Each type has a time and place in every angler’s arsenal.
When I began party boat offshore fishing at the Canyons approximately 45 years ago it was mainly multi-day trips for tuna and swordfish onboard the Viking Starship or the Viking Star out of Montauk. At that time, most anglers slept at night, unaware that nighttime was the prime tuna time. Back then, besides bluefin, there were no limits on how many tuna you could take and the fishing was awesome. In fact, many of the Viking’s three and four-day trips returned early because the on-board ice containers couldn’t hold any more yellowfin or albacore. Plus, it seemed like we were the only boat out there. But many changes have come over the years. As an airline pilot, my crew and I would often fly over the Hudson Canyon on a clear autumn night, before landing at JFK, in addition to yearning to be “down there” cranking in a monster, there were so many boats that the area sometimes resembled a small city!
My first tuna outfit consisted of a Penn Senator (a fine reel still manufactured by Penn) attached to what was previously a codfish pole. I later upgraded the reel to a Penn International 50, spooled with 50-pound test Ande mono to land yellowfin and albacore that generally weighed in the 40- to 50-pound range, I also purchased two custom standup rods, one from Sea Isle and another from Donart. I still have and use these rods, even though both companies are no longer in business.
As the years progressed, much faster boats, many multi-engine, center consoles powered by four-cycle outboards, along with items like better weather forecasting, GPS navigation and hi-tech fishfinders, meant more vessels were able to make the canyon run. Concurrently, larger fish, mainly bigeye tuna, heftier yellowfin and swordfish became more common, meaning more powerful reels were needed. So, I upgraded to Shimano and Penn 50-W two-speed reels spooled with 80-pound test mono and quickly discovered what an amazing difference a two-speed reel made.
The switch to low gear is accomplished by simply pushing a button. To understand the difference, the spool of a 5.1:1 ratio reel will spin 5.1 times with each handle turn, whereas the 7.1:1 spool of a 7.1:1 ratio will turn 7.1 times with each handle crank. Compare this to a 2.1:1 low ratio, meaning the spool will turn only 2 times with each complete turn of the handle. This translates into far less physical effort required as the reel’s lower retrieve ratio can provide much more cranking torque, meaning power, needed to turn the spool once with less huffing and puffing to get a larger fish boatside. I also noticed with the reel in low gear (and I don’t know why?) yellowfin tuna seem to fight less strenuously. But the lower gear ratio also meant you had to be on your toes if the fish ran toward you as you had to quickly flip the switch to the higher retrieve if you wanted to avoid a slack line and possibly lose the fish.
Fishing reel manufacturers, in addition to the ones mentioned above, like Accurate, Okuma, Avet, Daiwa and Fin-Nor produce smaller, two-speed reels (in addition to larger ones for big game, offshore) that can be used for a variety of offshore and inshore species. However, some of these “smaller” inshore fish can weigh upwards of 60 or 70 pounds, removing the “smaller” adjective from the definition. While these reels are undersized compared to their larger offshore cousins, in low gear they still result in a lot less work required to boat a larger fish. Some of these smaller reels can also be used for jigging tuna. I have a Shimano Talica 16-II that I’ve successfully utilized in Panama for hauling in cubera snapper to 60 pounds, jigging tuna offshore at the canyon and inshore for large striped bass, showing the versatility of a two-speed reel.
Single speed reels also have a place in any angler’s arsenal, too. These reels are workhorses and with a single speed, less can go wrong as far as mechanics go. If you find yourself targeting smaller inshore fish you will have no problem going with a single speed and being just fine for a day of fishing.
But if you want to land one of these offshore or large inshore fish with less strain on the arms and bod, try employing a two-speed reel. I believe you will enjoy the noticeable difference in getting the fish to the boat quicker and less fatigue by the end of a trip.
