Well, I finally pulled the trigger and spent some hard earned stash for my first cow tuna reel; the DAWG 50. This kind of heavy reel is new to me as I've always been a spin angler. Although I also own a couple of those E series Accurate Boss Magnums which I've fished only a couple of times, this DAWG 50 is a different breed; surely a monster in proportion and weight. I was planning to get the Avet HXW Raptor; a more affordable alternative for sure. But as luck would have it, they stopped making it in lefty. But then I got luckier when Charkbait said they have the DAWG 50 in true lefty in stock, and in their unique CB candy apple red color. Nice! My two Boss E-series were just put together backwards to make it lefty. I sure hope the DAWG 50 would be good enough in my quest to get a shot at a cow this year (keeping my fingers crossed). For starters, it has three ant-reverse dogs instead of the AR bearing. The AR bearings used in Accurate reels have been the weakest point in their reels. Now with the DPX2 series, that weak point has been eliminated. Kudos to Accurate, they finally listened to the users!
The DAWG 50 is a solid beefy reel. I was able to spool 650 yards of 100lb Toro Tamer solid braid. There is no AR bearing on the DPX2 reels with the exception of the 600 series which have an AR bearing and triple dogs for vertical jigging to eliminate back play. Cranking the handle you'll hear the soft clicking sound of the engaged dog. With three dogs, should one fail, the next dog is ready to engage. There is some very minute back play since it it s straight anti-reverse dog system. The operation is smooth and it has excellent free spool. It also has Accucast which helps eliminate backlash on the cast. A nice feature for anglers like me who mostly use spinning reels. Overall, I love this reel and can't wait to take it out on a cow tuna trip.
So now I'm thinking, should I use this with a harness or should I try rail rodding? I already have a Tunamax XH blank being made into an acid rod by Jim Racela (aka J.AkuHed) that'll be perfect with a full harness. Hopefully it'll have the backbone to lift big YFT. So now maybe I need another rod and reel to fish the rail. Maybe another DAWG 50 or go full throttle with an ATD 30T? Aaarggh! Just to get a shot at cow tuna surely gets expensive fast! As the saying goes "You wanna to play, you gotta pay!"
The DAWG 50 is a solid beefy reel. I was able to spool 650 yards of 100lb Toro Tamer solid braid. There is no AR bearing on the DPX2 reels with the exception of the 600 series which have an AR bearing and triple dogs for vertical jigging to eliminate back play. Cranking the handle you'll hear the soft clicking sound of the engaged dog. With three dogs, should one fail, the next dog is ready to engage. There is some very minute back play since it it s straight anti-reverse dog system. The operation is smooth and it has excellent free spool. It also has Accucast which helps eliminate backlash on the cast. A nice feature for anglers like me who mostly use spinning reels. Overall, I love this reel and can't wait to take it out on a cow tuna trip.
So now I'm thinking, should I use this with a harness or should I try rail rodding? I already have a Tunamax XH blank being made into an acid rod by Jim Racela (aka J.AkuHed) that'll be perfect with a full harness. Hopefully it'll have the backbone to lift big YFT. So now maybe I need another rod and reel to fish the rail. Maybe another DAWG 50 or go full throttle with an ATD 30T? Aaarggh! Just to get a shot at cow tuna surely gets expensive fast! As the saying goes "You wanna to play, you gotta pay!"
Boy, that's huge!
Set the drag at strike to 20lbs.
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