11wt

[jpkil318]

Hi
I have a 11wt heliply and a 10wt RPLX. Do you think that is enough to battle with some of the small bluefin that come in shore near the cape and islands or evan off rhode island. Im not really serious into offshore yet but I love fishing for tuna I would love to cast to some of the bluefin off our coast. Do you think that those could handle one and what types of flies and leaders do most of you use that are most successful.
Thanks

[riptide]

Hey jpkil318,

Based on what I saw last season, I would not recomend a 10 -11 wt rod for the SBFT. While under the right circumstances you could land one with a stout 10/11wt and a great reel, the rods lack the lifting power to pump the tuna up during the end game (death spirals)

I would say the bare minimum would be a 12wt with a fore grip. I saw a tuna landed last season on one of those. I also saw a 14wt RPLxi doubled over for an hour and fifteen minutes unable to lift a 70-80# fish the final 30'. This was in the hands of a very seasoned angler (Tom Gilmore)

Down at Harkers they recomend 10wts for the near 20# albies due to rod breakage lifting the larger fish. With the average size SBFT running 40-80# you can see where the bigger sticks come in.

As for flies, the opinions vary. Mushmouths, small mackeral patterns, poppers pretty much just match the hatch.

For leaders, we use straigh flourocarbon. With the big sticks presentaions is not generally a big deal. Straight 30-50# flouro depending on the size of the fish is the way to go.

For fly line, I have to HIGHLY recomend the "tuna" lines that RIO makes for the guys at First Light Anglers. They have a bunch on order and should have them by the Willmington show. They are great lines and not much more than a standard line. They will even rig the line with braided loops already attached (a nice feature)

[backman]

its been done. Pretty much what Terry said - you can perhaps wear down a 30 pounder through pure angling skills for 90 minutes or you can try and whip one in 20 minutes with a 14 weight.

The end game with more than a 30 pounder is pure lift - if the rod doesn't have sufficient backbone you'll stay in a stalemate forever.

I've leadered 2 fly hooked tuna on light rods the last 20 or 20 feet when the angler got into this stalemate.

[IFSteve]

I landed a 48# dogtooth tuna on a 12 weight in 150 ft of water. :cool: I took a fair beating doing that and sure wished I had a 14 wt. I am going on the Steve Abel Bluewater trip in December and am taking a 10, 12, and 14 wts. I am kinda slow but I do catch on. If there are ANY big tuna around I am not gonna think about it...out comes the 14.

Sure you can catch large fish on smaller outfits but why punish yourself or the fish?