March '98
Last month I talked about what to look for when getting a "tuna rod". Now what to look for in a tuna reel. Many anglers are down sizing their reels to take advantage of high tech lines like Spectra. It is not uncommon for anglers to load 500 yd. of 135 lb. Spectra and add a topshot of 200 yd. of 100 lb. mono on a 50 SW reel. This reel was not designed for this use.
How do long range anglers "get away" with doing this? The trick is to have the reel customized. Customizing can cover many different things. I will go over each different option. But to start off your reel must be a two-speed reel. Single speed reels are well like using a 386 CPU. It gets the job done">March '98
Last month I talked about what to look for when getting a "tuna rod". Now what to look for in a tuna reel. Many anglers are down sizing their reels to take advantage of high tech lines like Spectra. It is not uncommon for anglers to load 500 yd. of 135 lb. Spectra and add a topshot of 200 yd. of 100 lb. mono on a 50 SW reel. This reel was not designed for this use.
How do long range anglers "get away" with doing this? The trick is to have the reel customized. Customizing can cover many different things. I will go over each different option. But to start off your reel must be a two-speed reel. Single speed reels are well like using a 386 CPU. It gets the job done, but it would be easier with a Pentium II. If you have one of these dinosaurs do not worry Cal’s Two Speed Conversions can upgrade you into a two-speed reel. Factory two-speeds or converted two-speeds will handle basic tuna fishing. But if you plan to use Spectra/mono and down sizing you will need to upgrade further.The first option is to have the reel blueprinted for the line class you will be using. A stock Penn 50-SW needs to be modified to have these new line combos. The drags were not designed to fish with a line heavier than 80 lb. test. The reel needs to have its drags and drag cams modified to handle the extra load. Once again we call on Cal Sheets for this service. Cal’s will tear apart your reel, beefing up your drag system to handle the heavier line. This blueprinting process will also improve the reels cast distance.
Another option that can be done is to upgrade the ball bearings on your reels. Guess who can do this for you? That is right, Cal’s Two-Speeds. Stock ball bearings on Internationals are well, just fair. Penn should have put better bearings in but it is a cost factor. If you want a state of the art reel for tuna fishing send the reel to Cal’s Two-Speed and have him overhaul your reel. You will amazed at what can be done to that International of yours. It is just a shame that Penn does not put the effort into build their Internationals a little better.
There is final option for a few anglers is to have their reel converted from a right-handed crank to a left-handed crank. I would never think of doing this but there are a few anglers that may need it option and that is why I mention it. Guess who can do the job for you? If you did come up with the name of Cal’s Two Speeds you have not been paying attention.
If you need your reel fine tuned just drop it off at Ono Custom Rods and we can send it down to Cal’s Two Speeds. For those of you who do not live in the San Francisco Bay Area you can ship it directly to Cal’s. If you are using these new spectra-mono combos you want to be sure your reel is up to the test. A word of caution, have Cal Sheets convert your reels. I have heard of others who say they do the same as Cal Sheets. Maybe they do and maybe they do not, I would only trust my reels to Cal. He has converted 4 of my older reels and all have work great.There is another option that does not improve the reel but does make it very personal. Internationals only come in shades of gold, wouldn’t it be nice to have your own red or teal International. Well, REEL COLORS can anodize your reel to just about any color you want. They can even re-plate your old International and make it look brand new. They also do custom engraving. So you can have your reel personalized. I like fishing with black reels, so I am going to have my old Internationals re-plated black.