Travel trolling rod recommendation request

[Nuvole]

I've broken two Shimano Exage 30-50, two Fox Sport of the same range(XT Boat KRD010) permanently bend at the handle area, one custom made custom made Super Seeker which cost me almost 1k that permanently bend, repaiedr then with the same issue again... tried to deal with CharkBait for their toro tamer, but they kinna make life of international customer difficult.

I normally troll at around 4-6 knots on a ship, and the ship will not stop for the catch.

I travel worldwide, normally aiming average size YFT. Most often used reel is Penn 16VSX with 60lb JB.

Cheers

[Tightlines667]

I spent a lot of days trolling for Pelagic species off of commercial vessels that generally would not stop for a fish.  I started out using a unlimited class stubbie and a 130 class reel, but after getting spooled by Marlin, and seeing the gear get beat up on the working boat environment,  I switched to handlines.

You may want to consider the same.  I spliced surgical tubing inplace and used straight 200lb mono with double crimps and flemson loops.  Ocassionally, when trolling larger baits where Marlin were possible, I would rig in a 30lb weak link with a backup of rope.  I only landed one Marlin on the handlines gear though, so I switched back to straight mono, and smaller baits.  If a large Marlin picked it up, the hook would just bend or break, or a crimp would fail, and I'd lose the bait.  The handline gear worked great for football tuna, skipjack, wahoo, and mahi.  

Otherwise you may want to consider an unlimited stubbie rod, with a removable unibutt.  This would give you a strong rod, that could be broken down to a little over 3ft overall length.

Pinnicle, Xcaliber, or Chaos offer stubbies...

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=17622.0

Or try another custom build.

John

[AlcoholicFisherman]

I do know that Balzer makes some travel rods for offshore /boat use but I cannot vouch for their suitability since I have only used their lighter telescopic rods. You can browse through their catalog at Psfishing and see if they can suit your needs.

Daiwa also produces the Saltiga air portable rod series which may be what you are looking for. However it'll be a bit challenging to find them outside of Japan for sale.

DAM has a travel boat rod available and I do believe its among the cheaper of the options so far.

Finally, Shimano and Penn over in the EU market has a host of travel rods. However most of these are the same class as the rods you've listed.

Best of luck in finding the right sized rod. I had to order in a new surf rod from across the pond since there were no suitable candidates available on the US market. I strongly suggest browsing the product catalogs for various markets from larger tackle manufacturers.

[Nuvole]

I spent a lot of days trolling for Pelagic species off of commercial vessels that generally would not stop for a fish.  I started out using a unlimited class stubbie and a 130 class reel, but after getting spooled by Marlin, and seeing the gear get beat up on the working boat environment,  I switched to handlines.

You may want to consider the same.  I spliced surgical tubing inplace and used straight 200lb mono with double crimps and flemson loops.  Ocassionally, when trolling larger baits where Marlin were possible, I would rig in a 300lb weak link with a backup of rope.  I only landed one Marlin on the handlines gear though, so I switched back to straight mono, and smaller baits.  If a large Matlin picked it up, the hook would just bend or break, or a crimp would fail, and I'd lose the bait.  The handline gear worked great for football tuna, skipjack, wahoo, and mahi. 

Otherwise you may want to consider an unlimited stubbie rod, with a removable unibutt.  This would give you a strong rod, that could be broken down to a little over 3ft overall length.

Pinnicle, Xcaliber, or Chaos offer stubbies...

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=17622.0

Or try another custom build.

John

The stubbie rod look solid, but it won't go into my suitcase :-(

I have been struggling with the idea of using handline.
How much line did you spool, and how did you manage to heave in the catch at the same time spooling the line?

Cheers

[Tightlines667]

I spent a lot of days trolling for Pelagic species off of commercial vessels that generally would not stop for a fish.  I started out using a unlimited class stubbie and a 130 class reel, but after getting spooled by Marlin, and seeing the gear get beat up on the working boat environment,  I switched to handlines.

You may want to consider the same.  I spliced surgical tubing inplace and used straight 200lb mono with double crimps and flemson loops.  Ocassionally, when trolling larger baits where Marlin were possible, I would rig in a 300lb weak link with a backup of rope.  I only landed one Marlin on the handlines gear though, so I switched back to straight mono, and smaller baits.  If a large Matlin picked it up, the hook would just bend or break, or a crimp would fail, and I'd lose the bait.  The handline gear worked great for football tuna, skipjack, wahoo, and mahi. 

Otherwise you may want to consider an unlimited stubbie rod, with a removable unibutt.  This would give you a strong rod, that could be broken down to a little over 3ft overall length.

Pinnicle, Xcaliber, or Chaos offer stubbies...

http://alantani.com/index.php?topic=17622.0

Or try another custom build.

John

The stubbie rod look solid, but it won't go into my suitcase :-(

I have been struggling with the idea of using handline.
How much line did you spool, and how did you manage to heave in the catch at the same time spooling the line?

Cheers

I didn't use a spool, just stored it coiled.  I typically ran 3 lines (a short corner, long corner, and long center) staggered like 2, 3, and 5 waves back.  When retrieving the line, just lay it loosely on the deck.  I had Longline clips on the ends, so if need be, I could quickly attach additional lengths, or even hook the gear up to the hydros, or existing rope lines, though this was rarely (if ever utilized).  Some guys prefer to use a heavier treated tuna cord, attached to a mono topshot.  Sometimes, I would rig up makeshift outriggers, to position the baits outside the wake, ocassionally I ran planer boards, and when targeting Albacore I would run 5 or more lines with tuna clones, or feathers.   They make handline spools, but most are really just used for storing line.

