Hello All,

After a successful season going for Bluefin I am thinking about a new rod for next season. The 8' 20-50 St. Croix Tarpon rod worked great, but is outclassed for the bigger fish. It works great for 15 pounds of drag and a little more, but next season I will be using 20-25lbs. I like an 8' rod because the longer the casting distance the better. The rod will be used for casting light soft plastics and poppers, like 2 to 4oz. So a fast action, softer tip, huge backbone rod is required. I am thinking the Calstar GF800XH may do the trick. Another possibility is the Seeker SS-CJBF80XH.
Anyone have any opinions on either of these blanks ar any others I should consider?

Thanks,
Tom

If you are willing to wait a couple of months, Seeker is going to add a couple of 8' HErcules blanks just for this purpose. A 40-60# & 50-100# H & XH model. I have both of these as 6', andthe H is a 7'er, trying to get them in all the rightlengths for next season.

I am impressed with the specs of the Hercules line and the only problem was the length. If the 8 footer will be available before the end of Spring that could be the one. I have pulled on the Super Seeker blanks and I like the action, but have not built one yet. I like to keep trying new manufacturers. So far it is St. Croix (a few so you can guess how I feel about them), Lamiglas (not impressed) and Calstar (very happy). I will follow the updates on the Hercules line.
They appear to have the power, but how are they for casting the lighter lures, 2-4oz. sluggo/Ronz with weighted jighead or popper/casting plug? I know it is a lot to ask of a rod (cast lightweight lures for topwater and then be able to control a 100-250 pound crazed fish), but that's what the Bluefin require. Guides will be the heavy Fuji SiC HNSGs. The reel is going to be the Avet Raptor once available. Probably the JX size so 25lbs at Strike should be no problem. The line will be 80# hollow spectra. If any of this matters. ha.

The 70H will cast 2-4oz, I was shocked when I took a 2oz sinker and spinning reel with 50# braid, and cast it with the 70H built conventional with small guides. I didn't expect teh rod to load up and cast as well as it did, but it defeintely threw it well. you can fish 20-25#'s of drag with it, but I cannot tell you how it will handle 250# fish. I know that it is right in the GF700H/XH range power wise, but it actually shuts off whereas teh GF's continue to bend the more pressure you put. The Hercules shuts off right at the top of teh foregrip, and really allows you to put a lot of pressure on the fish.

I'm hoping that the 8; length on teh XH will allow it to cast 2oz well. DAve Fontaine who posted on teh other thread, and builds quite a few rods for this application, has a 60XH and he tells me tht even the 6'er will cast 2oz. That leads me to believe whenit's made into an 8' version it will cast that weight even better, I thinktht is going to be a perfect rod for that fishing, since it willaccomodate 25-30#'s of drag (teh 6'er does, so should the 7 & 8'). I do expect to ahve them before teh Springtime, way before. I'll let people know when they are ready

Excellent. I look forward to the release.

Lamiglas makes the rods and blanks that meet your requirements.

They are:

TP 8650 SPSG rod (NZ102 2XH blank)
and
TP 8680 SPSG rod (NZ102 2XXH blank)

Rod specifications and pictures can be viewed at
[www.donstacklehawaii.com]

Specifications for the NZ102 2XH blank can be found at
[www.lamiglas.com]
I believe the lure size is overated.

The NZ102 2XXH blank is relatively new and the ratings are not currently listed.

The TP 8680 SPSG rod (NZ102 2XXH blank) is designed to plug for Large Ulua at locations such as Christmas Island using 80 to 90# braid.

Don

Don Becker

Don, are those the ones that you helped design?

Thanks for the recommendation. I am looking for a 1 piece blank though.

Billy,

I played an insignificant role in the development of the TP 8680 SPSG rod (NZ102 2XXH blank). Brian of Brian's Fishing Supply in Honolulu had previously done a lot of work with another company. That company did not listen to the requirements and never got the product right. Lamiglas did listen. The first prototype was very close to requirements. The second prototype met wants/requirements. The TP 8650 SPSG is an updated TP 8650 SP with split grips, alconite guides, and the removal of the gimbal.

Lamiglas has graciously provided us with:
The two Ulua plugging rods,
A 15' Oil Special,
and telescopic kayak out riggers

The Lamiglas Makoi Elite surf rods is in the development stage. Upon completion, there will be a range of surf rods available with lengths from 12' 6" to 13' 6", various lure weights and actions. The progress will be slow as proper testing, evaluation and modifications take time. You know when you've gotten it right by the smile of the shop owner or fisherman.

There are two other projects in progress. It is too early to release information about these projects.

Mahalo,
Don

Don Becker

Tom Locke Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for the recommendation. I am looking for a
> 1 piece blank though.

Tom,

I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful. I'm not aware of any one piece Lamiglas rods that meet your requirements.
We specifcally wanted two piece rods to meet the needs of island hopping.

