Discuss - 'Big fish rods'

[Adam F]

My current weapons of choice for big fish (deep water wreck conger, big tide blonde ray and sharking) are a pair of 7' 50lb class tippy action Abu Conolons.

 

The plus side is that they seem to give plenty of leaverage (but are hard work) and are tippy/fast actiion with tons of backbone (as opposed to the old fashioned through action)

 

Anyway - Ive seen the short 5' stand-up style rods, and guess that these are easier to wrok, but give less leaverage? I'm not sure what is best? What do others think, and what do others use?

 

 

[TomBettle]

Relatively speaking, a lightish rod with a medium action will beat a big fish more easily than a heavier rod with a fast action.

That's why the stupidly light speed jigging rods are being used to such great effect all over the blue water fishing world for masiive Tuna and such like.

 

A short standup rod of "X" lb class will have far more leverage than a longer fast tapered rod of the same lb class.

Fast tapers result in real hard work as all the pressure (and therefore weight) is at the tip, but you are holding the butt.

 

My own BIG conger rod is a Penn Waveblaster 20/30. I use that when I need moe than 1.25lb of lead. If I can use less, then a lighter rod will be used.

It's plenty to shift a any Conger taken away from the metal work in typical Conger tides.

 

Next week, I am hoping for 200lb+ Yellowfin (we live in hope). The heaviest rod I'll be using is a 30lb class (longish 6') stand-up stick made from E glass, not carbon. The fight will be awesome, but achievable and the softer E glass in a lightish rod will mean I have a better than average chance of winning if I hook up.

 

[just add water]

me and my dad were talking about about this so we bought a pair of 30lb-50lb diawa Kenzaki braid special boat rods they were on offer for only

[Adam F]

Thanks Dan - I'm talking rods that pair up with a TLD 20/25 size reel and will easily handle 2lb of lead in 100'+ of water - so quite specialist tools as not used that often, just wondered what others used.

[gaffa]

I've still got an old (1980's) glassfibre Uglystick "All Roller" 30lb class rod that I use for the "Heavy" fishing. I think its 6ft 6inch

 

Its almost as good as new and probably unbreakable (as advertised)

 

This in combination with an even older ABU20 lever drag reel with narrow chrome plated brass spool gives me the equivalent of a Crane to winch anything off the bottom.

 

Th reel is so heavy that not only do I wear a butt pad but also a harness clipped to the reel supports.

 

The rig then becomes very comfortable to use

 

I Just look stupid when I only manage to reel in a whiting

 

This reminds me I must get out fishing one of these days.

[TomBettle]

Thanks Dan - I'm talking rods that pair up with a TLD 20/25 size reel and will easily handle 2lb of lead in 100'+ of water - so quite specialist tools as not used that often, just wondered what others used.

Seriously Adam

 

That's monster hauling gear, I am surprised you still think of using kit like that.

It's the sort of kit for Common Skate and Porgies, not sub 100lb Conger.

[great white]

Hi Adam

 

As Dan says the new rods are yet to be tested but the write up mentioned that they bend very well, but cope well with big fish. a 10/20 used on big tope.

 

Time will tell

 

Pete the other old rod that Dan refers too is an old ugli stick all roller 30lb, a hefty piece of kit and definatly a big fish rod.

It must weigh 3 or 4 times more than the new one. and was heavy when first used with a diawa 600 and wire line.

 

The modern approach seems to be light weight rods Graphite reels and braid.

 

Charlie

Edited February 23, 2009 by great white

[Adam F]

Seriously Adam

 

That's monster hauling gear, I am surprised you still think of using kit like that.

It's the sort of kit for Common Skate and Porgies, not sub 100lb Conger.

 

It's not that extreme surely? Water over 100' with 2lb leads is pretty common what sat on the hook around here?

 

Yep, seriously hence this post - change my views on this....

 

What would you use then?

[gaffa]

Charlie,

I've got the lighter gear which I normally use but if I'm having to use big leads in deep water I find that with 50lb braid on the ABU 20 and the harness et all I can virtually fish hands free.

