Here are some fact for u Shannon. Last night I caught a 8 ft 9 inch bull shark that took me 15-20 min to land With my duel 12/0. billy caught an 8 ft 4 on his senator that took over 40 min to catch I'm not saying I'm a better fisherman but I am saying my shark was landed way faster cause of tge new gold shiny reel. This discussion is not about if the reel makes u a better fisherman but if it gives u a better chance of catching the fish. Go team dirty south!!!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
DIRTY SOUTH SHARK HUNTERS
2012 1st place BLACKTIP CHALLENGE
2011 NO LIMIT TOURNAMENT CHAMPION 2nd year in a row
2010 BHC biggest hammerhead shark on 80 lb test
2010 NO LIMIT TOURNAMENT CHAMPION
2010 BHC 3rd and 5th place biggest shark
2010 april sharker of the month
2009-2010 Rookie of the year
Hell no it doesn't make you a better fisherman i fish a senator all day, to much drag will make you loose that monster i hooked a big hammer the end of spring last year that took me down to lower than half spool was locked down thumbing the spool with a shirt i had, as soon as i applied to much pressure ... what happened i pulled the hook,.. iv'e seen people change there mind up and down on set ups senator then avet then 130 tiagra duel bla bla bla then they see a senator do it in person and they jump ship, fishing more and becoming a knowledgeable angler is what will make you better
To much drag is an issue if you have a bad hook set for any reel. Therefore, you should always fish the minium amount without getting spooled or taking to long.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
TEAM GETCHA GETCHA SHARKON
Gear don't make the fisherman. Just because someone has a Porsche does not make them a better driver.
I fish senators and one gold. my 2 cents are If you gave a rookie on his first trip a gold reel or a senator it wouldn't matter, Hence, what reel you use unfortunately wont help buy experience and knowledge. Knowledge and experience catch big sharks in my opinion
however
if I had a shark of the lifetime on I would want every little bit of help I could get to hopefully swing the fight in my favour/hold on when the shark is handing my ass to me 
You CAN'T argue that the senator series reels are not great reels. what you can argue is that they will land any fish, and do they even compare to the new age reels? I say this because over the past five to six years i have owned just about every god damned type of reel on the market! i used to "bitch" in any shark i would hook with my senator 14/0 and i never shed a thought that i could hook a fish that i couldn't stop. One fucking day it happened... in the Boca Grande Pass, on a 80lb, 5 foot chunk of black tip put out. The fish grabbed it and almost tore out my pvc that was hammered in 3 feet! from the start to the end of the fight i had the reel locked down, i tried to losses up some drag as i was at 1/4 spool but my star was so hot it got stuck. at that point i tried adding more drag but it was useless as my skin was getting ripped off. i remember the night. it was so smooth like glass and a full moon so when i was on that fish i could see my line cutting the water so fast. It was also the last time i ever fished the almighty senator because i know in my head that that reel cannot stop any fish. I dont care if you said "what if you had a 16/0" that fish was not even phased.
After that night i decided to find a reel and stick with it. i always liked the avets but a few things on the design i did not like. For one the preset, i hate having to change your preset mid fight if needed. Second the sand doesn't work well with them (yeah i know they are workhorses in sand but try actually throwing it in the sand and seeing how easy it is to operate it then). The second is line capacity, Fishing 200lb is a must for me and avets even full of 200 are iffy. Lastly the drag. Unless you go with the quad drag system the drag isn't to impressive with them.
I moved from Avets, Tiagras, Accurates, Fin nor, Duel, and many others untill i found my Everol. Completely sand resistant, water sealed, high capacity, high drag, simple design and just reliability you cant beat. You think Senators are good because they catch all those fish? Some of the biggest baddest fish have been caught on smaller Everols back in the day.
That's just my view on the topic, Big shinny Reels > senator
Partner you can't go against evolution, .........the only thing is, 130's can't handle sand, they are not meant to be fished at the sand
Partner you can't go against evolution, .........the only thing is, 130's can't handle sand, they are not meant to be fished at the sand
thats complete bull shit. most of them will handle sand better than the senators.... The everols and duels are completely sealed and sand cannot get into anything that would compromise the reel.
Partner you can't go against evolution, .........the only thing is, 130's can't handle sand, they are not meant to be fished at the sand
thats complete bull shit. most of them will handle sand better than the senators.... The everols and duels are completely sealed and sand cannot get into anything that would compromise the reel.
