Stand up Planer/Sniper rod system....

[Capt_John]

Has any of you guys tried this as a stand up application? With my new job I'm gonna be on 32' World Cats for the big wahoo fishing. I've used the original Sniper/Tiagra 80 set up with awesome results, but the clientele that I'm gonna deal with wants more sport out of it. What I'm thinking is a couple of Tiagra 50LRS w/ a 5'6" rods in 50-80lb. class and Wind on rollers. I'm going to spool the reels with 130lb. braid and a normal bridle set up. The only difference is that I'm going to pull smaller planers(#4-8). This way they can fight the fish on stand up then I just take off the planer and they fight the fish all the way to the boat like usual. I'm gonna be solo with the clients a lot as well and this will make it way easier on me. Has anyone tried this type of set up?

[Tuna Taxi]

You'll certainly be fine with the reel. I use a 50WLRSA on my planer rod and can pull a #16 without a problem. #24 is no problem if I don't pull too fast. As for the rod, you may have to think about matching the rod to the planer size much more than you would with a typical planer rod, but people have been pulling large planers on that type of rod for a long, long time. Lighter rod & bigger planer will be more rod bend and shallower angle of the line coming off the tip. I'm sure you'll have to play with the rod/planer combos to get the rod bend you want or need.

I would certainly not want to use a typical planer rod stand-up style, especially with a regular curved butt, I think your idea for a stand-up rig is much better.

Good luck.

[Capt_John]

I don't see myself using a planer bigger than a #8 for what I need it for.

[Squid]

John,
It works like a charm. Actually, the #8 planers don't pull a ton of drag and will work fine with that rod/reel. I've even pulled #8 planers on 30WLRS's before, again with no problems.
Bryan

[Sea Draggin]

I don't see myself using a planer bigger than a #8 for what I need it for.

John,
Aftco makes a stand up bent butt that is 2" long than the regular ones. It fits in a standard rod holder, whereas the original ones didn't, so you had to put the little spacers in the bottom of the holders.

I got two from Joe Shutes and have been very happy with them.

Then you just give your clients a brute buster belt with the sideways pin.

A bridle-less long rigger clip system would finish it off perfectly.

Cheers,
Jim

[cape_fisherman]

I'm in a quandary on this one.

I personally like my planer rod to stay in the holder. We're talking about charters here...there is a huge liability factor where charters are concerned. Even small planers put up a good deal of force...WHAT IF the fish pops off and the planer resets while a customer is holding onto the rod fighting stand-up? Things can get ugly fast. Chances are that everything will be ok...but you never know when the unexpected is going to happen. This just seems dangerous to me...especially on a boat with high liability anyway. To me, safety should come first on a charter vessel.

Have you thought of a separate planer line with a release like you would in bluefin season? Then you can pull a real planer instead of the baby kind (not saying anything bad about a #8...they catch fish too).

One thing to remember on the cat boats is that a stiffer than normal planer rod tends to work better. Troy on Water Damage tried a more limber rod and it didn't work well on his cat. Keep that in mind. A standard tuna blank may flex too much if you run a larger planer. I think Troy was having problems with his even with a #8 on it...hopefully he'll chime in here and relay his experience. We went with a second, stiffer rod like the first one I built him. For the cat it just worked better.

For other boats a more limber rod is the way to go.

Anyway...good luck!

Jay

[cape_fisherman]

Oh...and the longer AFTCO butts will be their standard chair butts.

[offshore]

All we do is stand up because of our boat size so I gave Kevin Bogan a call to make me a standup planer rod setup. I have tried straight, short and long bent butts on this rod and for standup we go back to the straight butt with a #12 or #8 old salty planer. I have been using this rod for two years and it has been great.
The rod Kevin made is 5'6" cut out of a Calstar e-glass 80-100 blank with oversize six point guides and the large aftco roller stripper tip. I have a Alutecnos 50w2s on this rod and it has more than enough drag for the #12 planer. I use a windon Bridal to streamline everything. It is not a heavy rod and is perfect for standup. We have done well with Wahoo Tuna and dolphin on this setup....Mark

[Capt_John]

I'm in a quandary on this one.

I personally like my planer rod to stay in the holder. We're talking about charters here...there is a huge liability factor where charters are concerned. Even small planers put up a good deal of force...WHAT IF the fish pops off and the planer resets while a customer is holding onto the rod fighting stand-up? Things can get ugly fast. Chances are that everything will be ok...but you never know when the unexpected is going to happen. This just seems dangerous to me...especially on a boat with high liability anyway. To me, safety should come first on a charter vessel.

Have you thought of a separate planer line with a release like you would in bluefin season? Then you can pull a real planer instead of the baby kind (not saying anything bad about a #8...they catch fish too).

One thing to remember on the cat boats is that a stiffer than normal planer rod tends to work better. Troy on Water Damage tried a more limber rod and it didn't work well on his cat. Keep that in mind. A standard tuna blank may flex too much if you run a larger planer. I think Troy was having problems with his even with a #8 on it...hopefully he'll chime in here and relay his experience. We went with a second, stiffer rod like the first one I built him. For the cat it just worked better.

For other boats a more limber rod is the way to go.

Anyway...good luck!

Jay

I've thought of the seperate system, but I'll be alone most of the time and most of my clients are going to be novices. The boats are set up for diving,snorkeling, and fishing so space is at a premium on board. So far, just a small planer has been enough to catch fish down there. The fish seem to hit on top just as good as anywhere. Before I went down there last week, they never even used a planer. All they have is trolling sinkers and they're catching huge hoos. The fish average 60-90lbs. with several 100+lb. fish already caught. They keep loosing big ones having to leader the fish. I want to eliminate that and also using the smaller planers would be easier on the people if it does reset.

[gottaflylee]

Hay john, don't forget, you can also birdle the trolling sinkers...