Great discussion. I appreciate everyone's contributions.
Even though our reels only hold 120 or so yards of 30 lb power pro, we've never been spooled on a bull redfish or drum. When it becomes clear that there's a big fish on, everyone gets all the other lines out of the water, and we get ready to pull the anchor if the angler is close to getting spooled. We've only had to pull the anchor once or twice, usually the fish turns, especially of the drag gets tightened early enough so the fish starts to tire. I even carry a spare anchor just in case we need to cut the anchor line to follow the fish before the spool runs out.
Most of our bull reds and drum are caught on the level winds with 300 yards of 50 lb power pro, because these are our preferred lines for fishing crabs, sand trout, and croaker. The spinning reels usually fish smaller bait closer to structure so are more likely to catch smaller reds and specks. When the occasional bull hits one of these the drag gets tightened quickly to keep the fish out of the structure.
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