There is a whole bunch of high quality fishing gear on the market today. Knowing what to buy, and at what price to buy it, can be challenging for the newbie striped bass fishermen. Being able to keep fishing gear purchases within reason and as simple as humanly possible is important. It'll definitely help out in the long run.
Keeping all of this in mind, this article will focus on only the fishing gear that I like to use when trolling the tube and worm for big striped bass. It's very easy to dive into a full explanation of every kind of fishing gear imaginable, so for simplicity sake we will stick to the Penn 113HSP.
Fishing Reels
Penn 113
My go to fishing reel for trolling tubes is the Penn 113 Special Senator High Speed Reel (Penn 113HSP for short). I like this reel for several reasons aside from the reasonable price tag:
* Durability throughout many seasons
My father bought me a Penn 113 more than a decade ago, when I first started trolling tubes from my family's 19 foot Carolina Skiff.
That reel has lasted for over 10 years and it continues to work well today. Many big bass have fallen victim to that reel under a variety of conditions. I would not be surprised if that specific reel lasts a life time.
2) Easy to Maintain
One of the reasons why the Penn 113 is so durable is that it is so simple to maintain. I am certainly no expert when it comes to cleaning and fixing reels. But after a little online research, I can now overhaul the Penn 113 in under an hour.
For the visual learner, Penn 113 diagrams are available on the internet.
The reel has saved me quite a bit of money over the long haul. There are some fantastic tutorials by Alan Tani on how to rebuild the Penn 113. Tani is a pro and makes cleaning reels look easy. Hopefully someday we can all be this proficient!
Captain Ryan Collins fishes for striped bass and Bluefin tuna off Cape Cod, MA. Visit his blog, myfishingcapecod.com for insider tips about Cape Cod Canal fishing and giant bluefin tuna.
