MXJ for tuna popping/jigging?

mike garone

I want to put together a setup for popping/jigging tuna. I am in NJ and do most of my fishing there, but also hope to go to mass and get a shot at jigging bluefin. Will an MXJ be able to get the job done or will it get overpowered/underspooled? I will be spooling with either 40 or 50# braid with a mono topshot.

Thanks for the help,

Mike

rtran · 06-24-2008, 11:42 PM

I think you should go minimum 60lb braid when casting or jigging bluefin. I don't know much about that reel but you should get something that can do 20-25lb of drag reliably and efficiently and hold at least 350yd of 60lb. Those fish are big and you want to have something able to handle long runs and be strong enough to get all that line back.

kidflex · 06-24-2008, 11:55 PM

i have 2 mxj's. although you can put 300 yards of 65 lb. braid it only has 9-12 lbs of drag. and even with that little of drag the handle gets hard to crank at the upper range. should work for smaller fish. there are people catching larger fish with these reels but will take some finessing.

Wellcraft240 · 10-20-2008, 05:59 PM

Mike, I live in NJ also, I have the Avet LX6 single speed spooled W/65 braid on a Penn Torque rod, I used it this year BFT fishing at the claw when the bite was hot.

Landed several fish with no problem, they avg 50 in. not sure of their weight because we released them, might be ok for the smaller fish.

mike garone · 10-20-2008, 09:29 PM

Well I ended up using the MXJ I got for school bluefin. Worked very well. Landed a ~35# fish with no problems matched with a GUSA 8' monster mag in about 10 minutes. I spooled it up with 450 yards of 50# power pro so capacity was never an issue I had the drag set at 8# at strike and 15# at full.

When I tested out the drag I am getting 9# at strike and almost 17# at full with total freespool. If I put the preset knob up one more click I get 10# at strike and 19# at full and the only way you can tell you don't get freespool is if you turn the handle fast the spool starts to spin slightly. I don't know if everyone is getting # like this but i think mine can handle tuna to 70#, I will let you know if this is true when I get one . Obviously the handle will be a bit hard to turn and you cant horse fish to the boat, but it seems doable.

SpecialK · 10-20-2008, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mike garone

Well I ended up using the MXJ I got for school bluefin. Worked very well. Landed a ~35# fish with no problems matched with a GUSA 8' monster mag in about 10 minutes. I spooled it up with 450 yards of 50# power pro so capacity was never an issue I had the drag set at 8# at strike and 15# at full.

When I tested out the drag I am getting 9# at strike and almost 17# at full with total freespool. If I put the preset knob up one more click I get 10# at strike and 19# at full and the only way you can tell you don't get freespool is if you turn the handle fast the spool starts to spin slightly. I don't know if everyone is getting # like this but i think mine can handle tuna to 70#, I will let you know if this is true when I get one . Obviously the handle will be a bit hard to turn and you cant horse fish to the boat, but it seems doable.

I have a JX and I magged it. I also turned the washer to look like this ((())). It helped me get a lot out of the drag and still maintain freespool to cast with. I tried casting it a few times before putting in the mags. I can cast it much farther with the mags.
I have caught 3 YFT on it. First one was only 25lbs, second was about 40lbs. and the last one I caught with it was 65lbs. The 65 lber took about 15 min to get in the boat and that was measured at about 19lbs of drag.
I think that much bigger than that the reel willl be out gunned. Just my.02 worth...

mad mike · 11-16-2008, 08:48 PM

mike, I live in snj also I use a HXJ loaded with jerry brown 80 with a calstar gf700xh

Jrzrider83 · 11-17-2008, 12:14 PM

my MXL handled 100lb class blue fin fairly well(no chasing the fish) on a trip i took this summer out of cape may. at max drad they probably stripped a good 300yards. i have mine spooled with 400yds of 50lb braid and 100yards of 30 lb mono for backing. with the mxj if you completly spool her with braid you should be fine up to 100lb class fish. how many fish this sixe you could catch i couldn't say but after two fish in this class and a large shark my avet looked new inside, with the exception being a little dust from the drag washer.

lite-liner · 11-17-2008, 01:16 PM

I have more than a few YFT to 80# on my LX-2sp, which makes a "reliable"
17.5# @ full, no freespool issues, but it doesn't matter, it's a vert. jigging setup. never even strained it yet, I don't think!

3 new members on this thread! Welcome to all!

-Brian

06-24-2008, 11:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
rtran Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 979	I think you should go minimum 60lb braid when casting or jigging bluefin. I don't know much about that reel but you should get something that can do 20-25lb of drag reliably and efficiently and hold at least 350yd of 60lb. Those fish are big and you want to have something able to handle long runs and be strong enough to get all that line back. Last edited by rtran : 10-20-2008 at 06:08 PM.

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06-24-2008, 11:55 PM	#3 (permalink)
kidflex Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 168	i have 2 mxj's. although you can put 300 yards of 65 lb. braid it only has 9-12 lbs of drag. and even with that little of drag the handle gets hard to crank at the upper range. should work for smaller fish. there are people catching larger fish with these reels but will take some finessing.

10-20-2008, 05:59 PM	#4 (permalink)
Wellcraft240 Junior member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Little Egg Harbor NJ Posts: 3	Mike, I live in NJ also, I have the Avet LX6 single speed spooled W/65 braid on a Penn Torque rod, I used it this year BFT fishing at the claw when the bite was hot. Landed several fish with no problem, they avg 50 in. not sure of their weight because we released them, might be ok for the smaller fish.

10-20-2008, 09:29 PM	#5 (permalink)
mike garone Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: NJ Posts: 79	Well I ended up using the MXJ I got for school bluefin. Worked very well. Landed a ~35# fish with no problems matched with a GUSA 8' monster mag in about 10 minutes. I spooled it up with 450 yards of 50# power pro so capacity was never an issue I had the drag set at 8# at strike and 15# at full. When I tested out the drag I am getting 9# at strike and almost 17# at full with total freespool. If I put the preset knob up one more click I get 10# at strike and 19# at full and the only way you can tell you don't get freespool is if you turn the handle fast the spool starts to spin slightly. I don't know if everyone is getting # like this but i think mine can handle tuna to 70#, I will let you know if this is true when I get one . Obviously the handle will be a bit hard to turn and you cant horse fish to the boat, but it seems doable.

11-16-2008, 08:48 PM	#7 (permalink)
mad mike Junior member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 9	mike, I live in snj also I use a HXJ loaded with jerry brown 80 with a calstar gf700xh

11-17-2008, 12:14 PM	#8 (permalink)
Jrzrider83 Junior member Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 2	my MXL handled 100lb class blue fin fairly well(no chasing the fish) on a trip i took this summer out of cape may. at max drad they probably stripped a good 300yards. i have mine spooled with 400yds of 50lb braid and 100yards of 30 lb mono for backing. with the mxj if you completly spool her with braid you should be fine up to 100lb class fish. how many fish this sixe you could catch i couldn't say but after two fish in this class and a large shark my avet looked new inside, with the exception being a little dust from the drag washer.

11-17-2008, 01:16 PM	#9 (permalink)
lite-liner Senior Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: little elm, tx., USA Posts: 547	I have more than a few YFT to 80# on my LX-2sp, which makes a "reliable" 17.5# @ full, no freespool issues, but it doesn't matter, it's a vert. jigging setup. never even strained it yet, I don't think! 3 new members on this thread! Welcome to all! -Brian

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