Am planning a 80lb standup tuna stick and need to choose between a size 2 or size 4 Aftco bent butt. The manufacturer's recommendations suggest the #4 for the 80lb class, but is there any reason not to use the #2 for this line class? After all, it is lighter and cheaper!

Thanks in advance,
Dane.

UB4 for an a80 lb class rod. The hood openings for a UB2 will accept a 50 or a 30, but are too small for the width of an 80 reel.

If you are looking to save money, I would suggest bass fishing. LOL

LOL

Bill - willierods.com

Dane, You said your building a stand-up rod for 80 pound line, so I'm going to assume you will be using a fast action stand-up blank for your build. If you're not, you'll most likely be sorry later. The #4 uni-butt is intended for a regulation 80# rod (chair rod) and as Kevin said it will hold a 80 wide reel. Unless your Superman, you shouldn't use that larger a reel for stand-up fishing. You also don't want the standard uni-butt, as it's too long for stand-up fishing. You want the "short" butt. You will also need to shorten the blank by approximately the length of the uni-butt to maintain the action ( cut from the butt). If I have your blank right then a #2 short would most likely fill the bill and will hold a 50 wide reel easily.

I agree with Bill. An 80 IGFA type blank is designed to be used from a chair or from the rod holder with the #4 Unibutt and around 45# of drag IIRC. A #4 unibutt is HUGE!!! Most people fishing 80# line do not want an IGFA (ie very slow, and stiff) blank, but something designed for stand up fishing using 80# line!

Fishing 80# line, I go anywhere from a 40-100# blank to a 50-130# blank, depending on the blank and how the rod will be used. A Boomer Jr is sweet for 80# and you can push it higher, too. A 24mm aluminum reel seat will often hold an 80 reel, at least on the few rods I tried an older Penn Int 80 on! I prefer a slick butt setup if I can fit the slick butt over the blank; I don't want to turn down much off of the butt section of a rod if I don't have to. If it doesn't, I will usually go with a Unibutt #2 short straight setup. Haven't tried an 80W on a Unibutt yet though.

I wouldn't use an 80 for fishing standup. A 70 with braid will hold PLENTY of line. My Avet 50W has 600 yds of 130# Jb Hollow and a 150 yd topshot of 130# Momoi. My 30W has 600 yds of 100# jb hollow and 80# Momoi Diamond mono. 700 yds should be plenty with 35# of drag available unless you are targetting Giant BFT commercially!

IIRC, a 8" slick butt, normal 25mm gimbal and a 24mm reel seat mounted up locking or a 10" slick butt, gimbal and 24mm reel seat mounted downlocking give around the same reel position as the #2 Short Straight Unibutts, which is the majority of my customers preferred sizing.

Are you sure you really need a uni-butt at all? Unless transportation and storage of a 6' or shorter rod is a problem, you may be better off building it straight-thru.

RodMaker Volume 5 #6 would be a big help to you.

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WIth some blanks (some of the Calstars), straight thru isn't really an option. The slick butts are between a 15/16"-1" ID (American Tackle) and others are listed at 1.07" ID and some blanks are well over that at the butt. A Baja Boomer is 1.175" at the butt, Boomer Jr is 1.125" at the butt. The Boomer Jr you may be able to fit if you ream out the slick butt and take a tiny bit off of the blank, but I'd rather cut it and install it into a metal ferrule to reinforce where you had to thin it out slightly and use a Unibutt. Most Seekers will fit in the Slick Butts as do most other blanks, but there are some blanks that will not fit w/o reaming and thinning out the slick butt or thinning down the butt of the blank. For tuna trolling rods, EVA or Hypalon isn't an option since the rods spend time in the rod holder and it can be difficult to remove the rod from the holder once you get a good size fish on and it will mess up the EVA/Hypalon. The Rail Rod Composite Cork handles may work, but you would have to ream a lot out. It depends on how the rod is used and where. West Coast rail rods can use Hypalon for the rear grip, but on the East Coast, most guys are trolling bars or Ballyhoo with the rod in the holder until it gets a fish on it.

Some guys prefer the Unibutt to switch uppers on different rods and to make it easier to switch out in case of a failure. Other guys like the solid aluminum and extra weight in the rod holder. Some guys like the colors of the Unibutt or that it is all one piece since they see rods improperly built where the gimbals and reel seats start to spin. For bigger fish, some people prefer a bent butt, which you can't make with a straight thru handle.

I prefer a straight thru handle whenever possible, but I don't mind using a Unibutt if it's a #2 short!

I never build slick butt rods. They save the customer a few dollars in the beginning, but after the first few trips, they look like crap and ultimately the customer is unhappy with them. Not only that, I don't want my name on an inferior product and the slick butt is definitely inferior to a metal unibutt.