My suggestion would be this http://www.snowbee.co.uk/webshop/fl...saltwater-fishing/10010-5-pce-travel-popping-rod-jigging-rod-8ft-6ins-100-155g/ paired up with a Diawa 5000T reel, they are heavy enough for some mid range trolling or bottom fishing in shallow water, but could be used for more active fishing if you preferred.

Or if you were only Trolling and bottom fishing when in shallower water, this (or its 20 -30 pound version) https://www.rokmax.com/shop/shimano...BRA2EiwAKZjFTVig1iCPISQS8R0W9kNsJu7IRaJzLK3rjDYvhT0-u-79H63IcwdDZhoC_40QAvD_BwE paired up with a Shimano TLD 25.

I have a pair of those Shimanos that have been all over the world and caught everything from bait on feathers to tuna, dorado and billfish.

I would fill both reels with 80 pound Power Pro braid or similar with 50m of 80 pound mono as a shock leader, maybe a wire trace if wahoo or Sierra mackerel are expected.

Any one rod choice is bound to be a bit of a compromise or biased to one type of fishing but with the drags set sensibly I doubt that any of the above would let you down and are reasonable quality but not silly expensive.

Hope you have a great trip.

 

My suggestion would be this http://www.snowbee.co.uk/webshop/fl...saltwater-fishing/10010-5-pce-travel-popping-rod-jigging-rod-8ft-6ins-100-155g/ paired up with a Diawa 5000T reel, they are heavy enough for some mid range trolling or bottom fishing in shallow water, but could be used for more active fishing if you preferred.

Or if you were only Trolling and bottom fishing when in shallower water, this (or its 20 -30 pound version) https://www.rokmax.com/shop/shimano...BRA2EiwAKZjFTVig1iCPISQS8R0W9kNsJu7IRaJzLK3rjDYvhT0-u-79H63IcwdDZhoC_40QAvD_BwE paired up with a Shimano TLD 25.

I have a pair of those Shimanos that have been all over the world and caught everything from bait on feathers to tuna, dorado and billfish.

I would fill both reels with 80 pound Power Pro braid or similar with 50m of 80 pound mono as a shock leader, maybe a wire trace if wahoo or Sierra mackerel are expected.

Any one rod choice is bound to be a bit of a compromise or biased to one type of fishing but with the drags set sensibly I doubt that any of the above would let you down and are reasonable quality but not silly expensive.

Hope you have a great trip.

I'd take at least 2 sets. One a medium/heavy trolling set with LD 2 speed reel with 80lb line and two, a medium casting set with 40lb line, wire traces, poppers and Rapalas and the like. Don't forget a good harness and butt pad.

 

That was not what the OP asked...........If he had I would agree with your suggestion minus the harness.........Far too specialist for a casual angler.

As it is I tried to come up with an answer.

 

I've watched an angler lose a good fish due to lack of a harness and good butt pad and suffer severe groin damage. I wouldn't target good fish without either., not worth the pain.

 

Are you just targeting a few fish to eat, as chassing game with the heavy gear people are mentioning seems a little ambitious in a far from manoverable yaght. Personaly I would be using a soft forgiving parabolic rod with a spin reel in the 8000-10000 range ( with mono ).

The reason for mono is quite simply for more stretch and forgiveness in the outfit, once again because you are fishing from a vessel hard to manover in fast different directions.

I would also try and stick with lures designed for smaller game, straightening a hook on a big tuna is better than getting completely spooled if you know what I mean.

Using the gear mentioned above may be fine on a well rehearsed game boat with a boat that can back down on a fish when needed etc, also having an experienced crew is pretty important when getting strapped into harnesses etc ( dangerous without ). Besides we are tackling big fish almost daily at the moment on 10000 sized spin gear ( pics from yesterday). These days I know very few who fish with harnesses on the game we have locally on offer ( almost all recognised big game species).

 

Just to add, if leaving from the Bahamas I would be buying my gear from there and not the UK.

Not sure what speeds the yaght will sail at but I would recommend a few lures which can be trolled at different speeds. Something like large Zman plastics or even big red gills can be towed behind relatively slowly. Once you get into the halco or xrap patterns you will need a bit more speed to get them to really work well. Skirted lures can be simply towed at all sorts of speeds right up to around 18knots for high speed jet heads. Scoop faced skirted lures need moderate speeds to create bubble streams and action.

