[bjack]

Just bought 2 50 lb. class rods/ reels since it seems I will be fishing at the edge more than I planned since no tuna inshore - this year...? (The rest of my gear is 30lb. class which has held fine up so far on 50-70# tuna but I'd like a fighting shot at a marlin or 100+ tuna, hence the 50's) My question for the more experienced guys here is where would you place the heavier setups in the spread and what would you troll off them? Right now I'm using mainly artificials (bars, chains, cedar plugs etc.) Also what would you fill the 50's with, 60#; 80#?

Thanks

 

[MakoMatt]

bjack, I often troll with 30# and 50# outfits. I can troll 7 rods and set them up as follows: 3 International 30 wides single speed spooled with Berkley 50# test are close off the transom on flat lines. The center flat line being a little further out then the port and starboard lines. 4 International 50 wides 2 speed spooled with 80# Berkley are trolled 2 out of port and starboard rodholders going back further then the flat lines, and 2 trolled out of the riggers going back the most. Logic being rods that hold more line start out with more line in the water so as to make what's left on all spools equal. I'm not sure that it makes much difference though when you take into consideration line dia. and spool sizes. Seems to make everything equal though. Also, my logic is that the heavier the line, the better chance of landing the fish after hookup, hence, the heavier rods will have more line in the water to begin with. That can all change rather quickly though when a good fish hits a flat line. Lure selection to start with, and this changes as you begin to see what's working that day, starts with cedar plugs and small stuff up close followed by larger lures, daisey chains, spreader bars, etc. out further.

Hope this helps.

Tight lines,
Matt
NIKKI ANN

 

[bennie]

the theory that you should put your 50's back far and 30's up close goes right out the window when a huge bigeye takes a lure trolled mere feet off the transom.

but, i do agree that since 50's have more line from the onset than 30's that it makes sense to send the 50's to your far riggers.

bottom line is that with exceptional boat handling you will be able to land bigeyes on 50's and even 30's
dont be afraid to turn the boat and chase these beasts

 

[bjack]

Thanks Matt and Bennie, good point - didn't even think of that...

Sorry for the triple post I got an error message the first 2 times.

 

[togmaster]

BJACK 30's verse 50's

Bjack I started fishing the Canyons with 50tw's and found I was fighting the rod and reel not the fish. I then went to the 30sw 2 speeds and loaded it up with 80 pound jinkia. I have landed big eyes up to 270 lbs. after a 2 hr battle. Yes the 50 or 80 tw?s would have helped but I found the reel did rather well. Now how often in the Canyon do you encounter the over 150 lbs. fish? Yes there are some but not as often as we like. So I take my chances with the light rig and reel. I now only use a Newell 646 3:1 which is a total paper weight and is awesome in power and for fighting big Allison?s. This is what the west coast guys have used and they are way ahead as far as tackle because they have the long range boats that need all types of gear to land 300 lbs. yellows and up! So for trolling you may have an issue on the long rigger rods with line capacity. but for up close that?s the way to go. For chunking the Newell?s are great well I think you?ll thank me after you use it? Also use stand up rods not long trolling rods. I use 5 ft. bent butt stand ups because the leverage you get on these babies is unsurpassed for stand up fighting. Hope this helps good luck out there.

 

[MakoMike]

Bjack,
My two cents, which is totally opposite togs, your going to have your heart broken. There are plenty of 150+ fish out there. Plus please, do not fight any fish for more than an hour, it'll just kill the fish and the meat will be garbage, if you're on a fish for an hour and not making much progress just cut the line or push up the drag.

 

[Squeri Boy]

Troll 7 Penn 8o's across the back and inside riggers. I troll 2 50sw's on the outside rigger.

Reason is more of our bigger fish come in close behind the boat. Most of teh bigeye we have had hit the inside baits. Don't ever recall one hitting outside rigger. Have hit the deep center bait which is also an 80.

Marlin also tend to hit inside baits mostly inside rigger although that backfired yesterday when we got hit by a nice blue marlin on the outside rigger and landed on the line and broke off. Oh well.

 

[togmaster]

Fishing for fun or meat?>>>

Well Mako mike I see you disagree with me but depending on your goal my question stated for sport fishing not meat fishing. When I go out commercially we fish nothing less then an 80'wide and some guy?s wont fish less then 130's. My reply was based on the topic of sport fishing. You cannot tell me that a 50 and up is a lot of weight for a rod and reel? I find that on longer battles the lighter rod is easier on your body. I get the same drag on a 30 as of the 50's I use 80lbs test set to 24 max drag. Most people spool with 80lbs on the 50's I spool my 50's with 100lbs and 30lbs drag. Yes I loose line capacity but I get more drag. I can tell you I have landed many giants on stand up 50 tw?s and 100lbs. test 200 jinkia leader. The only time you need the capacity is when your not going to come off the ball or trolling where you got a lot of line out on your riggers. Another thing I saw was big eyes only hit the short pattern . This is not true we had 4 big eyes one day on at once and all the riggers were hit. So that is not always the truth. I don?t think the theory of which line will get hit is 100% facts I have seen to many different hook ups from different species to say which line would be hit. But I do agree that flat lines with the big feathers have been a great success for big eyes over the years. But back to Mako?s response I hope you have tried a light setup with 80lbs test on it? If not try a Newell 646 or a 30 sw with 80 lbs and at least 20lbs of drag and you tell me which one you like.Also the rod has just as a important part in the deal. If you have a good 5ft 50 to 130 lbs class rod you could pump the fish up quicker so make sure you have good rods also. Trolling rods unless your using a chair are to long and wind up killing you not the fish. Remember it is not meat fishing just fun. You wan them in the boat quick then use the 50?s and up!

