Offshore Reel - Spinning or Multiplier?

[Darth Salacious]

Hopefully the "lao jiao" offshore brothers in here can help me with this dilemma.

I am currently using a 5 Ball Bearing, 4:5:1 gear ratio, Exori EA5000 spinning reel. It's nothing fancy, just something I bought for leisure fishing from the shore.

I will be going for an off-shore fishing trip to the South China Sea in July, and I was wondering if my reel is good enough for the trip. From what I understand, the depths of the spots can reach up to 40m and the average fish weighs in at around 5-10kg from my friends who have went for similar trips before.

My reel currently holds 153 yds (139m) for a 15lb (6.8kg) line. Based on the max line and the specifications, should I go for a multiplier reel instead? I am sure that my rod, which maxes at 15 lb to 30 lb, is a definite no-no.

I am worried that my line would be maxed out when fighting with tougher fishes (i.e Queenies).

Your comments and advice is most appreciated. Thank you so much。

[Peace]

You're going to need a heavier set of tackles to go on your SCS trip. It is advisable to get at least twice the strength rating of your targeted fish weight as we need to take into account strength loss from knots, minor abrasion, and line fatigue. A 50lbs tackle should suffice, more if you want.

There shouldn't be much difference choosing a spinning reel over a baitcasting reel. But do take note of the reel's line capacity to suit your fishing depth, as well as the gear ratio for power vs speed.

Queenfish shouldn't be a problem as their fighting power is often short lived. You're more likely have more trouble with big Stingrays and Cobias. I don't know much about rods and reels so I'll leave it to others to give some tackles recommendations.

[Darth Salacious]

Thanks a lot for the recommendations, boss.
Think I might be getting a spool of braided line for this trip as well .

[Tere]

Hi Darth,

The water depth at SCS is not just 40m, its actually depending on which part you're going.

Multiplier or Spinning, its up to you. If you're familiar with Multiplier a.k.a OH reels, go ahead and use one. There are always two schools of thoughts in everything. Some argue that OH is better than spinning and vice versa. At the end of the day, its the quality of the equipment.

If you're using braids, I will suggest that you should get a roll of Flourocarbon Shock Leader to tie in front. Reason being that braids and fused lines are easily frayed by corals and rocks. On top of that, there is no stretch in braids, thus when big fish hit and run. You'll feel the hit and run ... in some cases rods will fly too.

I'm currently using 20-50lb + Abu ProRocket 7000CS (50lb TUF XP) and PE6 Shino + TeamTica ST16 (65lb TUF XP).

Slowly find your equipments ... else you'll do the wrong mix and match. Having a set of tackles that you can't control the biggie with is not really what you want on a boat trip.

[Darth Salacious]

Wow, thanks a lot for all the valuable advice, Tere.

From what I understand, the spots that we'll be heading to are more or less 40m in depth. I confirmed this with my organiser friend, who knows the boatman personally. It seems that those fews 40m spots are their "lucky" spots.

I'm terribly infamiliar with multipliers. I've been using spinners all this while.

Just to confirm, the leader line would be a Flourocarbon Shock Leader to lessen fraying by rock and corals, followed by a braided main line to increase sensitivity right?

I would also like to know what does the TUF XP behind mean?

So sorry for all the noobie questions.
I'm still trying my best to grasp all the terms used in fishing.