Once again if you are sailing at say 6 knots you may not be able to stop the boat, hence targeting smaller species up to around 15-20kg max would be my personal target size. In saying that often bigger species will turn and swim with the boat, landing them is a different ball game altogether. A 500-1000m spool of mono in the 40-50lb would be my preference in case you need to respool.

 

Purbeck Fisher, when you're fishing, will the yacht be able to stop (and also, will you be crewing while you're fishing)? Reason I ask is that if the yacht can't or won't stop then you'll be better off, as JonD suggests, targeting smaller fish with smaller lures.
I'm sorry to say that if you're fishing from a moving boat, the most effective way of bringing medium-sized pelagic fish in is not with any rod and reel at all, but with a handline of heavy (120-200lb) mono. There: I've said it, even though I have, lemme see, about 30 boat rods for every single eventuality ...
If you're going to be fishing while sailing (or, god forbid, fishing while sailing single-handed) I'd recommend considering a boat rod, multiplier reel with harness lugs, a shoulder harness and butt-pad. That way you can attach the rod and reel to yourself and keep your hands free for other tasks.
If you do look at an outfit, depending how good you are with multipliers I'd look at something bombproof and simple like a Penn Senator star drag reel (I think there's one going cheap in the For Sale section) or a Shimano TLD 20 lever drag reel. You don't say whether your rod needs to be a travel one or 2-piece, but something in the 20-30lb category should be light enough and strong enough.
For lures, Williamson do a pack of 6 x 150mm dorado skirted lures that are ready rigged and make a great convenient set, but you could equally get a packet of 6-8in muppets and rig your own lures with a 1oz drilled bullet in the nose and 100lb mono.
There's a lot of unanswered questions in your post; the more info and idea of a budget we have, the better our advice will be.

 

As to handlines there are instructions online how to assemble one out of cheap components plus going Mano a Mano is all kinds of fun.

If you do decide to go with a R/R ensemble you may need a long handled gaff to land anything or at least a pair of heavy gloves.

 

Hi guys, first of all, I read all your comments/recommendations and thanks so much for your time. I won't reply to you all individually, but as some of you have mentioned, I need to give more details about my limitations and that of the vessel, for you to give the best advice, though some of you seem to have worked that out already.

Relocating yachts is my job and this is a route I've done quite a few times already, but I've never bothered fishing it much except to catch a few tuna and dorado on small plugs, using a heavy duty hand line and bungee bight detector, with the occasional break when something big has taken it. I would like to enjoy this with rod and reel though and perhaps give myself the option of something a little bigger. I'll have 2 crew with me, though due to watch systems, only one of them will probably be able to help.

The yacht this time around is a 45ft catamaran and I'll be fishing in conditions that will produce 5 to 9kns of boat speed. A cat is actually a good platform to fish from for a sailing boat and gives some freedom of movement, as well as a relatively easy way to get fish onboard, but as some of you have guessed, stopping the boat is not a realistic option in this case, though I can reduce speed to about 3kns if needed.

So really, I'm not looking to go too big with the fish and they are mostly for eating witth some sport thrown in. I know what a 200lb marlin can do firsthand and don't want that unfortunately. My budget is about £250. The reel I would like to be quality, but the rod less so. This is due to the risk of damage while travelling and might even become a case of finding a cheap one locally that I don't mind leaving behind in some circumstances. I realise I'm better off with mono while trawling, despite being a devotee of braid, but would appreciate lure advice.

Again, I have read all your comments and have been given a good idea of what I need from some of you, but thought I should clear up on the details.

Cheers!

 

Ullo matey,
What a great job to have! Given what you say, I'd say the Shimano TLD 20 or 25 would be ideal as they are durable, light (composite body, not metal) and have a smooth drag. You'd probably pick one up new for around £120-140, or second hand for a bit less.
The rod you can pretty much take your pick, depending on whether you want travel (3-4pc multipart) or conventional. If the latter, I'd advise a long tip, short butt, rather than 2 equal sections. Penn, Shimano and Ugly Stiks are the usual recommendations.
I'd agree on mono - especially if you need to bully and possibly handline - the reel should be able to take about 350yd of 50lb mono. It's worth considering a wind-on leader or heavy duty mono leader for the final stages; and those heavy duty orange gloves for handlining will be useful.
With regard to lures, you've had my first two recommendations (Williamson dorado skirts, and cheap DIY plastic muppets). If you can get hold of some fish strip or flying fish/ballyhoo, you can add this behind the plastic head - works well for most species. Dorado and wahoo seem to have an affinity for red or red/yellow muppets; sierra mackerel, jacks and barracuda for silver or silver/blue.
I'd be careful about some of the deep-running lures; wahoo feed at depth, but so do big tuna. Sharks too - I guess that's not really something you'd want to deal with on a moving boat! But if you want to risk deeper lures, 14 and 18cm Rapala Magnums in red/white, blue mackerel and green mackerel have worked well for me offshore; also 15cm Rapala Shad-Raps, though I'd upgrade the hooks on these to 4X trebles.
If you want smaller deep-runners, I use 11cm Rapala Barra Magnums in 11cm, and 13cm YoZuri Crystal Minnow deep runners (with the large clear plastic bib). I also like Halco Laser Pros but these seem to attract hits from larger tuna ... so you've been warned!

