Top Shot for mooching

[onwhiskeycreek]

Me and the wife are going to treat ourselves to a couple new Daiwa Mooching reels. We have never used top shots before, guess maybe were old school. We are going to order some of the 400 reels, question is what would you use to spool them and how much of each line (400 series). They are going to be used for kings. Thanks for any education on a new trick.

Gary

[Nelly]

I love the new Daiwa M-One Mooching reel!

One-way drag that is butter smooth and an exposed rim that allows you to palm the reel on a hot run!

M-One_UTD_main.jpg (111.04 KiB) Viewed 5493 times

I don't know if I would top shot a load of braid on this reel. On mine I just load it full of Hi-Vis 25 pound and possibly blood knot in a clear rod-length of 30lb monofilament or Flourocarbon.
Nothing too exotic...

[DBcougar]

Hi Tom,

I'm super new to the forum here, in fact this is my first ever post. I am also thinking of going with this setup for mooching (downrigging). So question would be, would this reel the daiwa UTD work well with a lamiglas classic 9', spooled with 300yrds power pro in either 25lb or 30lb with what you said a rod length of 30lb mono clear on top? I am not caught up with all the nomenclature you professionals use on here. Any advise you might give would be greatly appreciated. Also I really get a kick out of all your videos and try to catch your show every sunday, very informative and gets me super amped for fishing, shrimping and crabbing this year.

Thanks again.

[Nelly]

Hi Tom,

I'm super new to the forum here, in fact this is my first ever post. I am also thinking of going with this setup for mooching (downrigging). So question would be, would this reel the Daiwa UTD work well with a lamiglas classic 9', spooled with 300yrds power pro in either 25lb or 30lb with what you said a rod length of 30lb mono clear on top? I am not caught up with all the nomenclature you professionals use on here. Any advise you might give would be greatly appreciated. Also I really get a kick out of all your videos and try to catch your show every sunday, very informative and gets me super amped for fishing, shrimping and crabbing this year.

Thanks again.

Hey DB, You've got a point about the fisherman's lingo or "nomenclature" as you so aptly put it. In fact, I'm going to work up a glossary of sorts for this site as it would be nice for all of us to be speaking the same language!

To your question: I love the single-action moochers for vertical or motor mooching to depths of 125 feet. Also, while you're free to utilize any line technology you choose, Power Pro wouldn't be my first choice for a single action reel.

Why?

The nature of the single action "beast" is that it's a very hands-on reel. When picking up line, your fingers must act as the level wind and you also can palm the spool to add drag to a hot fish run or to muscle your big king into the net. Keep in mind that when a fish runs, that single action is also a "hands off" reel! You'll quickly find out where it's nickname "knucklebuster" came from

Braid is not very kind to your fingers (especially a porous, coarse, noisy-grinding-through-the-guides Power Pro) and does not behave well if not laid on the spool evenly. In other words, it can bunch up on the spool, cut into the piled up line and break! (please don't ask me how I learned that )

For that reason, all of my mooching reels hold a load of high-visibility monofilament with a rod length of clear or green mono.

For downrigging my favorite reel is the Daiwa Saltist 30 levelwind that has the smoothest drag of any reel in it's class!

imagesCAHZYAKM.jpg (4.7 KiB) Viewed 5047 times

I fill my Daiwa Saltist 30's with 70 pound test Samurai braid which has a smooth finish that rivals monofilament. On top of the braid is a 40-50 foot "Top shot" of high-vis monofilament. The reason for this is simple, the braid has little stretch and it's small diameter allows it to cut through the water. The monofilament has better abrasion resistance and it's stiffness keeps tangling to a minimum!

The larger-diameter-than-braid monofilament also works best in my favorite clip, the venerable Offshore Release!

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So to sum it all up, my recommendation for shallower mooching gear is all monofilament (high-vis with a rod-length of clear or green).

My favorite downrigging set-up is braid with a 40-50 foot top shot of high-vis monofilament.

Now, can you use your mooching gear for downrigging and your downrigging gear for mooching? Yup! No question about it!

But, when you're cranking that single action reel up from 175 feet you'll see why I like the Saltist 30 high speed retrieve for such tasks!

[DBcougar]

Tom,

Thanks again for your knowledge and recommendations.

Darrell.