casting rod tor tuna

i couldnt tell u as ive never really casted with any luck but id say go for it, on my 48hr there was a guy casting a setup very similar in that it was a trini 30 with 40#, and it was on a long light casting rod, sounds like a sweet setup u got. BTW he caught and landed about 3YF on his setup..

 

I have a 7' 2pc Tsunami rated for up to 50' and I can put the wood to some fish with it. Did a 70lb wahoo in 10 mins with it. It about splits the difference between a Calstar 700m and H. Let me also qualify my remarks that I treated this rod like I would a back up. I fight fish as if I don't care if I will lose it. So my gear takes a beating.

Case in point: I hooked a shark that had to be well over 200lbs on this rig. It was doing one thing heading down and offshore in a slow steady run. So I lock up on him on my customized 533 Newell and he takes me down to a 1/4 spool of 65lb spectra. With both hands dug into the spool I get him stopped. Then I bottom out the rod and get this fish turned. Finally it wears through my 40lb topshot. I don't know how much I was putting on that shark. But it was more than I would probably put on a tuna.

You shouldn't have a problem. I would use it for tuna.

 

6X6..

If you are planing on fishing for YFT on Party Boats / Head Charters it would be too light unless it's a school of small YFT under 60#. It would be a fine rig for Black Fin Tuna, Kings, Dorado and Snapper.

The real negative is the line weight for larger YFT.. with 40# you can only dial up around 13# of drag and be safe from breakage on a hard run. You need 65# braid with a 80# Shock leader so you can push 25# of drag to lessen the fighting times... that will also mean a 50-60# class casting rod for best results.

Reason Being.. When you fish for tuna at the floaters the boat is drifting from the time they stop the boat and shift out of gear. The boat can only drift so far before it should return to the rig or it will scatter the Tuna if they get too far from the rig lights.

If you use too light of gear and have to fight a fish for 45 Minutes to an Hour the boat is drifting the whole time. You will not be very popular if you are locked up on a fish and everyone else is watching and waiting for the boat to return to the rig so they can fish too. When you do return there is a possibility the Tuna school will be diminished because they followed the boat and got scattered out in open water.

I've been out gunned by triple digit YFT with light gear on top-waters and it sure ain't No Fun.

Bazz

 

Bazztex:That is interesting about the boat's scattering the fish away from the rig. I had never heard that.

6X6: You can take to the bank what Bazztex said about being very very unpopular. We had a yahoo who did that on a party boat with over 40 people--fought a fish for well over an hour and a half while we waited to get back to the rig. It was rumored he was buddies with the Captain who allowed it to happen.

Russ

 

Let me jack the thread then and ask, what set up (line, reel, rod) do you feel is adequate for casting to YFT in the GOM? Just out of curiousity, also please include the number of YFT you have personally hooked and landed on said gear.

 

6x6,
Youve a good snapper/kingfish rod there, save it for them or catching blackfin for bait.
Put your Trini on an OTI or a 700 h and you'll have a good popper rig.

 

atunatado: Back in college, when we were too lazy or too inexperienced to conduct original research, we would do what we called a "...survey of the literature." That was academic BS for reading what everyone else said and reporting on it. That is the track I took before I bought a popping rod (I now have 5 of the damned things.) While I have hooked and landed a total of 4 YFT, none of them was by popping. However, I can tell you that, based on the fun I had using a 6 foot roller rod with a 130 rating, and a 50W reel with 900 yards of 130 pound line, drag set at about 20-25, and catching nothing bigger than 75 pounds, I don't want to use light tackle on one of these brutes--much less one potentially twice that big.

Also, having researched the topic of popping equipment on this and other boards religiously and to the point of passing out, what Snagged says is absolutely correct--and a majority of the experts (not me) agree on something along the lines of a Calstar 700 (rated for 40 - 80) or the similar but probably even superior OTI rod. If you look back at all the similar questions on this board (including several of my own ) or if you go out to 2cool or any of the other big saltwater boards, you will find that such rods, with a minimum line rating of 50 pounds and a mid-rating of around 70 pounds, are the gold standard of popping rods--something between 6 1/2 feet (really stiff and harder to get good distance) and 9 feet (great distance but may beat you to death quicker than the fish), depending on what kind of a horse you are.

I am a great believer in educating myself in what the real experts do. When I have a medical condition, I ask my doctor what he would recommend if I were his own father. When I have a plumber come out, I ask what he would do if it were his pipes. (When I consult a lawyer, I consider suicide.)

So what I did when I came on this board and others, the first time, was to pick everyone's brains. Based on that advice, I bought:

1. A Calstar 700H Spinner (40-80#)
2. A Calstar 700XH Spinner (50-100#)
3. A Calstar 700H Conventional (40-80#) (are you beginning to see a pattern here?)
4. A Smith LTD 80P/35 spinner (8 feet-Japanese) (approx. 65 # rating)
5. A Souls True Excalibur 90HHS (9 feet-Japanese) Even I can cast tis rod a mile and I just couldn't resist the name!

I bought the last two rods for 3 reasons: One, I love the Japanese removable butt (that came out wrong, somehow- ) two, for me at least, much superior casting distance, and three, they are beautiful and they are fun. But they are also expensive, and if someone told me I was going to have to fish with only one rod for the rest of my life, fight big fish with it, and not break it, it would be one of the 7-7 1/2 footers.

