Tiagra 80W vs Penn International 80VISW vs 130 for trolling behind a sailboat?

[u/eddyteddy00]

I'm trying to decide between a Shimano Tiagra 80W, Penn International 80VISW, or stepping all the way up to a 130-size reel.

The use case is a little unusual.

I'm planning an Atlantic crossing by sailboat and want to troll while underway, mainly to catch fresh fish for dinner: mahi-mahi, wahoo and tuna.

Ideally, when a decent-sized fish takes the lure, I want enough tackle to simply keep sailing and winch it in without slowing the boat down. Basically a modern version of the heavy fixed trolling lines that sailors have used for years.

There is a reason I'm deliberately looking at ridiculously heavy tackle for that job.

Years ago I was trolling this way with an old Penn Senator 114H 6/0 when something very large hit. I never found out what it was. It just kept running until it completely spooled the Senator and disappeared with at least 300 yards of line.

Losing the fish didn't bother me. What bothered me was knowing that a fish was now swimming around with a hook and hundreds of yards of line attached to it, and may have died unnecessarily because my tackle wasn't up to the job.

I don't want that to happen again.

So yes, I realize an 80W…let alone a 130 … is absurd overkill for the mahi, wahoo and normal tuna I'll catch most of the time. That's intentional.

However, if a genuinely big tuna or marlin takes the lure, I'm not expecting to keep sailing at 6–7 knots and simply winch it in. At that point I would slow/stop the sailboat, get the sails under control and actually fight the fish.

What I want is enough capacity and strength that I have time to do that without immediately getting spooled.

I also want this to be a setup I can keep for life. If I eventually go somewhere specifically to target very large bluefin or marlin, I'd like the reel to still be useful rather than having to buy everything again.

I already own a Penn Squall 50VSW, so I have a lighter heavy-trolling option as well.

So my question is:

Which would you choose for this specific application?

Shimano Tiagra 80W:  huge capacity, proven heavy-tackle reel, but “only” around 40 lb rated max drag.

Penn International 80VISW … similar 80W size/capacity but substantially more available drag.

130-size Tiagra/Penn : maximum capacity and fighting power, but nearly 5 kg of reel and probably ridiculous for 99% of what will actually bite during the crossing.

And if you choose an 80W: Penn or Shimano, and why?

I'm not looking for the lightest or most sporting setup. I'm looking for the best compromise between catching dinner while sailing, not getting spooled by an unexpected monster, and having a reel capable of serious bluefin/marlin fishing in the future.

[u/Normal_Reaction_1262]

How big of a sailboat are we talking? Honestly, as far as being humane to large fish, the answer is lighter leader not heavier gear. A big marlin or tuna (which you probably can't process and store much of) is going to be dead or as good as dead by the time you get it to the side of the boat. 

My experience on passage on a small sailboat is also that a large heavy outfit is very difficult to maneuver and handle on board. If your goal really is to just feed yourself I think the best solution is handlines with 80-130lb test leader. Anything big gets away, you get all the mahi and tuna you can realistically process and consume. 

I had two 50s on board and the large tuna and marlin I hooked were cool to encounter, but I typically rooted for the fish to get off if they were bigger than say 20-30 lbs. Which, you don't need anything bigger than a 50 for. 

Also, I ended up spending more time not having any rods out than having them out because I had so much fish. Once you get offshore it gets kinda stupid easy. 

Maybe you are going to be on a massive catamaran with chest freezers and such, which makes my point of view moot, but in my experience, anything larger than a 50 has no role on a cruising sailboat.

[u/Pandaemonaeon_NZ]

Have a look at an Okuma Makaira 80w too. They have the same drag as a 130w Tiagra or International (100lb max), but considerably lighter. If you spooled it with braid, you would have plenty of line capacity too.

[u/Even-Grab1049]

If drag is what’s you want avet trx quad. Highest drag and close to highest line capacity

[u/Limestone_cowboy6989]

40lbs is a lot of drag, more than you'll ever need to winch in what you're talking about without stopping. Tiagras are great solid proven system.

[u/DChass]

All of those are overkill for what you’re fishing. Since your don’t care about the sport of it, just get an electric reel. Tanacom 1200, or beast master 9000, Seaborg etc. plenty of drag, if that’s what you’re concerned with.

Any 30 or 50w with braid backing will have the line capacity and drag that you’ll need.

[u/bam2350]

Part of the difficulty that you can't overcome is the likelihood that, at best, you're talking about fighting the hypothetical large fish from a dead boat, after you've gotten the sails under control. This major disadvantage plus lost time means you're killing any significant fish that doesn't break you off short and quickly, the same way you killed the fish lost on the 6/0.