Don

Don Becker

There is a Lami 7'9: one piece Salmon Stealhead

Bill - willierods.com

Tom, as Billy said, I have a couple of the Herc SS rods built. One is the 70H as a spinner and the other is a 60XH as a jigger. I've casted 2-4 w/o a problem on the 70H and wouldn't hesitate to suggest it for that application. However, I'm worried about the tuna over 200#s on the rod. Not that it can't handle it, but that the tuna is at more of an advantage with the power of that blank. Billy is working on a 70XH that I am hoping will be the magic blank for these larger tuna up to 300#s that were around, but I'm again worried that the fish will only be larger next year and spinner gear may slowly turn into jigging power with XXH rods being needed. But, the 60XH is plenty powerful enough for the majority of the tuna being caught late this summer in and around the Cape.

Both blanks load nicely and I would not recommend a blank/rod over 7' on a tuna boat. When the tuna are crashing and hearts are racing, the rods start flying around the deck to try and cast at those breaking fish. Most tuna CC boats today have hard or soft console tops and that extra 1' of rod and possibly extra leader hanging out the tip is that much more to smack the boat. I know of one captain whose radar had a plug go thru it by a 8'6" rod's cast. Plus, the 7' rod puts more of an advantage in fighting to the angler than does an 8' or longer rod. I'd be surprised if a correctly built 7' rod will be outcast by an 8'6" rod and if it possibly is, the distance gained is minimal for lose in fighting power. All the rods I built for this application were 7', all were happy with the results and the largest fish to boat yet was pushing 300#s.

The Calstar's are nice, but start to get heavy in the higher powers. I built 700M's for a lot of guys knowing that they may be overpowered, but the action for what we were casting was perfect. Billy's 70H has now taken that torch and I'm hoping a 70XH will be the next torch bearer.

One piece of advice I can give, keep the rod light if you are casting it all day. You'll be happy.

Try and come to one of the NERBS meetings this winter. You'll be able to bend one of these SS Herc blanks and possibly a built rod by someone.

DAve, nice feedback. I agree that the 200# fish will be a bit much for the 70H, while you can push the rod to 30#'s of drag, the fish are just too big and put too muchpressure to be effectively fought with that blank. I have utmost confidance stating the blank isn't going to break ona fish, it's just not going to be "fun" fighting a fish over 200#'s. The XH will be though, and Dave has mentioned an XXH for a couple of months now and it is something that will be looked at as we expand the Hercules line.

Regarding teh 7' vs 8' arguement - I personally don't care what people use, if they want 8' rods I'll look into getting them made. TEHre are a lot of guys looking for the longer length, so it will be worthwhile to get them made, and that is exactly what we will start doing over teh Fall/Winter and have them available hopefully by The Show in february

I fish off a friend's 24' CC. I have no problem using an 8' rod. The other guys currently have 7' spinning set ups and want to go to 8'. A crazy tuna and outboards or the bow can be a little tight with the 7' rods. I don't have an issue.
I am thinking the XH should work. I don't want too heavy since we need casting distance. Also, having a CC and experienced boaters means boathandling makes a big difference in fighting a fish. There is no reason a fight should last more than 20 minutes, short of a monster 250 pound plus fish which shouldn't be more than 30-40 minutes depending on number of long runs it makes. We had some fights last less than ten minutes, most less than 20 and only one over. It was a case of one of those monsters on an overclassed setup. Hence the desire for new rods and reels for next season.

Tom, that's the only reason I'd recommend a 8' rod, or something slightly longer than 7' is if the boat had a transom where it as difficult to get the rod around if a tuna went around it or for the bow. The guys fishing 8'6" or longer still make my scratch my head. I have a guy that I built 4 matching 7' rods for and asked him specifically if he wanted a 7'6" or 8" rod after fishing the 7' rod and he said the 7' was perfect. He has a 31' CC. So, to each their own. That's why we build rods for a specific person and not a standard setup for all. And, I agree, an experienced captain and group of anglers really helps. Most of the fish I know of that my friends caught were baoted in less than 20 mins. But, there is the occasional demon fish that pushing the anglers limits and sharing the rod is needed. And that's with XH/XXH-type rods, Stella 20k's, and 80 braid.

So, you are casting a jigging rod/reel setup as these tuna? How is your casting distance compared to spinning? My jigging rod setups are just that, for jigging. We weren't planning on casting at tuna with them as I put a shorter butt length on the rod than I would for a casting/spinning setup.

The lighter poppers I cannot cast as far as the spinner setups. The go to lure for me is a 10" Ronz tail on an Owner 1.5oz lead jighead. I can get it out there plenty far enough. For next season I will be trying out the heavier Ronz heads with the heavy duty hardware. It always seems to be on the initial drop that I get hit so the added weight hopefully won't be an issue, i.e. dropping under them quickly and reeled in unseen.

It is definitely true to each his own. I am so glad i discovered custom rodbuilding a few years ago. I am trying to get my fishing cohorts on board. I think I have them convinced.