Fav snapper reel

[Madeye]

Now that i own my own little tiny with sounder and gps i am keen to target snapper.
After reading the latest DohDohDoh mag i am considering buying a Penn Spinfisher 8500 (what ryan uses).
Just wondering if anyone uses a different reel or would use a different reel if they could afford it.
Im not really into overheads as i hear than can be difficult to use.

Also do most use braid or mono when targeting snapper

[Sarge]

Mish,

I spend most of my time fishing for snapper. Especially in the warmer months here in SA. Penn 8500 is way too big and bulky. I prefer 6-8kg line and in threadlines I like the Penn 6500, Shimano BTR 3500 or 4500 and my preferred overhead is a Penn 955 or 965 (around Abu 5500 or 6500 sizes). My favourite snapper rods are Sabre 196-7's and I also like the Sabre 270. It depends where I am fishing though. This is the gear I prefer in upper gulf waters here in SA. If I'm fishing 60 feet of water or more and need to use a fairly big lead I'll swap my gear for Sabre 199-6 rods and a Penn 975ld or Abu 7000 reel.

In 90% of my fishing I prefer to use mono as far less hooks are pulled during the fight. In the deeper stuff though or where I need to pull hard I'll swap to braid. Sometimes we even use float rigs and set them to the required depth if fishing over coral or mussels!

BTW- I've attached a mid sized SA reddie from recent times.

Cheers for now.

[Madeye]

Man you guys have some MEGA big snapper over there. My dad is doing some business over at kangaroo island so we went over for a holiday (Work holiday. Look at property) and i went snorkeling at this one spot and when i got about 50m out a scholl of about 20 pink snapper started following me .
Spewing i didnt take all my fishing gear.
Also over there i saw 2 sambos no more than 30m off shore, XOS samon nosing around in 20cm of water (there tails were out of the water), Crayfish galore and the bigest king gerorge whitting i have ever seen.

[toddy]

i'd have to agree with sarge, the penn 8500ss is on the big side, if it were me i would buy a shimano baitrunner 4500B, these reels are perfect for snapper and very versatile with other species.