 

......Even though the combo probably weighs as much as a Ten pin Bowling ball...

 

I'm a lazy Bu$$er at heart

 

Most of the modern smaller capacity (cheaper end of the market reels ) don't have the fittings to take the harness clips and I do like the lever drag on the old ABU its just the reel is sooooooooooo heeeeeeaaaaaaaavvvvvvvvyyyyyyyyy

 

I don't use it much , in fact I don't use any of my tackle much

 

Peteg

[Gazza]

i use penn tidecutter 20/30 with 975 lever drag for big fish.

 

takes 2lb lead no problem........and i havent had a 'big' fish win a battle yet! (think about it)

 

if i was doing some serious big fish stuff i would keep the rod and upgrade thr reel to 2speed model.

 

How did Bob get on with his new rod ? (same as tidecutter but special no.)

 

my brother (conger king) has had some big fish (conger 72lb) not sure what he was using then ...probably 12/20 penn tidecutter.......maybe he will let you know

 

Gary

[oysterboats]

if the new daiwa 20 50 are as good as the old ones then you will not go wrong with one of them i use the older team daiwa in the 12 20 20 50 and ive also got the all roller 30 50 the latter rod i had the rollers removed because i wanted to use braid with it but found the rod lost its through action and became a very stiff pole but perfect for very big fish ie skate and shark the only thing i can think of is that when the rod was rebuilt it may have been built the wrong way round against the spine and maybe the weight of the rollers being removed had some effect as for the other two rods they are fantastic perfect length and light and wont collapse if you need to use a two pound lead on the 20 50 in a fast tide. personally i find a lot of the newer lighter rods just cant handle the tides that we sometimes fish in and make fishing harder than it needs to be

[TomBettle]

Adam

 

A decent 20/30 with a medium taper will just about handle 2lb of lead for the hour of tide that it is required.

 

If you plan to fish for Conger on a full spring when 2lb is needed right through, well that's up to you, but I'll be bassing inshore then!

 

If you did have to fish a tide like that, then a decent 30lb class rod will cope with no hesitation.

 

My two 30's are a Penn Graphlite 30lb class.

Never ever used it as I just don't fish that heavy in the UK, but it is a nice rod with a fairly fast taper.

 

The other may well get a session or two in the UK, it's built by Stan Massey of Alba rods. It's about 6 foot, built from Eglass and has a lovely medium taper with hge reserves of power in the bottom end. He's called it the "Tuna Tamer 30" and I am planning on using this for Yellowfin later in the week.

I have no doubt that it would also handle a good Common Skate when clipped into a harness.

 

But, this rod is heavy by UK standards and needs a big reel to balance it.

I am putting a Penn Formula 10Kg on it and it looks small.

 

My 20/30 everyday Conger rod is teamed with a TRQ 200. This reel will handle "anything" at all that swims in the UK.

The next reel up is the TRQ300 and that, to be honest is massive overkill for Conger, even a big one of over 80lb.

 

Todays world of braided lines and modern technology producing reels that develop drags akin to the BIG big game reels of yesteryear and gears to boot, all in a size to fit the palm of your hand means we can get away from the monsterous great reels we all used to use for Conger.

 

If you like your lever drags, take a look at the Avet range. Amazing reels in pocket size, but incredible power, capable of stopping anything you will ever it in this country.

 

 

[Bob F]

Gary,

 

The rod handled everything we through at it. Biggest conger was only 38lb, but we were giving the rod some serious teddy when the line was caught in the wreck, and the action looked great. Nice to have a rod where you feel confident about giving it some stick, if needed.

 

The Penn 320 LD 20-30lb is 7'6" long, has fuji butt, reel clamp, and mono rings.

 

A really good looking rod with the performance to boot.

 

I had it hooked up to a Penn 320 GT2 Star drag and the combination worked really well.

 

BF

[Gazza]

Glad your happy with it

 

Also another good point you mention is having the confidence with your tackle.

 

i totally agree.....dont know why, but always seem to fish better when happy with set-up.

