Tackles For a Long Range Trip
The Flyline Rig
The tackle needed and the amount of tackle that some long range anglers bring can vary greatly depending on the how much "Tackle Ho" is in your blood as well as how much "dough $" you got in your pocket. I tend to be on on the upper middle of the "Tackle Ho Scale". I am sure some will say that I am a full blown Tackle Ho!! But I have seen worse so I am stickin with the upper middle.
Let's break it down. The tackle I use is targeted on fishing for large yellowfin. When I put a bait in the water I expect a 200lb plus tuna to come calling. I didn't spend thousands of dollars and fly thousands of miles to loose fish. The lightest line that I am putting in the water is 100lb test. The smallest reel is an AVET 30W. That said you need to have a sufficient arsenal to be prepared for the different techniques required to fish a 10-15 day Long Range trip. For starters you need a Light (100lb) and a Heavy (130lb) Flyline outfit. I will get to the "Big Bait and Kite Rigs later" Just for clarity these 100lb and 130lb ratings refer to the lb test of the topshot or leader that is fishing in the water. A flyline outfit is used to present a live sardine or small mackerel. You will use the heavy 130lb when visibility is low, such as morning, evening or on overcast days where sunlight is limited. This heavy gear is also used when the bite is "ON" and the fish are competing for the bait so aggressively that they don't care, in that case you can also bump it up and use even larger line such as 150 or even 2 hundie. The "Light 100lb" is used during the daylight hours to be more stealthy, also lighter line allows the bait to swim better and also get into the "feeding zone" better. There is always the temptation to drop down in line class to get the bite. You can drop down but never go below the 100lb limit. People do try 80lb and most don't succeed. What they succeed in doing is wasting allot of fishing time and energy that could be used later on, additionally they usually tangle other anglers which is "No Bueno".
My 100lb flyline rig is an AVET 30W filled with 600yds of 130lb Jerry Brown Hollowcore with a 25' topshot of SeaGuar Premier Fluro made by Basil Pappas of BHP. I vary the length of the topshot depending on the current and how well I am getting the sardine into the zone. If you want to spend a little more you can put 700yds of 100lb JBH on that reel and have some more capacity.
AVET 30W 600 yds 130 JBH
Notice that the AVET reels have no top bar. This makes it easier to flick the spool to keep slack out of your line and to maintain contact with the dine. That is another topic that I will get to later.
My 130lb flyline rig is and AVET 50 SDS filled with 700yds of 130lb JBH with a 25' SeaGuar Premier Fluro topshot. This reel is a tank and can be fished with complete confidence
So as to not get get caught short at the wrong moment I bring two of each of these 100 and 130lb setups. This gives me flexibility, such as having a dedicated sinker rig or chunk rig and if i get in to a tangle and need to cut off allot of line I can grab my one of my backups and get back to the bite.
So as to not get get caught short at the wrong moment I bring two of each of these 100 and 130lb setups. This gives me flexibility, such as having a dedicated sinker rig or chunk rig and if i get in to a tangle and need to cut off allot of line I can grab my one of my backups and get back to the bite.
AVET 50 SDS 700 yds 130 JBH
