G'day Guys,

I'm wanting to build myself some standup rods for school size bluefin tuna (in the 15-30 kg range) using spinning reels. The reels will be Penn 650ssm spinners loaded with 500yds of 30lb Izor braid and a mono top shot. I'm hoping I can also use the rods as bottom bashing outfits if need be as well but this is not critical.

My mode of fishing is lure trolling, mainly using bibless minnows, bullet heads and tuna feathers in the 6-8" range. Speed is generally in the 6-10 knot range.

The build will be something like aluminium gimbal, nylon tuff butt, aluminium reel seat, probably flocked rail rod grip as the foregrip, Fuji MNSG's or HVSG's to the choke guide and LBSG's as runners to an American Roller tip. I'm also considering American Roller running guides in place of the LBSG's ala Scott Throop style.

I have read the Rodmaker article on stand up rods but it is currently in storage with some other stuff so I;m going on memory a bit here. My recollectio is that the blank would need to be in the 5'6" to 6' range and be a fast action. I'm looking at fishing 30lb line.

I'm struggling with blank selection. What I have so far as possibilities are:

Calstar GF600L
Calstar GF600M
Calstar 6460L

Seeker SS-CJBF60 (This is called a jig and bait blank but looks like it might be OK for standup?)
Seeker STSF55L

Lamiglas CGBT78-1MH

I also thought that a Muskie blank may be a good blank to try for this purpose. Mudhole have the Lamiglas LGM721H on sale at the moment.

So if you tuna guys wouldn't mind chipping in and helping with the blank selection, I'd be very appreciative.

Cheers

Jason

The length is up to you, but the whole point of stand-up style fishing is to remove as much of the leverage advantage the fish has with more traditional length rods so you end up in more of a direct tug-of-war with the fish. In such a case, as long as you're bigger and stronger than the fish is, you can whip him pretty quickly.

This is why long rods don't function well for stand-up fishing. They defeat the purpose. Most stand-up rods are going to top out at around 6 feet and as you go shorter you come closer and closer to that direct tug-of-war situation I just mentioned. The real question is, how short can you effectively go? The article covered how to determine the best length for what you want to do along with the various harnesses and fighting belts involved so you can best fit the overall length, handle length, reel location, fore grip length, etc., to perfectly suit your particular set up. Way too much to be covered in a message board post. Might be worth getting it out of storage.

You may also find that the NGC can't be successfully employed in situations where you have a very large reel mounted on a very short rod. The choker guide in that instance will be your tiptop.

..............



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/2009 08:11AM by Tom Kirkman.

You might try the jig rod blanks from Mud Hole. It sounds like you'll be trolling more than casting, so the main purpose is lifting and fighting fish. The added bonus is that they'll work for bottom fishing as well.

OK so I did get the mag out of storage and had another read. It seems that a blank closer to 5'6" would be better. From what Ian Miller said in the article, a rod for trolling lures should be a bit stiffer in the tip so it does not pull lures out of the water when they surface to "breathe" and a more moderate action is probably preferable for tuna.

This still leaves me in the same position I was in before. I can't tell from the specs of the rods I'm looking at what would be appropriate. Of my previous list the Seeker TSF55L may still be a possibility but may also be too fast. I just don't know and I have no way of being able to feel these blanks before purchase.

Could someone at least give me a point to start looking or make a blank recommendation?

Thanks

Jason

My choice would be a CalStar T655 (fiberglass not graphite). At 5.5 feet; rated 20-50 lb test line with a 9 tip and .95 diameter butt this will mate up nicely with a range of Stuart Tuff butts (or all aluminium) butt sections. The advantage of the Stuart sleeved butt is that you have an integral reel seat on an aluminium tube; the nylon sleeve and a nylon gimbal. The nylon gimbal is durable enough that you will not need the metal gimbal (and the nylon will save your "deck dings" if you happen to drop the rod butt on it). On top of that by the time you add up the cost of the nylon sleeve, the gimbal and reel seat the cost is more than comparable.

My idea of a standup rod is hardly fishing with 30# test line. How hard can you pull with 30? You did say spinning rod, right? Hardly a need for a gimble but if you think that you need a harness, then rod rings might be a good add on component. Since you are not casting, a 6 ft rod is fine. Your handle setup is fine as long as you feel the need for the tuff butt. Rail rod foregrip..... with a spinner? Hardly. I don't think that you will be using the rail at all. That line coming off the spinner kind of gets in the way of using the rail. I have known guys that have caught a good sized tuna on a spinner and the thing that they want the most is a way to hook up a harness. Look at the rod rings but remember, the choice of the proper alluminum reel seat must match the rod rings. Blank choice...you got me there as I would not use any of the ones you mentioned. My choice would be to look at some of the newer blanks coming out of Asia. Brands such as Jiggingmaster comes to mind and is closer shipped to Au.

Mel
Excellent on the rod rings! I'd think they would be a "must have"

Ken,

Thanks for the blank recommendation.

Mel,

If you use the rod standing up, then what else can it be other than a standup rod, regardless of line class? I had not thought of using a harness with this setup as it's purpose will be school sized bluefin tuna. My experience so far has taught me that these size fish will be to the boat in 10-15 minutes, so no real need for a harness. However, what are "rod rings" and where can I get them?

I do feel the need for a tuff butt. I have them on other rods and they make rod removal from the holder under load much easier and they also prevent butt damage from travelling in rough weather with the rods in a rocket launcher.

I haven't explained very well my intended use of the rail grip. I wanted to use a flocked foregrip so the base either has to be cork or something else firm. Instead of gluing together a large number of cork rings, I thought the rail rod grip would be a good base on which to do the flocking as it is firm, durable and also much cheaper that using cork rings. I don't have a rail on my boat, we don't fish that way in Australia and I realise that you can't use the rail with a spinning rod.

Cheers

Jason

Jason -
Here's a link to Mudhole's site with graphics on 'rod rings'. I've seen them on rods in Australia when I lived there

[www.mudhole.com]

Ken

Sweet, thanks Ken.

Jason

Jason, I think that the gist of that standup rod article that you referred to in your first post is quite different than any ole rod that can be used while standing and fishing. I really refers to the west coast USA method of fishing the party boats for large tuna where you don't have the pleasure of a fighting chair and the boat is often on anchor or other fisherpersons are also on fish so the boat cannot be position for the fisherman. Typically, these type of rods are very heavy in line class and a harness and pad is used in fighting the fish. Recently, there have been quite of few new blanks that have come out in the 30# line class but have such awesome lifting power that I would not hesitate to up the line test quite a lot. For example, a 20# line class blank that has the lifting capacity of 22# deadlift. That blank could fish 40# easily so your 30# class blank could fish 50-60 # line. Then the rod rings might come in handy should you be so fortunate to catch something large. Be aware that the rod rings have an ID to typically fit the aftco alluminum reelseat so if you are using something else, make sure that it fits properly with little play.