San Diego Tuna (Rods & Reels)

[jlnr]

Hello,

I want to try a tuna trip out of San Diego - perhaps a week long trip this Fall/Winter.  Having no saltwater equipment, except a 10'6" Loomis 1266c surf rod, with a bunch of striped bass lures, I need to acquire some tuna gear.

To this end, I recently purchased two gold Penn International Torque reels (size 100 & 200).

My thought was to use the Torque 100 for 30/40# live bait, swim baits and surface iron fishing.  I like casting - from my fishing for striped bass.  I am wondering if you have any thoughts on a rod, or the reel ?

For the Torque 200 (50# setup) - I am wondering what your thoughts are on rods, or the reel ?

For 80#/100# - I gather I need a 2-speed reel and a rod.

I am a minimalist at heart, and would like to depend on just a few rods. 

Looking at the internet - the Seeker Hercules 80H or 90H (#40), the Super Seeker 6470H (#50) or Hercules 70H, and for 80# the Super Seeker 1x3 or Hercules 70XH have come up - but there seems to be many many ways to go.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. 

Thanks

[conchydong]

On a week long trip inthe Fall/Winter, you wont make it down to the lower Banks unless the Cows were going off and everyone voted to roll the dice for one day of cow fishing. Most likely you will hit Alijos and the Ridge and maybe Cedros on the way home if it opens again. Having said that, 40 and 50 lb will be your most used outfits. At Alijos YFT's can go 100lbs or better so for 40 I would use the Torque 200 at minimum for line capacity. For 50, I would look into a 2 speed lever drag, Mak 10 or 15, Talica 12 or 16, are two good choices and perhaps Penn may have their new line of 2 speed Torque lever drags on the market soon.
For the heavy stuff which you would use for trolling and maybe dropper loop, borrow it from the boat unless you are sure you will be doing these trips often.
Oh, I would put a 30# topshot with a small piece of #4 singlestrand wire on the Torque 100 with 40 lb spectra and use that for a Wahoo finesse rod.
My favorite 40lb rod (and it will fish 50 as well) is a Calstar 700H with that rod and one of the aforementioned 2 speed reels, if they won't bite he 50, you can scale down to 40 and still have the advantage of the 2 speed reel.

[johndtuttle]

Every Boat that runs trips of that length has high quality loaner outfits for you to use. Usually all you have to pay for is a spool of fresh mono on the reel and that's it.

As well, every boat's website has a list of recommended outfits based on the number of days trip you are going on for any general tackle guidance that you want.

Be that as it may, the 5-7 day trips fish live bait and you will use a reel spooled with 50/60 braid and then fish 30-40-50 pound leader/top shot over that for 90% of the fishing.

The boats also have quality examples of all necessary tackle (hooks, leader, lures) for sale on the boat. That way you can get the crews recommendation for what they are seeing and what they think will work up to the minute.

Everything on your list looks great, just match that up with what you see on the boat's website and you are gtg. The general idea is 7' live bait sticks, 8' jig casting, 6.5' for dropper loop.

best

[Nessie Hunter]

7 Day you will probably get no further then Cedro's Isl...
Aliso (sp) Rocks is to far for 7 day...

Most likely not even that far, the bite is good North of there now..
Ensenada area is going off.   1 day trip....

First time I would also recommend the rentals, that way you get deck hand help with everything (without feeling like your asking all the time)...  
They help every one that asks or looks like they need help...  Great guys...

Otherwise you may have 2 or 3 K into gear that wont be used again. Or not for years.....

Oh and welcome to the site.......       





.

[jlnr]

I figure that by buying some gear I would:

(1) Be able to practice casting, prior to getting on the boat.  The last thing I want is to repeatedly tangle things up with bad casts, or bonehead moves - because I am not completely familiar with my equipment.

(2) Be able to go out at a moments notice when there is a window of good weather.  I do not want to sign up for a trip way in advance - only to go out in a storm.  I have fished mostly out of San Francisco - there are times when it gets to be no fun.

The 700H looks good.

