New to Tuna fishing

[turbinedoctor]

Air I was thinking about a little trolling depending on how far we have to go, Fuel wise, and probably drifting while chuncking.


Did you say you took a 200 # with the TLD, how long did it take and how much drag did you have on it.

[spareparts]

check this site from time to time, there are some good deals on there
http://www.charlestonfishing.com/for...ds.asp?catID=8

[turbinedoctor]

Thanks Spare, they have some nice stuff now but I am still learning what what it is that I want. I did save the site to favorites.

[Blue_Runner]

Our crew is thinking about going after some y-fins too. We have 6 or 8 TLD 25's between us and my buddy has a couple of 2-speed beastmasters which is just like the TLD 25 but with a big cranking handle, same line cap.

I'm thinking a 50 lber would take a while to crank in! But it sure would be a lot of fun.

[cterrebonne]

check out alantani's website on his tld 25 rebuild. once you do that you'll have all the drago you need and then using braid you have all the line cap you need. also to add to your tuna arsenal get a jigging rod with a fin nor 0fs85 and string her up with braid. and then you can cast poppers and jigs.

[turbinedoctor]

Ok, I feel good about the TLD 25, now about the rod. Graphite or fibreglass, and why?

Is one stronger then the other?

I cant afford the best of everything, but I do want the best of what I can afford.

[cterrebonne]

Originally Posted by turbinedoctor

Ok, I feel good about the TLD 25, now about the rod. Graphite or fibreglass, and why?

Is one stronger then the other?

I cant afford the best of everything, but I do want the best of what I can afford.

glass rods can handle force and pressure from weird points better than graphite. with graphite the rod is designed for the force to be spread all over the rod not just certain sections, so what happens is if you put the rod bending at a weird angle or pull up too high on the rod then snap she goes. where as with glass, they are heavier but are way more durable. get those tidewaters i mentioned and then after one season replace the roller tip ans stripper with aftco's if you want. what is going to work out for you well with those rods is that you are going to use tld's so that means that the frame will break before the reel clamp on the rod. and if you dont like the nylon gimbals then any rod maker can put you on some alumumnum ones for cheap.

I have used tidewaters in the GOM for years and i have caught small fish all the way to big ones and they have never let me down.

[Airslot]

I'm partial to the 30-80# rod for a tld 25. Glass is fine. Matt can set you up with a nice rod for short money. With 30# gear you can get most any fish under 125 ish to the boat in under 40 minutes. Once those Bluefins start to get shoulders, you can be ion for a longer battle, but with a little finesse no more than an hour. This is light tackle fishing as far as tuna go. If you can't break his will in an hour, the odds are in the fishes favor. Fortuneatly you will be fishing in relatively shallow water, less than 200'.

[turbinedoctor]

Thanks for the info guys. If you can think of anything else please post it as I will be checking back here often for a while.

Air: I am planning on a trip to Matt's after I find out what it is that I want. I guess I could pick his brain also, he seems to know a lot and does not try to push one thing over the other, just an honest opinon.

[turbinedoctor]

A couple more question. Since I will be using Braid line should I use rollers or not. I have heard that the braid can get stuck between the roller and the frame, meaning an instant game over.

Then what about wind on leaders, are thay a good idea?
With rollers or not?

How do you attach the leaders, loop to loop, swivels, crimps????