I am trying to build a rod as a surprise for a relative and have only limited information about his fishing. He fishes offshore for yellowfin, wahoo, mahi and sailfish, almost always with live bait. I know this is sketchy, but would appreciate any blank suggestions you might have. Thanks!

For that selection I'd personally choose a 6.5'-7' live bait rod around the 50# class. If the tuna wasn't in the mix, or if the tuna are only blackfins, I'd be ok with going down to a 30# class.

Yes, as Jay is hinting, any rod suitable for yellowfin is way too heavy (IMHO) for mahi and sailfish. Do you know if he is trolling live bait, fishing it under a kite, under a ballon, drifting with the current??? And are you positive it is yellowfin and not blackfin tuna.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Thanks guys. I will try to pick up a little more info. He lives 5 hours away and I'm trying to be covert (to create the surprise), but will keep trying. Thanks again.

I can understand the need to be covert. Just knowing where he fishes, and if from his own boat and its size, would help.

For example, in my area (southeast Florida), a guy fishing from his own boat for yellowfin would have to own a rather big/nice boat and travel quite far offshore (possibly to the bahamas). Such an angler is going to have more means and therefore something a little nicer is in order. On the other hand, guys in San Diego often go on long range party boats for yellowfin.

You'd be looking at very different rod choices for those two examples.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

My assumption was that the guy fishes on the east coast since Ed is in Georgia. My guess is the guy fishes in Fla since he live baits for the species listed.

Fair guess Jay (and BTW where are you?).

I had no idea where Ed was from.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

LoL I searched for his location...I didn't know.

I'm an eastern NC native, lived on the middle coast of the state for 8 years, now live across the cable span bridge from Charleston in the town of Mount Pleasant.

Jay and Russ-did some more detective work. He fishes out of Charleston It is his own boat and often runs 30-50 miles to fish. Found a pic that looks like he also fishes some artificials. Whatever I end up building, I realize it will only fit 1 maybe 2 applications. As mainly a FW bass guy, your help is very valuable! Thanks again.

Live bait fishing isn't very efficient when using a trolling-type rod while trolling CAN be done with a live bait rod. If he is going to be using this as a multi-purpose rod, and live bait is part of that, then I'd certainly go with a LB rod. Something like a Calstar Grafighter GF700 or GF600 series (or other similar blanks). You can choose the line rating range depending on what size tackle he prefers to use.

A very sincere thanks for all your help guys.

It is Jay's waters so he is the man to follow. I'd be curious to know how common the Yellowfin are. I'd be more inclined to think he will see a lot more dolphin, sailfish, wahoo, and king mackeral. A 30# class rod would be about right for live baiting those guys. If I was going to catch a yellowfin of any size on live bait I want a 50# class stand up type rod.....but I wouldn't want that for the other fish.

The Garfighter is a very solid chice IMHO. Phenix is another that is building a solid following.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Jay, I'll be staying at the Charleston Harbor Resort/Marina May 9-13. I'd like to find an open boat charter, unless there's good action in the suds. What's around that time of year?