hi, im getting ready to build my first big game rod to be used for large bluefin. it will be a spinning rod in the 7' range. ive never done a heavy duty spinning rod. i plan to do underwraps but what else should i do on a heavy duty spinning rod? i want it to last. what is the best way to determine the lengths of the front and rear grips? can you offer any average grip measurements to get me started? thanks, mark

Set it up so its comfortable in the fighting position. Are you using a fighting belt? Shoulder harness? Take this into consideration. Hold the blank the way its best for you and have someone hold the tip and load it up. This will give you reel seat position and you can determine how long a fore grip you want. Pulling on other rods will give you an idea of seat/grip lengths but the real deal is found using the same rod/blank

A lot depends on how you will fish i.e. trolling, casting.

A slick butt works well on rods that will be placed in holders but need to be withdrawn once a fish is on. I like a gimbal on my rods and fuji makes a nice graphite one. I'd use a stainless reinforced graphite reel seat. Typically the foregrip will be quite long (14") which I find a little too long. I'd use full length underwraps and coat them before wrapping the guides on. I'd use a top quality guide such as SIC. I like the virtus guides a lot too (316 SS won't rust as easy as 304). I'd stay with double foot guides all the way. Size A thread is plenty strong enough but use D if you like. No need for double wraps other than looks.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

I have Built several for halibut. After you have installed your grips and reel seat attach a the reel with line.Tape all your roller guides on and load (pull down) on line wile you are holding the rod.
Ajust rollers as needed to keep line off rod blank. Ajust stripper guide to get a smooth run to reel. If you are going to use a fighting belt use it when doing your testing.
Dont forget to add for the gimbal.

RodMaker Volume 5 #6 has a very in-depth article on Stand Up rod construction. There is a complete section on figuring handle and grips lengths and how to set things up for the various different fighting belts in use.

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thanks guys. i should have provided more info on how i will use the rod. this will be a spinning rod used exclusively for casting to busting tuna. no other uses. i will use it in a harness for most fish. id like to use fuji K series guides, perfection alum. gimbal and reel seat and EVA grips. i was concerned not so much with component selection but how i install the components. i want the rod to be as durable as possible. thanks, mark

Ok this is a SPINNING ROD for big game, specifically large bluefin. That means heavy drags, so use a heavy duty reel seat. Fuji makes one in graphite that works quite well. Are you going to be casting or just dropping jigs? If you're casting then position the reel seat so that when your hands are shoulder wide apart one hand is on the reel seat and the other is on the butt. This will give you good leverage when casting. With the reel seat mounted (temporary is fine) hold the rod the way you will while fighting a fish. I assume you'll be using a belt. Adjust the belt so that it is comfortable to reel. Extend you other hand straight out and grasp the rod. That marks the top of the foregrip. Size/locate the butt guide to keep the line off the grip while casting. Size and place the other guides in the usual manner. I would underwrap them to protect the blank. Being paranoid I would also double wrap them. And use the best guides you can afford.

Dave hit it. Hold the blank in the groin or slide it in the belt, parallel to the floor, grab the foregrip area with a straight arm, ensure that a foregrip appears where you're holding the blank. I prefer 1 3/8" diameter grips for this. Grab some different hammer handles and see which feels best, then get a diameter. I'd shy away from 7' unless you absolutely need it for distance. 5 1/2-6' is the norm for big tuna. The longer the rod the harder you're going to work. I'd use Alps XN guides if you were using a casting reel (don't care for rollers), but they're too short for stripper/reduction guides on a heavy spinner. There are a small handful of heavy double foot surf guides out there. You can probably find a match using the Alps as running guides and taller surf guides for the first two or three.

Jason Cosby
Cos Rods

Bear in mind that Bluefin can go well over 1,000 lbs. I'm sure spinning tackle has come a long way, but I am not sure I would want to fight a 1,200 lb tuna on a spinning rod of ANY size.
Let me know how this works out. Good luck.

They do indeed get that large, but not routinely. Most times the fisherman has a good idea of the size tuna he's going to do battle with. Stout spinning tackle, properly constructed, is a viable type of stand-up fishing gear.

