2500 for UL ?

I’m liking my 2000 size reels on my UL’s , but most of them are compact reels with 1000 size frame and 2000 size shallow spools .

I’m looking at ordering a 2500 size reel to see if I can squeeze out a little more distance casting 1/64 and possibly lighter jigs using 2# Floroclear.
The reel I’m looking at only weighs 175g , so it would be less than some of my 2000 reels .
But of course it’s going to cost more .
This will be a special rig . May pair it up with my 6’ Iprimi XUL travel rod . Or maybe even a seven footer . Whatever casts best .

Anyone use 2500 size reels for light jig fishing .

I have a St Croix with a 2500 Shimano with 6lb mono on it. It is by far the best rig I have ever owned.

I've used my REVO MGX20 reels on longer ultralight rods and they cast a long way. Have one on a 7'6" Shimano Soare right now. A 7 footer would be a good choice if you want more distance. I really like the longer rods more than shorter ones.

How far is to far to cast UL gear? Does the farther you cast cause a delay by feeling the bite?

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Originally Posted by RJR

How far is to far to cast UL gear? Does the farther you cast cause a delay by feeling the bite?

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I don’t know , with a 1/32 jighead and Trout Magnet body I’ve been able to cast 75’ . I haven’t noticed any loss of feeling the lure .
I use 60’ as my guide for casting ultralight lures .
If I can put together a combo that will consistently cast a 1/80 jighead with a Bobby Garland Itty Bit Swim’r sixty feet I’ll be happy.
That’s my goal . But farther would be better .
The riprap around boat ramps , at full pool extends as far as the ramp does and holds fish .
The farther I can cast , the more fish I can reach .
Using a lighter jig makes it fall and look more natural . Glides over the rocks better too , keeping the jig from getting into the rocks and hung up .
I’ve tried using a float and I don’t get bit as much .

My thoughts on longer rods comes down to accuracy. I’m lots better with shorter rods for pickin pockets but I can’t argue with ya about longer rods for longer casts. If you’re casting to open water it would be the thing.

The 2500 reel is one I use in saltwater mostly but always on heavier rods. Point is I’m no help on the reel. Cool that you found a light one.

Skeet , I’ve been experimenting with different size reels and rod lengths.
I started casting different rods this morning with my 500 size reels and think I’ve discovered something.
I’m getting almost the same distance with the smaller reels that I was getting with my 2000 reels.
I think the difference is , the first guide on most of my UL rods is about the same diameter as a 500 reel spool .
When using a bigger reel , the larger line loops are jamming trying to be forced through the smaller guides .
I don’t think I’ll gain much distance with the larger reel unless I go to a long rod with bigger diameter guides .
More to come..

I have a 7’ Browning Airstream that has a very large, maybe a 24 or bigger stripper guide. It will cast a small rooster tail a long way and it’s rated UL. Let me see if I have some comparable line on it and I’ll try your test, I have a bunch of real small jigs that should tell the tale. Nice rod and not expensive, just hard to find. I’ll see what today brings.

For longer casts I use a 3/4" weighted float to get my tiny jigs out there and the advantage of having the float is it allows you to fish slower at precise depths. A 7' rod will get more distance plus it will move more line when you set the hook. I use a Stella C2000S with this set up and it's bigger than the 1000 series, have one of those too. This is a dream set up and have the NASCI on my other 7' SOARE that I will be testing soon.

Well chaser, here’s my findings. Sounds official, doesn’t it? I took the Airstream with a stripper guide that’s real close to an inch and an eighth and my latest build, both 6’6”. Took one of my 500 reels with 5 lb braid and strapped it onto each rod with a 1/80 jighead and an Itty Bitty slab slayer body on the end. Took them out in the yard and made the first cast to about 32’. I put a marker down and made 5 more casts, no wind today yet. No cast exceeded 34’, that was the Airstream with the big guide. The build had a size 20 stripper guide that measured about 5/8”, a full half inch difference. When I moved the reel and jig to the built rod, none of the 5 casts exceeded 33’. I did everything as equal as I could and net gain was about a foot. For my money, I’d look elsewhere for the extra distance. I’m out of aces for suggestions also. I think that the only consistent way to add distance is more weight or different line. The twitchmaster in 3 lb casts as good as anything I’ve ever tried but with braid having no memory I would think it would do better. Hope this helps you figure it out, and I weighed the mjighead at 1/79. As close as I can get.

And if you need I’ll send you the airstream and you can try it with your stuff just to be sure.

