help with carpenter rod choice

[Gareth Branicki]

Have just got permission to get a new rod as my wife just broke one in the car door . I have been looking at both the carpenter long reef and the Carpenter Coral Viper 75/35 . i am land based the gt are from 15kg -25kg with the odd 30 kg have been hooked .
primary i will be using poppers from 100-130gram  the largest would be patriot design masterd 135 craft bait gt-2 the 130 gram one  also carpenter sea frog 120g (if i can get one ) adtek long gobby and fishemen 100 long pen.
 i have at at present 2 athias 100g and a 105 seafrog  and masterd bomb so looking to find out which rod would best suit the poppers i have mentioned  the lr88 has the advantage of lenght which is important i defianlty dont intend chugger style popper weight wise to go over 135 .
any thoughts would be appreciated.
gareth

[Jon Li]

Hi Gareth ,

If you are only looking for 1 pc. multi purpose rod , get LR88 which is rated PE 6~8 but if you want a more specialized rod , CV series is good for chugger n stickbait works  but  less ideal for pencil poppers due to it's shorter length .

Jon .

[Gareth Branicki]

hi thanks for that jon

[Peter Childs]

Gareth, I think you are on the money with the LR88.  I have had one for about 12 months now. Effortless distance casting in the 100 - 150 gram weight range. 

You are bang on with the popper sizes too, anything over 130 with a large cup face is getting a little big for the 88, but lovely with a 100, 125 Cubera and a range of smaller faced poppers.  Don't underestimate this rod as a stickbait rod - it is a cracker, particularly off the stones using a slow worked stick bait (like an ulua) - when you want to keep the rod tip low.

[Gareth Branicki]

peter great to here from somone with the LR88 i was hoping somone had used it on the 100 and 125 cuberas thanks defiantly helped made my decison
cheers

[Gus Connor]

Garath

I second Peters comments.  I have had an LR88 for about 6 months and primarily fish from the rocks like you intend to.  I have it matched up with a 10000sw and PE6 purely for casting distance reasons. 125 cuberas are perfect although I was on the 150's for a while and got further distance from these although timing becomes more important.

ha when the fish arent bighting it is fun to turn down wind and send that puppy down town, or as Andy would say "get out theree and dance biatch!" which you could say a number of times before the popper hits the water.

Ha it may be the simple things that amuse me some times but the LR is certainly a pleasure to cast.  Just watch out for a hookup at 100m from the rocks, it makes even a 10kg fish a pretty painful ordeal!

Tight lines mate

[Gareth Branicki]

thanks gus  for the input defiantly going the lr88 jsut out of interest what type have line have you got on your 10000sw ive got the 18000 sw and dog fight.   for the spanish  and tuna i use 50lb tuf the 60 is like cable you mentionted pe 6  just curious on what brand you are using landbased 
cheers gareth

[Peter Childs]

Gareth, I run a 10000SW on mine as well and use YGK PE6 (you can use either the castman or jigman - they are the same except for the colour).  It is stated to break at 86lb and is quite thin (much thinner than 65lb Tuff line) and nice and supple.  I've tried the PE5 in this brand as well and there is a biiggg difference is breaking strain and knot strength between the two!  These characteristics don't necessarily help it from shore, any line is going to pop if it hangs up on the rocks under pressure.

If you are fishing real tiger country with lots of reef to contend with - you might want to consider PE8 in the same range.  Its a little thicker which will reduce casting distance a touch, but I have hung it up on the bommies a few times and lived to tell the tale.  Keep your leaders as long as possible, with the knot just off the reel when casting - go with a big single like 200 - 250lb mono leader rather than a twisty, in order to maximise casting distance.  And get to know a good knot like a PR, FG or midknot and practice practice....practice!

Cheers

[Gareth Branicki]

hi peter thanks for that havent tried ygk main reason ive used tuf line for other lbg spinning is it can handle the rocks  alot better than most. but when you get up to 60lb casting becomes an issue i will have a look at at the pe 6   as for the pe 8 is it thinner than the tuf line 65 lb  thanks for the advice on leader as for knotting  find my knots skills for fg knot are bad have to practice as for pr knot i have the bobbin and can do it but need to practice a lot more more . read an earlier thread  by brandon on these knots he mentioned the pr knot doesnt have to be massive in length how well does  it cast through the guides if its only 2 and half /3 inches approx in lenght . Lastly reading this forum (actually ive read every post single thread in the tackle and technque forum)  still finding it hard to imagine using leader in the 200lb+ range most iver ever used 80 floro is there a specific reason for such heavy leaders even land based. cheers for the info.
gareth

[Peter Childs]

Gareth

To me YGK PE8 is just a little thicker than Tuffline 65lb but it is much more supple and comes off the spool better - remember its breaking strain is over 110lb too!  My FG knots are now down to an inch or less (about 12 turns) plus half hitches and cast like a dream - the most important thing is to bite the knot up hard and burn the end of the leader over with a lighter! 

The guides on the LR88 are large, same as most GT rods - you will find it quite comfortable casting 200 - 250 lb leaders, but the real trick is to use a supple mono leader like Shogun or jigging master - save the Penn10X for lighter rigs.   I also tend to avoid fluro with friction knots, it has a hard outer coating and requires more dilegence in knot tying and longer knots to work well.  I've lost fish on 100 and 150 lb leaders that I'm sure I would have landed on 200 after being reefed - now its 200 minimum to start.  You can always drop back to lighter leaders if fish are shying away on stick baits, but with poppers the leader thickness and visibility is not so much of an issue.
 Hope this helps.

[Gareth Branicki]

thanks for all your help peter appreciate it.