Shimano Trinidad

The 40 is a better choice as long as it is not too big a reel for you. It has more cranking power, more capacity and better drags. But it is much larger. I'd go with 80# spectra for durability. For cod, a topshot is only about 30 feet. For jigging tuna, maybe 200 feet. For bait tuna, as long as possible.

The Trinidad 40 was the most popular reel on the Helen-H last week. About 10 or 12 fares out of 40+ had them. I dunno if that makes it better than anything else. A lot of those guys are into Shimano/Loomis products...

FYI, I use a Trinidad 14 for both cod and tuna, but I don't care about landing every fish.

Your other option is one of the many cheaper 2-speeds available.

(This post edited by skatemaster on 03/30/2003)

Between fredbird62 and myself, we used the Trinidad 14, 20 and 40 that day. You could definitely feel the difference between them, especially when currents were running, and you had a 20oz and a fish on. Whenever you stepped up to the next size, it felt like a pleasure. I also used a Newell 322 with 3.75 gears, that pulled well, but was a lot slower on the retrieve.

I was also using 30# PP, to minimize the sinker weight required, but I don't care much about breakoffs or abrasion. To my mind, 30 and 50 PP are relatively fragile, and 65 and 80 PP are in a whole other class and better suited for someone who doesn't want to change their line for a couple seasons.