Which Cooper setup?

[John E Powell]

Ok so I have the rods now I was looking at reels and was a little confused. Is the ratio, rotations of handle : feetORrotations of handle : rotations of spool?Sent from the awesomeness of Chas!

It's not just gear ratio, you have to take into account spool diameter filled to full point. What you want to know is retrieve of line in inches per turn of the handle when the reel is full (which by the way lessens with every pass of copper removed from the reel). On reels that do not hold adequate backing, like only 50-100 yds, the diameter of the backing on the reel's spool is so small that you may be getting only a foot +/- of retrieve per turn even though the reel tech info may say 2 foot or more per turn. It can take, for example 450 turns of the handle, with no drag slip, just to bring in a 600 ft copper. Now add a rampaging king into the mix, peeling off line, and turns of the handle where there is drag slippage and you could easily turn that handle crank 1000 times or more before the fish is netted on a standard retrieve ratio reel.

With an oversized reel, when you let out all the copper, you have 200-300 yds of backing, compared to a smaller reel's 50-100 yds, and the bigger reel's backing diameter, compared to a smaller reel, is much larger. This means, somewhat confusingly, that a large reel with a full reel retrieve of 28 inches per turn may actually bring in a long fully deployed copper quicker than a smaller reel with a faster 30" retrieve.

[John E Powell]

Have you guys pulled TX44 boards with that rod? How does it do? I just added a 300 saltist and tried a cheap 9 ft rod and it was hell fighting a mature on the rod. I need something stiffer and shorter and was considering that rod. I'm almost thinking 8'6 is too long.

Anyone know how the 8ft Talora is for pulling inline boards with copper. I have the 9ft Talora and it's an awesome chute rod but no idea what the 8 is like and would like an opinion before I drop the coin on one.

My opinion is that anything over 7' on non-chute copper rod is not only unnecessary, but is also very tiresome to the angler. I believe this is why so many people have love/hate relationships with their copper rigs. They choose rods that are too long, and reels that are too slow then grumble and complain about them.

[DJ 17]

I have 3 of the okuma copper rods and love them.  They have plenty of backbone.  I also run the tx-44s.  They are great for pulling copper.  On my 450 I run the Clarion 553 high speed reel.  Its a great set up, I believe it retrieves 53" of line per handle turn when the spool is full. 

[Chas0218]

I have 3 of the okuma copper rods and love them. They have plenty of backbone. I also run the tx-44s. They are great for pulling copper. On my 450 I run the Clarion 553 high speed reel. Its a great set up, I believe it retrieves 53" of line per handle turn when the spool is full.

Good to hear I was looking into the clarions. What size are you running?

I maybe a little biased towards other brands but okuma's customer service has won me over. I have several of their reels and rods and have great luck with them.

Sent from my thinking chair...

[DJ 17]

Clarion High Speed 553 LS

[Chas0218]

Clarion High Speed 553 LS

How much backing would you spool on that with the 300 and 600 copper setup?

[DJ 17]

600ft of 45# copper won't fit on the 553.  I have 450 rigged on one now with 300 ft  of 40# power pro backing and its full. Caught a tyee on it sunday and had no issues whatsoever .  If you only put 300 on it you could put a ton of backing on the 553.

[Reel Outlaw]

I won a 533 clarion at the salmon slam and put 1100ft of backing and 550ft 45lb copper it's close to being packed

[DJ 17]

Outlaw,

How did you measure your copper and backing?  I marked mine off with a 200 ft tape and could only get what I previously mentioned.

[Reel Outlaw]

The copper started out as a 600 but I lost 50ft. Due to a king deciding to twist around it with the wire. I measure what I had to cut out and it. Was almost exactly 50ft and the backing my buddy hooked me up with a few spools he used a couple connectors and put together 1100ft of it for me

[John E Powell]

Outlaw,

How did you measure your copper and backing? I marked mine off with a 200 ft tape and could only get what I previously mentioned.

I agree, 600' of 45lb. copper will not fit on a 553.

[Legacy]

I agree, 600' of 45lb. copper will not fit on a 553.

 

yup no way.

The most you can squeeze on an Okuma 553 is 500' of 45# copper and you would be lucky to have 50-100 of 50# braid backing.

[Legacy]

How much backing would you spool on that with the 300 and 600 copper setup?

 

300' copper on an Okuma 553 will fit 600-800' of 50# braid backing