After doing some searching here and some reading, I have a components list for my first Shark/Tuna rod! It will be a 5' 6" Standup/Trolling. The reel will be an Avet Pro EXW 50/2 in Blue, the wide one.
Looking at 3 different blanks: (sizes from the Calstar 655XH, would change reel seat sizes, etc if I went to other rods)
Calstar 655XH or 655H, #12/#10 tip, .98/.95" butt dia or Pac Bay PBX 2 50-80 #14 tip, .825" dia
Pac Bay 26mm black Channel lock reel seat
Pac Bay DuraLite Butt, 8"
Pac Bay Al Gimbal 27 Blue
Tuna reel clamp from Mudhole

These last few are where I need some help/advice:
Either triangular or oval EVA 14" forend (which do most people find is more comfortable/spread the force out in the hand???)
Spiral Wrapped Fuji SIC guides (USG, HBSG, LRSG????, not sure which ones or sizes, will probably need a 25 for the wide reel as the stripper)
Fuji SIC tip top or @#$%& Acid Roller(considering going with the all Fuji setup, but wanted to throw out usinf the roller tip as a possibility)

I will probably do a teal underwrap of A, and then A then D overwrap of Dark blue.

We are fishing in the New England area, out of CT, usually south on Montauk or my uncles or other friends boats, no party boats! I will also be getting a harness/belt, too. I ordered the back issue of Rodmaker with the stand up info, but wanted to get some feedback on these choices!

I would go with the 655XH with the 50Wide. I probably would even opt for the Boomer series if you want an e glass blank.

I like the Aftco reel seat and gimbals.

Why do you need a tuna clamp?

Hypolon 14 inch foregrip or some hard EVA

I like rollers, so that is what I use mostly. I have used both Aftco and AA rollers. The AA rollers can take a big wind-ons. The Aftco HD is a smaller opening and the Aftco Windons would be too big for that stick.

I wrap all my stand ups in A thread. I usually coat each bottom thread layer with a thin coat of epoxy. Then do 2 coats on top.

What test line are you using on the Avet?

I was looking at the Boomer Baby and Boomer Jr, but the slick butt is only 1.07" ID, so I would have to turn down the blank. Maybe in the future, but I want to keep it somewhat simple for the first Tuna stick!

I was going with the Channel Lock because of the channel lock feature and they seemed to get good reviews here. Nothing against Aftco reel seats! Ohhh...just saw they have blue ones :) Maybe I will go with the Aftco after all!

Pac Bay gimbals fit the Duralite butt in terms of OD. Plus the DL Butt comes with the arbors needed inside to strengthen it. I cant seem to find the OD of the Aftco Gimbals. Are they 1.25"???

I wasn't sure about the reel seat sleeve thing for clamping onto. I saw it on Mudholes trolling rod kits for 40-60# rigs and figured it may be needed?? If not, even easier! Would I need it for that reel?? Nevermind, saw the description on Donart's site, for 80 and 130# reels. One less thing to worry about!!

I am just trying to figure out which would be more comfortable, the triangle or oval EVA?? I may even wrap with cork tape or something to compress it to make it a little harder.

Originally, I was going to use the @#$%& Spiral rollers for the spiral wrap. I decided to simplify it for my first one. Either regular full rollers, or acid wrap reg guides. I wanted to try the acid wrap, so I was going to go with the regular guides. If I really hate the regular SIC guides, I can strip it and redo it. Trying to get one Tuna/Shark stick done to let my Aunt and Uncle see what the Spiral Wrap is like. They have either 6' or 6'6" trolling rods with roller stripper and tip and regular guides. They prefer this setup for less maintenance. Doing this with an acid wrap is a little more complicated than I want to get for my first tuna stick!! They haven't tried a spiral wrap rod yet, so I am trying to keep it simple! I would go with the @#$%& Spirals or AA rollers if I did all rollers, still an option!

I was going to do the underwrap, 2 coats of CP, thin coat of epoxy, then the A wrap, 2 coats CP, D wrap (for durability), 2 coats CP and epoxy, 1 or maybe 2 coats on top of everything.

Prob going to use 80 or 100# mono, not sure yet. I need to get the reel and talk to my uncle first to see how they usually do theirs! The reel will hold 950 yds of 50 mono, so I have plenty of room! I found it for $540, and will get the Blue one, so the gimbal, reel and wraps are all blue :) That way it will match my 2 other rods I am making with the Dark water Camo EVA grips and forend, Mudhole custom sapphire Splash Fuji Deluxe reel seats, St. Croix SC3 blanks and dark blue wraps with silver trim. Shimano Tekota 600 for the spiral casting, Shimano Saros for the spinning.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2008 12:46PM by Timothy Johnson.

