[getsome]

Hello, I'm new to this site and just getting into vertical jigging and popping. I live in Southern California and as you've probably heard, vertical jigging is almost non-existent out here.

I bought my first two jigging blanks the other day (both are Phenix rods) and I have a few questions about building them.

The first will be a conventional rod with a TN16N and 50# spectra. The rod blank is 7', but I am going to cut it to 6' to stiffen it up a little. This rod will be used to target yellowtail and small tuna in California and Baja. Most of the fish I will target on this rod will be in the 15-40 lb range and I plan to fish 200-400g jigs.

The second rod is a spinning rod that I will match with a Stella 10000 and 65# Spectra. This rod is 7' and I plan to leave it at that length. I understand that it is a little long for a classic jigging rod, but I plan to use it as a popper rod (to a limited extent) as well. This rod will be one of my travel rods for use in Baja, CR, Panama (and wherever else I end up). This is the heaviest jigging rod that Phenix makes (maybe Jureal can step in with technical info) and is equivalent in action to a Calstar somewhere between a 700H and a 700XH (though more parabolic).

So, here are my questions:

I am trying to determine a good length of handle from butt to reel seat for each rod. I normally measure from the end of my elbow to the base of my hand for my casting rods, but I have heard that jigging rods need a longer handle. I am 6'2" tall, but have long arms with the reach of someone that is 6'3"-6'4", so I would appreciate the input of the taller guys on this site about what handle length they use.

Regarding reel seats, I plan to use a graphite (plastic) fuji seat on the conventional rod, but I am concerned about using the fuji on the spinning rod because of the torque on the seat created by the heavy drag and the long stem of the Stella. Any input?

Finally, I am using the Fuji SIC guides on the conventional rod and I am trying to decided on whether to use Fuji SIC guides on the spinning rod

or the Fuji Low Rider guides.

I have not heard much about them, but a friend at a local shop recommended them to me.

If not these, are there any recommended guides for the spinning rod?

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give me.
Erik

 

[jureal]

Hi Erik. On your first blank that you are going to cut, where are you cutting? The butt end, the tip end, or combination of both? If you cut off the butt end, then the blank will become a bit softer (more parabolic). I am not familiar enough with the phenix blanks to tell you if cutting a foot off the butt, then you will end up with the 5'9" jigging blank that I used for my vertical jigging rod. You may end up with a more parabolic rod than the one I have. I used the fuji mnsg guides that most jiggers seem to use. I did use some of the alconite guides on some of my popping (spinning) rods using the phenix 7 foot blanks.

The handles that I used are longer than what I customarily use. For popping and jigging where you are going to be constantly moving the rods, I feel that a good balanced rod is equally important as one that is light in weight. Place all the components onto the blank, mount the reel, and place the reelseat where it feels balanced. A tip heavy rod is tough to fish with for long periods of casting and retrieving. Allow a bit more weight to compensate for the thread and finish...so it is better to be a bit heavy towards the handle than the tip. The popping rod is easier to cast with the reel mounted higher on the blank. It does however, cause you to fight the fish a bit differently too. The thing to remember on a spinner, is that you will tend to fight the fish with your right hand on the reel seat rather than like on a conventional setup with your left hand on the foregrip. After setting up your handle, take the rod and test cast it before you wrap the guides on. Make your adjustments accordingly. I used the New Concept Guide placement method as shown on a recent Rodmaker Magazine article. As a travel rod, sometimes the 7 footer becomes somewhat long as checked in luggage. I personally like a two piece rod and recently have started to use the Lakeland ferruled reelseat to make my rods two piece. You should also decide if you want a gimbal or not. As far as going aluminum or graphite reelseat, I have been told by many that weight should be a factor and to go with the graphite. However, I have used the aftco #1 reelseat on my vertical jigging rods and the graphite ones for my popping rods. Now, I am more into using the Lakeland ferruled reelseat. Oh, one other consideration, I now mount my reelseats in the downlocking position rather than the uplocking. Just find it more comfortable and also allows me to use a rod ring when needed.

 

[txseadog]

Welcome to 360.

