During the 35 years I have been in the off shore fishing business, the rod and reel industry has seen major advancements in technology (especially in the past few decades). The evolution in reel construction has included the advancement of drag systems, bearings, metals used, and the dramatic restyling of the overall reel design. Rod components have had their own progression over this period with one of the industries most significant advancements in the carbon fiber rod. That being said letâs take a âquickâ look at the last thirty five years of the technological advancements in rods and reels.
A major innovation in reel design over the past several decades has been in the drag systems and cosmetics. In the early 1960s most drags in reels being fished off shore were made of several fiber washers combined with several metal washers. These washers were placed in the reels in a sequence so as to give the angler a relatively smooth release of line from the reel. The drag was increased on the reel by turning what was called the Star located on the inside of the handle. The more you turned the Star clockwise the greater the drag became. The star drag (many still in use today) has one draw back; the fiber washers wear out with just a fair amount of use and need to be replaced throughout the fishing season. This was a great improvement to the old âBurn Your Thumbâ drags from the old days; when you pushed your thumb down on the line to create friction to slow the lineâs release. There must have been many blistered thumbs for the âold timers.â
The early and mid 1970s saw the introduction of the lever style drags. Fin Nor and Penn Internationals led this revolution. The reels from these inventors saw change not only in the drag systems but in their glamorous new styling. These reels came out in a gold anodized aluminum that gave a very rich appearance with a price to match. The advantage these reels gave the anglers in fighting a fish was well worth this price. The angler could now set the drag on the reel at whatever amount he wanted. All he had to do was slide the lever up or down to increase or decrease the pressure. The one draw back for this system was that any moisture inside the reel caused problems. Keeping these reels dry was a tough job considering the fierceness of the ocean on certain days. Some captains even resorted to putting shower caps on these reels. I just took them apart once a month to clean and grease them. Problem solved.
Enter the 1990s. This decade saw the Asian companies enter the market and gave us one of the most popular off-shore reels on the market today: The Shimano Tiagra. This reelâs introduction has become the charter boat operatorsâ reel of choice. They have one of the smoothest drag systems on the market. The Tiagra has what is known as a closed drag system, where no water can infiltrate the drag washers. No water means no problems. The reel is virtually maintenance free. I have two of the originals 50w Tiagras sold on the Outer Banks and require only minimal maintenance. I now
have a complete stand of these reels, including other models from the 16âs, 50âs, 50 wides, 80 wides and 130âs. They are a wonderful addition for the off shore angler.
Spinning tackle would never appear among my off shore charters until the last couple of years. The drags just could not handle the day in and day out pressure needed to land the larger species of fish. Through advancements in technology, these reels can now handle up to and exceed over 40 lbs of constant drag pressure. This creates enough pressure to lift and land even the most stubborn of tunas. Now, with the addition of the smaller diameter lines, anglers are able to put as much as 500 yards of 80 lb test line on their reels. This makes jigging and the use of popping plugs a great way to catch the giant blue fin tunas while standing up!
Rods have seen a great evolution in the past 35 years. The first rods that I experienced off shore were made of bamboo. These rods often broke in several pieces when too much pressure was applied. That is not a good situation to be in when youâre trying to bring your clientâs trophy fish to the boat. Thank goodness for the invention of the hollow fiberglass rods. These rods enabled the angler to put pressure on a fish without fear of the rod exploding. The biggest concern with the fiberglass rod was that if you left it in the rod holder with too much drag on the reel, there was a possibility that when a fish hit that rod, it might snap in two and the rest of the rod would launch overboard. A scary thought, isnât it? With the advancement made in fiberglass rods manufactured today, this is no longer an issue.
The latest technological breakthrough in rods is the invention of carbon fiber blanks. They give the angler a great âfeelâ of what the fish is doing during the fight. These rods allow a tremendous amount of pressure to be applied while battling a stubborn fish. I personally have seen these rods in combination with the new spinning reels nearly double over within the length of the pole without breaking. The drawback for this piece of equipment is they are quite pricey. Some of the more expensive rods are reaching almost $1,000.00. You may not find many of these carbon fiber rods on the average charter vessel.
I have only touched on just a few advancements in the evolution of the rod and reel industry. There are many companies not mentioned that build great products and I have written about the tackle that I have experience with. If you would like to try out some of the products described in this article, give me a call and charter the FINTASTIC. What better way to put them to the test!
January fishing report: The Oregon Inlet fleet is patiently waiting the arrival of the giant blue fin tunas. We expect them to be nailing our baits any day! The boats fishing down south have found a good number of king mackerel, the jiggers are catching a nice class of black fin tunas, and bottom fishing continues to provide great action. As always, tight lines!
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