I'm actually doing 5 IGFA 50s for a friend that charter boats right now....they have trim and accents using Guedrode Rose........PINK. They actually do look nice.

This friend is finishing out his new boat right around the corner from me. He sprayed it with top coat this past Friday. Yep you guessed it.........61 feet of the prettiest pink you've ever seen. His rods will match well.

Jay

I have caught quite a few tuna over the last decade, including tuna over 200 lbs using stand up tackle, and having done this first-hand is the reason I would never use spiral wraps for such a rod.

With all due respect, a rod leaning to the side from a huge fish causing your gimbal to twist your harness is not going to throw anyone to the deck of a boat. The torque that can be generated by a leaning guide is tiny relative to your body weight, and the pivot point is well below your center of gravity if you have your harness on properly. Next time you are on a boat, put on a harness, lock a rod in, and have someone try to twist you to the ground by grabbing the reel and twisting. All it would do is maybe shift the harness a little.

I agree completely with the spiral principle, and I think the @#$%& system is the bees knees for most applications. It is much easier on the rod and the angler- in principle. But I have seen it happen several times, and it happened to me on a 209 lb fish in 2004, where a fish- through brute strength and in rough seas during a long fight, will pull an angler to their knees and pull the rod right against the gunnel. I've even seen this happen on the Chesapeake with big rockfish and very tired anglers (my Dad, for one). With a spiral wrap, at this time the line and the guides are going to be banging against the gunnel until the angler can regain his/her footing, which in rough seas might take half a minute. One short run with mono on the gunnel and you will have a deep gel coat groove AND a lost fish.

Mike Naylor Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
But I have seen it
> happen several times, and it happened to me on a
> 209 lb fish in 2004, where a fish- through brute
> strength and in rough seas during a long fight,
> will pull an angler to their knees and pull the
> rod right against the gunnel.

NEVER.....and I mean NEVER let your rod blank touch the gunnel. It can and will result in blank breakage. I've seen many a charter party cussed at by the captain because they let a rod touch the gunnel.

No one needs to attempt the test you suggested. It won't result in anything. Grabbing the reel and twisting won't do one single thing to the angler. This is not a real world test as the fish can't jump out of the water and onto the boat in an attempt to grab the reel and twist the angler to the floor. The only way to simulate what can happen on a real tuna is to strap into the harness while at home and standing on a second or third floor deck. Push the drag up to 45 or so pounds and hook the end of the line to the bumper of a truck that is sitting directly under the rod tip. Crank the reel until the rod is fully loaded and you are leaning back in the harness the way you should be. While not holding on to anything (even the reel...at the most just lay your hands atop the reel) turn 90 degrees to the direction the truck will be moving and have the driver floor it. Now THAT will give you a real world simulation.

Torque from the rod tip is much different than torque at the reel seat. I'm only trying to relay what I see (and feel) when fishing. Also, when it is so rough that you have to fish from your knees...it isn't safe to be fishing stand-up even with 30# tackle and 10# of drag.

I will say I'm envious as I don't get to tuna fish near as much as you do! Best of luck this season.

Jay

Let the rod drag on the boat with this!

[www.rodnreel.com]

With these the water is always to rough and the fisherman ends up on his knees anyway!

Fsh No Mo!

Jay

Your kidding ??? A pink boat. Some things a man just does not do ???!!! He must have a lot of woman on it ???

LOL nope Bill...no joke! His last boat was a 54' that was Pink also. This is a BIG guy and is obviously comfortable with his masculinity. I may try to snap a picture in the next day or two and post it for you to see.

Jay

Yes please. I would like to see this boat Thanks Go figure for tast ??

Jay- blanks hit the gunnel in tuna fishing all the time with inexperience anglers. And no one ever fishes from their knees on purpose, if you did how would you chase the fish around the boat, or dip the rod to keep the line off the prop when the fish is spiralling under the boat? What happens is that sometimes a fish surges right as the boat dips into a wave, causing the angler to lean too far over the gunnel. At that instant you have a choice- go into the water or drop to your knees. If you are good, lucky, or both- you get the huge foregrip on the gunnel instead of the blank. If you drop too far away from the gunnel, you have no choice but to rest the blank on the gunnel.

These heavy tuna blanks are tough, and can take a shocking amount of abuse. I'm not sure if the same can be said of these @#$%& guides, and I know that's not true of even the heaviest mono- which is how I form my opinion. Take it for what it's worth- and thanks for the good wishes.