 

[MakoMike]

Tog,
Two points. 1) it may be sport fishing but if your going to kill a fish you should use the meat not waste it. You know as well as I do what tuna burn is and any fish you fight fo over an hour is going to be burnt. 2) Even the 115 pound women I fish with can handle 80Ws on 6ft tuna sticks.
My point is that there are lots of big fish out there and you have to make a decision. Sure the light stuff will be more fun on the 40 pound long fn and rat yellows, but you have to accept that you're going to get spooled if a decent bigeye or the lady in the blue suit comes calling. OTOH if you go with the heavier stuff it can be a little more tiring in a long fight. BTW- I agree with you on what hits where, I've caught plenty of eyes and blue marlin off the outter and inner riggers.

 

[togmaster]

JUST A CHOICE

Well I think we both have the facts but it is a diffrence of choice here. I still go light in the canyon. Yes it is alonger battle and yes the adreniline will kill the meat but if its not for the bucks i'm in it for the fun and there is nothing better then a big sucker putting the balls to the floor.
Also try a 50 or 80 after 1 hr. with out a back harness. LOL can't argue that?

 

[MakoMike]

Tog,
Your certainly right there, you need the gimbal belt and harness or a chair. I don't think I'd be confotable fighting a fish, even on a 30, without the belt and harness. ****, I even use the old fashioned style belts when codfishing.

 

[MakoMike]

Tog,
I forgot to metnion re: the newells, ask crazy Al what happened the last time he hooked a tuna on his Newell on my boat.

 

[621962]

west coast style

I have made a major change in my tackle for canyon fishing similiar to west coast angler's. West coast fisherman use tricked out Penn and Shimano reels with spectra backing and mono topshots.
I have the following line capacities
Shimano Tiagra 20 400yd 80lb spectra and 100yb 50lb mono,ti30 600yds 80lb spectra and 100yds 60lb mono,ti30w 500yds 130lb spectra and 150yds 80lb mono ,ti50w 600yds spectra and 200yds 80lb mono. With these outfits I really have the best of both worlds and feel confident fishing them for those bigfish which have shown themselves with some frequency this year. All my rigs were done by Basil Pappas at http://www.ifish42na.com/index.htm. The additional cost of the spectra is negated by replacing topshots not the whole line,which i actually bring with me on trips. I have broken enough handles and blown out the drags on newell reels not to use them for tuna fishing any more. jmo not affiliated with basil just a happy customer

 

[bennie]

hey mako mike,
how many 150 lbs fish have you "cut off" after an hour? i have never met or heard of someone who took this route.

 

[togmaster]

BIG nEWELLS

I HAVE BEEN USING THE 646 3:1 NEWELL AND HAVE LANDED FISH WELL OVER 200LBS. never FAILED ME.NEVER CHANGED THE WASHERS,JUST PREVENTIVE MANTANCE, YES I HAVE SEEN SOME BLOW UP BUT I GUESS I GOT A GOOD ONE. I HAVE THE FIRST 646 SERIS PUT OUT BEFORE MANY OF THE PARTS WERE CHANGED. THIS MAYBE 1 OF ONLY A FEW THAT WORK WELL.SO I'LL RETRACT MY STATEMENT ON NEWELL'S FOR TUNA BUT THE WEST COAST GUYS LIKE I SATED ABOVE HAVE TECHNOLOGY WAY AHEAD OF US HERE. I HAVE BLOWN UP SHIMANOS TLD SERIS ON FISH DOES THAT MAKE THEM BAD? A LOT HAS TO DO WITH THE GUY ON THE ROD. TO MUCH PRESSUER AND DRAG IS A KILLER ON LIGHTER STUFF. THE WORKED INTERNATIONALS I HAVE SEEN FROM THE WEST COAST ARE TOTALLY AWSOME AND EXPENSIVE. BUT THEY WORK WELL. I?LL POST SOME PICTURES UP OF SOME OF THE WEST COAT STUFF FOR YOU TO SEE. I?M SURE SOME OF YOU HAVE THE WEST COAST CUSTOMIZED STUFF SO PUT IT UP FOR US TO SEE? SORRY LEFT THE CAP LOCK ON !

 

[MakoMike]

Bennie,
I have't cut off any 150 pound fish. I use heavy stuff 80Ws spooled with 100 and its never taken us more than 1/2 hour to boat any fish, even the 500+ pound blue marlin that we have released.

Tog,
Some of that west coast stuff is really neat, but, as you said, expensive. Have you seen any of the accurate reels? One place you can find some of that stuff is on e-bay.

 

[reelfun]

weak link

You sound like you want to be able to control a big fish in deep water. As far as where to put the 30's, I would leave them in the garage for this task. I think the best all around deep water reel is a two speed 50w with 80#. The right fish will make you wish you had a bigger reel. With a 30 you can not put enough pressure on a good fish and the line capacity isn't there. With a 30 I think there is more chance of killing a fish you want to release because of over exhaustion.

Big fish have away of finding the weak link.

Capt Larry
REEL FUN