There's a moment every big game angler chases. The rod tip slams down, line rips off the spool in a scream that sets your heart pounding, and you realise — with equal parts joy and terror — that something serious has taken your bait. For those few seconds, everything you've spent, everything you've rigged, and everything you've learned gets put to the ultimate test.
Maybe it's a blue shark powering off into the tide off the coast of Cornwall. Maybe it's a hard-fighting tope over a Scottish mark, or a bluefin tuna hammering a trolled lure in deep offshore water. Whatever it is, one truth holds firm: your gear either holds together, or it lets you down at the worst possible moment. And there's no heartbreak in angling quite like watching the fish of a lifetime swim away because a cheap reel gave up, a drag stuttered, or a leader kinked and snapped.
Big game fishing is a different beast entirely. The rods are heavier, the lines are thicker, and the reels are built to a completely different standard. Standard sea gear — the kit that serves you brilliantly for bass, cod, and everyday shore work — simply wasn't designed to cope with the sustained, brutal strain of a large pelagic fish. Push it too far and something will give. It's not a matter of if, but when.
We've been helping anglers kit themselves out sensibly since the 1970s, and if there's one area where cutting corners costs you dearly, it's big game tackle. So in this guide, we're going to walk you through everything you need to know about choosing the right reel for shark and tuna fishing — from the mechanics of drag systems and gear ratios to the eternal question of multiplier vs. lever drag. We'll also cover the shark fishing terminal tackle that keeps your rig honest under load, because a world-class reel is only ever as good as the leader and rigging you connect to it.
Grab a brew, settle in, and let's talk big game.
Why Standard Gear Fails Under Big Game Strain
Before we get into reels, it helps to understand exactly why your everyday sea kit struggles when a genuine big game fish is on the other end.
A typical beach or boat reel is built for casting distance, general retrieve, and moderate loads. It'll happily land a double-figure cod or a scrappy bass all day long. But a large shark or tuna doesn't fight like those fish. It fights in long, sustained, explosive runs — pulling steadily against your drag for minutes at a time, generating heat, stress, and pressure that ordinary components were never engineered to handle.
Here's what actually goes wrong:
- Drag washers overheat and fade. A small reel's drag stack is tiny. Under a long, hard run, those washers heat up fast, and as they heat, the drag pressure becomes inconsistent. One second it's smooth, the next it grabs — and that's when things break.
- Gears strip or flex. Cheap gearing simply isn't strong enough to winch a heavy fish up from depth. You'll feel it grinding, then failing.
- Frames twist under load. Lightweight frames flex when a big fish leans on them, throwing the gears out of alignment and killing efficiency exactly when you need power most.
- Line capacity runs out. A blue shark can strip 100 metres of line in one run without breaking a sweat. If your spool holds nothing near that, you're finished before you've begun.
Big game reels solve all of this through heavier construction, larger and more sophisticated drag systems, robust gearing, and generous line capacity. They cost more because they're built to do a genuinely harder job — and when you're connected to something that could pull you off your feet, that build quality is everything.
The Mechanics of a True Big Game Reel
To choose the right reel, you need to understand what's actually happening inside it. Three components matter more than anything else: the drag system, the gear ratio, and the line capacity. Get these right for your target species, and you're already most of the way there.
Drag Systems: The Heart of the Fight
The drag is the single most important part of any big game reel. It's the mechanism that lets line slip away under controlled pressure when a fish runs, protecting your line from snapping while tiring the fish out. On smaller reels this is a modest system. On a true big game reel, it's a serious piece of engineering.
A quality big game drag needs to do three things brilliantly:
- Start smoothly. The moment a fish runs, the drag must release line without that initial "stickiness" — the tiny hesitation that spikes pressure and pops leaders. Anglers call this start-up inertia, and a low-inertia drag is one of the clearest signs of a properly built reel.
- Stay consistent. Whether a fish is pulling at 5kg or 15kg of pressure, the drag should deliver that force smoothly and predictably, without grabbing or fading as it heats up.
- Dissipate heat. Long runs generate real heat. Larger, higher-quality drag washers — often carbon fibre — spread that heat over a bigger surface area and shrug it off, so your drag stays reliable run after run.
