Best Popping rod ever made? Fisherman or Smith

[Paul Chan]

Hello everyone,

I am getting two popping rod, one for light, the other for heavy popping . Got a Stella 8000FA and 10000FA, thinking of getting the Smith GTK73 and Koromo Dragon. Have anyone use or try these rods before . In comparison to Carpenters WV80 or Fisherman GT-Game-RS etc. I do want the best for my popping, I am 187cm height, is it better to have 7"8 rod or 7"3 lenght rod . I really don't want to invest any more money to upgrade later down the track.

Looking forward to your valualbe feedbacks.
 
Cheers.

[Brandon Khoo]

Paul - at a certain level of quality, the word' best" becomes one of personal opinion rather than reality. The "best" rod is one which suits you and which you like best. Once you are getting into rods like Carpenters. Smiths, Fisherman etc, you've got a top quality product so it really becomes one of personal preference.

What you want to make sure of is that you get a rod that is suited to you and the type of fish you want to catch. Rods like the WV80 and the Komodo Dragon are elephant guns. They are made to fish really heavy line for big GTs. That said, they will be no use to you unless you can fish 12-15kg of drag or if you're primarily fishing for 15kg GTs.

I have both of these and the quality is not in question. I probably have a preference for the Komodo Dragon but that is entirely a personal thing.

In terms of length, well, the longer the popping rod, the better your casting distance. the Komodo Dragon is 7'6" whilst the WV80 is 8' long. The length of a popping rod is a compromise. You need length for casting but when you hook a fish, you nearly always wish it was the length of a jigging rod.

Heavy popping is murder on equipment so don't worry, opportunities will definitely arise from time to time to replace/upgrade your equipment. 

[Greg Burt]

Bernie, it took 29 minutes for you to answer that one , I was waiting for your answer as it needed answering by some body with an Arsenal of rods. It's better getting info on length, weight, power etc off experienced users rather than straight specifications.

[Brandon Khoo]

but I only have two of the four rods Paul inquired about   
I don't have a Fisherman rod. I didn't like their frontman, Fumio Suzuki, so I never got any of their rods!

[Luke Wyrsta]

but I only had two of the four rods Paul inquired about   
I don't have a Fisherman rod. I didn't like their frontman, Fumio Suzuki, so I never got any of their rods!

Well thought out response Brandon.

Is there a story behind this fumio suzuki issue?

[Luke Wyrsta]

One question that Brandon kind of alluded to was - what size fish will you be targetting/what area? The rods you mentioned are true heavy popping rods with really only one purpose - Monster GTs!

You should have a number of outfits or at least one very versitile outfit if you aren't purely in an area that can throw monster GTs at you regularly. And if anything you will find the need for a range of outfits to suit different conditions and lures. You will find yourself tired and demotivated catching rats on your monster rig if the big boys don't come out to play

Btw, Brandon - i love Fisherman rods

[Brandon Khoo]

I find him too put on when he is on the DVDs, Luke. When he was fishing in the Maldives, he hooks this big GT. As he's fighting it, they put all the fisherman hardware on him including the harness etc. he removes the hooks with a Fisherman plier etc. It's too put on for me!! 

The quality of their equipment is not in question. For me though, I can't justify paying almost double the price for a Fisherman over a Smith or Carpenter as well. In the case of a Seven Seas, it can be three to four times. As I wrote in my original post, you get to a point where the quality is assured and you simply get what you like.

Fisherman do have one interesting model which I am sure George would remember. One of th Nomad guides, Tim Baker has one built on a white blank. It is undoubtedly the strongest GT rod I have ever come upon. It made my sticks looks like medium powered rods! I can't remember the model name but it wasn't familiar to me. I doubt they make it anymore as it is about five years old.

[George Pang]

Tim's got a Fisherman BG Jack, and it is acrowbar! I used it a little bit and it was impressive. Hard work, and not the best casting rod, but it can demolish big GTs in no time flat.

All the rods mentioned are excellent. My favourties at the moment are the Tokora and a SP78UHL.

I'm hoping to build up my stocks this year and complete the "library"

[Luke Wyrsta]

I'm hoping to build up my stocks this year and complete the "library"

Any you are after in particular George?

I hope you don't become like your brother and his Camo Abels

[Brandon Khoo]

George - if you want to build up stocks, you've got to stop breaking them!!

Tim's got a Fisherman BG Jack, and it is acrowbar! I used it a little bit and it was impressive. Hard work, and not the best casting rod, but it can demolish big GTs in no time flat.

All the rods mentioned are excellent. My favourties at the moment are the Tokora and a SP78UHL.

I'm hoping to build up my stocks this year and complete the "library"

[George Pang]

Luke a couple of carpenters and a couple of smiths

Brandon, better to have lived and lost...

[Paul Chan]

Thanks guys for your info and gald to hear someone who has used these rods. It would be nice to have every top quality brand rod ever made and catch monster fish with them. Tim from Nomad probably have seen it all. I want to do some travelling around the world and prefer a rod with versitility. So, two outfit will be the max I can carry around. From Fuji to New Calendonia etc...How about your preference on light popping rod? I've been checking out Fisherman's GT-Game-RS (a travelling rod), any ideas?

[Brandon Khoo]

Paul - don't we all wish we had it all!!
What level of light popping are you referring to? Are you talking 6 kilo? To many of us here, 24 kilo is light popping! I have little experience on the really light popping so I'd better leave it to someone who knows what they are talking about to respond.The lightest popping rods I have would be for PE4-6.

Also, on Fisherman rods, I got little idea.