Cape Cod tuna stick

[dafareast]

hey everyone...relatively new to the offshore game, but have built a number of surf sticks in the past...looking to build a buddy of mine a tuna rod..he primarily trolls squid bars off of Chatham and occasionally fishes Stellwagan...I have heard great things about the superseekers and would like to give one of those a shot..which blank would be ideal to match up with a Penn 50? 70?...also, anyone have any references in terms of the order of construction? In my head, Im thinking the foregrip would go on first, the rod then wrapped with the guides,etc, and the last part would be the real seat and coinciding butt attachment...this is probably confusing but if someone could lay out the order of steps, that would be great! Thanks

[paul708]

SSCTSF55XXH or XXXH or H depending on line choice.
aftco #2 uni
Aftco windons. or W/T rollers.
14" fore grip
matching tip.


measure room for ferrull on blank..appox 3"
put on fore grip..leave room for ferrell.

put on guides/ tip..test placement.
wrap guides.

[hotreels jr]

Not an expert, but I know when trolling i like a TON of back bone, with a soft tip. The soft tip is for when the tuna is doing death circles, doing his head shakes, etc...the hook doesn't pull, or any quick stress on the line/leader.

[paul708]

you would love these SS rods..
slightly softer tip...big backbone

[Taz575]

I used one of the Seeker Long Range Fast Action TSF55XXH for a BFT rod, slick butt, aluminum gimbal, Perfection reel seat, and the Windons from Aftco. Very happy with it, soft, fast tip but you can pull 40# of drag w/o a problem with it! Love it! Matched with a Blue Avet 50W with 130# hollow and 130# Momoi Diamond wind on top shot! Dying to get it up to the Cape! It's incredibly powerful, I can't imagine the SS version!!

[hobie2]

paul-
those look amazing. sorry i didnt call last week. i have been traveling non stop for work...

[paul708]

paul-
those look amazing. sorry i didnt call last week. i have been traveling non stop for work...

These fish better than they look SWEET.

give a call when you have time.

[shoefish]

Those seeker blanks are badass. If site member Chumtini doesn't see this thread, send him a PM- he just built a couple seeker tuna rods for Penn 70s....they seem to come with extra mojo too.

As far as the order of how to build one of these, I'm by no means an expert but I documented a tuna rod build start to finish a while back that you can check out.

http://www.sportfishermen.com/board/...ish-37899.html

I think you might find it helpful, especially if you already know how to build rods and just want to walk through the order.

Best of luck on the build!

Shoe

[Taz575]

Found a pic of my Seeker named Thumper! It's next to my Calstar 655XH. The Seeker feels so much smoother and more powerful!

[chumtini]

Damn Paul. Those are sweet.

I second Paul's recommendation. These rods have a ton of ass. But be careful cutting the tip. An inch makes a big difference. They're quite sensitive. Like Paul said, measure and test as many times as it takes before cutting, especially the tips. Also, I had to shim the bottom of the blank to fit the #2 ferrules/storabutts.

These are, without a doubt, the best rods I've ever used. And I'm not just saying that cuz I built it Plus, they come packaged with good mojo. This one scored on it's first ride.