Most serious big game reels use carbon fibre drag washers, which offer an outstanding balance of smoothness, heat resistance, and raw stopping power. Some use sealed drag systems too, keeping saltwater and grit out of the mechanism — a genuine blessing when you're fishing hard in wet, hostile conditions.
The key number to look for is maximum drag pressure, usually quoted in kilograms or pounds. For blue shark and tope work, you want plenty of headroom. For tuna, you want even more. A reel that maxes out at a modest figure will leave you helpless against a truly powerful fish.
Gear Ratios: Speed vs. Power
The gear ratio tells you how many times the spool rotates for one full turn of the handle. A ratio of 6:1 means six spool rotations per handle turn — that's fast retrieve. A ratio of 2:1 means slow but immensely powerful cranking.
Here's the trade-off every big game angler must understand: you can have speed, or you can have power, but you can't have both at the same setting.
- High gear ratios (fast) are brilliant for retrieving line quickly — winding down on a fish that's swimming towards you, working lures, or covering water. But they lack the grunt to winch a heavy fish up from depth.
- Low gear ratios (slow) give you the mechanical advantage to lift a heavy, dogging fish that's sat deep and refusing to budge. Slow, but immensely powerful.
This is exactly why so many top big game reels are twin-speed — and we'll come back to that shortly, because it's one of the most important features you can invest in. A twin-speed reel lets you shift between a fast gear and a low, powerful gear on the fly, giving you the best of both worlds during a single fight. Fast gear to gain line quickly, low gear to grind up a stubborn fish from the deep. It's a bit like the gearbox in a car, and once you've fished one, you'll never want to go back.
Line Capacity: Don't Get Spooled
Line capacity is exactly what it sounds like — how much line your reel holds. And for big game work, this genuinely matters, because powerful pelagic species run hard and far.
Getting spooled — where a fish runs so far it takes every last inch of line off your reel — is a real and gutting possibility if you're under-gunned. It usually ends with a snapped line and a fish lost.
When considering line capacity, think about:
- The species you're targeting. Blue sharks and tuna both run long and hard. You need serious capacity to stay connected.
- The line type you're using. Braid is much thinner than mono for the same breaking strain, so a spool loaded with braid holds far more line. Many big game anglers run a braid backing with a mono or fluorocarbon top shot to combine capacity with a touch of forgiving stretch.
- Your fishing method. Deep boat fishing, uptiding, drifting for shark, or trolling for tuna all place different demands on capacity.
A good rule of thumb: err on the side of more capacity than you think you need. Running out of line is a mistake you only make once.
Build Quality and Corrosion Resistance
One final mechanical point that's easy to overlook: corrosion resistance. Saltwater is merciless on metal, and a big game reel that isn't built to cope will seize, grind, and fail within a season or two.
Look for reels with:
- Anodised or coated aluminium frames and spools
- Stainless steel gears and shafts
- Sealed or shielded bearings
- Sealed drag systems where possible
And whatever reel you choose, rinse it in fresh water after every saltwater session and give the moving parts a light oiling. Treated well, a quality big game reel will serve you faithfully for many, many seasons — which is a huge part of why the initial investment pays off.
Multiplier vs. Lever Drag: Which Should You Choose?
Now we get to the heart of the matter — and the question we're asked more than almost any other by anglers stepping up into serious big game fishing. Should you go for a multiplier or a lever drag reel?
The honest answer is that the two overlap more than the debate suggests, because many of the best big game reels are both — they're lever drag multipliers. But there's an important distinction in how the drag is controlled, and understanding it will help you choose the right tool for your fishing.
Understanding the Star Drag Multiplier
A traditional multiplier reel uses a star drag — a star-shaped wheel sitting behind the handle. You tighten or loosen the drag by turning that star wheel. It's a proven, reliable, and beautifully simple system that has landed countless big fish over the decades.
Star drag multipliers are:
- Simple and intuitive to use
- Robust and dependable with fewer things to go wrong
- Excellent value for the power they deliver
- Superb all-rounders for shark, tope, conger, and general heavy boat work
The one limitation is precision. With a star drag, adjusting your drag mid-fight means turning the star wheel and judging the change by feel. It works — anglers have done it forever — but it's not as instantly repeatable as a lever system.
Understanding the Lever Drag
A lever drag reel replaces the star wheel with a sliding lever, usually running from free spool at one end through to full drag (often marked as "strike" and "full") at the other. You move the lever forward to increase drag and back to decrease it.