Thanks Tim for all of your efforts in my endeavor.
The biggest factor in me gaining distance in casting has been my going to 2# line . The Floroclear I use has a special coating that helps , but I have to add a twist in my knots to prevent slippage.
Adding weight does add distance, but my jig falls faster .

Just noticed you used a 500 reel .
I was wondering about a larger spooled reel like a 2000 or 2500 with bigger stripper guides .
Most of my UL rods have smaller stripper guides and I think I lose the benefits of of using a bigger spool with bigger line loops coming off the spool having to squeeze through a small stripper guide.
I have some longer medium light rods with bigger stripper guides I may give a try .
I actually have a 9’ St. Croix light action steelhead rod I can try .

I knew you’d pick up on that. 1000 is the biggest reel that I have small line on and I’d have to spool up one of my 2500’s and basically throw it out after. My thought was to keep everything as equal as possible and see what, if any benefit came from the larger guides. The line I used doesn’t make any noise so it’s as smooth as I have to offer besides some 3 lb twitchmaster, and I knew that wouldn’t outcast the braid. Hope you get your answers soon.

I spent about four hours today throwing jigs down the driveway.
I grabbed up about ten or twelve rods , most of them with larger than usual stripper guides , four reels of different sizes and brands and a 1/80 jighead with a Bobby Garland Itty Bit Swim’r on it .
I spent a lot of time rigging up rods and tying on that jig .
It seems the size of the reel and the larger stripper guides add minimal distance to my casts .
With a few of my favorites, I tried a 1/64 TM jighead and body , and a 1/32 ball head collarless jig with a size 8 sickle style hook . Going by looks the 1/32 ball head jig weighs just a small amount more than the 1/64 TM head .
Going from 1/80 to 1/64 and 1/32 made more difference than did reel size , guide size and even rod length once I got past 5’6” .
One of the best performers was a 5’6” Daiwa Exceler UL rod . A cheap rod I picked up for less than $50 , but never fished .
The average cast with the 1/64 jighead was around 55’ , the Daiwa Exceler threw the light jig a consistent 60’ with one cast right at 63’ .
My 7’ Daiwa Procyon UL rod with a Daiwa Exceler LT 2500 with a 1/32 ball head jig and Trout Magnet only averaged 58’ . Where my 6’3” Abu Garcia Mass Beat 3 light action rod with a Shimano Nasci 500 tossed a 1/64 Trout Magnet head and body 68’ .
My 5’6” St Croix Premier UL paired with a Nasci 500 reel tossed a 1/32 ball head jig and Trout Magnet 66’ .
I had one reel , a KastKing spinning Finesse reel loaded with 6 pound test Daiwa X8 Grand braid . I tried it with 1/80 jig on 6’ St Croix Avid UL rod and I couldn’t believe it only cast 53’ . I put away that reel .
2# P-line Floroclear was used on all of the other reels .

It was fun trying out all the different combos .
I learned , rod build , not length makes a difference as does line test and type . But lure weight makes the biggest difference.
After all of my testing , I still love my little 500 size reels , especially the light weight.
I think 1000 reels are the best all around reels especially if they have shallow spools .
I returned a couple of my 2000 reels while I could and once I received my refund , I ordered a new , lightweight 1000 reel .
A Daiwa Presso LT 1000S-P.
Shipping says about 18 days .

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Originally Posted by gillchaser999

I spent about four hours today throwing jigs down the driveway.
I grabbed up about ten or twelve rods , most of them with larger than usual stripper guides , four reels of different sizes and brands and a 1/80 jighead with a Bobby Garland Itty Bit Swim’r on it .
I spent a lot of time rigging up rods and tying on that jig .
It seems the size of the reel and the larger stripper guides add minimal distance to my casts .
With a few of my favorites, I tried a 1/64 TM jighead and body , and a 1/32 ball head collarless jig with a size 8 sickle style hook . Going by looks the 1/32 ball head jig weighs just a small amount more than the 1/64 TM head .
Going from 1/80 to 1/64 and 1/32 made more difference than did reel size , guide size and even rod length once I got past 5’6� .
One of the best performers was a 5’6� Daiwa Exceler UL rod . A cheap rod I picked up for less than $50 , but never fished .
The average cast with the 1/64 jighead was around 55’ , the Daiwa Exceler threw the light jig a consistent 60’ with one cast right at 63’ .
My 7’ Daiwa Procyon UL rod with a Daiwa Exceler LT 2500 with a 1/32 ball head jig and Trout Magnet only averaged 58’ . Where my 6’3� Abu Garcia Mass Beat 3 light action rod with a Shimano Nasci 500 tossed a 1/64 Trout Magnet head and body 68’ .
My 5’6� St Croix Premier UL paired with a Nasci 500 reel tossed a 1/32 ball head jig and Trout Magnet 66’ .
I had one reel , a KastKing spinning Finesse reel loaded with 6 pound test Daiwa X8 Grand braid . I tried it with 1/80 jig on 6’ St Croix Avid UL rod and I couldn’t believe it only cast 53’ . I put away that reel .
2# P-line Floroclear was used on all of the other reels .

