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Posts: 130
Location: Madison, WI | For those that own a Tranx, I would like to hear how it does casting lighter baits. If you could compare it to say a 400TE or Curado 300 (reels I am familiar with), I would be much obliged. |
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Posts: 2378
| no experience with TE, but it will not cast nearly as well as the Curado does with smaller baits, in my opinion. |
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Posts: 245
| Why would you buy such a huge reel for such light applications?
I us a Curado for that size baits and it performs great! |
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Posts: 130
Location: Madison, WI | B/c no other reel that I am aware of has the speed of the Tranx. |
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Posts: 531
| I have used curados for several years, and used a tranx for half of this season. I mainly use one rod for everything, so until i got the tranx i had my curado 300 on a tooth tamer jawbreaker. So now my set up with tranx with the jawbreaker.
On the lighter stuff, like 1oz spinner baits it did not cast as well with the tranx as my curado did, but it wasnt terrible. I would say in my experience it was 90-95% of the casting distance. But you must take in consideration my rod is rated to 48oz baits so I am not exactly putting a huge bend in the rod on the cast.
For as much as i throw light baits <2oz I am not scared bring the tank to the knife fight. The Tranx works well enough for every application of musky fishing that its my opinion you dont need another reel. I use it for light stuff, twitch baits, gliders, jerks, big rubber, jigging, bucktails... It is normally the only rod in my boat and that rod has a tranx on it.
With all that said if you are looking to buy a tranx for strickly a light weight bait reel, i would tell you to maybe look at other reels. But for a reel that can do it all, you will save alot of money buying one tranx as compaired to several other specific bait reels. |
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Posts: 833
| I would think that the rod would make a bigger difference than the reel in this case? 16NA Trinidad is faster than a tranx, but that has other casting issues due to no levelwind, etc. |
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Posts: 531
| cave run legend - 11/28/2012 2:06 PM
anzomcik - 11/28/2012 1:31 PM
I have used curados for several years, and used a tranx for half of this season. I mainly use one rod for everything, so until i got the tranx i had my curado 300 on a tooth tamer jawbreaker. So now my set up with tranx with the jawbreaker.
On the lighter stuff, like 1oz spinner baits it did not cast as well with the tranx as my curado did, but it wasnt terrible. I would say in my experience it was 90-95% of the casting distance. But you must take in consideration my rod is rated to 48oz baits so I am not exactly putting a huge bend in the rod on the cast.
For as much as i throw light baits <2oz I am not scared bring the tank to the knife fight. The Tranx works well enough for every application of musky fishing that its my opinion you dont need another reel. I use it for light stuff, twitch baits, gliders, jerks, big rubber, jigging, bucktails... It is normally the only rod in my boat and that rod has a tranx on it.
With all that said if you are looking to buy a tranx for strickly a light weight bait reel, i would tell you to maybe look at other reels. But for a reel that can do it all, you will save alot of money buying one tranx as compaired to several other specific bait reels.
Personally I would not toss a 1oz bait with a rod rates for 48oz and a reel that weighs nearly 20oz. That is a lot of weight to toss a small rig over and over again.
What is alot for one person may not bother another person. It works very well for myself |
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Posts: 142
| It may work for well for you but I'd venture to guess that you are the minority here. I've used a tranx and wouldn't even consider it for jerkbaits/gliders over a smaller reel like a curado let alone bucktails and such. Why beat yourself up to use a tranx? It's a hard enough at the end of an 8 hour session with regular sized stuff. |
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Location: 31 | anzomcik - 11/28/2012 1:20 PM cave run legend - 11/28/2012 2:06 PM anzomcik - 11/28/2012 1:31 PM I have used curados for several years, and used a tranx for half of this season. I mainly use one rod for everything, so until i got the tranx i had my curado 300 on a tooth tamer jawbreaker. So now my set up with tranx with the jawbreaker. On the lighter stuff, like 1oz spinner baits it did not cast as well with the tranx as my curado did, but it wasnt terrible. I would say in my experience it was 90-95% of the casting distance. But you must take in consideration my rod is rated to 48oz baits so I am not exactly putting a huge bend in the rod on the cast. For as much as i throw light baits <2oz I am not scared bring the tank to the knife fight. The Tranx works well enough for every application of musky fishing that its my opinion you dont need another reel. I use it for light stuff, twitch baits, gliders, jerks, big rubber, jigging, bucktails... It is normally the only rod in my boat and that rod has a tranx on it. With all that said if you are looking to buy a tranx for strickly a light weight bait reel, i would tell you to maybe look at other reels. But for a reel that can do it all, you will save alot of money buying one tranx as compaired to several other specific bait reels. Personally I would not toss a 1oz bait with a rod rates for 48oz and a reel that weighs nearly 20oz. That is a lot of weight to toss a small rig over and over again. What is alot for one person may not bother another person. It works very well for myself Agree, I use an 8 1/2 foot med action muskie rod with the HG and the speed it generates with smaller to mid-sized baits is unsurpassed.
