d0nkeypunch4u asked:
Got this gem as a birthday gift and it appears to be a quality piece of fishing gear. Just like to know other people’s experience with it and what would be the ideal game fish for it.
Got this gem as a birthday gift and it appears to be a quality piece of fishing gear. Just like to know other people’s experience with it and what would be the ideal game fish for it.
Tags: Fishing Gear, Game Fish, Ideal
Anything you can throw at it… it is VERY good quality.
Stripers, even use it for tunas. Perhaps, not a three hundred pound yellowfin, but it’ll work okay for albacore and school bluefins.
My dad gave me the basic star drag/levelwind model as a birthday present three years ago and I used it as a super-heavy-duty largemouth bass swimbait reel. Haven’t come across anything that will smoke the drag yet.
If you live down in Florida, you can use it for cobia, most sharks, and reef fish. You can use up to thirty pound mono on it and anything you would use thirty pound line for you can use this for.
Any International is a nice reel.
International’s have excellent durability and you can easily find replacement parts if needed. Technically, you could very easily pass this reel down to your children if you take care of it.
This reel would be best suited as a “Trolling” reel.
Due to it’s light drag of 10LB’s, it would not make a great bottom fishing reel. Here is the specs-
You need a higher drag pressure to yank bigger fish away from reefs & structure, (otherwise they tend to cut you off rather quickly).
It would work well for a variety of “trolling” species such as Kingfish, Mahi, Wahoo, Bonita, Sails, small/medium Tuna, Etc.
In any regard, you’ve got a NICE reel. Hopefully you’ll pair it with a decent rod…??
UPDATE: Ugh….not sure what prt of my answer is “hilarious”??
Once again Dinky you’ve managed to alienate & dismiss other peoples answer’s. Maybe try not to dismiss others answer’s and just ANSWER the Q the best you can…?
“Just like to know other peoples experience with it and what would be the ideal game fish for it”.
Donkey- Here is a similar reel that is VERY common on Charter boats (Offshore) that TOTALLY compares with your 975LD-
The 975 is slightly smaller in size but would be VERY nice Offshore.
“Ideally” your reel is best suited for Trolling Offshore and for trolling for larger Freshwater species, (period).
Why? Because of the low 10LB drag. Drag is important when Bottom fishing because most reef fish tend to bolt to the reef when hooked……making it important to have a strong drag to keep them away from line cutting structure.
You “could” use this reel for Bass fishing or casting to Cobia and Sails at the transom of an Offshore boat while trolling…(“teasin” Sails up and then casting to them is very fun)..but the word “ideal” caused me to pause……
The 975LD isn’t an “ideal” Bass/big Pike reel (due to it’s size & LEVER-DRAG)- I “guess” you could use it for Swimbaits, although, I’ve never seen anyone using a Lever-drag reel that size for Bass/Pike………..I think some “people” have confused the star drag version with the LD version………the Star drag version would be fine for any casting situations in Freshwater/Saltwater………
The 975LD isn’t an “ideal” bottom-fishing reel because of it’s low drag pressure. (With the invention of BRAIDED line, Offshore Bottom-bouncers no longer have to worry about line capacity. FYI: I’ve seen people using the new Revo Inshore with 12/50 Braid bringing up NICE 15-20LB Snapper with no issues. The In-Revo has 24LB’s of drag- And a In-Revo is a smaller “low-profile” baitcaster-much smaller than a 975LD.)
You could put up to 50-60LB BRAID on the 975LD reel and use it for Trolling, (as long as you make sure to use a 6-8FT leader of Mono or Fluro). 12LB diameter BRAID on a 975LD would allow you about 400 yards of excess line…..plenty for any situation. (Heck, 250 yards of 20LB Mono would be adequate for most Small/Medium-sized trolling species….)
I stand behind my answer. “Ideally”, the 975LD would be best suited for light-tackle Offshore (or large Freshwater- Salmon, Striper, Etc.) trolling species due to it’s lower 10LB drag pressure & lever-drag feature. Line capacity isn’t really an issue (esp with the invention of Braided line….).
Most importantly?- Where you live and what species of fish are in your area will better designate what this reel is best suited for.
Not exactly sure whats funny about that……..
donky-
well you got some hilarious answers here, dude. First off, I don’t know why you would primarily use a bait caster to troll with.The word CAST should give it away. Second, the 975 has a capacity of 300 yds of 15, which is generous, and by that I mean its tough to get that much 15 on, so to put 30 on and fish, what? Saltwater?
As far as straight mono is concerned, 20 is ok, and the slow ratio is good for swimbaits and what not. use it for whatever you would in the salt for #20 surface bite.