Venice Jigging Trip on 06-03/04

Mike and Eddie are great to fish with.

Where were you guys staying? The picture from the rigging session shows a nice looking place.

We stayed at Yellow Cotton Bayside Cabins in Boothville on Rt 23, 7 miles north of Venice,LA.
I can see the whole areas were destroyed by the hurricane last year.
I don't see Harbor Inn, Venice anymore.
I heard there are only two places to stay in Venice, Cypress Cove Marina and cottages in Venice Marina. I've stayed at a cottage in Venice Marina and Delta Dawn in the past, but I was very impressed with the management of Cotton Bayside Cabins for their kindness and willingness to accomodate their customers.
Here is their website.

www.rodnreel.com/nells

Hey Kil!

Nice report and pics too!

In the second picture, what is the rod make and model that the guy on the right is holding?

I like how the reel seat is 'up' on the rod and I need a 6 1/2 to 7 footer (very light but strong) to build my topwater GOM rig.

I want to go with a Stella 8000, but may have to go with the 10000.

Thanks!

Hey Kil!

Nice report and pics too!

In the second picture, what is the rod make and model that the guy on the right is holding?

I like how the reel seat is 'up' on the rod and I need a 6 1/2 to 7 footer (very light but strong) to build my topwater GOM rig.

I want to go with a Stella 8000, but may have to go with the 10000.

Thanks!
Hi Tom,
I remember they brought Sevenseas Tuna Mania,Amberjack, Smith WR4-54 Fremantle and 400 g Jigging Master jigging rods. They also had Zenaq Fokeeto Jigger Trust two piece popping rod. You can see them on Anglers-Proshop site.

Stella 8000 is much easier to work than the bulky 10000, but the line capacity could be a problem if you target big tuna.
I saw they sell Stella 10000 for about $540 on e-bay. The domestic(Japan) 10000 comes with extra spool. I wish they give extra spool of 20000 instead of 10000. 20000 spool can be fit on Stella 10000 and it is needed when more line capacity is required.

Hey Kil,

Thanks for the report, great catch and pictures.

What kind of rod and reel did you use for jigging?
Hi TJ,
I used Saltiga 50 and Ocea Jigger 4000P and two 7'-8' Cosmotech Japanese rod (rated 80 lbs and 40 lbs).

For AJ jigging, Japanese style short jigging rod has definite advantage.
My long rods can not do the job as effective as the short rods.
MY friend is building my 7' Calstar 700H and 5'8" Lamiglass jigging rod, but they were not ready for the trip.
For tuna jigging, I still like my long rod as you don't need fast cranking as you do for AJ, especially when there are surface actions.

Kil,

Besides the spool lock and color are there any other major differences between the two? Seems the handle on the Jigger may be longer...

I am wondering the same. I came very close to buying a trinidad 40 narrow this year. I wasn't sure what to think of the narrow spool and just about turned around and bought a trinidad 40 (regular width) so that I could use it for topwater and jigging. I can't decide what to get. I temporarly settled for a torium 20 that has done well but lost its antireverse and roller clutch bearing on a YFT caught on the surface. I really wanted the 33 pounds of drag on the torium as long as its antireverse can handle such a high drag setting.

Does the trinidad 40 or ocea jigger 4000P have a different antireverse or roller clutch bearing than the torium 20?

Thanks, Scott

Kil,

Besides the spool lock and color are there any other major differences between the two? Seems the handle on the Jigger may be longer...
Shimano sacrified the quality of Ocea Jigger (Japanese domestic Trinidad) to lower their cost when they introduced them to the US market.
Ocear Jigger 1500P is very popular among my fishing friends and everybody who used the reel says OJ is a much better reel than TN.

OJ400P/5000P has longer handle as seen in the picture below. The spool size of OJ4000P is narrower than TN 40 and is very similar to TN 40 Narrow's.
While OJ4000P has a spool lock,TN 40 has an adjustable clicker.

I read West Coast/Gulf Coast fishermen like high gear ratio reels for tuna jigging believing that they need to crank fast to get tuna bites. But I am not sure about that as I caught most of my big tuna on slow jigging.

Here is size comparion between OJ4000P and TN40

I am wondering the same. I came very close to buying a trinidad 40 narrow this year. I wasn't sure what to think of the narrow spool and just about turned around and bought a trinidad 40 (regular width) so that I could use it for topwater and jigging. I can't decide what to get. I temporarly settled for a torium 20 that has done well but lost its antireverse and roller clutch bearing on a YFT caught on the surface. I really wanted the 33 pounds of drag on the torium as long as its antireverse can handle such a high drag setting.

Does the trinidad 40 or ocea jigger 4000P have a different antireverse or roller clutch bearing than the torium 20?

Thanks, Scott

Scott,
When I had anti-reverse gear problems after catching tuna on Torium 30, I discussed with Hawk of Allcoast about the problem.
Accoring to him TN40 has a double pawl system in it and I believe the anti-reverse system of TN40 is much stronger than Torium.
I haven't heard anybody has any anti-reverse gear problem with TN40/50.

Here is a copy of Hawk's reply.

Hello Kil- that is a problem I have seen on several reels now. Here is what happens: The one way roller bearing is not strong enough alone to hold anti-reverse against a powerful fish. To overcome that, Shimano has a backup anti-reverse in the reel, which is the anti reverse pawl that works with the cog.
When the reel is in freespool and a fish takes the bait (or jig) and starts to run, the spool is turning very fast. You put the reel in gear and that cog slams against the pawl with a lot of force. Each time that happens the pawl is slightly chipped or dented. After a while, enough metal is worn away so that it no longer engages the cog and the cog just slips by the pawl with a loss of this part of the anti-reverse. The roller bearing is not strong enough to hold and therefore all antireverse is lost. Anti-reverse is restored by replacing that cog.

I spoke with the technicians at Shimano about this. They are aware of it but do not have a fix yet. I suggested to them that it would be a good idea to have the same double dog system in the entire line as they have in the Trinidad 40/50. The double pawls would provide some backup. In addition the pawl should be hardened in some way, e.g. chromed, to prevent chipping and denting. Unfortunately, I do not have the facility to do these modifications myself. They need to be done at the production level.

My suggestions would be: 1. Periodically open the reel and inspect the pawl. If it is chipped or dented, replace it. Or, 2. Use a Trinidad 40 which has a double pawl system in it (while this will not cure the problem completely it will reduce the incidence to almost nil).