Wahoo rod suggestions

[CaptKrunch]

So I have wanted to get into wahoo fishing for a while. Various reasons on why not, but mainly confidence in the motors. That has been taken care of now.

As for reels I currently have a Shimano TLD 30 and an Okuma T30. I also have several Penn Senarors in 4/0 and 6/0. From what I have been reading, those should do for a while. I have been through all of them and the drags are in good shape.

The rods that I have are in various weights and age. I have built my own live bait king rods and am planning on building some for the wahoo and hopefully yellowfin.

Since I am just starting on this , what are the recommendations for rods to use?

Fast action?  Medium action?
Med-heavy power? Heavy?
50 to 80 line or 80 to 100?
Length? 6 foot or less or would 7 foot work?

I know that at least 2 should be bent butt for the rods coming off the rear holders, but what about the others?

As for the reel seats, the heavier the better I am sure. And the guides will be Heavy duty. There will be a roller stripper guide and probably a roller tip..

Just looking for  suggestions because I would like to be sure I build something that will work and something that will last.

Thanks in advance.

[Swami805]

I don't think you need roller guides, the ring material used on guides these days should be fine. I'd think 7'so you can get around the motors and what not would be good. Medium action but that gets tricky since there's no real standard to measure that it can be all over the board. Line rating based on what line you'll be fishing, normally in the middle of the high and low rating for the blank
I don't do much with bent butts, that's a whole different animal

[Squidder Bidder]

The best way to get a 'hoo bite is to troll a $150 marlin lure on a mono or flouro leader. 

[thorhammer]

Are you gonna pull a planer? I fish a full stand of International stand up rods at 6', and they work fine. The TLD 30 is a great reel for stand up but I prolly want a metal frame reel on the planer due the prolonged stress of living in an inflexible rod holder onna bent butt. I'd run rollers on that one to faciltate winching planer under load. Stand up rods with modern ring guides don't really need rollers, mebbe a roller tip on the WWB line. You didn't say where you are fishing, and the techniques vary...trolling here in NC, we usually use 50 mono as it is easier to manage when running the boat with only two people and multiple hookups start crossing things up. I run 20, 30, 30, 50 all with 65 braid backing and 50lb topshot of 150-200 yards, enough so a runout lets us clear lines before we have to handle braid. People will have their own opinions on this but it is what works for my team. Planer rod, usually run 75 feet of 150lb mono to the planer for shock absorption and back with 130 braid. We get a lot of kingfish, AJ, blackfins and cudas which will dive after they hit a surface lure, and I don't want them running into braid on the planer rod- basically a cheese slicer under that much tension.

[CaptKrunch]

Swami thanks for the input. Getting around the motors should be first on my list. Some how I manage to end up there....

Thorhammer: I fish the NC coast also. Leave out of Southport via the Cape Fear River.

While I have plans to eventually use a planer, right now I am just trying to get out there and get something other than a king.

I was planning non putting braid on with a mono topshot, but was think8ng 60 or 80 braid with an 80 topshot. I will probably up the topshot.

Right now I am looking into the rods. I am looking at the stand up side of it. Was just looking at what others who have been doing it for a while use for their rods.

Looking to mix it up between meat and artificial so something that will work with both.

Thanks for the input.

Squidder I did not forget about you. When rigging the 150.00 lure, do you just go ahead and use the high dollar leader also? Just want to make sure I get it right....

[thorhammer]

Hey Krunch, I go out of CB or Masonboro, so we are fishing the same hole (the Same Ole, lol, Nipple, Steeples, Devil's A-hole, Tower etc. most likely. With what you have, I'd rig a 6/0 as the planer rod, even if you don't have a bent butt, you need a down rod. It produces when nothing else does, and the tasty blackfins crush it too. Maybe 100 braid and 100 mono topshot, but rig the planer in a bridle. Plenty of youtube on this or I'll send you a bridle rig. While we certainly catch hoo up top on regular mahi spread with blue n white, pink n white, etc., we run darks down- blue / black, red / black and my fav is purple / black with flash- looks like small bonito. I tie some of my own and add blue in as well. Note, I'm talking about Islanders, Witches and Jags rigged with ballyhoo. On the artificial side, you can pull a big diver like a Nomad or Rapala in dark colors or orange as well as a flat plug like a Braid Marauder or Yozuri Bonita- I do like a purple n black for the ease of it, especially if you aren't pulling a planer. Stick the leverdrags in the corner holders with plugs, just run a foot of wire on the plug and a clear leader of 30 feet or so if you are running hi vis running line (I do, and put 30 feet of fluoro out to the swivel on the surface baits). The plugs are nice when youre running between spots at 10-15 knots and can just pitch them out the back- butt be careful- I've had to rebuild rods for guys that used a standup rod as a high speed planer and snapped the butt (I cut the seat off and rebuilt the tip into a ferrule for a bent butt). Plugs shouldnt be an issue tho.

[CaptKrunch]

Thanks for the info. It gives me a great place to start.

[thorhammer]

Mahi in my avatar was at Steeples

[MarkT]

The Nomad Madmacs is similar to the Marauder/Bonita too.  On the San Diego long range boats I troll with Cowbells, DTX Minnows, Madmacs, Halcos. The old 114h still works just fine for Wahoo! I troll with a 7 - 7.5' rod but they hang off on trolling straps so the length doesn't really matter.

[JasonGotaProblem]

Ok here's a dumb question that's got me scratching my head:

Why do they make bent butt rods instead of angled rod holders?

[thorhammer]

The Nomad Madmacs is similar to the Marauder/Bonita too.  On the San Diego long range boats I troll with Cowbells, DTX Minnows, Madmacs, Halcos. The old 114h still works just fine for Wahoo! I troll with a 7 - 7.5' rod but they hang off on trolling straps so the length doesn't really matter.

Yeah we pull cowbells too. Forgot to mention. Love Halcos

[thorhammer]

Ok here's a dumb question that's got me scratching my head:

Why do they make bent butt rods instead of angled rod holders?

The rod holders are angled a bit, but a bent butt gets you parallel with the water, lowering angle of both the rod and the line to decrease leverage on the stick and reduce highsticking (see my above note about broken rod) If you had rod holder parallel with the water, using a straight butt....guess where it would go...


Bent butts were originally used as big chair gear, and still are. The geometry in a chair is much better for the angler with a bent butt especially on heavy gear / fish, so probably more about the angler than the holder at that point in time prior to stand-up rod tech. High speed planer troller is a relatively new concept in the scheme of things where it's a meat rod and mainly fished in the holder. Still will work you even so.

Also is better deep dropping.

There is a device called a right rigger which fits in a vertical holder and then holds the rod at a right angle to the boat (with a safety line). We use them on occasion.

[CaptKrunch]

Did the st÷Plessis 2 years ago with a friend.  Several black fin and 1 mahi.

Fishing from a center console so I will more than likely go with all standup rigs.

May do the trolling weight to start with and then move to the planer. RK Forte has some videos of how he does it using a bridle.

I do have some hoo lures from Ballyhood and have been stalking the Marauder and will probably get a couple.

I am planning on having the rods built by the fall. Have several projects going right now and one is a new space for the rod building equipment.