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a tuna over 1000lbs on spinning gear, that would be torture!! in my area we're testing limits every year on these fish but im targeting fish up to 200#'s. my biggest landed is 165#'s. i know ive hooked fish well over 200 but never saw the end of the line after the initial strike! we always hope to run into the smaller variety to throw our plug into the melee. best, mark

I have one over 1,200, 6 over 1,000 and more than I can recall over 500. All caught either fishing off Montauk Point/Block Island, Gloucester, or off Prince Edward Island. There aren't nearly as many big ones these days as there were in the late 70s and early 80s, but there are still enough to make me think you are a very brave man.

I have built up several of these popping rods in the past year! I use the 7' Batson 84XH blank and OTI blanks and I met with each customer and had them play with mock ups to see what length they wanted the grips. By having them try the mockups and move the reel seat back and forth for casting and fighting, I found that people 5'8" and under like a total rear grip length of around 14-15", depending on arm length. Over 5' 10", it's usually 15-17" rear grip length, including the gimbal. I use the Perfection Ball gimbals a lot and then are fairly long and add over 1" to the overall length. With the shorter rear grip, the 12" foam grip between the reel seat and gimbal, there was a noticeable loss in casting distance, but 14" or longer it casted just fine. The shorter length grip still casted well, but they noticed the difference, but had to go with that length so the reel was in a comfortable position. Make sure they are comfortable cranking the reel with the reel seat position without having to stretch too much! I have 3 demo rods with a 12, 14 and 16" length between the reel seat and gimbal, and customer can see which they like best. Foregrips I go thinner, 1" to 1.25" because you are holding the grips differently than a standup rod, where your palm is up. With the popping rods, you are holding the rod with the palm down usually during the longer runs and the fatter grip is harder to hold on tight to. One of my customers got a 72-74" BFT to the boat a few days ago using the Batson blank. They don't own a gimbal belt yet, so they used the age old method of putting the rod between the legs...YIKES! The biggest concern is casting and pulling drag on the rod like they were fighting a fish, using the gimbal belt they will use while fishing.

The popping rods are designed to have a different flex and fighting style with the longer rods, so the standup rules won't work as well here! Thinner foregrips and different reel seat positions and grip lengths will vary on the angler. Yes, leverage plays a part, but a 10" total length rear grip just won't cut it casting wise! Also, the reel seat orientation changes things, whether it is up locking or downlocking. Play with it in each position and see which is more comfortable for you! Downlocking, you can have a longer rear grip and still be comfortable since the reel is towards the rear grip. My customers have generally preferred uplocking and that is what the measurements above are based on. I make sure to tell them to watch the tightness on the reel hood so it doesn't vibrate loose!

Guides, Fuji MNSG, American Tackle Virtus and others work well. Look for a ring that is flanged/locked into the frame well and taller frames for the first few guides. I haven't tried the Batson XN's yet, but I think those would work well, too! With a 7-8' rod, 7-8 guides are the norm, but will depend on testing!

Reel seats, I have used Pac Bay Graphite body, aluminum hood channel locks, Fuji DPSH, Perfection, Pac Bay, Alps and American Tackle all aluminum. People also use the Fuji DPS without a problem, but the smaller sizes (22mm) may not fit all reels! Just make sure the reel fits into the reel seat properly, the larger Penn, Quantum, Fin Nor and maybe some other reels have larger size feet and may not fit into all reel seats nicely due to the dimensions.

A underwraps and B, C or D for the first overwrap and epoxy and then another layer of thread on top of that. I try to use B or C if I can get it in the colors the customer wants, but if I use size D for the first underwrap, I try to drop down to a smaller size for the 2nd layer to save bulk if possible. Sometimes I will use one of the larger sizes on the first layer of thread, and then a size A for the top wrap to get a specific color, like with Madeira thread that only comes in size A. One overwrap will probably be enough, but I use 2 to be on the safe side and for more durability fighting these fish!

You can also do the underwrap, epoxy over it and then 2 seperate layers of thread and epoxy just on the guide wraps/trims for a total of 3 layers in the guide area and 1 layer on the underwrap, or even add another whole layer over that for 4, but they really need to be thin layers, basically just soaking the threads fully for that to not bulk up too much. TM Lite and ProKote are what I use because they are thinner and soak in better.

Make sure to prep the reel seat and gimbal properly and shim well to prevent epoxy failures!

Any other questions, shoot me an email!