The huge advantage here is precision and repeatability. You can set a preferred "strike" position — a known, pre-set drag pressure — and return to it instantly, every single time, mid-fight, without guesswork. Slide forward for more pressure to turn a fish, slide back to ease off when it makes a sudden run. It's fast, precise, and gives you superb control when a big fish is testing you.
Lever drags also tend to feature larger drag surfaces and more sophisticated heat management, which is exactly why they dominate the very top end of big game fishing — the tuna, marlin, and serious shark arena.
Why Twin-Speed Lever Drag Reels Rule the Big Game World
Here's where it all comes together. The finest big game reels combine a lever drag with a twin-speed gearbox — giving you precise, repeatable drag control and the ability to shift between fast retrieve and low-gear winching power during a single fight.
This is the setup that serious shark and tuna anglers reach for, and it's the category where we'd point any angler who's genuinely stepping up their game.
The Colman Twin Speed Lever Drag Multipliers
The Colman Twin Speed Lever Drag Multipliers are a superb example of accessible, capable big game engineering. They bring together the precision of a lever drag with the versatility of a twin-speed gearbox, all in a reel built to take real punishment.
What makes them shine:
- Twin-speed operation lets you switch from a fast gear for gaining line quickly to a low, powerful gear for grinding a heavy fish up from depth
- Lever drag control gives you that precise, repeatable drag adjustment mid-fight
- Robust construction designed to cope with the sustained strain of large fish
- Excellent value for the specification, making them a brilliant entry point into serious big game work
For anglers targeting blue shark, tope, conger, and similar hard-fighting species in UK waters — and those who want a reel that won't buckle under pressure without spending a fortune — the Colman is a genuinely smart choice.
The Okuma Makaira 50W and 80W Twin Speed Lever Drag Reels
When you want to step up to a reel built for the very biggest fish, the Okuma Makaira Twin Speed Lever Drag Reels are in a class of their own. These are proper, no-compromise big game reels with a formidable reputation among tuna and shark anglers worldwide.
The Okuma Makaira 50W is a phenomenal all-round big game reel — powerful enough for large sharks and mid-sized tuna, yet still manageable enough to fish comfortably through a long session. It offers:
- A hugely powerful, silky-smooth drag system with serious maximum pressure
- Twin-speed operation for the ideal blend of retrieve speed and winching power
- Superb line capacity for those blistering long runs
- Rugged, corrosion-resistant construction built for years of hard saltwater use
The Okuma Makaira 80W takes everything up another notch. This is a heavy-duty reel for the genuinely big stuff — large tuna and serious offshore pelagics. With even greater line capacity, immense drag power, and a build designed to shrug off the toughest fights, it's the reel you reach for when you're targeting fish that could genuinely spool a lesser setup.
Both Makaira models represent the gold standard in big game multiplier reels UK anglers can rely on. They cost more, of course — but they're built to land the fish of a lifetime and keep doing it, season after season.
So — Multiplier or Lever Drag?
Let's make it simple:
- Choose a star drag multiplier if you want a simple, robust, brilliant-value reel for general heavy boat fishing, shark, tope, and conger — and you're happy to adjust drag by feel.
- Choose a lever drag (ideally twin-speed) if you want precise, repeatable drag control and the ability to shift gears mid-fight — the setup that comes into its own for serious shark and, especially, tuna fishing.
For most anglers stepping into big game fishing properly, a twin-speed lever drag multiplier like the Colman offers the best balance of capability and value. And when you're ready to chase the biggest fish that swim, the Okuma Makaira 50W and 80W are as good as it gets.
If you're unsure which suits your target species and style of fishing, get in touch — there's little we enjoy more than talking big game tackle, and we've been advising anglers on exactly this since the 1970s.
Heavy-Duty Rigging Essentials
Here's a truth that catches out even experienced anglers: your reel is only as good as the rigging you connect to it. You can spend serious money on a top-end Makaira, but if your leader kinks or your terminal tackle fails, that fish is gone all the same. Big game rigging is a discipline in its own right, and getting it right is every bit as important as choosing the reel.
Let's break down the shark fishing terminal tackle and rigging essentials that keep everything honest under load.
