Hi I'm thinking of building a popping rod for gt tuna
and was wondering if any one built them and on which blanks?
was looking for around 7'5" PE8 and to throw around 70g-180g
was going to do some stick baiting with it swell
thanks

Tristan
Sydney, NSW
Australia

The saltywater Race Point 200 is nice.
Around $300 for blank so not cheapest but nice.
Very straight blank and minimal spine, secure ferule that is going to last years if that is important to you.
PE 8 60 to 140 gm lure.
Stated max drag is 14kg but my mate sets his drag to 30kg on 150lb braid ( its his arms taking the shock, good luck to him)

Butt section tapers thin at butt thicker at ferule so its a build backwards deal .

Check out the American Tackle GT blanks .. they are "1+ blanks" extend/collapse into the butt section. They have a variety of them at the 7'6" length. Shipping too will be cheaper if you have to have them sent from the US - MudHole is a good source and ships internationally,

Our Bushido GT/popping blanks are the toughest on the market! Everyone that builds on them absolutely love them!

_______________________________
God Bless, Don Morse

800-516-1750 ext. 1207 / don@americantackle.us

Rod Building..... It's What We Do.

I second the Bushido blanks, I love the ones I have.

I use them to build Alabama rig rods that are tough & will fit in a rod locker when collapsed but can remain rigged.

Hi Tristan,

Yesterday I received a shipment from your next door neighbor (Kilwell in NZ).

The shipment consisted of 3 GOM GT blanks and 3 long distance fishing blanks.

The GOM GT are rated to a maximum of PE 12. PE 10 recommended.
It is 8' 6" and butt joined. The use is GT and tuna. The 3 blanks are already sold.

Similar to the GOM GT is the GOM3. It is rated PE 10/ PE 8.

The last blank in this group is the XTUPE10 (?). It is the nano version and is about 8' long and is also PE 10/PE 8 rated.

I believe Synit is located in NZ. They may be your best opportunity to acquire the best GT / Tuna blanks.

Don

Don Becker

G-day Tristan

about 2 and a half years ago i built a GT poppin stick for a weeks fishin at mackerel island just of the Western Aus coast i used the 50-100lb CBR tuna poppin blank an to be honnest i didn't really push it to it limits as most of the GT we caught were about 10 to 15kg but a mate caught a massaive chinaman that wouls have been close to 1.5m plus. i know the 50 to 100lb is a but heavy for the cast weight but there 30-60lb might better suit the casting weights.

Dave O'Brien
Port Macquarie
Australia

Check out the Black Hole nano popping range. Have built a few now with only positive feedback. The clients were using for big GT's out of Exmouth and the Mackerals.

Stu Klose
Denmark, Western Australia

Tristan Batho,
Check out our RainShadow RCLB 79MH blank for your GT Tuna!! You could also try to find our IMU82MH and cut it down. These are discontinued, but if you look around the price on them is definitely right!! You can compare specs amongst others by visiting www.rainshadowrodblanks.com and you can outfit your rod blank with components as well: www.alpsforecast.com

I second the Blackhole. Only blank that I use now for my personal rods.