My next and hopefully last popper will be the OTI because I got to cast two of the prototypes and it may well be the best compromise in terms of length available. I also love the grip material they use, if that is still in use. The price/value of the rod has to be one of the best as well. I have laid out anywhere from $300 to $750 so far for my rods and if forced to choose one rod forever, it would be either the 700H or the OTI heavy--just like Snagged said.

Oh, but I would not make it a conventional, because I am incompetent trying to cast one!

Russ

 

Russ,
You know you have it bad, don't you?
You also know your trying to infect another, don't you?
Tackle Ho

 

If anyone can cast over 70 yards with conventional or spinning reels, I would say it is good for yellowfin.
I experimented with many different setups for tuna popping last year. I even used 10' conventional surf rods on a boat and caught a few yft on poppers.

Personally I prefer 65 - 80 lbs braided line and 80 lbs leader mono/Fluoro carbon leader line for popping tuna as I'd like to use at least 20 lbs drag on a party boat.
On the recent Gulf Eagle trip, I could bring a 75 lbs yft within gaff range in 2 - 3 minutes using 22 - 24 lbs drag on Stella 16000 and OTI 80 lbs custom 7'6" rod.

 

Kil,
One of the strange things about popper fishing is that the fish usually come in fast.

 

Kil,
One of the strange things about popper fishing is that the fish usually come in fast.
That is true for jigging too, especially when you use treble hooks. It seems tuna don't fight hard when they can not open/close mouth well. When we hook tuna on poppers and jigs, we usually crank before tuna turn their heads and besides, there are only 50 -100 yards of line when hooked.

 

Thanks for the reply Uncle Russ.

 

Atunatado

Been Tuna fishing since the mid 70's to Include Texas, North Carolina and Cali and have caught 4 Species.. am I an expert.. No Way.. but have enough experience to tell you what Wont Work on a party boat with 15- 40 anglers with lines in the water. How many have I caught 100s?? but Who's counting LoL

40 Lb tackle is fine if you have the skill, room and time to work a big fish on a sport boat with the other lines cleared. When we fish the GOM as a large group it's on a head boat it's a matter of control.

I have used a Torium 30 loaded with 65# power pro and Penn Formula SST 7ft 30-80# to box 3 YFT each over 90# with the largest 125# all on Top-waters... not bad for GOM... I also had 3 over 150# hand me my butt on the same rig. Boxed 5 lost 3 due to pulled hooks and one cut off on the hull.

Conventional

An Avet LX 3/6, John Baker 8 (2 Speeds), Saltiga 40, Trinidad 40 is a pretty fair reel that will give you enough drag and line capacity and a 7ft 50-60# class rod like a Calstar 700ML or 700H.. I have also heard great reports about the OTI 7ft and 7'6" conventional or Spinning.

The trade off between the Calstar 700 ML is a softer tip makes it easier to cast, but less lifting power.. the 700H has plenty of lifting power but it takes a larger weighted popper to load the tip. Preferance between the two most likely will depend on your size and weight.

Spinning

I have a Stella 20000 FA loaded with 65# JB-1 solid and Bar Bar Tackle 7ft 50# Baston Hybrid Grafite/E-glass Tip and a Back up Spheros 14000 FA loaded with 65# Power pro and a Bar Bar Tackle 6'6" 60# Baston Hybrid rod. I am also going to try a Cabo 80 on a Accurate / Calstar 765 ML 30-80#

You can also Free style jig Aj's and Tuna with any of these 50-60# rigs.

Bazz

 

Thanks Bazztex, good information.

 

Snagged:Actually, far from trying to infect atunatado, I am trying to serve as a pathetic example of what not to do (although I am only a cheap ho compared to some on this board)--that is, buying tackle until you have lost your mortgage, your car, and your furniture, and you are living under a bridge with your tackle.

kilsong:I am barely able to cast 70 yards, and that, with the 9 foot Souls. I did about 65 with the OTI heavy prototype and the 8 foot 80P/35. I can only get about 65 with the 700H or 700XH, depending on lure weight. (This was in practice, of course.) With the conventional 700h, 665 2-speed, and 80 pound braid, I practically fell down with the lure stuck in my uh, ear.

I have heard how much easier it is to land a tuna popping or jigging and would love to experience that. So far, my fight time, on much heavier trolling tackle, for a 75 pounder is more like an estimated 7 minutes. So maybe it would be easier at that.

Russ

 

Russ, you still can get enough bites in 40 - 60 ft.
You can increase casting distance after a few trips or practice.
Even good casters of conventional reels, they will have tangled lines sometimes and it could be a pain to untangle lines at night, especially when bites are hot. That is why I decided to use spinning reels for popping tuna.

 

Hey 6x6!

You should also consider putting 65# spectra and a short leader on your reel.

The Trini 30 holds about 275 yards of 40# mono. If you're casting 100 yards of it, you could be cutting line capacity close if you hook into a bigger tuna.

 

Spinning
Back up Spheros 16000 FA loaded with 65# Power pro ....Bazz


Spheros 16000 FA ??????

Can you elaborate a little for me on this Charlie?

 

Sorry for the mistake Bobby..

It's a Spheros 14000 FA with Carbontex drag washers ... I have it corrected now... DOH