Re: tackle addiction??? you got it?
Action and power have nothing to do with line rating. All three are subjective measurements with no real basis in reality. Trying to comparing one to the other is meaning less using these ratings.
Offshore on the East Coast means Billfish, Tuna, Swords, etc. and fish much larger than you are used accustomed to. Nobody goes gunning for #200-#1000 Tuna or Billfish with 8' noodle rods. Penn International 50 and 80's are the norm. Penn 130s are pretty common when big fish are in the area.
You're missing my point, if we have two 20-40# rods, one 6' and the other 8', would they have the same action, making the 8'er 25% tougher on the fisherman? Sure they
could, but in reality the 8'er wouldn't be as much of a pool cue as the 6'er.
I'd consider 150 miles west of the Mexican coast and 250 miles south west of San Diego "offshore".
Most boat's I've been on don't target bigger fish as the passenger's are not equipped for them, they come under-gunned. I spoke to a captain about this once and he said they run across a school of really big tuna every once in a while, but they move on as most of the people on the boat don't have gear matched for those fish. I always bring an 80# rod and Penn 30S on long trips, just in case, but in reality, even if we found something where I'd need that rig, the boat would just move on. There are long range boats on the west coast that target "big" fish, though it's not what east coast would call big fish...
As I said before,
Once again I think it comes down to different regions using different methods and equipment.
