I was absent from the forum for a long time, I apologise for that. As a researcher my professional life kept me away from fishing forums (luckily I managed to go fishing ahahahah).

Now coming back to the topic...I mostly jig arround the Azores archipelago. Although my main target are the greater amberjacks (Seriola dumerili) which can be found (sadly not in the numbers that used to be due to overfishing) still in huge sizes...true monsters! Fish that can go over 70kg...fish that big rarelly are brought to the side of the boat, and when that happens is mostly while doing spear fishing. Huge greater amberjack can still be caught doing jigging, but most of the 30kg+ bust everything in the volcanic rock bottoms.

The particular places that I target I normally fish them with a PE6 setup with  jigs up to 350g and a 10000 shimano size reel. But truth to be said, the only reason I don't go heavier (PE8 or PE10 setup) after huge fish in the banks is because I can't pay for a charter all by myself and lack people to go with me with that kind of gear...

That being said, this year I lost my biggest amberjack, for sure a fish 40kg+ and saw it's "coat" (like we say in the Azores in portuguese - "ainda lhe vi o casaco"). So I am putting together a PE8 jigging setup. I've got the rod, now I need the reel.

And here's when I ask your help. Just let me further explain a bit more...I'm also planning on doing a trip to your side of the world on 2021 to go to the Three Kings! That being said, I need to pick a spinning reel to fill with either PE8 or 10. My question is, fishing in the 3 kings, do we need lots of line? Or can a 10000 size reel do? I don't think I can fit more than 200m PE8 or 10 on  10000 shimano size reel...

Which size would you recommend? And which PE line, PE8 or PE10?

In case anyone is curious, this is the rod I got my hands on: Temple Reef X Jigging - X12S 5'3".

Sorry for the long post.

Best regards to everybody,

Pedro Tomás

That pretty much leaves you little choice but the larger SW20000 Stella where you would get approx 300m PE8 (100lb).   If you had to make do with SW10000, then you might get 200m PE8 which is enough for most Kingfish.  Hopefully you carry spare pe8.

Bust-offs might only lose a few metres but crossed lines might lose you 100m from a reel that might only carry 200-250m.  This line loss also reflects in the line retrieve rate which will adversely affect the potential to attract a hit while jigging.  Some anglers won't accept joins in their line so will totally respool. 

I've seen and experienced numerous occasions where the line has parted under modest tension without reason. 

Yes it is a concern having Kingies dragging line around the ocean and potentially tangling itself around reef structure resulting in starvation and premature death.   We don't want this!

Part of the reason why most charter boats specify PE8/100lb braid on their boats.  Greater abrasion resistance and strength that can handle the expected bigger fish. 

Respooling on a boat can be problematical.  I've seen guys holding down the bulk spool against the bait board to tension the line.  Others have thrown the entire spool into the sea while boat is moving.  The line drag applies some tension while filling the reel, unfortunately this short-sightedness means more plastic in the ocean.   Others have loosely over spooled and ran the line out behind the moving boat, then winding back under some tension. 

Nothing beats respooling under tension with a line winding machine. 

Sadly, three kings in 2021 will no longer happen thanks to COVID.

Braid and rocks dont mix whatever thickness or strength they are and braid has no abrasion resistance...thats why you use a [email protected] caught a 31kg king and a 40 kg puka on 80 pound braid......cant see a huge benefit to using pe10 over pe8.......The leader and its length are more important.......pe8 will give you a greater capacity...diawa boat braid was and always will be excellent in 80 pound.....ygk as well....more important= get the fish away from the bottom asap !

hopefully that Saltiga is a "power" gear and not "hi speed".  You will need cranking power at the 3 Kings.  I'd go for a PE8 or US made 80-100lb braid e.g Jerry Brown hollow 80lb.

Hi Chris.

Thanks for worrying! It is a PG, I made sure it was ;)

I'm mostly a popping/stickbaiting fisherman, and already own a 18000HG ahahah

Regarding the line, I'm also more inclined for the PE8...is the PE10 really necessary? Not only it creates more drag, as well as gives less "maneuverability" in terms of amount of line.