Hi Guys. What a great site this is. I love in Melbourne Australia. I am looking to build my own standup trolling rod for tuna and marlin. I am looking at the calstar graphiter blanks. Which one would u guys recommend. What guides etc? Any help much appreciated

I think the first question would be what line weight or top shot will you use? And how long of a rod do you want to build. The shorter the rod more leverage in your favor.

I will be fishing at least 50lb line class. Targeting fish around 150lb and up. I would like a rod no more than 6 ft in length? What you think? If I wanted it to be 5.6ft can I just cut the blank or should I get a different blank?

If you cut the blank you'll change the action, which is either good or bad depending on what action you want to begin with. I would recommend you stay under 6 feet for a stand-up style rod.

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

GF755H or XH are popular. 6' is the max length you will want to try and target for stand up. Short UB2 Unibutt (easier in harness) and either Winthrop or Aftco wind ons. Some of the Calstar Graphiter blanks have a faster tip so turbo guides with a roller tip are preferred in order to prevent cracking at the guide feet (rollers are stiffer). Kevin Knox got me sold on the Batson FSU series of blanks a few years back and they have proven themselves on bluefin, yellowfin, and marlin. I trim the butt to give me the desired overall length and like the more progressive action of the blank. I recently picked up a few of the Batson RCTB56H's to try but have yet to build out. Much lighter blank so hoping it can take the punishment. For bigger line capacity we run most of our 50 wides (Shimano Tiagra or Avet Pro EX50/2) with jerry brown hollow 80 lb, 400-500 yards worth, then top shot a couple hundred yards of 50 or 80 lb mono. The hollow braid allows you to splice your connection for a smooth transition and gives you serious line capacity should you need it. We do the same with our 80's as well.

Mate I recently built 2 tuna/marlin standup rods on Boomer Junior blanks for 24kg. These blanks are perfect for what you are planning and they cut very well. Cut from the base only. Measure 48" from the tip towards the base, mark it and cut. This will give you the 5'6" with a unibutt.

Regards
Mark Fisher
Outback Rods

Thanks for the help guys. Seems hard to get a rod with uni butt under 6ft without cutting the blank. Is it not better to cut a little from the butt and a little from the tip? Also what is the best way to cut? What tool? Thanks

If you cut from the butt and then replace the cut length with the uni-butt, you've effectively restored the original characteristics of the blank.

Cut if from the tip and you change it. A lot.

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

For a stand up, why bother with a uni-butt? If you want something like a uni-butt you could look at Stuart tuffbutt assy. and get much the same with a blank thru build. Basically an aluminum tube with a reel seat welded onto it covered in a nylon sleeve....slide the whole blank inside arbored to fit.

Used to use hacksaw or file in the old days with glass blanks. I'd use an abrasive blade on a dremel now.

Only you can decide where best to trim your blank (if at all). Totally depends on your needs and what you are looking to accomplish.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Wow thanks guys... Now I'm a little confused. What are the benefits of the uni butt? I am looking at the calstar gf410xh which is a 40-100lb blank. I don't know what the action will be? Someone told me to go with the heavy duty aftco rollers? Will they be ok with this blank?

The main advantage of the Uni-Butt is convenience in storage and transport. Many stand-up rods, owing to their already short configuration, don't employ one and are simply built "straight-thru."

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

Sean, you said "someone told you". So I have to ask what your experience level is with stand up fishing. What tackle have you used, what did you like and dislike? What pound class is the maximum you can handle? Will you be fishing from the same boat mostly? Or must the rod work well on a variety of boats?

You say 50# class at least and 150# and up fish. Huge difference between 150# tuna on 50# class and 1,000# on 130# class. I'm old, not particulary big, and haven't tried one of the latest and greatest harness set-ups. Therefore I'd set my pratical limit in the 20 something# drag range depending on boat size and the seas. I'd call that 50- 60# class range. Maybe you can handle a lot more?

If you will never fight out of the chair, and want a finished rod length 6'6" or under, I wouldn't pay for a uni-butt. For 50# class and under I would use ring guides. 80# class I'd look at rollers but then I'd be in a chair:) So you are (maybe) in that grey area. Rollers are smoother, and do make a difference, if you are on the under-gunned side and have a lot of several hundred yard runs in a battle. These days you can afford to load up on heavier braid and run a shorter mono top shot. That gives you a bigger margin/cushion and would make me feel fine with premium insert ringed guides.