Everolls get sand. Maybe duels not. But when i said 130 i meant, finnor, tiagras, internationals etc. Not everolls and duels, they are not 130s
Partner you can't go against evolution, .........the only thing is, 130's can't handle sand, they are not meant to be fished at the sand
thats complete bull shit. most of them will handle sand better than the senators.... The everols and duels are completely sealed and sand cannot get into anything that would compromise the reel.
Everolls get sand. Maybe duels not. But when i said 130 i meant, finnor, tiagras, internationals etc. Not everolls and duels, they are not 130s
Everols are completely sealed. no point where sand can get in. And they may not have a "130" they have the 14/0 which is a 130 size and the duel has a 12/0w. They are still #130 class reels.
Partner you can't go against evolution, .........the only thing is, 130's can't handle sand, they are not meant to be fished at the sand
thats complete bull shit. most of them will handle sand better than the senators.... The everols and duels are completely sealed and sand cannot get into anything that would compromise the reel.
Everolls get sand. Maybe duels not. But when i said 130 i meant, finnor, tiagras, internationals etc. Not everolls and duels, they are not 130s
Fin Nors are completely sealed and water tight there is no way sand is getting into any Santiago. With the way reels are being designed now most are standardly being made water tight to prevent any seawater from penetrating the reel and causing corrosion in areas that arent accesible for easy access. This is a great thing for land based shark fisherman, water tight reels are also sand proof. So just like any other reel if you dont throw your reel in the sand it will stay scratch free for the most part as long as you take care of it. They are being designed so you only need to maintain the outside after every use. Inside the reel maintanence is more a thing that is done now more or less every six months of hard use.
THERE IS NO CONTEST HERE. THERE IS NOTHING ABOUT A PENN SENATOR THAT IS BETTER THAN ANY NEW AS YOU ALL PUT IT "SHINNY" REEL. DOES THE REEL MAKE YOU HOOK MORE FISH??? NO. DOES IT GIVE YOU THE UPPER HAND ON THE FISH???? YES
IF THERE IS ANYONE OUT THERE THAT CAN THINK OF SOMETHING THAT THE SENATORS HAVE THAT IS AN ADVANTAGE OVER ANY NEW LEVER DRAG PLEASE POST IT IF ITS NOT ONE OF THESE
1. SENATORS ARE BETTER IN THE SAND, NO THEY ARE NOT THERE IS NOTHING TO PREVENT SAND GETTING INTO A SENATOR THAT IS NOT THE SAME OR BETTER ON EVERY MODERN LEVER DRAG
2. IVE GOT MORE LINE ON MY 16/0 THAN YOUR LEVER DRAG, AGAIN NO THERE ARE SOME LEVER DRAGS OUT THERE THE DWARF 16S AND WITH NEW SUPERLINES YOU CAN PILE TONS OF YARDAGE ON THEM.
3. PLAYING OFF #2, IF YOU CAN FIT THAT MUCH SUPERLINE ON YOUR 50W OR 80W THEN I CAN FIT WAY MORE ON MY 14 OR 16. YES YOU CAN BUT THE DRAG IN YOUR 14 OR 16 WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THE SUPER LINE
4. YOU CAN PUT TO MUCH DRAG ON A MODERN REEL AND PULL THE HOOKS. YES BUT YOU CAN DO THE SAME WITH A SENATOR. ALSO LEARN TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OTHER MODERN GEAR LIKE LARGE CIRCLE HOOKS GOOD LUCK PULLING HOOKS ON A PROPERLY SET 18-22 CIRCLE WHEN IT IN A SHARK
5.SHOW ME A MODERN LEVER DRAG WITH A BENT SPOOL OR A SPOOL THAT HAS BLOWN A SIDE PLATE OUT OR TWISTS THE SHAFT OFF THE MAIN GEAR
LETS FACE IT ITS A MONEY GAME IF YOU GOT THE MONEY YOU BUY BIG SHINNY REELS. THAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU A BETTER FISHERMAN AND WILL NOT MAKE YOU HOOK MORE FISH, BUT IT WILL HELP YOU LAND MORE FISH
Wow this post really developed!!
After catching my first shark on my 130 Santiago, I am on the gold reel band wagon!!!
Hohn t to mention reeling in rocks at nights end is cake!!
Hate to say it but ill only fish my 16/0 mixed in with all two speeds, and ill hope the two speed gets the big hit
its all preference i have had senitors everols and now i have a duel there are some sharks that senitors just cant stop unless u wanna tie a 130 to the crossbars and throw it into the water when your getting spooled i was there when dan got spooled on his 14/0 he was at half spool by the time i cut my line and got to him which wal like 5min tops no senitor could have stopped that fish