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Posts: 531
| greenstealth - 11/28/2012 3:25 PM
It may work for well for you but I'd venture to guess that you are the minority here. I've used a tranx and wouldn't even consider it for jerkbaits/gliders over a smaller reel like a curado let alone bucktails and such. Why beat yourself up to use a tranx? It's a hard enough at the end of an 8 hour session with regular sized stuff.
You may be correct with that I may be in the minority. I do not know, if I am thats fine. It is very hard once you get a few hours of use on a HG tranx to go back to a slower reel.
Like everything in this world it is full of trade offs. I like the curado I put thousands of hours on them, very nice reels. They are light, fairly fast and cast well.
What the tranx has given me is speed to pull up slack line, in a hurry. I use alot of gliders, jerkbaits, and soft plastic. The extra weight of the tranx was a concern at first, but after a few outtings you get use to it and it isnt any different than my other rods. So the reel is bigger, but not uncomfortable for my tastes. It weighs more but because I dont have to crank as fast or as much I feel less fatigued at the end of them day. Yes the left hand holds more weight but the right hand works much less. Its a trade off, and I love the versitility of this reel.
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| I don't think you will find many people if any that will be able to really give you good advice with a Tranx and samller baits because they are not using it for that application. Most have it paired with a comparable rod for big blades and big baits which will limit performance with smaller/lighter baits. Taking "castability" out of the equation I would not suggest it as an "all pupose" reel because of the line pick-up/speed it generates. My opinion is you would be better off with the TE or Curado you mention whcih will be harder work primarily with big blades than the Tranx, but easier with everything else. I assume you ask because if you are to spend $400+ on a reel you would like to be able to use it for everything....so my advice would be no, I would not spend the money on a Tranx because it will not allow you to present all baits the way you want. That said I love the Tranx, but would not be happy with it as my only or "all pupose" reel. Hope that helps a little bit... |
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Posts: 149
| I have a 9' MH TI paired with a Curado. My first day with the Tranx (broke my XH rod) I removed the Curado and used the Tranx on the TI MH. From a casting distance standpoint, I didn't notice any difference and I threw some small blades.
I'm in my early 40s and not in particularly good shape but I can throw a rod with a Tranx all day without being noticeably more fatigued than I would be with a 400B. I fish many 10+ hour days. I'd say if you are looking for speed in lightweight baits and have the cash, a Tranx will work fine and provide plenty of casting distance. |
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Posts: 245
| Oh, i thought it said PG, not HG
The Curado 300EJ had speed enough to burn smaller bucktails with ease, no need for super torque and speed on such small lures imho |
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Posts: 716
| Burning and casting small blades with the Tranx is no problem it excels in that department. It wouldn't be an ideal setup for other lighter lures...just overkill and heavier than you need. That said it would work no problem. |
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Posts: 833
| I experimented using my HG Tranx with smaller twtich baits. like Krave Jr. and Shallow Invaders this season. The Curado will do the job and is much easier to cast, there is no doubt, but there is a big difference between 32" of line pick and 42" of line pick up when a critcal component of your presentation is speed.
The tranx allows for much faster line pickup and thus a faster twitch retrieve, same reason it is such a good reel for ripping dawgs. I was able to pull this off with no issues. Sadly, my little experiment did not produce any response from the fish, but that was in a throw back situation on some fussy followers. I'd imagine it isn't much different than trolling the same baits at 3.5MPH (aside from pauses) and Fish certainly will hit that presentation.
As an aside, if you want to make ripping 14" Jakes an easier chore, pair a very stocky rod with a Tranx PG. I can rip/twitch the bait with just the power handle, not unlike how guys can get a hellhound to run with just the reel. The rod and reel might be heavier than most, (I use an XXH) but I'll take casting that over having to rip all day long with my upper body. Torque matters! This fish have responded to this one. |
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Location: 31 | bturg - 11/29/2012 8:06 AM Burning and casting small blades with the Tranx is no problem it excels in that department. It wouldn't be an ideal setup for other lighter lures...just overkill and heavier than you need. That said it would work no problem. x2 and I would add that the HG and PG have two distinct purposes. There's just no good reason to spend extra dollars for the PG if the main purpose is for smaller stuff.
However, for smaller stuff with the right rod the HG is in it's own class when speed and a fast engage is called for IMHO. The HG is not just about the retrieve speed (although it's just awesome with a full spool), it's absolutely the nuts at keeping a small/medium bucktail above the slop when the lure hits the water and then being able to skitter it while maneuvering the bucktail back through the weeds/slop.
The perceived weight/bulkiness is a complete non-issue for me... it's not like we are talking about holding onto extra pounds here, and the reel actually palms more comfortably than a small reel for me personally. However, if you have small/med hands palming it could be a bit of an issue all day, so this should be checked out thoroughly before purchase.
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