[KILSONG]

As you know, I had been following the development of Avet Hoo-X as a possible ultimate lever drag tuna jigging reel, but it was a big disappointment after I actually saw the products.
Then, unexpectedly Accurate showed their new 665 two-speed. When I checked the reel I immediately loved it as it has excellent free spool, it has right size (3/0) with enough line capacity ( over 400 yards of 80 lbs braided lines), it has less binding problems of moving drag lever and turning handle which is rare among small lever drag reels. I tested the reel extensively for tuna, big AJ or grouper.
After using the reel almost one year, a few problem surfaced. My drag is strangely get high automatically. I lost a few nice tuna because of the problem. At first, I thought it was damaged line problem, but I found it was due to the increased drag. The other issue was the lower gear buttom doesn't work anymore. I heard several guys had the same button problems. But those things are fixable and not a big issue.
The big issue is whether the 665 two-speed can sustabin the pressure of big tuna for long period time or not.
The reel handled any tuna under 100 lbs beautifully. However after I learned that 665 two-speed reel was developed with 665 single speed reels without much modification or improvement.
As far as I know the original 665 single speed was developed without any consideration of use of braided line and was designed for 40 - 50 lbs mono line under 20 lbs drag in mind.
Accurate 665 single speed has been a favorite among Southeast Asia jig fishermen and Taiwanese jig fishermen. However they found 665 single speed reel are not strong enough for big AJ or dogtooth tuna as gears got crashed down.

I made an inquiry how they deal with the problems and here is their solutions.

They designd docking sets and installed them in 665 single speed to solve the problem and they rarely have had any problems with the installation of docking sets. However the docking sets are only available for single speed reels as there is no space to install the docking kid in two-speed reels.
That is a big concern as there is not many alternatives to improve the internal strength of the two-speed.
I might search again for an ultimate tuna jigging reel.

 

[baricuda1]

kil do you know of any one who has used the tiagra 12 for any length of time?

 

[KILSONG]

baricuda1 wrote:
kil do you know of any one who has used the tiagra 12 for any length of time?
I haven't used the reel. Tiagra has a very good reputations.
However, 34 oz of Tiagra 12 is a little heavy for me.

 

[baricuda1]

plenty of drag narrow enough line caps ok just a little heavy for you and me both,ill try it anyhow.

 

[KILSONG]

baricuda1 wrote:
plenty of drag narrow enough line caps ok just a little heavy for you and me both,ill try it anyhow.
If you own alrady, you should try it. I don't know how long you jig.
I need light reels and rods as I jig usually for long hours. If you jig only for a while, the reel should work for you.

 

[bretabaker]

the problem i've seen is pure cranking power. the 6:1 ratio fails until intense cranking. you almost need to put it in low gear. i broke 2 reels in consecutive trips because of it. for tuna jigging with a long stick and slow jigging i dont think its a problem unless you lay the rod on the rail and crank.

i havent had the drag problems kil has, so perhaps that is only his reel? i usually lower my drags manually as the day/night goes on since i get tired

for high speed jigging, this is not the ultimate reel. for an all purpose reel, i still think its top 3.

 

[wetsuitnmtk]

thanks for the report kilsong

had been considering picking up an accurate myself as i understood them to be the crem de la crem...which it sounds like they are not.

that said, if you could pick one jigging reel which one would it be?

 

[KILSONG]

wetsuitnmtk wrote:
thanks for the report kilsong

had been considering picking up an accurate myself as i understood them to be the crem de la crem...which it sounds like they are not.

that said, if you could pick one jigging reel which one would it be?I still prefer star drag reels for tuna jigging.
The reason I was looking for lever drag reels is to shorten fighting time of big tuna by giving more drag when they are circling.
With star drag reels, you have no idea how much you can give drag more. Among star drag reels, I still believe Saltiga 40/50 are the best jigging reels for the drag upto 25 lbs. If you need drag over 25 lbs, Trinidad 40 or Ocea Jigger 4000P/5000P is a good choice.

