Questions concerning Jigging rods

[Russ Roberts]

Folks,

As a newcomer to this board, I am hesitant to post the following questions for one reason: I do not fish for GT.  However, I chose much of my tackle for fishing in the Gulf of Mexico from the lighter GT equipment, just to build in a little bit of overkill.  (Also, I just love beautifully made equipment).  I am well-stocked with popping gear (Souls 90HH, Smith 80P/35, Calstar 700H and Calstar 700XH plus 3 Stellas and a Twinspin SR-30.) 

My questions have to do with jigging gear which I am now laying in.  I will be jigging primarily for Amberjack, Grouper, and Yellow fin tuna up to maybe 150 pounds (we have trouble getting past the Black fin in this area.)  Nothing horribly scary like the stuff you folks have down under.

I have a Smith Nirai on the way to match with the Twinspin 30 for my heavy jigging rig.  I want to purchase one other rod to go with say, a Twinspin 20 or 12 or a Stella 8,000:

First: For those of you familiar with the Nirai, it is rated up to 500 gram jigs.  What would be the lightest jig I could expect to work effectively with it?

Second: For those of you who have some experience with the Calstars, is there any way I could justify using one of those for a jigging rod for jigs between 150 grams and say, 250?

Finally: If the answer to my second question is negative, what would be a good rod to choose for that weight range?

I appreciate your help and if questions on these species are inappropriate to the board, please don't hesitate to set me straight.  Best wishes from Texas.

Russ

[Neil Griffiths]

G'day Russ

Nirai will work jigs down to 200g no problems, under this and you will lose feel for the jig. As always a rod suited to 150g jigs will generally catch more fish as jig action with appropriate rod will attract better numbers of fish.

[Marcus Lee]

Hi Russ,

Souls 90HH, very nice rod, costs an arm and a leg though! Would appreciate some end user feedback on the SOULs.

Thanks!

Marcus

[Russ Roberts]

Thanks, Neil.  I may try to get away with the Calstar 700H (full 7-foot--not chopped down) for a while on the lighter jigs.  The Nirai gets here tomorrow and I'm taking it out into the Gulf of Mexico on a 52 hour trip on Saturday.  The problem we have jigging for yellowfin, I am told by my betters, is that the black fin won't let the jig get down to them, so I am hoping to use much larger jigs and hope the smaller fish will ignore them.

Marcus: I just got the rod and have cast with it some in practice.  I think my user report is going to be highly favorable, however, I have to qualify whatever I say in three regards: First, although I have been fishing in our bays here in South Texas for over 50 years, my offshore experience has been limited and that was mostly bottom fishing.  Second, we have very little in our area that would approach the vile, vicious creatures you folks catch all over the Pacific and Indian Oceans.  If I get into a 50 KG yellowfin during the remainder of my lifetime, I will consider myself lucky.  Finally, and most important, I have not yet developed my casting ability with the Souls rod adequately to give a good report on its casting capabilities.  I will say it is by far the best popping rod I have every used, but that could well be due to its length.  I can get approximately 65 meters with it using a 100 gram casting spoon.  But I have absolutely no doubt that a more accomplished caster could get at least 100 meters.  The rod has a fairly soft tip and a monster backbone and can cast 50 gram lures quite well, I think.  I had a choice between the 90HH (rated to 120 grams) and the 90H (rated to 100 grams).  I chose the heavier but am wondering if I made the right choice--for me that is.  The Souls web site makes it clear, even through the horrible machine translation, that this is not a rod for beginners.  Rather they encourage the beginner to buy the lighter rod.  I have seen a video of this lighter version in action, allegedly subduing a 60 KG yellowfin in under 10 minutes, in which the rod looks extremely parabolic--kind of like a rainbow.

I also own the Smith 80P/35, and this is a sweet beginners rod (intended for GT beginners, I think, but great for me as well.)

Best regards to all,

Russ

[Greg Burt]

Interesting video Russ, the rod was like a whip. The dog must have been the captain, always there and barking instructions!
 Now some questions from me, is your Calstar 700H a spin or overhead, have you you used it much for casting or jigging and how was it ?, mine is still a virgin as far as captures but have been practice casting to 75m and also want to try it out jigging on light jigs.
 Thanks mate
  Greg
 

[Russ Roberts]

Greg: Actually, I have both 700H rods-overhead (no reel--I had trouble with 2 665W 2-speeds and temporarily retired it.  I can't cast with a bait rod anyway.  The spinner is paired variously with a Twinspin 30, Stella 20K, and St. 8K.  I have only been able to achieve 60 M with 65 pound American braid, which is kind of rough, and a 100 gram casting spoon (more aerodynamic than a popper.)  I have a 700XH which I have not cast with yet.  As far as popping is concerned, the 700H has become the rod of choice for a significantly large group of folks in the gulf region who have started popping and jigging for tuna and bottom species on a regular basis.  As you may know, other  than custom rods based on this and some Seeker blanks, there have been very few rods available in the U.S. on a par with the big spinners.  Accurate came out with a line with their name all made by Calstar, but discontinued it for whatever reasons.  I got 5 of those rods before they disappeared.  They were more expensive than the comparable Calstars, but then again, I probably paid $50.00 US for that "Accurate" sticker!