I also used handline gear to catch large sharks for scientific research.  Though they were setup differently.  Picture 'Jaws'....  Heavy rope and bouys, and chasing down the trailing gear after hooking.

Switching from conventional gear to handline can seem daunting, but it is actually simplier, and you can let the boat tire the fish out, or in the case of being outmatched the gear will just fail. 

Not very sporting, but it does put meat on the deck.

[conchydong]

Get you a couple fish baskets to store your lines in. When you are retrieving the handline with or without a fish on you can just drop it in the basket to keep it off of the deck. They will nest together to save storage space.

[SoCalAngler]

I have not used these but have pulled on them at the shop, They feel good and look well built. Maybe their bit long at for your needs though at 7' for a 30-60 or a 6.5' for a 50-80.

http://www.charkbait.com/cs/csrods-Travel-Rods.htm

[Nuvole]

I have not used these but have pulled on them at the shop, They feel good and look well built. Maybe their bit long at for your needs though at 7' for a 30-60 or a 6.5' for a 50-80.

http://www.charkbait.com/cs/csrods-Travel-Rods.htm

They quote me US$130 for shipping. On top of that they only wire transfer for first time customer.
I'll not be dealing with them ;-\

[Nuvole]

Thanks Tightlines666 & conchydong for the idea.
I'll probably be using single line only as my ship is towing equipment at the stern.
But will the mono line tangled up in the basket?

[Tightlines667]

Thanks Tightlines666 & conchydong for the idea.
I'll probably be using single line only as my ship is towing equipment at the stern.
But will the mono line tangled up in the basket?

Longline boats lay thousands of yards of mono on top of one another in an open box.  The lines rarely tangle, provided you pull them out in the opposite direction that you lay them in, and you lay them down flat.  However, the baskets really work better for storing tuna cord, then str8 mono.  I liked to coil the mono by simply twisting it 1 turn per large loop, and holding it in place with a short tie, there are a few knots that work well for holding coils of cord whereby you can throw the whoever coil overboard and jerking the line will undo the knot and release the coils to pay out.  You really don't need to get fancy here though.

For long term use I recommend using cord as backing, with a removable bungee, fixed to a heavy mono topshot (long enough where only mono is dragging in the water) w/heavy swivel, and a heavy snap swivel to allow changing out your baits.  Everything can be stored in a basket, milk crate, or just coiled, and stowed in a bag. 

Simple, and effective.

[BryanC]

They quote me US$130 for shipping. On top of that they only wire transfer for first time customer.
I'll not be dealing with them ;-\

This place sells handlines that are intended for sailboat fishing.  Perhaps it will work for your application also?
http://www.hawaiifishinglures.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=H&Product_Code=HLFRO&Category_Code=SLHLF

I have not bought this item as I have never trolled with a handline, but I have purchased other fishing tackle from this site in the past with no problems.

[Nuvole]

They quote me US$130 for shipping. On top of that they only wire transfer for first time customer.
I'll not be dealing with them ;-\

This place sells handlines that are intended for sailboat fishing.  Perhaps it will work for your application also?
http://www.hawaiifishinglures.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=H&Product_Code=HLFRO&Category_Code=SLHLF

I have not bought this item as I have never trolled with a handline, but I have purchased other fishing tackle from this site in the past with no problems.

Thanks for the recommendation, their shipping fees scare me off...

Shipping Rates Global (All other countries)
Orders $1 - $33.99: Shipping=$33.95
Orders $34.00 - $74.99: Shipping=$45.95

[Nuvole]

Thanks Tightlines666 & conchydong for the idea.
I'll probably be using single line only as my ship is towing equipment at the stern.
But will the mono line tangled up in the basket?

Longline boats lay thousands of yards of mono on top of one another in an open box.  The lines rarely tangle, provided you pull them out in the opposite direction that you lay them in, and you lay them down flat.  However, the baskets really work better for storing tuna cord, then str8 mono.  I liked to coil the mono by simply twisting it 1 turn per large loop, and holding it in place with a short tie, there are a few knots that work well for holding coils of cord whereby you can throw the whoever coil overboard and jerking the line will undo the knot and release the coils to pay out.  You really don't need to get fancy here though.

For long term use I recommend using cord as backing, with a removable bungee, fixed to a heavy mono topshot (long enough where only mono is dragging in the water) w/heavy swivel, and a heavy snap swivel to allow changing out your baits.  Everything can be stored in a basket, milk crate, or just coiled, and stowed in a bag. 

Simple, and effective.

Mate,

When you mention "tuna cord", what are the typical material and diameter?
I do have loads of 1/8"(3mm) nylon onboard.

[Tightlines667]

I am referring to a coated nylon cord.  I know POP carries it.  Have a look in their catalog (attached).  It is likely under the bottomfishing, handline, or greenstick section.  

[handi2]

John Volmer at Pinnacle Marine will build you a rod just like you want it and he is not expensive. His planer, dredge, rod is really short with a swivel tip and removable butt.