Reliable fishing gear advice needed

[Seaguy]

I am looking at buying a short rod & reel for trolling while cruising. We have used a hand-line with surgical tubing as a shock cord but that doesn't that well, particularly on anything big. I am looking for a short rod (ideally telescoping so it will be easy to store, or a 2 piece). But also important is one that will hold up to saltwater and won't corrode after a year. In the past I have had a cheapo special that didn't last. Something 5-6' at most.

I searched Amazon and a couple fishing sites but didn't find anything suitable.

Any advice?

[meatservo]

When I flew offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, we used a "helicopter pole".
Try Academy online...

[belizesailor]

Lamiglass tuna sticks are good quality and not crazy expensive, dont telescope/break down, but good solid short sticks. Have had 2 aboard for many years.

Update: just looked at their web site and dont see these rods in their line up any more, but there are other good quality makes of "tuna sticks"/"big game" rods in 5'6" length.

[model 10]

MOB pole.

[PaulinOz]

Short Game rod 5 foot, big reel lots of line fitted with 300 lb braid. (1000 meters 160 kg delivered to Oz from Hong Kong $80)

You do not want to go fishing you want to go catching. If it gets hooked on you want to be able to just wind it in not play with it.

Rod in a holder with game reel tied to the boat with a piece of 6mm dynema line. Otherwise you run the risk of losing the lot, do not ask me how I know.

[svrevelations]

We had trolling rods, big reels and lots of strong braid on board but after numerous failures, we gave the whole lot away. Under sail, we could almost never stop the yacht in time before the reel was stripped of all it's braid - then losing lure and all braid. We only landed about 2 fish for every 10 hookups.

Sailing at 8 knots, it only takes 2 minutes to strip almost 500 meters of line from your reel - not accounting for any line the fish might be pulling from the reel.

Losing lure and line on so many occasions, we went back to what you now want to abort - hand line with surgical cord. We have far more success and land about 8 out of every 10 hookups. Perhaps you want to re-look at this and I recommend that you use around 300 lb test line.

[Kenomac]

We use a Penn 80STW reel, 80lb tesr and a Strike Zone trolling rod. We've had excellent luck only having fished twice and caught a tuna the first time out. My friend Ken told me the same thing "you don't want to go fishing, you want to go catching" when he recommended the set up. We also have a long lightweight gaff with a safety shield.

No problem reeling in an 18kg tuna from a sailboat under spinnaker making 7 knots. Beginners luck.

[a64pilot]

I have several Penn International 30SW's left from my fishing days.
Good reel, good rod and line, and a 50 lb Cuda or Wahoo, Tuna, King Mackerel will not strip the reel, but make darn sure your rod holder is a very strong, good one, I'd recommend getting one from Hopkins Carter as they are a big fishing supply store too, and he is on here a lot, it is where I got mine after having one break, I lost the rig.
Absolutely tie your reel to the boat, I used a bolt snap connected to where your would connect a fighting harness.
I have found that starting the engine and putting it into reverse will slow the boat greatly but the autopilot can still hold the course, only needed for the big boys.

Hand lines have been used for centuries for very big fish, so it's very doable, just I grew up fishing and enjoy it, and had the equipment.
I have never seen a quality two piece pole, much less one that telescopes. In the holders, they take up no room, but I do hide them in the boat when at anchor, those gold reels are just too tempting.

You can see the rod and reel, holder here




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[fallingeggs]

I have one season with a Penn Squall Level 50 (reel) married to a Penn Rampage (pole that's 6 feet, so it stores reasonable well). So far so good. Will hold a ton of 80 pound test, has a drag setting high enough for tuna / dolphin fish (probably not a marlin and other big game, but I'm not after those) and will haul anything up. The whole thing was about $300 in the US.

As you can see, Penn is quality gear loved by real fisherman. The Squall is at their lower end range and still fantastic. Their International series are some of the highest quality reels you can buy (with a price to match).


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[Pete7]

How do you haul in a hand line with a big fish on it?

What sort of weight are you using to sink the lure if you are sailing along at say 6 knots?

Pete

[a64pilot]

There are diving plugs that of course dive, one of my favorites is a Mann Stretch 30, the 30 is supposed to mean the depth. 6 or 7 kts is too fast for most diving plugs though, they pull HARD at those speeds. 6 or 7 kts is too fast for most trolling, but it works.
There are downriggers too of course which is a real heavy weight on a short pole with a reel and a release for the lure, I wouldn't put on on a sailboat though unless your real serious about fishing, just a waste of room. Of course there are outriggers and kites too, none of which I would use on my sailboat, but they are there.
In truth my sailboat is the worst boat I have ever owned for Sport fish, can't back down on a fish, lots of junk to get in the way, no opening transom.
Still if I'm out there, I'm going to fish, I'll stop though when we have plenty to eat.

I have probably 100 lures spread out over a generation or so, but my favorite for the speeds we run is called a "rigged ballyhoo" it's a bait fish already rigged with leader wire and either one or two hooks, it's pretty much a surface lure, but I have had very good luck with them. You need to be able to keep them frozen, they are a couple of bucks ea, but good lures can be high too.

[zeehag]

after a year of trolling for fishies with a rod n reel in gom, and after losing all but a very few of the fishies i caught in gom, and breaking 3 rods and ..... i now fish with only a length of 200 pound blue braided line with a lure of appropriate color for the feeding of the morning-- will be either yellow and green, red or blue and white stripe, or silver, depending on the food source of the day.
i affix this line to my backstay with hitch and add a slipknot a few feet from the stay so a)the hook gets easily set, and b)lets me know there is a fishie for dinner.
i then hand over hand bring my dinner into the boat.
i have only used a gaff one time, in pacific, as i have no need for that extra manner of losing fishies--i hand haul. i eat.
i use exactly 2 pieces of equipment, line, lure.
i ALWAYS boat my fish.
i clean em in a large shallow sterlite bin and rinse when done.
bubba loves it when i fish.

[Dulcesuenos]

We have trolled for years nearly everywhere we go, our favorite setup is a Shimano tiagra 80, 2 speed reel on a full roller rod. We run 300yds of braid with a top shot of 200 yds of a quality thinner 80 lb test mono. Mono gives stretch which helps a bit when trolling and won't slice your hand up when boating a fish. The braid under is if you get a monster, it can run. We caught a 42 lb mahi mahi and it spooled us twice. But we boated it. The 2 speed low gear reel helps when you just can't slow down alot and have to fight a big fish. Penn squall makes a 2 SPD in a 50 ish size that we got as a back up. It works well but is made in China and noisy, time will tell

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[a64pilot]

The Penn Internationals are I believe good quality, may be US made I think?
Can be had used on Ebay for much less, any good tackle shop can overhaul one, they should be taken apart, inspected, cleaned and lubed every year or two. If they are they will last forever. My 30SW's haven't been made for quite some time, yet parts are plentiful.
Myself I go with Mono, and have the reel stripped and it replaced every other year when I have them cleaned and lubed.

[svrevelations]

Originally Posted by Pete7

How do you haul in a hand line with a big fish on it?

What sort of weight are you using to sink the lure if you are sailing along at say 6 knots?

Pete

Normally you would only see the hookup once the fish is skirting along the surface - by then there is very little fight left in the fish. Pulling the fish in as it skirts on the surface is not that difficult. Failing this, one have time to bring the yacht to a standstill (or slow it down) and then haul in the fish.

We mostly use these type of trolling lures - https://www.google.com/search?client...0QhyYIIA&dpr=1