 

Gary

[JIMBOB]

Hi all

I still fish a 20/30 ugly stick with a charter special with 50lb braid, in fact im amazed i haven't snapped it yet!! I have snapped a 30lb class pulling a conger out of a wreck fishing with you Adam! Its seem to take everything I throw at it, 2lb lead full tide cod fishing etc.... full teddy pulling congers out of the iron work, I find the tippy action give the rod plenty of shock absorbing quantity's but its got a bit of grunt in the mid section to oik them up!

 

My other weapon is a 30lb class mustard with a tld 20, its a brute set up heavy and stiff much harder work to play fish than the ugly stick, but will be the rod that wins if I ever hook that real monster eel!!

Im think the best rod and reel choice is what you feel most comfortable with, as others have said.

 

James

[Neal]

 

The biggest problem is usually not the capacity of the rod.

 

A 20/30 or 30/50 with the appropriate braid will lift just about anything we have in UK waters.

 

The problem I have always found is the ability of the reel to consistently lift up to 2lb of lead.

 

Using normal 7000 size reels you will strip the gears and if a level wind is present then you will wreck the worm drives. ( 4 x Penn 320's and 2 Abu 7000's - before changing to a big mother f****r)

 

In my experience, unless you use something like a Shimano TLD 25 or the twin speed version you will be constantly replacing / repairing Reels.

 

You then find that it becomes rather easy to just winch whatever it is you have caught (unless it is a rock - of course) straight out of the sea - with very little fight!

 

This is then balanced with using successively lighter rods and reels as the amount of lead required to hold bottom diminishes - which we would rarely do!

 

My advise - use 2 different set ups and change as and when appropriate!

 

Neal

 

 

[Adam F]

Neal's reply sums it up for me - not actually taming the fish, but fishing the lead.

 

Was proven on Sun when the tide dropped and we swung away from the wreck, I was fishing a 12lb class no problem at all - 7000 sized reel and 6oz lead.

 

Reels are also crucial - sure my 20/30 Abu will handle 1.5 or 2lb of lead but winching that and a big squid bait up from 100' takes it's toll on the gears.

[TomBettle]

Neal's reply sums it up for me - not actually taming the fish, but fishing the lead.

 

Was proven on Sun when the tide dropped and we swung away from the wreck, I was fishing a 12lb class no problem at all - 7000 sized reel and 6oz lead.

 

Reels are also crucial - sure my 20/30 Abu will handle 1.5 or 2lb of lead but winching that and a big squid bait up from 100' takes it's toll on the gears.

That is then where a quality reel comes in and in fairness an Abu 7000 cannot be put in that league.

Good quality modern reels will have tougher gears than some of the older big reels we are familiar with.

 

Like I said, take a look at the Avets.

 

As far as a reel goes, you will get what you pay for.

[Mike Fox]

I also like to use light tackle.

 

My weapon of choice is an 8' Ugly Stick Spin (2oz casting weight) combined with a 7000 loaded with 30lb braid.

 

It's tamed big bass, blondes, tope and conger to 40lb. Oh, and a diver estimated at 180lb (catch and release). Oh, and PJ's Dory.

 

A soft rod with good line and a slow pumping action seems to have the welly for most things. It just isn't right to use it with big leads, and 5oz is my limit.

 

When the tide picks up I do as Adam suggests, and break out something more suitable for big leads. My "heavy" gear is 20/30lb class, with TLD15 and again 30lb braid. The funny thing is, I can't claim to have had anything decent on the heavier gear, and the couple of biggies I have hooked on this have got away. One was too fast for me and too fast for most reels (Martin might remember), and the other seemed to wrap itself in the line and chafed the braid above the leader.

 

Light is good!

 

Mike

[just add water]

its ok using lighter tackle when over relatively smooth ground and a bit of time to get it in but when fishing mid channel for congers 60lb plus you need so kit that wont let the one we all been waiting for back in the wreck i dont mean 80lb class rods that wouldnt bend if u jump up and down on them like a solid 50 north western that bend but has a lot of power to back it up.

 

dont get me wrong i love fishing with light tackle my favour setup ive got is my