Popping Jigging outfit.

[rando]

I have just bought a 15-24kg Tcurve spin rod for big poppers & jigging,
I was thinking to mount a Daiwa Emblem 5500 on it ( cant afford to go Saltiga and the like), can anyone offer a critique of this reel ,or, suggest an alternative .$275-$300 the budget.

[fish_on]

ive had a daiwa emblem for about 5 years now and it has not missed a beat. great real for spinning with a massive retrieve cant go wrong. the new ones now have the spare spool which would come in handy one spin one jig. good gears and drag. the only thing is ive never used it for heavy spinning or jigging. ive only put 20lb on it for tuna and mackeral work. only other reel i can think of is the shimano spheros great heavy duty jigging reel but with only 4.5 ratio or something like that bit slow for high speed work. good luck mate

[PlasticFantastic]

Go for the Spheros 14000 with an upgraded Carbontex drag, that should set you back about $250. Also at a later date you can put the Stella handle on it if you want. As for retrieve ratio you'll just have to wind faster.

PlasticFantastic

[rando]

Plastic fantastic
What retrieve rate on the spheros? how much drag can it generate?
Im told the Emblem will pull 10kg, but that big long shaft and massive spool looks like it might suffer a lot of flex under load
I have a tough reel (Thunnus) but its 4.1:1and the drag would max out at 8kg if you pinched it up with pliers.
Would The Emblem or the Sheros handle 50 lb line, braid on the jigging spool, mono for poppers
Thanks for the advise
rando

[countbaysea]

upgraded spheros or daiwa entoh (little over budget)

[PlasticFantastic]

A Mate has the Spheros with the upgraded drag and it will hold about 10 kg of drag but it's silky smooth all the way up to that. It's load up with 90lb Saltiga braid and I recently saw the reel being used on a couple of AJ the biggest was about 12kg and the reel has no flex or anything like that. I don't know which Thunnus you have but if it's the 16000 size you could put better drag washers in it and jig with it as it's a full metal reel and the interals should hold up for a while. As for ratios I jig with a Saltiga 6500 Exp which is a slow reel but have no worries catching fish on it only thing is poppering might require the higher speed it just depends on the fish on the day.

PlasticFantastic

[banshee]

'A mate has the Spheros with the upgraded drag and it will hold about 10 kilo's of drag but it's silky smooth all the way up to that.'

Still can't work out why people have to upgrade the drag on the Spheros,the ones I've seen are fine and if they do get a little rough it's a simple case of a wash in Shellite (the washers) and a re lube.In your mates case it would appear that he has spent good money to lose about 4 kg of drag,the only mod I would consider for the Spheros off the shelf would be to replace the handle shaft/main gear bush with a bearing and I would only do this if I was going to get 'fair dinkum' about jigging.

[GPB]

The Emblem won't go the distance with constant jigging, but you can spin till the cows come home. The high line retieve is more the spool size than 5.0-1 gear ratio. I spin with my Emblem and spin and light jig with Twinpower 6000, but serious jig with Stellas or Accurates [horses for coarses].Spend the money and save the heartace.

[the_bomber]

Go for the Spheros 14000 with an upgraded Carbontex drag, that should set you back about $250. Also at a later date you can put the Stella handle on it if you want. As for retrieve ratio you'll just have to wind faster.

PlasticFantastic

Do you know how much a stella handle sells for and where Imight get one?

[rando]

Thanks guys
The guy in the tackle shop was pitching the Emblem ,but I was doubtful that it would hold -up to jigging, I didnt have a problem with its suitability for poppers.
Thanks fot the good advise, and benefit of your experience.
rando

[wheelerdog]

I use a TSS4 on a 7ft live fibre for heavy popper work. Good price reel and very strong and the retrieve is excellent.

[Luke Wyrsta]

The best advice given here for your budget would be the Shimano Spheros.

It can output around 10kg of drag pressure straight out of the box, but as has been mentioned you could consider upgrading the washers.

I would recommend using 50lb braid (not mono) for both jigging and popping...with the setup you are using, this line class would be ideal. All you are sacrificing is diameter (abraision resistance), any higher line class would be overkill for such an outfit (but not totally out of the question).

If you plan to use the same reel for both jigging and popping i would recommend the slower 4.6:1 retreive ratio of the Spheros. Despite being slower, you can still get those poppers moving pretty fast to induce strikes from GTs. The ratio is ideal for jigging.

Good luck!

[PlasticFantastic]

Most tackle shops can order in the Stella handles for the Spheros and I think it's about $110 depending on where you go. As for the issue of the drag we measured it outta the box and was lucky to get 6 kg drag out of it which when jigging 400 gm jigs the upstroke with the rod will pull line with that drag setting. We might have got more if we used a pair of pliers to tighten it up but it's not worth damaging the reel.

PlasticFantastic

[banshee]

So a spheros 14000 set on full drag loses line to a 400gm jig on the upstroke?Would be very interested in knowing what style of 400g jig this was.

[Luke Wyrsta]

Most tackle shops can order in the Stella handles for the Spheros and I think it's about $110 depending on where you go. As for the issue of the drag we measured it outta the box and was lucky to get 6 kg drag out of it which when jigging 400 gm jigs the upstroke with the rod will pull line with that drag setting. We might have got more if we used a pair of pliers to tighten it up but it's not worth damaging the reel.

PlasticFantastic

Can you explain more about this process you were using to measure the drag?

This has been contrary to my experiences.