I have a friend who wants to build a 7' spinning rod for the boat to catch 40 to 70 lb small tuna. He wants a fun rod that will be a challenge, I told him to get something capable of yielding 20-40 lb line, but needs something with a lot of power to handle the fish near the boat. He wants fast action for more fun. Has anyone made a rod for similar needs that has some pointers to look at, including reel.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/05/2007 09:42AM by John Straus.

I have used stout, extra fast action Hot Shot rods for this very thing. Running 17lb to 20lb line they're a lot of fun to use and can handle the fish, but the fisherman needs to understand how to fight a fish and realize this would be considered light tackle for fish of that size and type.

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What length did you find to be best suited.

The ones I built needed to be long enough to cast nearly 80 to 100 yards so they ended up around 7 to 8 feet in length. Downside is that the longer the rod, the more power the fish can exert on you.

If you don't need the casting distance, go shorter.

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Graphite USA SW70M is about the power range of the HS blanks Tom was talking about and faster than the listing would lead you to believe. The SW70MH will be heavier and faster. Both are light and handy for a SW blank. Very hardy and will take quite a bit of abuse/heavy loading.

Super Seeker CJB70F.

Rainshadow RCLB70XL or RCLB70L

Wow, thanks everyone. What about the rogues, how do you all like those?

i have a gator glass 30-50 that would probably do pretty good(it might sound pretty heavy but its got nice power and is great for 20-30lb amberjacks) so i imagine it would be fun for small tuna...the blank is like 6'9 and although it isnt the lightest blank it is rock solid and like $35 so it wont break the bank

mudhole sells them if you would like to check out that one and other gator glass blanks

I've only used a few Rogues, some of the popping blanks and a few SWW and a SU haven't anything to complain about.

Look at the PacBay 84X series in the heavier weights. Also, Batson has some really great sticks in this class.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

What about reels, nothing too expensive but some good quality spin reels

Okuma Salina ... SA80. It is built specifically for saltwater and has a dual drag system that is only matched in extremely high dollar spinning reels. It is hands down the strongest, most reliable bang for the buck.