JIGGING ROD RATINGS

[Billy 40]

WLB, how's it going? I hope to have another prototype in my hands tomorrow, and another 15 people in my shop to play "Let's Bend a Rod" on Saturday. Hopefully this will be what I"m looking for in a 6 and 7' 50-80# (22-30# of drag) jigging rod. I'm an ounce guy, the blank should handle 5-16oz jigs, I'll let someone more familiar with Japanese style of jigging tell me what gram range the blank actually is ideal for.

I have a few models of blanks I'm goign to push to have for the Springtime, we're trying to get this one just right, before moving onto more models. FOr an idea of what I"m looking to get takea peek here: XL Lite Blanks by Seeker

I have a friend in NC who I hope to send a blank/rod, to get feedback on whether the blank works for the fishing down there - from everything I've been told, seen, and read, I think the action on these rods will be exactly waht Grouper Jig fishermen are looking for. I also have someone in Florida interested, adn I'm hoping to get teh blanks for to a couple of tackle shops in the Fort Lauderdale area to see if it's soemthiing that works down there, which I think it will.

[Sea Draggin]

There are several of us who will be at the High Point Rod building show to pre-order the seekers. I'm bringing my checkbook.

[Billy 40]

IT's good to know you guys who are primarily fishermen are taking the time to come to the HP Rodbuilding show. I met a couple of NC jig fishermen at last years show (Jim Eastern Tackle, adn I thnk Grouperhawg?), and spent quite a bit of time talking with them last year. I really learned a lot about what you guys are doing down there, and hopefully tehy learned a bit abotu rodbuilding, blanks, and had a few laughs while hanging at The NERBs booth.

It would be great if you guys came with a couple of jigging rods - there's WAY too much FW stuff and people walking around there, lol.

[paul708]

It seems that you guys are using mis-matched rods for your jigging. I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but to explain - the Japanese rod rating in grams indicates the matching jig weight that the rod will safely work with. It will also be its natural rod load in order to "mechanical jig" or "Japanese jig" properly. Jigs that are very light will not load the rod properly in order to jig with good rhythm or timing.
Now I know you catch huge Tuna with small jigs and that is the conundrum. If you follow the jig/rod match, then you might end up with a rod with insufficient backbone to handle oversize fish. This is reason why JM developed their rods with such high lift ratings. The popular 200g Tuna jigs will match the JM200 rod whose dry lift rating is around 12kg or #25. The JM400 has a lift rating much higher - 29kg or #63. IMO the rod rating has nothing to do with the depth you fish. In fact the Smiths Marianna 44 rods were developed to fish very deep waters, down to 1000'. The 200 model recommends 300g jigs and PE4 while the 300 model is 600g jigs and PE6.

This sort of rod rating makes line recommendation a bit confusing too. All rods quote a recommended PE line range. Many PE lines of the same figure can vary in actual test strenght. e.g. YGK Ultra PE8 tests at 113lb whereas bog standard PE8 line can test closer to 80lb.

chris, that does seems to be the problem.
and when we try to get a heavier rated blank the action is usually to fast,
and the guys are fighting the rod.
bend and power with 22+# of drag.
choices are limited,

i cant wait for the new rods.
sound like winners.
i will be getting them as soon as i can.
again thanks for posting.

[DEEP DEFIANCE]

WLB, how's it going? I hope to have another prototype in my hands tomorrow, and another 15 people in my shop to play "Let's Bend a Rod" on Saturday. Hopefully this will be what I"m looking for in a 6 and 7' 50-80# (22-30# of drag) jigging rod. I'm an ounce guy, the blank should handle 5-16oz jigs, I'll let someone more familiar with Japanese style of jigging tell me what gram range the blank actually is ideal for.

I have a few models of blanks I'm goign to push to have for the Springtime, we're trying to get this one just right, before moving onto more models. FOr an idea of what I"m looking to get takea peek here: XL Lite Blanks by Seeker

I have a friend in NC who I hope to send a blank/rod, to get feedback on whether the blank works for the fishing down there - from everything I've been told, seen, and read, I think the action on these rods will be exactly waht Grouper Jig fishermen are looking for. I also have someone in Florida interested, adn I'm hoping to get teh blanks for to a couple of tackle shops in the Fort Lauderdale area to see if it's soemthiing that works down there, which I think it will.

I have been using the seeker Big game rods for quite some time and if they are coming out with A XL blank you can bet they will be good!I will have to look into this further!

[paul708]

I have been using the seeker Big game rods for quite some time and if they are coming out with A XL blank you can bet they will be good!I will have to look into this further!

the seker blanks are great. the took 1st and 3rd place in the MA500 tuna division..

[paul708]

Jigs. The rod I use is a Seeker Composite 80XXH, no idea what that is in the grmas rating.

that would probably get a pretty high G rating
it is a nice blank

[Billy 40]

Billy 40 - When will your blanks be ready for purchase? I saw the pics...

Here was the other blank that they sent me, with 30#'s hanging off teh tip, and me attempting to high stick it as much as I possibly can. This is what I would consider a 60#blank which would be ideal for 20-25#, possibly a little bit more. The blank I am waiting for will have a little more stiffness in the butt, although this one is very, very close to what I was looking for. I did deadlift 45#'s, and was trying ot high stick with that when teh line broke, adn teh bucket holding the weight cracked in half.

For underhand casting, the least weight I was able to load up and cast was 5oz, and even with 16 & 20oz, the rod was still capable of handling it. Obviously it hans't been fished yet, but I've been fortunate that I canask several people what they though, and we all were in agreeance in what I just posted. Keep in mind, most/all of the people I'm speaking with are diamond jigging, yo yo and squidding, not Japanaese style jigging.

[Sea Draggin]

It seems that you guys are using mis-matched rods for your jigging. I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but to explain - the Japanese rod rating in grams indicates the matching jig weight that the rod will safely work with. It will also be its natural rod load in order to "mechanical jig" or "Japanese jig" properly. Jigs that are very light will not load the rod properly in order to jig with good rhythm or timing.

That is exactly the issue Chris. In another thread it was suggested that 350 or 400g rods were what we needed to have to correct grip damage issues, however our fishing is 100-350 ft deep for the most part. We don't need 400g jigs to fish our stuff, but you would have to use that size jig, just to load the rod suggested in other thread.

We always value your input. As a matter of fact, I spent the day today at a tradeshow and explained to many beginners that a rod loaded to capacity is easier for a beginner to fish than a underloaded rod (a concept I learned from you). Meaning a 200g jig on a 400g rod is no good at all, especially for the beginner.

[Sea Draggin]

Billy,
Those are some sick pictures. Lets do that demo from the staircase at the high point show.

WLB and I will help.