Hots GT77xxxh vs RF78xh

[Christoffer Hansen]

Hi guys,
            I'm after a dedicated heavy popping rod for fishin deep shoals with king kongs, I cups, ebi ext etc. I'll be using a Saltiga Exp loaded with pe10. I was wondering if anyone has used the hots and if it's a stiff enough rod for working big poppers and how it goes casting lures in the 180-250g range. My mate uses the RF78xh n it certainly does the job but has a price tag to match where's the hots is significantly cheaper.
Any info much appreciated,
                                     
                          Cheers chris

[Mark Harris]

Never held a Hots XXXH but I will comment that the Hots ratings tend to be overdone compared to other rod makers. Eg the H rated Hots feel like the lighter side of medium rods to me.  Given that, I would be a bit concerned that the "XXXH" might not really be that type of rating at all.  Be good if someone who has held one could confirm that?

The RF78XH is well known as an absolute beast of an ultra stiff broomstick rod.

[Karl Nelson]

The XXXH is a Come here stick for sure, Not as stiff in the tip as the 78XH, but more than capable of raising a big GT. King Kong's are not an easy lure to work at the best of times. I have used the XXXH with the lures you mentioned.

[Brandon Khoo]

Chris, the best way I can respond is to say - can you use a 77XXXH for King Kongs and I Cups? Well, yes. Is it ideal? Well, no.

Both of these lures will over-saturate the 77XXXH. I'd struggle to rate the 77XXXH as stronger than the Ripple 79H, let alone a 78XH which is a real broomstick. If you do want to get one of these ultra broomsticks, just be sure you can hold onto it for an extended fight with a big fish.

[Mark Harris]

Thanks for that Brandon - pretty much as I suspected. Why do Hots over-rate all their rods?  It is misleading.

[Brandon Khoo]

I have no idea, Mark. I suppose it depends on each individual manufacturer and how they want to calibrate their ratings. I agree so don't seem to make a lot of sense. One which I have never understood is Smith with the rating in kgs  for the Komodo Dragon. Mind you, the softest PE10 rated rod on the market I am aware of is the Jigging Master

[Tony Busscher]

The Jigging Master i would rate a PE8 Rod I have seen a new model that has K guides ,and they rate that at PE10 ,very parabolic stick i have had one for  afew years and find it easy on the body .

[Christoffer Hansen]

Thanks for the info guys, looks like I'm saving for a while longer and purchasing the RF.
I prefer to use stickbaits in most situations and will only be using this rod for the largest poppers to hopefully raise monsters from the deep reefs.
Brandon, as for holding onto this rod, i know it's beyond my capabilities to fish it to it's potential. Being 6'3 and 80kgs I'm very lanky, though I'm not into going gym i do have the opportunity to go poppering every week so hopefully with enough use of the broomstick will soon be much stronger or my arms may drop off!
                Chris

[Chris Young]

Love your attitude Chris, the RF78xh may be a beast of a rod but it will pop the $hit out of those lures without folding in half, many rods have a stated max cast weight to handle these size lures but they tend to fold with larger cup sizes which means you don't get the true action from the lure. XH is a great choice   

[Mark Harris]

Chris just loves people who are brave enough to buy a rod that can actually work his largest popper .

[Jon Li]

Chris just loves people who are brave enough to buy a rod that can actually work his largest popper .

Mark ,

From talking to Mogi these past few days , in Japan most new rods are geared toward working the stickbaits rather than poppers nowaday , this is reflected in Carpenter's new offerings in their heaviest GT rods too . Even DJ models are experiencing a come back due to it's versatile nature , especially the ML version for Japanese market .

Jon .

[Chris Young]

Jon, all very true mate, but I also believe there is no one lure or technique perfect for every situation, poppers are usually one of the first and most successfull lures to be used in our sport by beginners because in there simplest form they are so easy to use, and get good results. Many newbies get hold of a stickbait and expect it to swim by itself which most times won't happen. All part of the learning curve and growth of the sport. Big lures or small lures, they all work but there is also part tackle whore in all of us that says I just got to have "that " thing because it's different

[Jon Li]

Jon, all very true mate, but I also believe there is no one lure or technique perfect for every situation, poppers are usually one of the first and most successfull lures to be used in our sport by beginners because in there simplest form they are so easy to use, and get good results. Many newbies get hold of a stickbait and expect it to swim by itself which most times won't happen. All part of the learning curve and growth of the sport. Big lures or small lures, they all work but there is also part tackle whore in all of us that says I just got to have "that " thing because it's different

Hi Chris ,

I agree wholeheartedly with , many in my country still use poppers with good results . My posting is only highlighting what I heard from Mogi himself and what seems to evolve from Carpenter which indicate that stickbaits are now more popular in Japan than popper .

Jon .

[Tak Otsuka]

Jon, all very true mate, but I also believe there is no one lure or technique perfect for every situation, poppers are usually one of the first and most successfull lures to be used in our sport by beginners because in there simplest form they are so easy to use, and get good results. Many newbies get hold of a stickbait and expect it to swim by itself which most times won't happen. All part of the learning curve and growth of the sport. Big lures or small lures, they all work but there is also part tackle whore in all of us that says I just got to have "that " thing because it's different

Hi Chris ,

I agree wholeheartedly with , many in my country still use poppers with good results . My posting is only highlighting what I heard from Mogi himself and what seems to evolve from Carpenter which indicate that stickbaits are now more popular in Japan than popper .

Jon .

I asked this question to Konishi san when I see him last time and he thinks stickbaits are more effective in deeper fields like Tokara in Japan but poppers are still good way to attract GTs in shallow coral area such as GBR or NC. Otherwise he won't be keen for testing new Sea Frogs!

To prove this, we all know lots of big GTs have been caught with Crusty's poppers anyway

Sorry to interrupt, this isn't meant to be popper vs stickbait thread.....

Cheers,
Tak

[Kasey Leong]

I asked this question to Konishi san when I see him last time and he thinks stickbaits are more effective in deeper fields like Tokara in Japan but poppers are still good way to attract GTs in shallow coral area such as GBR or NC. Otherwise he won't be keen for testing new Sea Frogs!

Funny, last time I was in NC the water under the boat where I was popping was 120m deep!  This is contrary to what the LPB boys think, and its interesting because Konishi-san went there with great results. I wonder if it has changed their thinking.