Specialized daytime sword rod experiment

[Ed Walker]

So last year I caught a couple swords in the daytime off the Keys. Used a 50W Tiagra w 130 lb braid and a stand up style trolling rod.
All along during that fishing I felt that 50W was overkill. I mean really, if you think about it, 80 lb braid tests out well over a hundred its much thinner, and nobody is going to put even 50 pounds of drag on there. Granted I have never tied into a 600 pound slob but Ill cross that bridge when I get to it.
So heres what Im trying to do. I want to come up with the lightest possible weight outfit I can that will catch a deep drop sword. I bought a 30WLRS Tiagra, Im loading it with 80lb high vis Spiderwire (one of the thinnest per strength). And it should hold around 1000 yards. Im going to build a rod just for this and thats where Im looking for input. I think Id like a light 50-80 lb stand up style rod, maybe slightly long, say 6 1/2 feet or so. No unibutt (too heavy), single stripper guide then all fujis and a wind-on roller tip.
Finding just the right blank is tough as no one around here seems to stock blanks anymore. I did see a Loomis rod that although graphite looked about the right size/style and was real light. Problem was the guides were all tiny rollers that wouldnt really work. $450 bucks for a rod Im going to strip down and rewrap doesnt seem financially feasinble.
Id love to hear others opinions on blanks/rods for this endeavor. Not even sure where to get started really.
Any good sword blanks for this job?

[Uncle Buck]

Try a Calstar e-glass stand-up tuna blank, with Winthrop Tool roller tip and stripper, and Pacific Bay SIC turbo middle guides. I had my Calstar blanks rebuilt with this set up (formerly all AFTCO bigfoot roller guides) and it was a night & day weight difference. My Tiagra 50 combos now feel like baitcasters! hahaha

[WhItEoUt 23]

Blackfin blank

[54bullwinkle]

Did the same thing to all my trolling rods years ago. Got rid of all the heavy metal. Built them with Shakespeare 50-80 standup blanks one piece, aftco alum reel seat, nylon butt. 5 foot 8 inch. Shimano 50 TLD-2 LRS 80 lb braid. Could get a lot fancier, but these get the job done.

[fishy-wipt]

a like a short rod made custom by key largo rods , 30to50# i have had better luck keeping them on without pulling hooks on lighter rod, still 30# drag and the boat in gear the first 5 min. then 18# for duration ,also with the lighter rod you see the bite better and the lift (when they swallow it and come up)

[novomarine]

Originally Posted by Ed Walker

So last year I caught a couple swords in the daytime off the Keys. Used a 50W Tiagra w 130 lb braid and a stand up style trolling rod.
All along during that fishing I felt that 50W was overkill. I mean really, if you think about it, 80 lb braid tests out well over a hundred its much thinner, and nobody is going to put even 50 pounds of drag on there. Granted I have never tied into a 600 pound slob but Ill cross that bridge when I get to it.
So heres what Im trying to do. I want to come up with the lightest possible weight outfit I can that will catch a deep drop sword. I bought a 30WLRS Tiagra, Im loading it with 80lb high vis Spiderwire (one of the thinnest per strength). And it should hold around 1000 yards. Im going to build a rod just for this and thats where Im looking for input. I think Id like a light 50-80 lb stand up style rod, maybe slightly long, say 6 1/2 feet or so. No unibutt (too heavy), single stripper guide then all fujis and a wind-on roller tip.
Finding just the right blank is tough as no one around here seems to stock blanks anymore. I did see a Loomis rod that although graphite looked about the right size/style and was real light. Problem was the guides were all tiny rollers that wouldnt really work. $450 bucks for a rod Im going to strip down and rewrap doesnt seem financially feasinble.
Id love to hear others opinions on blanks/rods for this endeavor. Not even sure where to get started really.
Any good sword blanks for this job?

I have a Tiagra 30 wlrs with 1000 yards of momoi diamond braid 65 and enough space for 100' of momoi diamond mono 80lb and a wind on leader.... regarding a rod call Andy at X Generation he can build you a rod or sell you the parts...561 296 7637

[Ed Walker]

Update: The new rod I built and reel worked just fine. The 30WLRS took 1200 yds of 80 lb high vis SpiderWire, which I marked incrementally each 100 yards. There was room for a wind-on which I lowered to 150 instead of the 300 some had told me in need to use.
In all of that tinkering I found I could do pretty much everything smaller and lighter (Im not an electric guy) and caught several fish in the 250 class with one over 300.
On the reverse side, I did experiment a lot with weights. I tried working in 1600 feet with 7-8 pounds but it just didnt work. Kept bumping it up until I was around 12 lbs which worked good most of the time with a few pounds heavier on the big current days.
Did a lot of experimenting with the rig too and made quite a few adjustments, most of which Im keeping to myself, although I dont mind saying that we now use a 3 foot, 80 or 100 lb mono leader on our weights with a cheapo swivel at the top. This evolved after losing several weights after handcranking them all the way up to the side of the boat. Now when it comes up we just grab the "leader" to pull in it.
I still think the next rod could be slightly longer to help get around motors and have a slightly slower tip to ease the jerking of the line in big seas, give a better strike indication, and provide a little more cushion to keep from pulling a hook. Still a work in progress.....

[bajakian]

Ed I love your scientific approach. Lots of thought and trial to get where you need to be. Its one of the things that I love best about this fishery. Way to go!!

[Disco Lady]

Pretty work Ed.

DL,