Thoughts on tackle for the long trips

I do not portend to be the master of anything. I have been fishing for a while, though. And in the process have figured out what works for me, and what does not. Tackle for my first long trip consisted mainly of rods and reels borrowed from Yo Yoshida. I worked in his shop and got a great deal to ride the RP - food & fuel, $500. Even in 1985, that was a great deal. A lot of the long trip folks would start coming to the shop around late summer / fall. Butch Greene used to come to the shop - and you could tell right away he fished the long trips a lot - and had the fishing and tackle down to a science. Russ Izor used to refer to him as....Butch Greene, boy fisherman! He must have fished quite a bit in the 50's and 60's. I'm not sure when he started fishing the long trips - but Frank LoPreste knew Butch well. 'Butchka' Frank would called him - and Butch called Frank...'Franko'. All skippers (even now), like fishermen that could catch fish - because it improves the fish counts and entices more fishermen to come fishing and ride their vessels. Butch must have gone on long trips a few times per season. For me, going on long trips started in 1985. The reels of choice were the Penn Senators and Internationals. There were 4/0's, 6/0's, 9/0's and bigger - up to 16/0's, though I think those things were too big. 10/0's or 12/0's were about as big as you can use 'stand up-style'. The Internationals were 30's, 50's, 50W's and 80's. Since we were mainly using 80# and 100# monofilament (mostly 100#), the 30's were out of the question as they just would not hold enough line. We would use the 30's for catching bigger baits. The 50W's were cumbersome, and keeping the line level was always a pain. The 80's and 80W's were just too big - like the 10/0's and 12/0 Senators. Though I must admit, I do like using the 80S and 70VSX now for 200# fishing. Size-wise, the 50's were just right. They didn't really hold enough 100# - about 250 or 300 yards, but just enough that if you fished a really tight drag - you could catch most of the fish you hooked. The drags on the Internationals were inadequate for using 100# - they just were not made for fishing anything heavier than 50-60 lb line. Butch had figured out a way to get more than enough drag out of the 50's. There are two (2) sets of compression washers as part of the drag system on the Internationals. Butch replaced one of the sets with a solid brass washer - reducing the amount of drag variability, but the drags got very tight - very quickly. This was one of my early lessons on how tight you can actually fish with any particular pound test of fishing line. As it turns out, the majority of yellowfin tuna can be caught on 100# line....if you fish it tight enough. Yes, you do lose some of the bigger/tougher fish. If I had to think about it, there was only two(2) fish that I have hooked that fit into this bigger/tougher category. A 240 lb model I caught on the Royal Star in 2011. That fish emptied out an Accurate 30 filled with 130# spectra and another 300 yards off the backup - for a total of 600+ yards. And the other I hooked on the RP back in 1993 on Taka's 16 day. Middle of the day at Socorro we had a nice bite going on 80 - 100 lb tuna. In the middle of that, I hooked a fish on the International 50 rig that emptied the reel faster than we could attach a backup. It was amazing how fast that 300 yards of 100# left the reel. Other than that, we normally took a load of anchovies - there were not any sardines around at that time. So every night, everybody would be up fishing caballito. What a great bait the caballito were. Our hook of choice was the Mustad 118H Mag hooks in the 8/0 size. These baits would tote the 100# mono for hours - and still be alive enough to continue fishing. There were the cow-size tuna being caught, but not many. And when they were caught - it was big news. Which I believe is why the 388 lb world record stood for so long. All bets are off now. Catching a 200 lb fish is commonplace now. The number of fish over 300 lbs recently caught is unprecedented. The world record has been broken at least a couple of times - from 388 to 400+ lbs. When you are fishing the long trips, you notice yourself going back to the same couple of rigs over and over. Those would be your standard outfits. For most situations fishing sardines, I think a 7 and a half foot rods are ideal. Some folks would have you think 8 and even 9 foot rods are OK for fishing 130 lb line. Not true. Yeah, you might be able to cast a bait further.....maybe, but for the most part, it is just too long to fish efficiently. I notice a lot of people pointing their rods at the fish once they are hooked up. I see no point in that. Might as well fish with a handline. My next trip - whenever that is, is going to be with a lot less tackle. I am fairly certain I can fish the whole trip with 5 or 6 rods. 2 rods for bait fishing on 130#, 1 rod for chunk/skipjack, 1 rod for salami fishing - then a couple of rods for hoo and bait fishing. All the stuff I keep taking and bringing back home unused - is staying home. Time for a garage sale.