Ideal rig for trolling a Madmacs 200?

[SeaOhh]

While of our saltwater fishing is salmon and bottom fish in Nor Cal, we do make the occasional run offshore for albacore when they show.

When searching and trolling offshore, I'd like to be able to run madmacs/dtx minnows/etc "way back" for a shot at some of the exotics that have been showing up.

Thoughts on an building two rigs that could handle the odd BFT or Bigeye that have recently been making a showing?  Ideal if they could also do double duty on a So Cal BFT trip fishing 80 and 100.

I have owned and fished Penn International ll and VSX in the past and liked them, but got rid of them since we typically don't fish anything heavier than 40#-60# these days outside of Pacific Halibut in AK and my BX2's are adequate for the job.

Penn VISX 16 and 20?
Avet HXW Raptor and EX30?

Rods? Can a rail rod handle the high speed/high impact trolling?

Thoughts?

[Squidder Bidder]

What size are the Big Eyes or Bluefins likely to be?

In the NE, charter outfits handle the occasional Big Eye up to 300 lbs on stand up gear in the 30 size range with belt and harness, but they're also able to quickly clear the rest of the spread and back down on a big fish.

FWIW, the belief among charter captains out here is that Big Eyes break the thermocline and come to the surface around the full moon on the theory that the full moon's pull drags the squid they feed on up towards the surface.

Good luck.

[SeaOhh]

Size range seems broad but we  see quite a few in the 80-150 range being posted with the occasional fish pushing 200

[alantani]

the penn 16 visx is a good 80 pound reel.  the 20 visx is for 100 pound.  use the avet hx raptor for 80.  skp the avet 30.

the rod is 50% of the equation.  for 80 pound, go with a seeker osp 1x3 or united composites centaur.  for 100 pound, it's the seeker osp 2x4 or the united composites viper. 

everything is nearly impossible to find right now. 

[SeaOhh]

Thank you both for the feedback!  I've got some targets to shop for and am always up for the challenge!

[Patudo]

The requirements for trolling compared to that live bait fishing style done on the West Coast are very different.  When you're trolling you often don't know what size fish will climb on, the lure may be some distance behind the boat, and often there is a good amount of time that elapses between the fish climbing on and the boat being slowed to fight the fish (the skipper may want to keep the boat moving to hook additional fish from the school, or to make sure the hook is really set, etc).  Line capacity becomes important in this scenario, whereas if you are casting or jigging you don't need as much line and it becomes more important for the reel to be able to cast (for live bait) and smaller/lighter/less bulky.  I can't advise what to use for SoCal bluefin but if you are trolling for bigeye I'd recommend at minimum a 30 Wide (if you are only trolling a couple of lures and plan to stop the boat as soon as you get a hookup) and would prefer a 50W with 100/130 lb braid and an 80 lb mono topshot myself.  Any Penn 50 single or two speed will be fine - single speed will require a good deal more effort but will get the job done if budget is an issue. 

Rods - for trolling any rod will do, especially if it's trolled from those "trolling straps".  Don't set the drag too high - for 80 lb line, 12 to 15 lbs is plenty for the initial strike.