 

Going by what you are saying I was pretty much on target with speed and lures etc. From someone who fishes those kinds of conditions and for the same sorts of species every time we go out I must point out that a big multi or even a small tld is going to give you far less options than a spin outfit.

Firstly imagine spotting a school of surface feeding action which you tack the boat towards, as you get close they move 40m to either side of the boat. With a spin outfit you could literally flick a lure into the middle and most likely mange a couple of casts at them as you pass, not so easy with a multi outfit. The chances of any tangles are virtually 0 also on the spin gear.

I would normally recommend something like a Saragossa or stradic in the 8-10000 size but Bronzhaii has been recommending the Quantum cabo reels for the heavy work he uses them for, these are half the price of the Shimano's here.

There are plenty of jigging rods from most manufacturers which tend to be shorter allowing the angler to put far more pressure on fish than the 7ft rods which I wouldn't recommend in a moving boat situation. A jig rod will still cast ok, just with a shorter range. So far this season we've managed several marlin and most tuna species on this kind of spinning gear.

Once in port or around headlands and rocks etc this kind of outfit can still be used. Over here big predators hunt very close to any kind of structure, a big cast from the shore or rocks here puts you tackle past fish that are hunting almost at your feet. A harbour wall is full of hiding holes for crabs and small fish etc, it makes sense to fish close to these.

 

As mentioned earlier, I highly recommend staying away from braid in your situation. Mono will give far more stretch and forgiveness when a fish hits which will be far less likely to find week spots in knots, rods or terminal tackle etc. Handling any braid with high speed pelagics can be hazardous on your hands, not something you want mid Atlantic. We use braid on our spin outfits but with at least 60m of mono topshot to make handling big fish easier close to the boat.

 

I felt that I had covered the Braid / Mono choice, what most people that I know do is use braid to give a large capacity but top it off with 50m of good mono as a shock leader, +/- short wire trace if wahoo are about.

Unless you are very experienced with them I would use a butt pad, butstay WELL clear of harness. You can land 50 pound tuna and most sailfish / small marlin without a harness, anything bigger than that you need and experienced person to act as gaffer / wireman, so would be better to loose it.

You may wish to read up on how to kill a large fish with alcohol http://www.floridasportsman.com/2011/12/16/killing-fish-with-alcohol/ I have tried it and it works well - Use some cheapo high strength booze in a spray bottle. Saves risk of mess or damage on the boat.

 

The alcohol story is true ... I've seen it with my own eyes, and it is an effective way to subdue large, grumpy fish. In the Caribbean they use an overstrength liquid brain damage called fighting rum, and it works within seconds. They don't mess around with spray bottles - just lift the fish up a bit until its gills are clear of the water, and pour straight into the mouth from the bottle. Before the fish can say 'cheers, buddy' - it's dead.
The only problem I have with this is that some species - tuna, wahoo and kingfish especially - are better eating if they've been bled, and this method prevents bleeding.
Then again, if you bleed fish from a boat in the middle of the ocean you get hangers-on in long grey overcoats round the back who will pick off your next catch ... and your next one ... and so on. The Aussie approach, where they bleed the fish in a bucket and don't empty the bucket till the fishing's finished, is a good idea.
Percentage, the harness is only a suggestion if he needs to keep hands free to do crewing duties, and it would be a shoulder harness, not a waist harness.

 

25000 Saragosa spooled with 40lb braid, 4m of 70lb leader, 20kg ugly stick, and you'll land just about everything in the ocean. Just remember to set your drag light when trolling

Plus id take a casting outfit, 10000 saragosa and appropriate rod 8ft.

Lures Rapala xraps all the way, from 10ft dive to 40ft, they catch everything! And of course never dismiss the old handline, just about every commercial up here in Qld uses a 60lb mono handline out on the reef or for trolling up mackerel