If you don't go with a uni-butt then you will need a different blank as I think 4'10" is a little short.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Thanks Russel. The line class I will most likely be fishing is 50lb mono. I will be using a tiagra 50w. No I will not be fishing out of a chair... If I was I would use another rod for that. All the rods I have used have been factory standard rods in that line class so I haven't paid a huge amount of attention to the ins and outs of them.. I have only just started to realise once I started looking at building a rod just how many different options there are. It's a lot to take in but I think I will enjoy it. I think it's back to the drawing board.. I need to decide if I am going to go with a Uni butt or slick butt. Does the blank go all the way through on the slick butt? Also need to look at blank selection again

Yes, with a slick butt the blank runs tip to butt. The slick butt facilitates getting the rod out of the rod holder when a fish strikes.

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

Few terms to know. Uni-butt is the butt and reel seat all in one. Blanks gets glued a few inches into a ferrule which is attached to the uni-butt with a collet not. Tuff butt is mad by stuart. One aluminum tube with reel seat attached. Butt end is covered in a nylon sleeve. Slick butt is just the nylon sleeve.

Your options. Slide a EVA/hypalon butt grip on with epoxy glue. Next install reel seat, again with epoxy and arbored to fit blank (pick reel seat to fit hand not blank). Next up, some thing only eva/hypalon butt grip is replaced with nylon sleeve. Main advantage is it slipd in/out of rod holder under load easier. Then to move into gluing some sort of tube onto the end of the rod. These days that is typically aluminum or carbon fiber. It might be used to extend a blank. You would then attach grips and reel seat. Or you could buy stuart's tuff butt which has the reel seat and nylon sleeve already attached. The we move to the uni butt. There the blank is glued a few inches into a ferrule and attached to the uni butt with a collet nut. Reel seat is intergal and no need for a butt grip. Mainly used for heavy trolling and chair work. That said it allows you to have a curved buttt. A short curved butt can be used to great advantage on a stand up rod.......but only if you like the way it feels/fits and you use the right technique. Nort for everyone and why I asked what you used/liked so far.

As we move up on the list of options we add weight. Given the size of your chosen reel that shouldn't be a deal breaker. However I'll say you could fish 50# class on a much smaller reel if you mostly loaded with braid. Over here guys are getting international 12's 2-speeded tricked out and fishing 50#. And of course you have your accurates/duals/etc. Point being you might do well to build on the lighter side and then build a heavier rod later on for that 50W (which would fish 80# class with ease).

The big question you need to answer has to do with the rod's action. Don't confuse this with the rod's power. A fast action blank will bend mostly in the top thrid of the blank. The butt of the rod will hardly bend at all. A slower (parabolic) action rod will bend down into the butt of the rod. You need to think of your rod as a lever with you on the wrong end of it. The fish has the advantage. A rod that bends down into the butt reduces that lever arm. There is more to it all than just this and it is a highly personal choice. Sometimes it is clouded but past experience with old slow action blanks. Todays best parabolic rods are a different animal with fast recovery and good lifting power.

Calstar and Seeker are always balnks to consider for tuna. However don't overlook proven brands like lamiglass or some of the new(er) comers like CTS and Phenix. Bloody decks forum can be rowdy but those guys do more tuna fishing than most here do so might be worth a visit.

Take you time, do your reasearch, and ask a lot of questions. Don't over state your requirements. You can have a lot of fun catching big fish on a small rod but using too big of a rod on too small of fish isn't too much fun at all. In the end I do think you will be best served by two rods. Personally I'd go calstar/seeker (with some glass) for the 80# and phenix/cts for the 50# (but with a lighter reel). One rod for the school fish and one for when the big boys show up:)

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

Thanks very much Russel. Huge help! I have many other lighter rods in my collection.. In fact the only rod I don't have is for the real big boys so that's why I wanted to build one to fit that requirement. I'm glad I have been getting all this info from you guys. Do you mind if I send you a few messages during my build asking some questions that I'm sure I will have? I think I'm going to go with a calstar graphiter 760L and cut the blank to size with a short aftco uni butt. Is the graphiter a good blank for standup fishing? Is the action too fast? I will still go with the aftco hd rollers. This won't be my only build so I will definitely look at other blanks in the future as well.

Thanks Tom. That might be an option for my next rod build.. I do like the sound of the blank running all the way through.