I'm trying to ideally find a rod and reel combo I can jig both salmon and lingcod. I posted a while back about an entry-mid level jigging rod. I took the advice and got some used gear. I ended up with a UglyStick Tiger Lite 6'3 50-100 braided, 4-7oz lure and a UglyStick 7' Medium rod 10-50lb 4-7 oz lure rating and an older Penn 330 LD Lever drag reel. I ran 80lb braid on the reel.
For this season we have been fishing for lingcod in a location off Haro Straight which has a quick current and around 150-230' I have been using 14-16oz jigs with swimtails. I have noticed that these do a decent job to keep up with the current BUT I do find them a PITA to bring back up when I am down 200' and redrop to keep them straight up and down. My thoughts on this was to switch to a lever drag with a 40"+ type of retrieve per reel. Last night though I decided to check out a different location with less current and was able to use a 6oz jig and swimtail. It was like a night and day difference in jigging but also the speed I could reel the jig up. It took very little time when I was in 100-120' of water with a 6oz jig vs 14oz. Though I only caught small ling/rock cod and was targeting larger fish.
1. Will a new reel make a difference or do I need to get my reel serviced?
When brining up the 14oz jig on that older Penn 330 LD it seems to almost slip as I reel, it is obviously heavier and I cant reel it up as easily as a 6oz jig and re-drop. I'm wondering if I get a new reel will that issue go away or is that just a problem that exists with larger jigs on level drag reels and this is normal? I know with a larger fish on there it feels like its also taking longer to bring it up and obviously because its heavier and you cant just pull a fish directly up
The gearing on that reel is 3.7:1 (I have not tried to service this reel). I'm trying to figure out if a new reel will have a constant retrieve rate even if something on the other end is heavy, obviously I know I couldn't turn the handle as fast and if it's a fish it may pull etc.
2. Is there a reel / rod combo I can use for both salmon and lingcod?
In trying to find out if there would be a rod I can use for both salmon and lingcod I wonder if it is possible when trying to use it on those larger jigs? I can see it being a possibility to setup a salmon/ling rod with 50lb braid and then a top shot but is that realistic? Using fluorocarbon leader for the jigs in the 2-8oz jib/swimbaits but is it possible if you move to heavy jigs (14oz) or is that really going to be classified as a ling/halibut setup and I need a different rod/reel setup for jigging salmon?
3. Which rod?
In a lot of reading it seems like people recommend the Shimano Trevala rods for those butterfly jigs and salmon but when looking at the lure rating the only one that supports 12oz is the TVC66H 80-200 line, heavy, M. Fast action. I had also received recommendations on the Amundson Savy Sumo 6'6 rod with a line rate 100-200, heavy power, M. Fast action for lingcod.
3. Reel for salmon/lingcod?
I was thinking a Penn 30 Squall or Fathom 30 lever drag both around 18-20oz, the Fathom has a lot more drag to it 23lb strike, 28lb vs 13 on the squal. I know this will work for lingcod will this also work for Salmon?
Thanks for the inputs!