, PE10 is a lot so the rod should handle most fish you hook.

I don't have a Keyolhu myself but if I remember correctly, this is the carbon/kevlar rod which Smith claims is for advanced anglers (whatever that means!).

With regard to your spools, PE8 on your 20000 for heavy jigging is ideal. For popping however, you do not need anywhere near this much line. For your 10000 spool, if you fill that with PE8, it will be ample for popping. I am taking PE8 to be 80lb, btw.

What weight line you need depends on the size of the GTs you are chasing and the terrain you are fishing. If the fish are big (20kg onwards to humongous) and you are in rough terrain, you will be obliterated on PE5. I'd recommend you consider PE8 as a starting point. I tend to recommend PE8 as a mimimum for the simple reason that we focus on catch and release - and we want the fish to survive. On lighter line, even if you land the GT, you will run it into the ground and even if the fish is able to swim off, it's shark bait.

If it swims; I want to catch it!

Luke Wyrsta

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Re: new smith keyolhu
September 06, 2007, 08:37:00 PM
Everything Brandon has said is pretty spot on, however, in addition to the spare spool you plan to buy i suggest you also buy another 20k spool, load that with PE5 and use that for your trolling for sailfish and marlin. Anything heavier would be overkill and you could start to worry about capacity when connected to a decent billie.

simon carey

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Re: new smith keyolhu
September 06, 2007, 11:20:51 PM
thanks guys - sounds like the plan is to load up the 10000 spool with pe8 and put pe5 on the 20000.
Brandon - not being the worlds biggest bloke I figure that if I ever get to use this rod to its full potential and miss a fish because the rod was not  enough then buying a Komodo won't bother me(the gym fees to get to that point would be far more than the rod). I cannot believe how light yet powerful this rod is, I actually wanted to look for a Kerama on a recommendation but this was all they had and I figured the extra length wouldn't hurt for casting distance.
 Cannot wait to try it out, just hope the unpredictable Exmouth weather gods are smiling in November as everyone tells me that it goes off at that time of year if you get some breaks in the wind.

Brandon Khoo

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Re: new smith keyolhu
September 07, 2007, 07:48:47 AM
for heavy jigging for fish like sambos, you may need another 20000 spool with PE6-8.

Agree on the size issue although with the adrenalin surge, you'd be surprised how hard you can go when you have a decent fish on!
If it swims; I want to catch it!

simon carey

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Re: new smith keyolhu
September 07, 2007, 09:19:36 AM
If the sharks are around like last year I think it will be a very short sambo season for me - not into killing fish for the sake of it, rather head back in to the 30 and 40 meter marks and chase smaller ones on lighter gear - 15kg of sambo on 30lb is great fun in shallow water, but the bigger models do stitch you up nice and quickly