 

[Meirowitz]

KILSONG wrote:
wetsuitnmtk wrote:
thanks for the report kilsong

had been considering picking up an accurate myself as i understood them to be the crem de la crem...which it sounds like they are not.

that said, if you could pick one jigging reel which one would it be?I still prefer star drag reels for tuna jigging.
The reason I was looking for lever drag reels is to shorten fighting time of big tuna by giving more drag when they are circling.
With star drag reels, you have no idea how much you can give drag more. Among star drag reels, I still believe Saltiga 40/50 are the best jigging reels for the drag upto 25 lbs. If you need drag over 25 lbs, Trinidad 40 or Ocea Jigger 4000P/5000P is a good choice.



Kil, what about the Daiwa Tournament Ishidai Z50, which weighs only 24.6 ounces at 33 pounds of drag?

The Shimano Ocea Jigger 5000P weighs 27.7 ounces at 33 pounds of drag.

Yet we don't hear much about the Ishidai. Why is that?

 

[KILSONG]

Dick,
Ishidai can be an excellent choice if the reel has enough line capacity. The reel is developed for bottom fishing when heavy drag is reguired, but line capacity is not important as those bottom fishes don't take much lines.

 

[bretabaker]

I thought about an Ishidai versus the Ocea I got. I would have gotten either, but I liked the Ocea handle better and I got a good deal on it. I don't think we hear much because not many places carry it in the US.

 

[Meirowitz]

KILSONG wrote:
Dick,
Ishidai can be an excellent choice if the reel has enough line capacity. The reel is developed for bottom fishing when heavy drag is reguired, but line capacity is not important as those bottom fishes don't take much lines.
Kil, looking at the specs, it appears that the 5000P doesn't have much more line capacity than the Ishidai. I've been using the Saltiga SA40 (which has less line capacity and drag than the Ishidai) and have had no problem with line capacity or drag with tuna to about 125 pounds.

Granted, tuna in the 150-200 pound category is another issue. However, you may want to take a closer look at the Ishidai for larger tuna. 33 pounds of drag is quite powerful for such a small reel and should compensate for the not too substantial line capacity of that reel.

 

[KILSONG]

Yes, Dick. I agree Ishidai can handle most average size tuna we catch here. I now use Saltiga 40 instead of 50 though I am more comfortable with 50's line capacity. But I don't feel like to spend $650 for Ishidai while we can catch same sizes of tuna with normal jigging reels with 22 - 25 lbs drag.
It also depends on how much you want to take a risk when big tuna are around. I like tuna popping with light Stella 80000 with 65 lbs braided line, but I don't use the reel when tuna over 100 lbs are frequent. My Saragosa 18000 almost got spooled when I fished Hambone out of Cape May two weeks ago.

 

[capttrav]

Kil your assesment of the accurate 665 2 speed is correct. I just have a little more to add. My experience is with 2 of them, not just mine. I had drag issues straight out of box. After repair and 3 BFT between 80lbs-100lbs the high gear sounds like it is filled with rocks. So far the drag has been consistant, but the gear pin is becoming difficult to switch.
My best friends reel has similiar issue. After several fights his high gear is making bad noise and getting stiff. Also his lever to put into drag and out of nuetral is next to impossible to move. He missed many tuna on jig fall this year because of this. I am returning reel again and selling it. It does not live up to my expectations at all. THe hoo-x is not my favorite either, but so far that reel is much more durable. I will wait for the day when Baker can make a lighter reel. Until then I will use single speed reel.

A note about my accurate is that I never cranked or abused the high gear. I faught the fish that made the trouble in low gear, and high was never the same since.

 

[YMMV1]

Kil, from your experiences, how would you compare the Accurate to say the Everols or Alutecnos reels?

I have no experience with Accurates 2spd but I have yet to have any problems with their single speed. Then again, I am no where the abuse you give them.