I will be doing my first jigging on a 52 hour trip starting this Saturday and ending Monday.  Other than chunking with an Accurate 50W/Calstar 760H, I plan to pop with the Souls rod, do heavy jigging with the Nirai (just got it yesterday and WOW, is that a sweet little rod.)  I will take one other rod--either the 700H or the 700XH--have not yet decided.  I am intrigued by the idea of using lighter jigs with the 700H and may well try that.  I know others have mentioned using it for that purpose.  There is a gentleman who lives on the East Coast here, whose handles on the various boards is "Kil" or "Ksong"  I am sure many of you know him--who has a stellar reputation as a world-wide jigger.  I have learned a great deal of theory from him and  I know that he has used both the 700H and XH for jigging, and done well, but prefers much longer rods--9 and 10 feet for the cod-type jigging that is done on the East Coast.  But then, of course I doubt he would try those on GT of Dogtooths.

After this trip, I will no doubt be an expert and will report back.   

Due to the increasing enthusiasm for jigging and popping on the Gulf, several folks have started putting together a couple of popping rods--about 15 cm longer than the Calstars, one rated for 50 pound line and the other for 80, with an eye to filling the vacuum that has existed in our small area.   I have tried prototypes of both and really think the 7 1/2 foot length might be ideal for our type of fish.  Apparently it is worthwhile for GT as well--given the lengths of the Tokara, Komodo Dragon, and some other brands.

Russ

[Cam Foley]

Hi Russ hope you have a great trip and hook into a coupple ,good luck.Can't wait for your report.

[Russ Roberts]

Sorry to drag this post up from the bowels of the internet, but after I got back from my trip in the Gulf of Mexico, I had issues logging on and then just plain forgot.  Not that the folks who inhabit this board looking for giant beasties with teeth will be too impressed, but here goes:

We did a 52 hour trip and it was not very successful.  A total of 40 fishermen (135 foot party boat) went out to the floating oil rigs off the Texas Coast (about 210 miles) and only picked up 19 yellow fin tuna to about 80 pounds.  (By contrast on our trip out of Venice, Louisiana in July, where the Mississippi River delta puts you out in 4000 feet of water very abruptly, 5 of us caught 13 YFT to 70 pounds, and on the last trip of the 135 footer prior to overhauling, 40 men caught at least 65 tuna.  On our August tirp, I got one drifting a chunk of blackfin that went about 75 pounds, and a small amberjack of about 25.  I got to cast with the Souls and it was phenomenal.  I love the rod.  But the topwater bite was almost non-existent.  I made my jigging debut and can say that the world's best experts have nothing to fear from me.  I dropped a 300 gram jig down about 100 - 150 meters with the Nirai and 20K.  I thought I was going to die.  Caught 2 small blackfin for the effort.  I swore I would never go jigging again, but you know how that is.

Russ

[Greg Burt]

At least you got out there for the experience Russ.
 The lack of jigging and popping success sounds like it was more due to lack of fish than the methods, keep at it . Did you have a jig with the 700H at all

A bad day fishing is better than a good day working

[Brandon Khoo]

that was priceless 
Russ, you need to persevere. Jigging is hell on earth when you first start and until you learn the more economical motion of keeping the jig going, it is incredibly hard work. Onve you learn that motion, it does get easier. That said, now you know why I prefer popping!

Sorry to drag this post up from the bowels of the internet, but after I got back from my trip in the Gulf of Mexico, I had issues logging on and then just plain forgot.  Not that the folks who inhabit this board looking for giant beasties with teeth will be too impressed, but here goes:

We did a 52 hour trip and it was not very successful.  A total of 40 fishermen (135 foot party boat) went out to the floating oil rigs off the Texas Coast (about 210 miles) and only picked up 19 yellow fin tuna to about 80 pounds.  (By contrast on our trip out of Venice, Louisiana in July, where the Mississippi River delta puts you out in 4000 feet of water very abruptly, 5 of us caught 13 YFT to 70 pounds, and on the last trip of the 135 footer prior to overhauling, 40 men caught at least 65 tuna.  On our August tirp, I got one drifting a chunk of blackfin that went about 75 pounds, and a small amberjack of about 25.  I got to cast with the Souls and it was phenomenal.  I love the rod.  But the topwater bite was almost non-existent.  I made my jigging debut and can say that the world's best experts have nothing to fear from me.  I dropped a 300 gram jig down about 100 - 150 meters with the Nirai and 20K.  I thought I was going to die.  Caught 2 small blackfin for the effort.  I swore I would never go jigging again, but you know how that is.

Russ

[Russ Roberts]

Greg: I did not try jigging with either the 700H or the 700XH s--just the Nirai.  I am planning to purchase a parabolic conventional jig rod for up to 330 gram jigs, and an Accurate 665 2-speed (although I had trouble with a couple of the first ones made).  I think that will make jigging easier.  Eventually, I will try the Calstars for jigging, though.

Brandon: With black fin, it really does not seem to matter what action the jig has--if they can see it, they will hit it.  The story among Gulf Coast fishermen here is that getting yellowfin on the jig is pretty hard and you need a slower motion. 

Russ

[Brandon Khoo]

I think I like the blackfin already!