Thanks

[Dominick]

JLNR:  You called it.  Get as prepared as you can.  On the other hand, even if you feel prepared, let the crew know that you are a newbie at long range fishing, I'm sure they will take care of you. As to fishing out the Gate I know what you mean.  I am a fair weather fisherman.  I don't like it when it is not fun.  Dominick

[johndtuttle]

I figure that by buying some gear I would:

(1) Be able to practice casting, prior to getting on the boat.  The last thing I want is to repeatedly tangle things up with bad casts, or bonehead moves - because I am not completely familiar with my equipment.

(2) Be able to go out at a moments notice when there is a window of good weather.  I do not want to sign up for a trip way in advance - only to go out in a storm.  I have fished mostly out of San Francisco - there are times when it gets to be no fun.

The 700H looks good.

Thanks

West Coast storms are rare in the waters where the LR boats head in the fall and early winter especially on a 7 day. It can be rough on the way back home but fishing is rarely affected. It's a completely different fishery in far calmer waters than northern California.

[johndtuttle]

7 Day you will probably get no further then Cedro's Isl...
Aliso (sp) Rocks is to far for 7 day...

Most likely not even that far, the bite is good North of there now..
Ensenada area is going off.   1 day trip....

First time I would also recommend the rentals, that way you get deck hand help with everything (without feeling like your asking all the time)...  
They help every one that asks or looks like they need help...  Great guys...

Otherwise you may have 2 or 3 K into gear that wont be used again. Or not for years.....

Oh and welcome to the site.......       

I don't mean to be rude but you are wrong in this case. 7 day trips most commonly head to Alijos Rocks if the fishing has been good there with the sub ocean ridge north of Mag Bay being the alternative location if the fishing is poor. It's 2 days to the Rocks from SD. After fishing there for 2 days or so the boats then fish the way back and hit Cedros then.

This can change depending on weather and water temps, but Alijos and the Ridge are the expected not the exception.

best

[SoCalAngler]

The Ridge and the Rocks will most likely be your destinations on these types of trips. Most info has been good but I'll add a little.

Bring or get a loaner 30 lb setup. You will use this to make bait and when going too and from these these locations often you may make a stop to fish smaller tuna, kelp patty yellows and dorado.

40 lb will be the rigs fished most often so I would have a back up ready to go if you need to change a topshot, get in a tangle or bad backlash or have a issue with a reel. It's nice if any of these things happen during a hot bite to just grab the second setup and your back in the game.

For 40 or 50 lb test is where I start to look at two speed reels. The smaller two speeds offer good versatillity and can cover a wide range of applications with just one reel. Also for 50 lb I like a rod in the 6 1/2 foot range. 7 Foot is fine for 40 IMO and thats what I use but 50 lb usually means bigger fish where I like the better leverage of a 6 1/2 foot rod.

For your 60-80 (dropper loop/trolling) setup a good 30 sized 2 speed but I like a shorter rod than your looking at. Something that can be used for trolling and fishing bait. In this pound class I do not do alot of "rail" fishing and the rods your looking at are mainly rail rods and not used for trolling.

[Keta]

My first LR trip was a early November 10 day, I ended up using my 50's far more than my other rods due to the pesty cow YFT that kept eating our baits. I ended up with my first 2 cows and an 85 pound wahoo.

For a 10 day fall trip I'd bring one heavy rod (130), one 50-60 rod, one or two 40lb rods and a 25-30.  Use the 40s for making bait.


The fish tied to the rail tail up are over 200 pounds.


My first cow YFT


My largest wahoo

[john2244]

Lee,

Nice fish !!  That looks like one of those 2005 trips to the lower banks, what boat were you on

John

[Keta]

It was the RRIII.  I got my start with LR fishing during the fall of '05 and on the lower bank....a good time and place for cows.  A 200lb + YFT airborne is an impressive sight, two to five even more.  This trip was a reward for my surviving the cancer.

[john2244]

Lee,
I see the date on your picture now, 2005 was one of the best years for catching cow tuna.  I started doing 16 days trips in 2006.  What is more impressive than the tuna is your 85# wahoo.  I have seen several 50 to 60# wahoo caught but only one close to your 85#, it was 91# caught last December on the American Angler at Clarion Island

[Keta]

I prefer 15 day and up LR trips.

Clarion Island and the Hurricane Bank are some of my favorite places to fish.

Clarion Island Sunset



The lower bank at sun rise

[Bryan Young]

Wow, that's what dreams are made of for sure.