 

[kcferry]

I've had the 665 2 speed since it came out and have caught many many fish on it from tuna to cod and even use it tilefishing. When it was new it worked flawlessly but after the first year it's been all downhill, "wow" ..I'm suddenly reminded of some of my old ex- girlfriends

...Anyway, I've got the same story with the reel. The handle arm has developed alot of play, the lever is getting sloppy, especially in free spool and it grinds in high gear when it under pressure. I think tilefishing ruined it. I didn't realize how bad it was until I picked up a brand new one and played with it. The reel still works though so I think I'll beat it up some more and then send it back to it's mother and see if she can fix it.
K.C.

 

[Meirowitz]

bretabaker wrote:
I thought about an Ishidai versus the Ocea I got. I would have gotten either, but I liked the Ocea handle better and I got a good deal on it. I don't think we hear much because not many places carry it in the US.
Bretabaker, I just ordered the Tournament Ishidai Z50. I have always had good success with the Daiwa reels (SA40) for tuna and I don't believe we've yet seen a detailed report on the Ishidai for larger tuna. I'm teaming it with an 8 foot GUSA Wahoo. I will probably go with 80 pound Jerry Brown Hollow with top shots. I hope to get some good use from it this summer with larger tuna and I will, of course, report results.

 

[bretabaker]

i think you've got to use the reel in low gear whenevr you're cranking under a lot of pressure. the high gear just isnt strong enough

 

[BobWheeler]

Tuna Jigging Reels

I have the Accurate 665 XNC, Accurate 665 NN, Shimano 4000P, and the Daiwa Tournament Ishidai Z40 with the tricked out variable lenght arm.

All the reels are IMO very good. For asian style , walk the dog, the Accurates are my favorites. For traditional style NE jigging all those reels are good.

The aforementioned reels are definitely not made for jigging big tuna --- like 200 lb plus big eye. You could land a big one but the reels have their limitations. As soon as you get into reels that are more capable of consistently stopping large fish --- IMO you always face the downside of having to use a reel that is too heavy for prolonged jigging applications.

I also have the Tiburon 16 and 20 --- these reels I got as heavy WC style LB reels --- I have used them on the WC Long Range Trips --- I haven't used them for jigging but they seem to be larger than my jigging reels and at the same time not too too heavy for prolonged jigging applications.

Then the question --- How often do really large tuna get hooked up while jigging? I know it happens but it seems rare. During the recent bluefin run out of Cape May people were consistently landing nice size fish on the small reels.

This post edited by BobWheeler 03:37 PM 07/27/2008

 

[659927]

First let me say that I am a huge Accurate fan--I own six of them including all 3 Twinspins and two ATD reels. But I would like to add my sad experiences with the 665 2-speed, as well as those of an acquaintance whom I will not name--that would be his business. All were of the wide variety. I had trouble with 2 separate reels and he had problems with one. I now have a third reel which I intend to go very very easy on--I will use it only with 20 pounds at strike and no more.

My first reel, right after they came out, I put to the test in my garage. The manual--what passes for one--said to put as much drag on the reel as you desired. So I cranked it up to 35 at strike--no I know you don't use that much, but I wanted to see if the reel was what it was talked up to be.

And something broke inside--the clicker stopped working and it made a heavy, grinding noise. I read another review at that time on the internet in which a fellow said his reel sounded like "a box of rocks". That is exactly what mine sounded like. I sent the reel back to Accurate and they promised to tell me what had happened. They never did--just sent me a replacement.

I tried this reel out, this time with only 25 pounds of drag, and the clicker started making funny noises forever after. I sent the reel back and they replaced it. Now I am only going to use it for snapper and maybe slow jigging near the surface for smaller yellowfin--but I doubt it.

My friend had a different experience--his drag did not ramp up much from just off of freespool to strike AND from strike to full. He sent it back and Accurate told him they had changed the cam from the single speed model. They put in the old cam and that turned out OK.

But, like Kil, my friend fished the reel pretty heavily--in fact, as his primary offshore reel--and when he sent it to Accurate for service after about a year, they replaced over $150.00 worth of parts--about half they charged him for.

Not good experiences at all--and now I see they are planning to produce lighter weight 30 and 50 sizes that LOOK a lot like the Boss series. I will be very careful with these reels.

That having been said, I absolutely love my ATD50W, ATD12, SR30, SR20, and SR12!

Russ