penn 113h

[21ftcc]

Ok, pickup a few fishing rods and reels last year and haven't found the time to mess with them. I just couldn't beat the price for what I got.
I have 5 Penn 113h's, I'm in the middle of pulling them apart cleaning them, greasing them (cal's reel & star drag grease) and upgrading the drag washers to Smooooth drag washers. As I do not know the life of these reels, I might as well start off right.
The first two I will setup with 40# wire line for trolling for stripers. The next three I want to use are for inshore tuna. I haven't thought about what I really want for line on these. I was going to pair them with 50-80lbs class rod with no rollers. For line was thinking straight mono, perhaps mono filling with braid on top, or straight braid. I just can't make my mind up.
I also have three rods with just striper logos on them. Anyone know who might make them.
I'm thinking they are custom 20-40lb rods.

[Capt. G]

I dont think the 113H reels will be able to handle the drag pressure that these fish will require. I think you should be looking at at least Shimano TLD 30s or 50s. On my boat I run Tiagra 30s (great reels) and Penn 50 VSWs when trolling for the little guys... We also fish them with Stella 20000s on custom spin sticks...now thats real fun.

There are plenty of good off the rack rods available...go to a good shop like Fishermans Outfitters or First Light Anglers and have the guys show you some options. You can spend anywhere from 150 to 500+(custom rods).

Dont skimp on the line..it is the most important link between you and the fish. I use Jerry Brown Hollow Core braid (expensive but worth every penny) and a top shot of Momoi Mono. With a smaller reel like a 113H you are going to need as much line as possible. These fish can rip off 100 yds in a matter of seconds This is another reason the 113 might be somewhat undersized for the task at hand.

Alot of rod builders use that striper logo



Good Luck.