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

[PurEvl]

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 250yd 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]

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.