My new Tuna Popping Spinning Rod

Hi Kil, so how many of the Tiralejo surf rods do you have now and how would you rate them? I might be keen to order one myself and would like to hear some reviews from folks I am familiar with
I have two. one is TRC-100MH2 and the other is TRS-90MH2.

TRC-100MH2
It is 10' casting rod. Line weight is 17-40 lbs mon0 / 20-65 lbs braid and lure weight is 3-5 oz. It weighs 17 1/2 oz.
The tip part is as thick and strong as 500 g jig stick.
I originally purchased this rod for popping yellowfin in Gulf of Mexico.
I landed three yft on the recent Gulf of Mexico trip though they were not big.
The rod is very strong and I feel I can land any tuna under 100 lbs with this rod. Fighting tuna with long 10' rod is not easy, but it is not that difficult as many people think if you know how to fight.

TRS-90MH2
It is 9' Spinning rod. Line weight is 15-30 lbs mono / 20-65 lbs braid and lure weight is 1-3 oz. It weighs 14 oz.
The tip part is light and looks fragile to fight big fish.
I purchased this rod to cast light one or two oz poppers for bluefin in Cape Cod Bay, MA. Though it doesn't look strong to fight tuna, I decided to buy this rod as I have to throw one or two oz poppers and there are reports that professional guides there catch bluefin regularly with similar action St Croix spinning rods. The rod is very light (14 oz) and cast pretty good.
After I caught a 80 lbs bluefin on this rod, I am convinced this rod can handle a tuna upto 100 lbs if I treat the rod very gently.
This rod has a life time warranty and I can use it for other purposes if I break it whiling fighting tuna and get a replacement.

I had the opportunity to try out on a limited basis, two prototypes of the OTI 7 1/2 foot rods. I say limited, because our captain did not want us blind casting and the tuna were mostly out of range while we were chunking. So our party was unable to hook up with one. I saw Captain Eddie pitch an OTI Wombat Chugger way way out there with one (I am not a good caster at all, and I get only about 165-180 feet on all rods I have tried--Smith, Calstar, and OTI. Also, Fred (gimmedeal) was able to load the slower of the two rods (he did not cast the faster of the two) and was very pleased with it.

These OTI rods are different animals from the seven foot which Fred owns and I have seen. They are two piece (in the Japanese fashion with a butt joint) and the two we tried out only weighed 18 1/2 ounces, which is about 4 ounces more than an 8 foot Smith I own. And I think most of that weight differential is in the material of the upper grips, so it isn't out there on the end exerting leverage on you. An engineer might correct me, but I think that matters. Also, even though they weigh somewhat more than the 80P/35, they can handle FAR more drag and provide superior fish-fighting ability for larger fish. The lighter Smith is limited to 11 pounds maximum drag and I personally deadlifted 15 pounds with both prototype OTI rods which they took without blinking (I will post photos later). And, as everyone knows, the developers of the blank have lifted far more than that on them. Uncle Russ is just plain chicken. (I don't want my doctor to tell me my erectile disfunction was caused, not by high blood pressure, but by particles of carbon in my...but you get the picture.)

The butts are much thinner than those on the heavy Calstars and Smiths. (I did not have calipers so did not measure them.)

I have not yet checked the weights of the heavier rated Smith Ltd rods (mostly GT sticks) but I intend to tomorrow, and I strongly suspect that the OTI final edition will compare favorably in weight with the Smiths, Carpenters, and Fisherman rods of comparable line-rating.

At least two and maybe more of our party will almost certainly buy the finished product if it is relatively fast and heavy, and if the price point is comparable to the other OTI rods. (Because of the nature of the rod, it is almost certain to be more expensive and understandably so.)

Russ

The lighter Smith is limited to 11 pounds maximum drag ........

Russ

Hey Russ, correction! WRC80P/35 is not limited to 11lb drag, I used it for 4 solid days of GT fishing in Africa with 8-9kg (16-18lb) initial drag setting and making half a turn or more during the fight. Heres a over 75lb GT I caught with the rod.



Although I do not have extensive experience in Tuna popping but the few trips I made lately makes me think that the key importance for an all round tuna casting rod (different scenerio i.e.; oil rigs, surface feeding etc) is casting distance. And as most tuna available to top water plugs rarely go beyond 100lb, power of the rod is secondary. During the GOM Trip organised by Kil, I landed a few tuna between 40lb and 70lb, they all came in easy; pound for pound not even close to a GT's fight. My biz partner Sami who landed a few nice tunas was also surprised they are so easy to land. As such, I think a longer rod rated for PE5 will do the job in general and the next important factor of a popping rod is weight; any season casting angler will know how important it is to have a light setup to counter casting fatique.

I have now gotten myself a Zenaq FC86-4 for tuna casting, that extra 6" and lighter action rod will make casting 60-100g lures much further.

During the GOM trip I had the chance to fiddle with Tony's (Deep Sea Gull) OTI popping rod, the finishing was great and felt like a very strong rod but was not impressed in the weight department. It would be nice to see a rod at half the price of Japanese rods that will function just as good.

Gman,

casting rods made of 100% glass is history in Japan; just like monofilament, most rods for popping and jigging are made from carbon or carbon composites.

Thanks for the correction, Randy. My mistake. I meant to say 11 kilograms, which would of course, be 24 pounds--not 11! That is the "maximum drag" stated on the rod itself, and you are certainly approaching that with 18 pounds.

I was in no way trying to disparage the 80P/35. I love it and have no doubt that feeling will grow as I get to use it more. My only point was that I had made a weight comparison in which it is lighter than the shorter OTI rods and wanted to point out that for that 4 ounces, I have no doubt the shorter, heavier rods would handle more drag. And no doubt, even with the correction to my mistake, that would be the case. I in no way intended to say that you would need much drag for Gulf tuna but just trying to make the weight comparison fair. Also, while I like the OTI handles, I do think they probably add some of the weight.

Russ