Actually... anything over a 30LB is so stiff it's not as much fun as
their smaller cousins. My favorite rig is a 20Lb spinner with sailfish
or dolphin. More sport.

Usually we fish TLD 25's and 30s with a standup rig, we have caught
Sail, tuna, Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi), etc. Lots of fun. We fish Tiagra
50's for Wahoo and Swordfish and they are fun but you don't feel the
fish as much. We use a belt or a chair depending on the fish. Moving
into 80's and 130s you are mostly limited to a chair (OK, you macho
types might be able to handle a 130 with a belt but most of us can't)

We have also had times where we miss targeted an environment. We got a
BIG tuna hit on a tld 25 once and the tuna spooled us staight down. We
were fishing the edge in Bimini and the tuna went off the edge into
several thousand feet of water. We cranked the drag past the 30% safety
zone and it finally took the last bit of line and broke off. We have
caught many Tuna in the 25 to 70LB level with TLDs so I expect this one
had to be 100LB.

A good TLD 25 rig with quality graphite rod with roller guides will be
about $500. 50's with Tiagra or Penn Internationals will hit 800-1200,
and 80's or 130's will be 1500 to 2500 ++++

Sport fishing magazine had an article a few years back that claimed the
average Marlin in the US cost $25,000 each when caught on a large
sportfish. (including boat expenses, gear and boat depreciation etc)

Cheaper to charter in an area like venezuela where they are more
plentiful!!!!








Tim wrote:
I figured it would be more than a "buck-49"..

Sure looked like fun, though. Some of those Marlin fought like heck,
well, they all did, but the huge ones looked like they'd take more of a
toll on the fisherman, then they would on themselves.



Gene Kearns wrote:

On 12 Jan 2007 20:22:42 -0800, Tim penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:


OK, I ove watching "The Water Channel" (217 on DishNetwork) and
tonight they had some big "Bluewater Battle wagon" Out trolling for
Blue Marlin.

I was watching these people who pay a kings ransom to go do some heavy
duty catching, and they had these very large, black (carbon graphite?)
rods, whith large gold colored reels. About as big as a medium-sized
coffe can.

The only thig I've really ever used to fish with, was the Zebco 202 kit
that my Grandpa bought for me for my 8th birthday.

Obvious comparisons are similar to a Yugo to a Rolls Royce.

I know different items draw different pricing, but on about an average,
what does one of those fishing rigs cost? I know it's more than a
buck-49.

Oh... not knowing which models they were using....

I'd say $800-$1300 for the reel and about $400-$700 for the rod. A
custom rig could run a *lot* more. Heavy sal****er artificial lures
can run $25 or more each....

--

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

Homepage
http://myworkshop.idleplay.net/

Rec.boats at Lee Yeaton's Bayguide
http://www.thebayguide.com/rec.boats