Yeah, I cut my boomer jr down to fit a slick butt onto it. I usually use Amtek slick butts. The Aftco 2 has an outer diameter of just shy 1 1/8 and 3 has an 1 1/4". The Ice blue aftco is matched with the Ice blue metalic from gudebrod. It is a light blue color. I have it on my 30 lbs stand up.

I like the plain round EVA or hypo. I had not yet tried the triangle, but it sure would stink to try it and after a few fish, you hate it. I have a few rods with the blue water cameo from merri!ck. It is a very hard eva. But it is really expensive now for some reason.

I did the @#$%& acid wrap last year and my crew loved it, until the tip snapped. Turned it into a kite rod. I got the warranty replacement, but yet to wrap it again. It is more work to set up to work right.

This is just me, I would use rollers on 80lbs test and above. I also take care of my rollers too. If you don't take care of them, then SIC turbos will work fine.


Good luck, nothing finer than a bent stand up rod with a reel screaming...

Timothy,
I'm in Wethersfield, Let's talk.
John in CT

Email sent John!

Looks like I could go with the Aftco #3 gimbal to match the OD of the butt. [www.bluemarlinchronicles.com] Here is the Avet blue, how would it look with the Aftco ice blue??? If it matches pretty well, I would probably go with the Aftco RS and Gimbal. It looks like it is a lighter blue, where the Avet is a much darker color.

I would like to do this with an acid wrap, but would stick with the SiC guides for simplicity over the @#$%&. I heard the @#$%& are pretty picky about the placement! My uncle and crew take care of the gear, but with several rods and reels in the mix (5 50's, 3 30's, etc plus 10 to 15 reels, not including the lighter weight stuff), they like to keep it simple!! They are more worried about parts needing replacement, or if something gets damaged than the actual maintenance.

Would a "rail rod" be better for this task since it is less parabolic in the flexing? I would have to go with a longer blank and trim down to 5' 6" to fit into the sleeve instead of turning down the 5' 6" blank. Would this help with the spiral wrap and guide placement with more flex up top, and straighter on the bottom??

AA rollers if Conventional, @#$%& if Acid Wrap Rollers, Fuji SiC Turbo's if ring guides look to be my choices now.

I remember seeing one of the sponsors having the Kamo colors, but in blocks and longer sections. I'll have to find them again, I may go with the Dark Water camo for this one too!

I spoke with my uncle today. We talked about the rollers, spiral wraps, etc. He said that the rods do occasionally hit the sides (28' Hydrasport ), especially in heavier seas due to foot slippage or sudden turns by the fishies. That pretty much ruled out the acid wrap for the first rod!! He will have to try my spiral wrap casting rod in the LIS to see if he likes it and will have to get feedback from the rest of the crew. He usually fishes with the same crew of people, depending on who is available for the trips. We try to get our gear similar so that if someone else picks up on the rod, they will be familiar with it and how it handles. They have full roller rods and some with the roller stripper/tiptop, so they will be ok with the full roller. I will probably be making up several rods for him in the near future, so I am making up one for myself so that they can try it to see how they like the setup with the blank, rollers, grips, reel seat height, etc. That way, I can order up say 5 sets of everything and make up 5 identical rods for his 50# setups, do up a couple 30's, etc and they will all be matched in terms of components, setups, actions, taper, etc. Right now, they have an assortment because everyone got different gear at different price points. These will run around $200 in materials, less than you can buy a Tuna Stick for at Cabelas! If I need to, I can do some with the 8" butt, some with the 10, etc to accommodate the different sized people whom he fishes with, but the overall rods and setups will be identical.

This looks like the specs I have decided on so far:
Calstar 655XH blank
Pac Bay 26mm black Channel lock reel seat
Pac Bay DuraLite Butt, 8"
Pac Bay Al Gimbal #27 Blue
AA Conventional Silver Rollers and tip top
I'm going to order both the round and triangle EVA handles. He currently has a rod with the triangular foregrip, but hasn't caught anything with it yet! He will play with it this week to see how it would be comfort wise. He told me he ties his wife's Tuna belt/harness to the line and has her run around the yard to see how the rod does. Dunno if he is kidding or not! I suggested the lawn tractor or rototiller!

Silver metallic trim, emerald metallic underwrap, teal overwrap size A, dark blue D size for the 2nd overwrap, mostly over the guide foot.
Avet Pro EXW 50 2 speed reel, most likely in Royal Blue
Picked up a Braid Brute Buster belt today. Will prob get a harness too, gotta figure out which style first!