I used to target spanish macks, in Fl. when they were available, and had a ball with them with lighter tackle, they and their big brothers fight about the same, in comparison to the weight of the gear I would use.

Kings are like torpedoes with teeth, they can pull a lot of line off quickly, a good drag on your reel can save you many times.

PF hope your back to feeling great, Charlie and I need to come fishing with you.
Larry

I'll be in Port A on October 1. Hope the fishing improves between now and then. When I left on April 1 this year we were seeing some signs of pompano coming in at Packery. Any being caught??

Thanks lenahorse, and pferox I've been looking at some heavier reels that I could get some bigger line on. 1 reel I was using is a quantum optic 60. We never got spooled on that one. It was a berkley fusion bought at wally world that got emptied twiced. I will replace it before heading back out. Ya'll ever use the braided line. I didn't know if that would effect the fishing or not. I've used in some but never really liked it. Old school I guess. lol

I have used the Optic line of reels, very nice reels for the price, but they don't last more than a few years in the salt.

On most of my spinning reels that are 4000 or smaller, I put 1/3rd to 1/2 of the reel spool in braid, then use mono on top. That gives me a lot more line in case something strips a lot of line off of me.

Braid has its good points and bad points, that is a whole nother discussion.

I try to find reels with 10 lbs or more in drag rating, of course a 60 series reel should have much more drag than 10lbs, but sometimes some reels don't.

That's a good ideal with the braid. It was the first trip for the Optic 60. It performed well and like you said they are inexpensive. Jury's out on how long it will last. I get to fish the coast probaly 4 to 5 times a year. I will upgrade as I go along. Thanks alot for your help.

A while back I picked up a reel made by Quantum, Q-Ray 40, a 4000 reel. I think it comes in less than $40. It had a great drag on it, and worked quite well. For the price though, you can add a few bucks and get a Penn Pursuit II, which is a very good reel for what it costs, with the Penn name on it.

I am a fan of braid. For a good bargain, the shimano sienna comes with shielded ball bearings, and the price of the reel does not go up as the reel gets bigger. You can get into a 4000 class reel for around $30. It is rated for saltwater use and is designed to be used with power pro. Put 15 pound power pro on that reel and you can get a lot of line on it. Use a uni to uni knot to put a flourocarbon leader on it, and you have yourself a strong inshore outfit that you can cast a country mile. That 15 pound braid only has the diameter of 6 pound mono. It casts like a rocket.

Just got back from Port A. The pompano were pretty thick at the North Jetty. Caught big black drum as well. The Sienna with 15 pound power pro and 20 pound flourocarbon leader handled drum up to 40 pounds with no problem. We didn't catch a trout or a red drum the whole trip. The black drum were the highlight of the trip. This is one of many we caught on the trip.

Looks like you did good. That's a nice black drum. I fish with shimano 4000 series reels in the bay with #15 and #17 line and have caught big reds, black drum and big trout. I don't know that I could have turned the fish that spooled me with my shimano 4000 and Ive reeled in a 24 inch redfish with a dolphin hanging on it. It wasn't slowing down when it got to the end. haha

I fish 50lb on big reels but on my smaller reels I use 20lb. A king shouldnt have spooled you unless your using a small bass fishing reel.

Your right. It may not have been a king. That is what's alway's fun about saltwater fishing. You never know until you get it up close enough to see. What it is! haha. Could have been anything. It didn't really give us enough time to react before it was gone. I'll go a little heavier this next time and give it a better fight. Those are some nice fish Bluwave Mike.

300 yards of 30 pound test is all you'll need for any king. The problem is that there are many other larger, harder-pulling critters swimming around out there...

Headed back down to Port A this next week. Hope to get into some trout ,redfish and some more of those kings. I haven't seen alot of reports. I did read that the water was clearing up and the seaweed was thinning out. I hope to have some reports for yall when I get back. Hopefully the blue water is moving in and it won't be a long trek out. I can't wait!! Few more day's

You could go with braid to get more line on the reel.