Baitcasting brake

Hello all!

I recently bought a Shimano Catala that I use to fight tarpons (up to
100pounds). At first that the brake (fighting brake) is already not very
strong (impossible to block completely the spool with a 40 pounds braided
line) and the worth is that it become less and less strong over time (3
monthes only). I already had similar problems with baitcasting for bass (Abu
Garcia Ambassadeur C4) but it wasn't as critical as it is when you want to
handle big fishes... I precise that I took a lot of care to never put oil or
any product in the brake system that could make it not efficient and I
unvise the brake when I do not use it...

I have 3 questions:

* Does a technic exist to increase the brake power of such reels?

* Did you had similar problems with Shimano or other brands?

* I expected to switch to a Shimano Calcuta TE, will it be the same brake
system or can I expect something much better (at least in relation with the
price) ?


Thank you all to highlight me on this topic,

Phil

Geez guy, why would you want to stop 40 lb line completely? You'll break
your rod.
Take your rod, thread the line thru the guides, and tie it to a one and than
a two liter bottle of soda.
To keep from breaking your rod lift it, but keep the rod parallel to the
floor, by lifting it over your head. See how much that rod bends, try a five
pound sack of flour or sugar. You got to remember your on the bad end of a
lever, what you feel is not what the fish feels. He feels the equivalent of
that weight you picked up. No matter how big the fish is, he weighs
"Nothing" in the water, he is floating around in there isn't he?
The object is to get them excited enough to wear themselves out and bring
them to the boat or shore, not winch them in.
Heavy line is used for abrasion resistance, something that can take the
knocks till you can put the small amount of power really necessary to move
the fish to you.

Thanks for your answer,

The power of the bake is now very low. In tarpon fishing the hook-setting is
the key of the success, without a strong brake it is not easy to do it
properly. Another reason to have a strong line is that I often fish very
close to reef or mangrove where fishes go to breack the line. On very wide
open water, with easy hook setting I will not use these lines... Last reason
to have a strong line I go soon to a placewith 200+ pounds fishes...

Phil
a écrit dans le message de news:
et...
Geez guy, why would you want to stop 40 lb line completely? You'll break
your rod.
Take your rod, thread the line thru the guides, and tie it to a one and
than
a two liter bottle of soda.
To keep from breaking your rod lift it, but keep the rod parallel to the
floor, by lifting it over your head. See how much that rod bends, try a
five
pound sack of flour or sugar. You got to remember your on the bad end of a
lever, what you feel is not what the fish feels. He feels the equivalent
of
that weight you picked up. No matter how big the fish is, he weighs
"Nothing" in the water, he is floating around in there isn't he?
The object is to get them excited enough to wear themselves out and bring
them to the boat or shore, not winch them in.
Heavy line is used for abrasion resistance, something that can take the
knocks till you can put the small amount of power really necessary to move
the fish to you.

Can you thumb the spool during the hookset without cutting up your fingers?


"Philtix" wrote in message
...
Thanks for your answer,

The power of the bake is now very low. In tarpon fishing the hook-setting
is
the key of the success, without a strong brake it is not easy to do it
properly. Another reason to have a strong line is that I often fish very
close to reef or mangrove where fishes go to breack the line. On very wide
open water, with easy hook setting I will not use these lines... Last
reason
to have a strong line I go soon to a placewith 200+ pounds fishes...

Phil
a écrit dans le message de news:
et...
Geez guy, why would you want to stop 40 lb line completely? You'll break
your rod.
Take your rod, thread the line thru the guides, and tie it to a one and
than
a two liter bottle of soda.
To keep from breaking your rod lift it, but keep the rod parallel to the
floor, by lifting it over your head. See how much that rod bends, try a
five
pound sack of flour or sugar. You got to remember your on the bad end of
a
lever, what you feel is not what the fish feels. He feels the equivalent
of
that weight you picked up. No matter how big the fish is, he weighs
"Nothing" in the water, he is floating around in there isn't he?
The object is to get them excited enough to wear themselves out and
bring
them to the boat or shore, not winch them in.
Heavy line is used for abrasion resistance, something that can take the
knocks till you can put the small amount of power really necessary to
move
the fish to you.

Yes I do that bur braided lines are quite sliding, I am not sure it is
enought to permit a suffisant hook setting. The half second necessary to do
that is also important, the ones that had tarpon strikes will understand !
:-))

Phil


Can you thumb the spool during the hookset without cutting up your
fingers?


"Philtix" wrote in message
...
Thanks for your answer,

The power of the bake is now very low. In tarpon fishing the
hook-setting
is
the key of the success, without a strong brake it is not easy to do it
properly. Another reason to have a strong line is that I often fish very
close to reef or mangrove where fishes go to breack the line. On very
wide
open water, with easy hook setting I will not use these lines... Last
reason
to have a strong line I go soon to a placewith 200+ pounds fishes...

Phil
a écrit dans le message de news:
et...
Geez guy, why would you want to stop 40 lb line completely? You'll
break
your rod.
Take your rod, thread the line thru the guides, and tie it to a one
and
than
a two liter bottle of soda.
To keep from breaking your rod lift it, but keep the rod parallel to
the
floor, by lifting it over your head. See how much that rod bends, try
a
five
pound sack of flour or sugar. You got to remember your on the bad end
of
a
lever, what you feel is not what the fish feels. He feels the
equivalent
of
that weight you picked up. No matter how big the fish is, he weighs
"Nothing" in the water, he is floating around in there isn't he?
The object is to get them excited enough to wear themselves out and
bring
them to the boat or shore, not winch them in.
Heavy line is used for abrasion resistance, something that can take
the
knocks till you can put the small amount of power really necessary to
move
the fish to you.

