[ksong]

I fished Cape Cod with Capt Dom today and my friend Chris landed a 65" ( 160 lbs - 170 lbs ) with 8'6" OTI Tuna Sniper popping rod and Saragosa 18000F.
I know OTI Tuna Sniper 40 - 60 lbs popping rod are pretty good as I tested the proto-type rod last year and caught several yft upto 80 lbs. I thought The rod is good for tuna upto 100 lbs - 120 lbs, but I was very impressed with the way the rod handled 160 - 170 lbs bluefin. The fighting time was 25 minutes using 18 lbs drag. There were times the fighting position was very close to high sticking and rod bent down hard under the boat.
I don't hesitate to recommend this rod to any fisherman who are looking for quality popping rod with reasonable price.

 

[A.whitman]

is he sleeping after a hard fight? Kil have you used the heavier tuna sniper yet?

 

[Bret]

very nice!

 

[rtran]

congrats on the catch

 

[Albiemanmike]

Can't wait to get my 60-80 Sniper on Tuesday and fish on Wed. if all the planets align............. Nice fish Kil he looks a bit spent for sure. Is the stock washers in the Saragosa adequate for these fish initially as i don't have time to get the Carbontex washers before i go fishing???

 

[ksong]

The 40 - 60 lbs rod got punishment and handled well.

 

[baldurs390]

looks like an epic battle gratz on the fish

 

[Snagged]

Nice!

 

[Jason4606]

Very Nice! The rod looks awesome... I can't wait to build mine!

 

[pametfisher]

The 40 - 60 lbs rod got punishment and handled well.

Great fish! Nice job.

That's amazing that the rod took a 180 degree bend with 18 lbs. drag and didn't break! The physics of it say that is equal to a 36 lb. total load on the guides. I own one and knew that the rod could take more than 20 lbs. but that's amazing.

Again, great job with the fish.

 

[ksong]

Great fish! Nice job.

That's amazing that the rod took a 180 degree bend with 18 lbs. drag and didn't break! The physics of it say that is equal to a 36 lb. total load on the guides. I own one and knew that the rod could take more than 20 lbs. but that's amazing.

Again, great job with the fish.
Roger, I thought the same thing. The rod surely exceed my expectation.

 

[fishingeek]

And I thought I was the highstick King!!!

 

[Capt. Dom]

When Chris sat down to finish the fish, that was when my stomach turned, thinking that no way was the lighter stick gonna take the abuse way up high like that, but it amazed us all by not only taking the bend, but whipping the fish in the process. The 60 to 80 pound version, like I said, will handle a 250 plus tuna with ease, probably much bigger of a fish in the right hands. There isnt a better value in a monster killer out there.

I used the prototype rod 40-60 last year, and was completely confident in them this year. That setup was completely boat gear caught. I have the equipment to tangle with these fish for those that want a shot at one of these big Cape Cod hardtails and dont have their own gear.

 

[ksong]

When Chris sat down to finish the fish, that was when my stomach turned, thinking that no way was the lighter stick gonna take the abuse way up high like that, but it amazed us all by not only taking the bend, but whipping the fish in the process. The 60 to 80 pound version, like I said, will handle a 250 plus tuna with ease, probably much bigger of a fish in the right hands. There isnt a better value in a monster killer out there.

I used the prototype rod 40-60 last year, and was completely confident in them this year. That setup was completely boat gear caught. I have the equipment to tangle with these fish for those that want a shot at one of these big Cape Cod hardtails and dont have their own gear.
When you aked whether you finish the fight, I knew what you were thinking, but I insisted Chris finish the fight as it was his first ever tuna on poppers.

 

[pametfisher]

Roger, I thought the same thing. The rod surely exceed my expectation.

Kil, So I ran some more numbers and my estimate was low. But first I want to say congratulations to Chris and the team for landing this terrific fish. The numbers below are not meant to be critical but informative.

I printed the photo, got out my protractor, measured the angles and calculated the load at each guide, assuming 18 lbs. drag.

Tip: 7.8 lbs.
#2: 8.1 lbs.
#3: 10.5 lbs.
#4: 12.0 lbs.
#5: 7.5 lbs.
#6: 5.0 lbs.
Stripper: 5.6 lbs.

Total load on rod: 56.6 lbs.

A horizontal rod in the same situation would have a Total load of only 29 lbs., about half. It means that pulling the rod from horizontal to upright doubles the load on the rod. In effect, from the rod's point of view, the drag has been doubled!

Roughly, the load at each guide also doubles as the rod is raised from horizontal. So as an example, the load on the second guide from the tip goes from about 4 lbs. at horizontal to 8 lbs. in the photo.

Chris, It looks like you and I have ourselves a pretty good rod. Amazing.

 

[pametfisher]

Here's the marked up photo of the load analysis. This was probably what Kil and Dom where thinking about when they took the photo.

 

[pametfisher]

Not sure this is what Kil, Dom or Chris were thinking when they shot the photo...

What they see.

What I see.

 

[MrBill]

It's amazing what people see in a picture. Pamefisher, Are you a writer for that TV show "Numbers".

This is what i see.

 

[A.whitman]

I agree. nice gaffing. dont waste any of that meat!! that being said i had to clean a 180 pound yft and that was a chore!! I want to go out to the cape sometime. I went to Falmouth every summer for 23 years, yet never tuna fished.

 

[ksong]

The trip was tuna popping trip, but I had to remind it to them so many times as they had more time with camera than rods in hands.
Here are reasons.