budget jigging rod roundup

[A.whitman]

load tests. 15 lbs of weight. 4 rods
trevala tvs66mh.

trevala f series tvf58h.

all new seamagic dragonfly 6' 400gram(now all fuji and black/glod wraps)

OTI 600gram spinner

and a close up of all the rods to see grip lengths and such.


just got the newseamagic rod yesterday. all juji guides and reel seat. i like the rods feel and bend. i will use it this weekend and give a review then. enjoy!

[Atlantaking]

Nice pictures!

BTW, did you order the Sea Magic rod through the Islander Custom Tackle website or by phone? I'm having the hardest time getting in contact with them; I've sent emails, called them, left voicemails and still can't get any information.

[A.whitman]

both. i called and emailed.

[lite-liner]

nice pics, Andrew! may have to trade in my old 400g seamagic for a new
one! it'll match my gold Avet a little better, that's for sure.
Oh yeah, nice haircut!
tight lines
-B

[rtran]

The OTI is a monster.

[Jason4606]

It looks like the OTI would still be happy with 25lbs, maybe more? It's nice to know there's some reserve when needed! I don't remember ever seeing pix of one with solid rear grip. Very nice!

I have 2 Trevala rods too. Both "F" models - 6'3"MH Spin, and 5'8"H Cast... When I set the drags I experienced about the same thing, ~15lbs max on the Heavy and 10-12 on the MH. I'm sure you will enjoy using that OTI to actually WORK the jig instead of just loading up the rod with each pull!

Seeing those Trevala pix has reopened some pretty fresh wounds. Now I need to vent a little...

I still don't understand why Shimano would overrate these otherwise nice rods by so much. 65-200lbs line rating on the Heavy and it's pretty max'd out with 15lb dead lift?? Exactly how do they expect anyone to get to the conservative 30% rating for 65lbs, let alone 200lb? Maybe if it's pointed straight down at the weight, line coming straight off the reel with zero bend in the rod. I guess that might work...

They are a great marketing company and some people will continue to believe whatever they say. But real world use, word of mouth and the Internet will continue to educate their customer base. I really don't see what they hope to gain long term from this risk. But hopefully for TJ, Chris and other builders out there, they keep it up!

I'm in technical sales. I understand that marketing & selling a product that might be very similar to a competitor's can be difficult. And I really don't mind somebody spending gobs of money to differentiate their product with very skilled and creative marketing. (Even if means they boast about their "indesctructo" main gear when it's really no better than a competitor's "skull dragger extreme" main gear.)

But I'm not OK with distorting the technical ratings of a product to make it appear more capable than it is. (e.g. saying that "indestructo" gear can handle "x" lbs of shear load when it will only handle "y".) The facts are the facts, and altering them isn't marketing, it's fraud.

Oh well, enough of my soapbox. It still burns me a little. But trust me, I don't lose sleep over it! I'm just grateful for what I've learned from you guys since then, and I'm ready to go fish!

Thanks again for sharing the pix Andrew!

Jason

[rtran]

I noticed the look on you face from the top pic down during the lifts... the first picture you seem like you are waiting for that thing to pop, second pic you look like you are wondering whats going to happen in the next 5 seconds if it's going to pop or not, 3rd you are happy you can get the weight off the floor easier and last picture you are very confident in the OTI as we can tell from the grin you have and one hand lift

[A.whitman]

very true. the first two i was very afraid.lol

[Tunaman40]

Great pics. That OTI is begging for more .