This is a question for those of you that are using mono for albacore. I was wondering what weight mono you use for trolling albacore? I currently have a group of 113H Penn's that I use (haven't made it to those Avets yet, but they sure look nice!).

Most of the information that I have picked up recomends spectre or braided lines with a topshot leader. I have not made the switch yet, though it is in the future.

Many of the people up north run varied weights trolling; one may troll with 30#, others with 40 or 50# mono. The braided lines are often heavier due to the thinner diameter. I am pretty new to the albacore game, having fished salmon and bottom fish, now I have a far better boat for running out to the "tuna grounds." The fish vary in weight from peanuts to some that make it into the high thiry range.

I have quite a bit of fresh Trilene big game in 30#, but don't want to go out undergunned as I try to seriously go after albacore this year. Any help would be appreciated.

From a private boat 40 or 50lb would be my choice. From a charter 60 to 80lb. I like to try to get the troll fish to the boat ASAP and hope that the school comes with it. 30lb could you troll with it? Yes but I think it is a bit light for me.

Edit: I would use 50lb and a higher drag setting to bring in the troll fish in faster. When trolling the fish are not line shy it's more of a reaction bite. With bait the fish can be line shy so I would use 20 to 30lb line and flouro leaders.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SoCalAngler,

thanks for the reply SoCalAngler. You also answered the next question regarding live bait, where I will use the 30lb with a flouro leader.

Thanks again, and have a Happy New Year.

LaL,
First off, welcome to the board. This is a great place to learn. Lots'a smart guys with front line experiance.

You have your own boat so that makes a lot of difference in what lines you can use successfully. I go on the 2 day'ers with 17 other mates so its 2 different applications. I normally use 50-60 lb line on the troll. The reason being that you need to horse that first Tuna in quick to draw the rest of the school to the boat enableing the bait guys to get hooked up. But in your case with the private boat using your 30 Big Game would be just fine. I tend to go to the lighter side some guys may like to go a little heavier. No need to horse it in and the lighter gear makes the catching a lot more sporting. FYI the 30 Big Game breaks at 50 lb. so if you are tying good knots you will have lots of overhead. Your 113H is plenty reel for the troll, a nice solid unit. A little heavy for bait mabe but certainly usable.

SPECTRA: A lot of this Spectra stuff is personal preference. What follows is MHO. Am sure others have a different slant on the issue. But here are my thoughts. I am seeing Spectra as a tool that is best utilized for the long range application enabling guys to pack adequate line on the smaller reels that are more comfortable to use. Using it within 3 days of So. Cal. has minimal advantages. I do not like it for fly lining bait because Spectra FLOATS keeping you bait from sinking down into the water colume where it needs to be most of the time. If you are running a 100 yd. mono top shot it is not an issue but the Spectra with a 10 ft. top can be a handy cap in most situtations.

There is however two applications that Spectra excells at for inshore work. That is for deep water fishing or deep trolling. On a private boat you can troll slow enouigh to use the deep diving lures that run 10-20 feet below the surface. Using Spectra with a short 6 ft. Mono or Fluoro top enables you lure to get much farther down due the reduced line resistance cutting through the water. 30 lb Spectra has the diameter of 10 lb mono. . On the Cattle Boats you cannot use deep diving lures. They troll so fast it makes keeping control of a big lipped lure almost impossible. Thats why only the surface stuff is used on the Charters because the Captian trolls fast in order to get to that next Sonar Mark as quick as possible. And for deep water bottom fishing, again the large strenght to diameter feature of Spectra reduces the effect of current on line enabeling the use of lighter weights and more sensitivity to the bite in deep water.

REELS: Another highly subjective arena. I like the Avet's, have 3 of them. My personal favorite is the MX, the older style with the 4.5:1 gear ratio. Use it for all bait fishing on 2-3 day'ers. Vary smooth operating with more drag than you will need. I run 20-25 lb Izor XXX with a 25 yard leader of 15-30 lb Fluorocarbon. I run the long Fluoro leader because it sinks more than twice as fast a mono. I want my bait down in the water colume. Was using the JX but its definetely over kill for anything 3 days and under out of So. Cal. When I down sized to the MX my fishing enjoyment rose by a factor of 10.

As always, my thoughts for your consideration.
Walt

whoooooooow walt, good info.
socal , your right about mono size .


albacores are easly caught with the right tackle.
trolling is one of the key subject here, and trolling is 90% of bringing in the albies to the boats.
i do throw jigs alot for albies ( will not go there ).

as for troll subject.........
try 40 on troll, a bit lighter, and a bit stronger.
50 is great on private, personally, i like to go light.
little more funner to bring in the fish.


once again, great folks here , and alot to learn.
THANKS.