No no no... I have seen the benefits of short rods for those tough fighters, especially if you're trying to horse em away from kelp or structure. Calico bass is one thing, and yellowtail is another. A long rod is to your advantage when you calico bass fish, but for yellowtail and tuna and such a short rod is your best friend. Now, Jason, assuming you want to fish live bait on this stick, I'd got with the 700M. It's a pretty sweet 40# stick but it might be a bit too stiff for 30. I'd personally fish 30 on it once in awhile, but I'd stick to 40 most of the time. You can really put the hurt to em with this stick. If you get that custom wrapped it'll wind up being about $150 with cork tape. If you wanna save some cash, talk to me, I'll wrap it up for ya for no labor cost. As for the winch, one of the best 40# reels on the market right now is the progear 454. Harbor Tackle has some of the old models in stock right now for about $230 I believe. These older models don't have clickers, but if you're only fishing party boats you don't need one. The new ones run $280. Another thing you could do is buy a 4/0 and accurize it (put accurate sideplates, narrow frame, narrow spool and handle on it) to yellowtail special size.

If you want a 30# stick, go 700ML in the Calstar lineup. Look around at the Seekers too, though. For a 30# reel I'd recommend the progear 540, TLD 20/40, or Shimano speedmaster IV (or III or II if you can find one).
-Brian