Shorter popping rods

[Angus Hulme]

G'day folks,

Just wondering what some options might be in terms of short popper rods? Are there any rods in the PE8 class available that measure under about 7 and a half feet in length?

The reason I ask is because the GT fishing we mostly do is:
1. Land-based where the casting distance is not all that important (the structure being targeted is only 30-40 metres away)
2. from a boat designed for bait fishing that has an annoying long canopy that makes the use of 7.5 ft rods (and above) very awkward.

Anyone have thoughts or suggestions on shorter, more maneuverable casting rods capable of casting weights up to 150-odd grams?

Cheers
Angus

[Ken Best]

Angus

I was thinking the same a little while ago and found these.
Smith used to make the 73 Kerama, though I'm not sure it is still available.
Fisherman have the CC74RS and CC72R10 both of which I think, are more powerful than you are after.
I have not used nor handled these rods so I can give no opinion on them.

Ken

[Brandon Khoo]

if you only need to cast 30-40m, use a jigging rod!!

[Angus Hulme]

Cheers fellas.

Don't know whether you were being facetious there Brandon, but I very much doubt a jigging rod would be suitable because we do sometimes, on occasions where we are in the boat, need to cast considerably longer than 40 metres.

Ken, I couldn't find any substantial info on those rods you mentioned in my preliminary search, but I will persist. Thanks for your comments though!

[David Rapley]

angus,
 have you considered getting a rod builder to custom make something for you?
Just a thought as a good builder could doctor up a blank to suit what you want.

Just a sugestion

[Ian Young]

Nitro Innovator rods do two 6ft multi-purpose rods...are these suitable?

http://www.innovatorrods.com/nitro-kamikaze.html
http://www.innovatorrods.com/nitro-widowmaker.html

Ian

[Angus Hulme]

Yeah David, that's a good suggestion.....my only concern in this department is that the price would balloon because it's custom built. However, maybe that's something I'd just have to accept to get the unusual type of rod I'm thinking of.

Thanks mate
Angus

PS. Thanks Ian, I'll have a good look at those Nitro rods too!

[Peter Morris]

Stick with the 8fter's Angus.

Better to be able to cast to far than to short.

8ft is better anyway for clearance around the rocks.

Pete

oops....I see you want something shorter on the boat....mmm....
I would much rather the 8ft on the rocks though.

[Andre van Wyk]

Angus - Black Hole rods being developed by Kil Song are coming in shorter and shorter lengths mate, with the rods being designed for HUGE Bluefin Tuna as the fish keep getting bigger and bigger off the US east coast, and the guys are now needing 7' to 7'5" rods to handle these huge fish to 300lbs....

Might be worth checking these out, or getting a blank from Kil and getting one built up custom on your side of the world...

[Angus Hulme]

Thanks boys, looks like there might be some options out there after all. Andre, I will PM you.

Pete, yeah, if I was solely fishing off the rocks, then sure, 8ft would be fine, but given our varied fishing situations, some form of compromise will be inevitable.

[Peter Childs]

Angus, check out the Berkeley Viper GT.  Its 7'5" and rated PE 8 - 12.  I haven't cast one yet but saw them at my local store, they look the goods and won't break the bank either!

[Andrew Colefax]

if you would consider custom, United Composites (formerly Hastings USA) make some suitable 1 pc blanks in 7' length, for example

US70XXH mod-fast action PE5-8 85-220g cast weight 3.6mm tip 15.3mm butt 170g blank wt

these are very strong and light blanks being dual helix graphite construction. they are also well priced. a typical build, with Fuji MNSG guides (underbound, double overbound), Fuji reel seat, EVA grips and a bit of bling would come to about $700-750

PM if you want more info

[Peter Childs]

Andrew's right here.  I had a custom built SW65XH (6'5" one piece) which was a cracker rod for close in work, built on one of the GUSA blanks.  I wondered what a popper length rod would be like in the same blank range and explored the alternatives to find they were all one piece!  Even the 8' blank - not much you can do with a one piece 8' popper rod, unless you live on board!  But in a 7' could be quite a sweet rod!

[Angus Hulme]

Thanks everyone, some great info and help there.

Andrew, sent you an email mate.

Cheers
Angus