Mainline: The Foundation of Everything
Your mainline is your connection to the fish, and for big game work it needs to be up to the job. There are two main choices, and many anglers combine them:
- Braided line is incredibly thin for its breaking strain, giving you huge line capacity and almost zero stretch — which means superb bite detection and direct contact with the fish. The lack of stretch is a double-edged sword, though: it transmits every headshake straight to your hooks and knots, so your rigging needs to be spot on.
- Monofilament has more stretch, which acts as a shock absorber during those violent runs and lunges. Many big game anglers run a braid backing for capacity, then a mono top shot for that forgiving cushion near the business end.
Whichever you choose, don't skimp. A big fish will find every weakness in cheap line.
Leader Wire: Why It Matters So Much
Between your mainline and your hook sits the leader — and for toothy, abrasive species like shark, this is absolutely critical. A shark's teeth will slice through mono or braid in a heartbeat, and their rough skin will abrade a soft leader to nothing during a prolonged fight.
This is why shark fishing terminal tackle relies on wire and heavy cable leaders. Get this wrong and it doesn't matter how good your reel is — you'll be bitten off before you've even started the fight properly.
There are two main leader materials worth knowing about for big game work:
7-Strand Titanium Leader Wire
7-strand titanium leader wire is a superb choice for many big game and shark applications. Here's why anglers rate it so highly:
- Kink resistance. This is the big one. Ordinary single-strand wire is prone to kinking, and a kink is a weak point that can fail under load. Titanium 7-strand wire is remarkably resistant to kinking — it flexes and returns rather than crimping and weakening.
- Suppleness. The multi-strand construction is flexible, which allows your bait to move more naturally in the water and presents better to wary fish.
- Strength and corrosion resistance. Titanium shrugs off saltwater corrosion and delivers reliable strength fight after fight.
The kink resistance alone makes titanium 7-strand a favourite for shark and tuna anglers who've been let down by kinked single-strand wire in the past. A kink you don't notice until it's too late is exactly the kind of avoidable heartbreak that separates the fish landed from the fish lost.
Heavy Stainless Steel Shark Cable
For the biggest, toothiest customers, heavy stainless steel shark cable is the go-to. This is serious rigging wire built to withstand the crushing bite and abrasive hide of large sharks.
Heavy stainless cable offers:
- Exceptional bite resistance against even the sharpest teeth
- Brute strength to cope with the raw power of a large shark
- Abrasion resistance to survive prolonged contact with rough skin and hard mouths
For dedicated shark fishing, a heavy stainless steel cable trace is often the sensible choice — it prioritises reliability and toughness above all else, which is exactly what you want when a big shark is doing its best to part company with you.
Avoiding Kinks: The Silent Fish-Loser
We keep coming back to kinks because they genuinely are one of the most common causes of lost big fish. A kink is a permanent weakness — the wire fatigues at that point, and under the sustained load of a hard-fighting fish, that's precisely where it fails.
Here's how to keep kinks at bay:
- Choose supple multi-strand or cable leaders (like titanium 7-strand) which resist kinking far better than stiff single-strand wire.
- Handle your traces carefully. Don't scrunch them into a tackle box in a tangled ball. Store traces properly — a dedicated trace wallet or winder keeps them straight and ready.
- Inspect before every drop. Run the wire through your fingers and check for any bends, kinks, or damage. If you find one, replace the trace. It's not worth risking a fish to save a length of wire.
- Use quality crimps and connections. A properly formed crimp keeps your loops and joins secure without introducing weak points.
Crimps, Swivels, and Connections
The connections between your components matter just as much as the components themselves. For big game rigging:
- Use proper crimping pliers to form clean, secure crimps. Household pliers crush and weaken crimps — it's simply not worth risking a lost fish to save on the right tool.
- Choose heavy-duty swivels rated well above your target fish's likely fighting weight. A quality swivel prevents line twist during those spinning, thrashing fights.
- Match your crimp sizes to your wire and cable. The right crimp for the right diameter makes all the difference to a secure, reliable join.
- Test everything before you fish. Give each connection a firm, honest tug. A rushed rig is a lost fish waiting to happen.
Hooks: The Point of Contact
Finally, your hooks. For big game and shark fishing, you want strong, sharp, corrosion-resistant patterns designed to take enormous strain without opening out or snapping.