I've found longer rear grips are better on jigging rods so you can tuck the butt under your armpit to work the jigs and fight the fish. I'm 6'1" with farily long arms and found that a 16" rear grip plus gimbal is about perfect for me.

The fuji spinning seats will be plently strong for either rod -- all the high-end Japanese brand use the the fuji's on their rods and I've never heard of a failure.

Skip the Lowriders and use MNSG on the spinner. The LCs were designed to for surf rods and need about 30+" from the face of the reel to stripper to work there best. I've built a bunch of heavy spinners and typically use a 40,25,16,12,12,12,12 + 12 plus layout.

So, here are my questions:

I am trying to determine a good length of handle from butt to reel seat for each rod. I normally measure from the end of my elbow to the base of my hand for my casting rods, but I have heard that jigging rods need a longer handle. I am 6'2" tall, but have long arms with the reach of someone that is 6'3"-6'4", so I would appreciate the input of the taller guys on this site about what handle length they use.

Regarding reel seats, I plan to use a graphite (plastic) fuji seat on the conventional rod, but I am concerned about using the fuji on the spinning rod because of the torque on the seat created by the heavy drag and the long stem of the Stella. Any input?

Finally, I am using the Fuji SIC guides on the conventional rod and I am trying to decided on whether to use Fuji SIC guides on the spinning rod

or the Fuji Low Rider guides.

I have not heard much about them, but a friend at a local shop recommended them to me.

If not these, are there any recommended guides for the spinning rod?

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give me.
Erik

 

[getsome]

Thanks for the input guys.
Mel, I am planning to cut 6" off the tip and 6" off the butt (or maybe a little more off the tip and less off the butt). I talked to Moon and Tommy at Performance about it and both agreed that this should keep the rod balanced and a little heavier action (which is what I want).
I don't think that I am going to go with the two piece handle on the 7' rod (I may cut it slightly to make it 6' 10" with gimbal) as everywhere I've flown in the last few years has had no problem with 7' rod tubes, including regional airlines in Central America (puddle jumpers). Most of the major airlines I've flown have allowed tubes up to 8'. Have you experienced a problem with transporting 7' rods?
I will go with the MSNGs on the spinning rods as I didn't really think that the Low Riders were the way to go (I only asked because they were recommended). I will try the 16" + gimbal rear grip and see how it feels.
Thanks again!
Erik

 

[jureal]

Hi Erik. Yes, the only airline that I have had lots of problems with is SouthWest Airlines. Not sure that I will ever be able to overcome their rules as they charge an extra $50 for tubes over 66 inches or so.

However, when I travel to Puerto Vallarta, my tuna rods are all bent butt rods so my tube is only 6 ft long. Nice if I could throw in a popping rod and vertical jigging rod in that tube. Makes it really nice to carry to and from destinations....especially in those small mexican taxis. Last time we took 8 ft tubes and had to hire a suburban taxi just to fit the tube inside the taxi...lol

 

[fishr1989]

I recently bought a T-Curve Bluewater Popping Rod from Shimano, and it has the same guide layout that txseadog recommended. It's a 7'6 but joint, spinning, and is similar to the layout mentioned, from seat center to gimbal is 17", with a 15" foregrip. you mentioned the graphite seat for the conventional, this also has a graphite seat, the DPSH-24.

I fish spinning gear for sharks in the summer, 20000 Stellas, and we have never had a problem with the graphite seat, long stem combo. the fish you intend to use the rod on should not be a porblem, and I have never heard of a stella stem breaking on a fish, and we use ours on sharks up to 500lbs, with up to 40lbs of drag.

Welcome to 360.

I've found longer rear grips are better on jigging rods so you can tuck the butt under your armpit to work the jigs and fight the fish. I'm 6'1" with farily long arms and found that a 16" rear grip plus gimbal is about perfect for me.

The fuji spinning seats will be plently strong for either rod -- all the high-end Japanese brand use the the fuji's on their rods and I've never heard of a failure.

Skip the Lowriders and use MNSG on the spinner. The LCs were designed to for surf rods and need about 30+" from the face of the reel to stripper to work there best. I've built a bunch of heavy spinners and typically use a 40,25,16,12,12,12,12 + 12 plus layout.