It was fun trying out all the different combos .
I learned , rod build , not length makes a difference as does line test and type . But lure weight makes the biggest difference.

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I did that myself years back. Got rid of the last 2500 size reel I had in 2017. It was a 2015 Luvias….great reel that I had for chasing baby stripers….hybrids. My results were same as yours. Another thing I discovered is a longer rod don’t make for longer casts. My 6 foot rods with solid tops can flat launch a jig. One of the things I like about JDM rods the majority of them will tell you size reel the rod was designed to work with.

Regards


Sent from my iPhone using Crappie.com

Some really interesting comments on casting distance and how it seems to be affected by rod length, reel size, line weight,lure weight, etc. One question that comes to mind is about lure weight. Everybody mentions the jig head weight but seldom is the total weight given. Those soft plastic lures you put on there add weight. In many cases the plastic you're adding weighs more than the jig head.The plastic may not contribute much to the sink rate once it hits the water but it still affects casting distance.

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Originally Posted by UpstateSC_Bill

Some really interesting comments on casting distance and how it seems to be affected by rod length, reel size, line weight,lure weight, etc. One question that comes to mind is about lure weight. Everybody mentions the jig head weight but seldom is the total weight given. Those soft plastic lures you put on there add weight. In many cases the plastic you're adding weighs more than the jig head.The plastic may not contribute much to the sink rate once it hits the water but it still affects casting distance.

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You are correct . A trout Magnet body weighs more than a Bobby Garland Itty Bit Swim’r body .
A slider grub weighs more than both .
All 1/64 jigheads don’t weigh 1/64 oz either .
That’s why I tried to give an idea of the different bodies I was using on the same jigheads .

I found your comments on that KastKing interesting. Not too long ago I had an old Shakespeare reel die on me so I bought the first fishing tackle I've bought in many years. I replaced that Shakespeare with that KastKing Zephyr SFS 1000. I haven't fished it yet but just practicing around the yard it seems to cast very well with 4# Twitchmaster. It is smooth enough to keep me happy and the drag seems nice. I like it very much so far. I don't do the extensive testing some of you do so I can't give you numbers but it definitely outcasts my Pfleuger President. I use 1/32 Oz jigs mostly.

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Originally Posted by UpstateSC_Bill

I found your comments on that KastKing interesting. Not too long ago I had an old Shakespeare reel die on me so I bought the first fishing tackle I've bought in many years. I replaced that Shakespeare with that KastKing Zephyr SFS 1000. I haven't fished it yet but just practicing around the yard it seems to cast very well with 4# Twitchmaster. It is smooth enough to keep me happy and the drag seems nice. I like it very much so far. I don't do the extensive testing some of you do so I can't give you numbers but it definitely outcasts my Pfleuger President. I use 1/32 Oz jigs mostly.

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The KastKing Zephyr SFS is an impressive reel , especially for what it cost .
I took the carbon fiber drag disc out and wiped it off and oiled it with Lucas reel oil . I prefer a felt drag , but the drag on the SFS works pretty good for me .
I’ve come very close to ordering a Kestral , but the 6.2/1 retrieval rate has stopped me for now . It’ll catch me at one of those want to buy moments one day or they’ll put it on sale and I’ve have to try one . :)

I have to poke my nose in while the drag issue is up. I have a lot of President 20’s and they came with felt washers. I’d heard so much about the carbon fiber discs I bought enough to do four of my reels, the XT on the pink trimmed rod is one of those. I couldn’t be happier with the performance of these reels. These have a two disc system and I greased them before installing. I can get them to go tink , tink, tink so slow and smooth that I really can’t imagine one any better. Now y’all are blowing that up and going back to felt. The soare has a one disc system that I greased like the others today and we’ll see if that and a thin film on the spool side of the seal helps the issues I was having. If not, it’ll be going back too.

And besides all that, thanks for sharing all the results of your testing with us. I know it saved me sometime figuring things out.