I have never built a stand up rod and would like to, 60-130 or 80-130 IGFA (new toy for me).
Two questions: 1. What is a slick butt? 2. Is a spiral wrap recommended or not?

RodMaker volume 5 #6 will answer about any question you'd ever had on stand-up rods.

A slick butt is a hard nylon butt sleeve that allows the fisherman to more easily remove a rod from a rod holder while under load from a fish.

A spiral wrap is recommended, although not entirely necessary.

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Depending on the line test you intend to fish on the rod or you know the blank I would stay away from something that's listed as 60 - 130 unless you know what the blank was designed for. The other thing to think about is how much drag pressure you can handle. A 130# outfit ,unless I'm in a chair, is a lot more than I can handle for any length of time but then I'm old and getting weak. Had to put that last in before someone put it in there for me. I can use around 20 to 25 pounds of drag but when you get up to 35 or 40 I'm in over my head. So for me a blank that is designed for a line weight over 80 pounds for a stand up outfit would be working me more than the fish.

That's a good point. Somewhere down the line, stand-up fishing can get dangerous if the fish is stronger than you are and the line is more than you can break off. Think about it - it's a tug of war between you and the fish. The idea has always been that the angler can make easy work of things as long as he's stronger than the fish. If the fish is stronger, then you don't want to be connected to him with a line and a drag setting that you cannot break off at will.

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Amen Tom. Lots if humerous stories of people flipped over the rail on a hook up. Probably not too funny to the victim at the time, though. Guys on the Polaris out of San Diego have their share of stories. Fish doesn't even need to be bigger or stronger than you. Takes less than a person's weight to knock them over, and a boat rail makes a pretty good fulcrum to flip over.
Personally, I'm 6'1" and 250lbs, and (for example) I have a heck of a time breaking 65lb braid if snagged on the bottom from a drifting boat. Palming the spool and all. Some guys carry a bit of dowel to wrap around the line to pop it. My pliers have saved my rod and possibly myself from going over the side several times.
If I had heavier gear and drag, and suspected more surprise by big things was possible, I would definitely consider a safety leash between the reel and rail at all times. As it is now, I only leash the reel when unattended in a rod holder.

.....Oh yes! Lotts of stories around about being flipped over the rail in stand-up gear! Hasnt happened to me yet, but I've had several close calls, including one while mako fishing and my reel siezed from a line overrun that made me have to release my rig from my harness in a panic. It took 2 guys to hold on to the rod pointed toward the until we could cut through the spectra with a rusty pair of dykes! I learned a lesson that day and now wear one of these around my neck while fishing heavy gear: [www.defensedevices.com] .

I would like to back up what Dave said, but emphasize....clip the safety leash to the REEL, not the HARNESS! I've seen many guys that hook the leash to the harness...bad idea. If attatched by the harness and pulled over, you are now a link in a chain, with a large fish holding you under by the drop straps attatched to the reel luggs, and an opposite force pulling on the back of the harness. This scenario can make it very difficult to release the hooks(on the Braid models) or the spring loaded clips(on most other models) from the reel luggs. If attatched to the reel, once the rod reaches the end of the teather, you will no longer have the force applied to the luggs, and you will be able to release and swim free, and retrieve the rod once youre back aboard. Many of the larger lever drag reels now come equipped with a leash ring incorperated into the clamp strap. There are also some cool machined alumminum collars with ring eyes designed to fit between the locknuts on the reel seat made by Reel Colors, but these need to be installed before the rod is built, unless the rod has a removeable aluminum trolling butt, then they can be installed at any time.

Its almost impossible to effectively use a leash on the big open party boats, and they tend to have high rails and gunnels anyway, but most private boats have much lower gunnels, some only knee height. A safety leash or two anchored to something solid at the center of the boat, like a leaning post base, swivel chair base, a pop-up ring in the deck...etc. is a good idea.

My question is two part...what IGFA blank has a rating like 60-130...and what advantage are you looking for by building a stand up rod with an IGFA blank? Thanks.

Jay

Hey Scott

When you going to post some more pictures. I need some more ideas to pilfer from you..lol..

Ernie

Stand up fishing can be dangerous to say the least. I'm 6'5, 240lbs. Fished heavy spectra on a gold Daiwa SLT 50W. Ripped the reel and clamp completley off the rod, seized the spool while I was still strapped in, and I was going over the rail in a flash. A buddy grabbed me and the 400lb test leader broke before I went in.

Sent it back to Daiwa in Japan as that was where the reel came from, and they gave me a new one plus the spool from the old one as a souvenier. You can see where the frame bent in and grabbed the spool like an emergency brake. Good point on the seatbelt cutter, I sure wish I had been wearing one that day. I always figured I'd have time to grab the knife next to me, but not gonna happen.

Phil