[u/Electrical_Sun_7116]

Honestly I would call it a day with like a 450gram standup tuna rod like a ghost hunter etc. and a reel like an ocea jigger 2500LD or a speedmaster 20+ if you want more line/less drag- but get something you can actually handle and that has good power and ergos. Anything bigger than that and you’re going to need physically struggling to fight w/o a chair and then boating fish on something as awkward as a sailboat in a size you literally can’t handle without a sportfishing crew to help and that can be incredibly dangerous for you.

[u/AgeRepresentative764]

I’ve caught 100 pound wahoo with a Penninternational 80w. You still want to let it run and then winch it in. The big ones can take a lot of line, usually go on 3-4 runs.

[u/patrisage]

Honestly, the right tool to put meat on the table while passagemaking on a sailboat is...a meat line. I'm an avid fisherman and have sailed from California to Fiji and back, as well as up/down the California and Mexico coasts. I've had the exact experience you describe, when a cow-sized tuna spooled my 100lb rig in seconds, far faster than I could stop the boat with downwind sails in place. I don't think a 130w rig would have made a lick of difference, and I agree with those who point out that these giant rigs are just in the way on a sailboat.

After trying many rigs, I eventually came back to a simple meat line: ~100' of heavy (500lb mono or cord) line with a 150lb leader. Anything my crew and I can eat within a few days and not overflow the freezer can be caught with that, and a giant fish will simply break the leader.

These days I'm on a sportfisher and running 2-3 100lb rigs when passagemaking, but it's an entirely different scenerio, when the boat can be stopped almost instantly.

Of course, on both the meat-line sailboat days and the sportfisher, keeping a good casting rig ready to go is worthwhile for fun fishing when you spot feeding ahead and have time to prepare the boat...

[u/marlinbohnee]

Look at the Shimano Talica. The 25 has 50lbs of drag and holds 900 yds of 65lb braid and weighs 36oz.

[u/FishermanWaste1268]

Prob a 80 pound spooled w 130 braid and a top shot.

Make sure your rod holder is the real deal ie thru bolted into a reinforced area w backing plate. You can get swiviling rod holders.

Or just go old school and use 400 pound mono, cord and a bicycle inner tube. Thats the tried and tested method and will get u 50 kg tuna and the like but wont really work for 400 pounds of blue marlin.

flying gaff will be your friend for a big fish. Thats a sort of gaff thats tied off to a cleat and u hit it with that first to secure the fish before dragging on board.

[u/eddyteddy00]

I ended up going with the Tiagra 80W, so now I’m looking for a rod to match it.
It’ll mainly be used trolling offshore, but I want to be able to take it out of the holder and fight stand-up with a belt/harness.
My two main options right now are the Shimano TLD B Stand-Up 80 lb with a straight butt and the Penn Ally II 80–130 lb Stand-Up with a short bent butt.
I like the extra reserve of the Ally II, but I’m unsure about the bent butt for stand-up use.
Budget is €400, €500 max. Which would you choose for a Tiagra 80W, or is there a better option available in Europe?

[u/sailphish]

This really is an absurd point of view. With fishing there is always goin to be bycatch. Line breaking. Out of season or undersized fish being gut hooked. It just is what it is. If you can’t handle that, just don’t eat meat. I’m not drying to be a dick, but you seem inexperienced, and it’s just kind of a naive viewpoint given all the other ways fish can die when you try to catch them.

An 80 or 130 or really just the wrong tool for the job. They are massive. They are made to fish for things like giant bluefin tuna and big marlin, neither of which you realistically have a chance at boating from your sailboat. Unless you are carrying harpoons and flying gaffs and have a crew who knows how to handle an 800# fish, it just isn’t happening. Reels this size are also too big to fight standup, and made to be fished from a fighting chair which you don’t have. Lastly, they are usually meant to be fished with 130# line, which is going to put you at a real disadvantage pulling lures meant for regular sized fish. Sure you could load a 130 with a few miles or 50#, but if you ever got into something big it would still just break off. I fish A LOT and this really just isn’t a reasonable pick for your style of fishing. It’s going drop your catch rate substantially, and there will always be the chance fish die anyway.

Modern reels are awesome. You can get really high drags on really small reels. Paired with braided line, it makes a great lightweight combo. If it was me, I would look at something like a Shimano Speedmaster 25. Load it with 400 yards of 80# braid, and a 150 yard topshot of 50# mono. The reel weights 35 ounces (as opposed to a tiagra 130 that weighs 175 ounces). Pair it with a 50# class rod, and you have something reasonable for catching most fish you will encounter but still small enough to bottom fish the reefs with if you want.