Many shark anglers favour circle hooks for big game work, because they tend to find the corner of the mouth automatically — which is far better for the fish on release and reduces the risk of deep-hooking. Whatever pattern you choose, keep your points needle-sharp. A blunt hook that bounces out on the strike is heartbreak entirely avoidable, and a quick touch-up with a hook sharpener before you fish costs you nothing.
Putting a Big Game Rig Together
To bring it all together, a typical big game shark rig might look something like this, working from the reel down:
- Mainline (braid backing with a mono or fluorocarbon top shot for shock absorption)
- A heavy-duty swivel to connect mainline to leader and prevent twist
- A rubbing leader section of heavy mono or fluorocarbon to protect against abrasion from the fish's body during the fight
- A bite trace of 7-strand titanium wire or heavy stainless steel shark cable, crimped securely
- A strong, sharp circle hook matched to your target species and bait
Every link in that chain matters. Skimp on any one of them, and that's exactly where it'll fail. Build each element with care, using tackle you have genuine confidence in, and you give yourself the very best chance when the fish of a lifetime finally comes along.
Bringing It All Together: The Complete Big Game Setup
Let's step back and look at the whole picture, because big game fishing rewards the angler who thinks about the entire system rather than just one flashy component.
A world-class reel, a supple kink-free leader, a bite-proof shark cable, sharp hooks, and a mainline with the right capacity and shock absorption — these all have to work in harmony. The chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and a large shark or tuna will find that weak link with unerring accuracy.
Here's a quick checklist to run through before your next big game session:
- Reel: Is your drag smooth, powerful, and set correctly? For serious work, a twin-speed lever drag reel like the Colman or an Okuma Makaira gives you the control and power you need.
- Line capacity: Do you have enough line to survive a long, blistering run without being spooled?
- Leader: Are you using a kink-resistant titanium 7-strand or heavy stainless steel shark cable appropriate for your target species?
- Connections: Are your crimps clean and secure, your swivels heavy-duty, and everything tested with a firm tug?
- Hooks: Are they sharp, strong, and the right pattern for the fish and the fight?
- Reel maintenance: Have you rinsed and oiled your reel after the last saltwater session so it performs when it matters?
Get all of that right, and you've done everything within your power to turn the fish of a lifetime into a fish landed rather than a fish lost.
Final Thoughts: Invest in the Right Gear
Big game fishing is one of the most thrilling pursuits in angling. The runs, the power, the sheer scale of the fish — there's genuinely nothing like it. But it's also unforgiving. The strain a large shark or tuna puts on your gear is enormous, and standard tackle simply isn't built to cope.
Choosing between a multiplier and a lever drag ultimately comes down to your target species, your budget, and how much precise control you want during a fight. For most serious big game anglers, a twin-speed lever drag setup delivers the best of everything — the raw power to winch a heavy fish up from depth, and the fine, repeatable control to manage those explosive runs. And whatever reel you choose, your shark fishing terminal tackle — your leaders, cables, crimps, and hooks — must be every bit as capable, because that's where fights are so often won or lost.
We stock big game gear we have genuine confidence in — kit chosen because it performs reliably when a serious fish is testing every part of your setup, not because it carries the biggest marketing budget. Forceps that seize, reels that fade, or leaders that kink will only cost you fish and frustration, and we simply won't stock anything we wouldn't happily fish ourselves.
Don't Leave Your Fish of a Lifetime to Chance
The difference between a landed fish and a heartbreaking story often comes down to the quality of your gear. When you've waited all season for that one shot at a specimen shark or tuna, the last thing you want is a reel that fades or a leader that fails.
Kit yourself out properly. Explore our full range of big game reels — including the versatile Colman Twin Speed Lever Drag Multipliers and the world-beating Okuma Makaira 50W and 80W Twin Speed Lever Drag Reels — alongside our complete selection of heavy-duty rigging and shark fishing terminal tackle.
Everything you need to chase the fish of a lifetime, backed by over 50 years of hands-on angling knowledge and honest advice from people who fish.
Buy Now - at Sharnbrook Tackle
If you'd like a recommendation based on your target species, local marks, and style of fishing, get in touch. No jargon, no upselling — just straightforward advice from anglers who've been at this since the 1970s. Get the gear right, and the fishing takes care of itself. Tight lines!