"Philtix" wrote in message
...
Yes I do that bur braided lines are quite sliding, I am not sure it is
enought to permit a suffisant hook setting. The half second necessary to
do
that is also important, the ones that had tarpon strikes will understand !
:-))

Phil

Phil, the problem might not be with your drag, but with the way you put the
line on the reel. Braided lines are VERY slick and slippery. In the early
days, when I first started using braides, I thought I had a screwed up reel
because I couldn't get a decent hookset and the fish were pulling line off
the reel quite easily.

Then, one day I noticed that the line was going off the spool with a fish,
but the spool wasn't turning! Once I got the fish landed, I let all the
line off the reel and put a piece of electrical tape over the line to secure
it to the spool. I respooled the line and voila', "drag" problem solved.

Are you 100% certain this isn't your problem?
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

Hello Steve,

No I am 100% sure it is not the line that slip on the spool, I take a lopt
of care about his, that is true that is can slip easilly. My problem is
really the brake ! :-)

Phil

"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers" a écrit dans le
message de news: ...

"Philtix" wrote in message
...
Yes I do that bur braided lines are quite sliding, I am not sure it is
enought to permit a suffisant hook setting. The half second necessary to
do
that is also important, the ones that had tarpon strikes will understand
!
:-))

Phil

Phil, the problem might not be with your drag, but with the way you put
the
line on the reel. Braided lines are VERY slick and slippery. In the
early
days, when I first started using braides, I thought I had a screwed up
reel
because I couldn't get a decent hookset and the fish were pulling line off
the reel quite easily.

Then, one day I noticed that the line was going off the spool with a fish,
but the spool wasn't turning! Once I got the fish landed, I let all the
line off the reel and put a piece of electrical tape over the line to
secure
it to the spool. I respooled the line and voila', "drag" problem solved.

Are you 100% certain this isn't your problem?
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

When installing braid line because eof the slippage that can occur it is
recommended that mono backing on the reel be applied before spooling the
braided.

If you think the reel is a problem contact Shimano and they me be able to
help you. I own several baitcasters spooled with braided line and have not
found such problem with any of them when the braided line is spooled
properly.

Sarge

"Sarge" wrote in message
...
When installing braid line because eof the slippage that can occur it is
recommended that mono backing on the reel be applied before spooling the
braided.

***Yeah, some people prefer the mono backing, others (like myself) prefer to
keep the line intact from lure to spool and tape the line to the spool.
I've never had line slip after doing this. A Shimano Chronarch SF spooled
with 50 pound PowerPro on one of my pike rods whipped a 7' gator that
mistakenly decided to eat a soft jerkbait. I had that guy to the boat three
times!

If you think the reel is a problem contact Shimano and they me be able to
help you. I own several baitcasters spooled with braided line and have not
found such problem with any of them when the braided line is spooled
properly.

***Against something large enough and powerful enough, there's not enough
drag built into any reel to keep it from slipping. I don't think there's a
problem with the drag. When you're talking about fish as powerful as a 100
pound tarpon, that's a lot of force. The reduced drag efficiency is
possibly caused by glaze being built up on the drag washer surfaces from the
fights with fish like this.

A Shimano Catala reel is designed for freshwater or very light sal****er
applications. I don't think that 100 pound tarpon were what the engineers
had in mind when they designed this reel. I think that even with a Calcutta
400 series reel, which is a very good reel, that he's going to be pleased
with the results. He's taking a knife to a gun fight.
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

The problem is the fish, as Steve mentioned.



Get a Penn or Okuma sal****er reel, I bet that fish don't spin that spool no
more
"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers" wrote in
message ...

"Sarge" wrote in message
...
When installing braid line because eof the slippage that can occur it is
recommended that mono backing on the reel be applied before spooling the
braided.

***Yeah, some people prefer the mono backing, others (like myself) prefer
to
keep the line intact from lure to spool and tape the line to the spool.
I've never had line slip after doing this. A Shimano Chronarch SF spooled
with 50 pound PowerPro on one of my pike rods whipped a 7' gator that
mistakenly decided to eat a soft jerkbait. I had that guy to the boat
three
times!

If you think the reel is a problem contact Shimano and they me be able
to
help you. I own several baitcasters spooled with braided line and have
not
found such problem with any of them when the braided line is spooled
properly.

***Against something large enough and powerful enough, there's not enough
drag built into any reel to keep it from slipping. I don't think there's
a
problem with the drag. When you're talking about fish as powerful as a
100
pound tarpon, that's a lot of force. The reduced drag efficiency is
possibly caused by glaze being built up on the drag washer surfaces from
the
fights with fish like this.

A Shimano Catala reel is designed for freshwater or very light sal****er
applications. I don't think that 100 pound tarpon were what the engineers
had in mind when they designed this reel. I think that even with a
Calcutta
400 series reel, which is a very good reel, that he's going to be pleased
with the results. He's taking a knife to a gun fight.
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com