Best rod for dogtooth in under 100m

[Dmitrii Novgorodtcev]

Hi Christoffer,
I wish to have a look at the guy who said fire vortex is user friendly! What a strong man it must be!

I do not know what models you looked at in the fishhead, but I strongly recommend you to pay attention to VX400/57 for the purpose you asked. It feels light when jigging, but it has PD power. And it costs about a half of kevlar series.

[Mark Harris]

Yep Dimitri, as I said it is good to hear well-reasoned opinions that are a bit different. Good on you.

[Felix Neuer]

I use a Zenaq Fokeeto FS53-20 which works medium weight lures quite nice, but I would not go much over 400 gr.
mid price rod with impressive lifting power.
a 4+ meter manta ray inhaled my jig on our last trip ... we could stop it, but not for long ... hehe
that little rod did handle what the stella 18.000 could not ...
so no problem at all to handle large doggies or any other beast in the deep blue.

[Dmitrii Novgorodtcev]

Just been back from Northern Mariana where I could test Patriot Design VX400/57 to the full. Here are the photos of the catch.

The rod is very light to jig by hand. It is powerfull and very user friendly (I did not tired so much landing 78kg dogtooth). And what I liked the most of all is that you can control and regulate pressure to the fish very adequately and easily even during dogtooth powerfull runs with this rod. I also have PD Ultimate 59, but for Ultimate you have just to hold it and wait till it makes its job, stop and get the fish tired. With VX400/57 I could effectively regulate my pressure on the fish even during its first and most powerful run - it is very cool feeling, I must say.... I did not acheive such emotions with the rods I used before...

[Dan Konig]

Dmitrii - that's an exceptional fish, thanks for posting.

If you can land that fish without tiring too much then you must be a very fit angler!

[Dmitrii Novgorodtcev]

I am very ordinary. "Never enough time for gym" type... I felt really sorry about that last year, when I had an experience of fighting 38kg dogtooth hooked by side with Ripple Fisher Final Spirit GT 79H. That was really back breaking experience... much harder than this time!

[Mark Harris]

Very nice jigged fish Dmitri - well done.

[Corey Howell]

What size Dogtooths are we talking about Christoffer? I am going to assume not real monster sizes as you are talking about using a 54H.  So this advice is based on that!  If 50 kg+ Doggies are on the menu then different story.

An obvious one would be a different AMJ..... 52EX. Over the years I have owned and used so many rods in this category, but I keep coming back to the AMJ 52EX.  It would suit those specs Christoffer. It is good with 400 gram jigs (and a touch heavier is OK if need be), and can handle as light as 200. Absolutely sweet is 300-350.  I usually fish mine with a SW20000 and PE5 or PE6. 8000 PG or 10000 PG with an aftermarket spool would be fine also.

In a different price range would be MC Works Southern Blue 556 MS. A slightly longer rod with a sensitive tip but so much grunt down low. Also an absolute pleasure to use. 400 grams is the stated maximum jig size and I agree with that. Even at 450 is does not feel right.  I have not used lighter than 250 gram jigs with this rod but I suspect you could go lighter. Again 300-350 would be the absolute sweet spot and I normally fish it with a SW20000 with PE5 or PE6.  The tip action on this rods definitely imparts a lot onto the jigs - could be important on a quiet day.

Those would be my two favourites in that medium-heavy category which seems to be the one you are looking at.

Neither would be my pick to stop a really big Doggie though, so a lot depends on what size fish you are targeting. I had one just last week (was fishing for AJs and did not expect it) which hit so fast and so hard it took me 10 seconds to get a significantly heavier jig rod (Synit Venom 550 FT) up off the gunnel. Sadly the ling pinged just when I thought I had it under control.

gday Mark. just wondering how that Synit Venom 550's been treating you? good for turning their heads? thanks! Corey. Solomon Islands

[Corey Howell]

Dimitri - that is the fish of a lifetime. congrats !!!

[Ben Lai]

I've had a Patriot Design Ultra52, it was a really brutal rod. It rate PE4-6 but I felt like it can handle PE8 easily. It is significantly heavier than my Smith 52EX though.

[David Noble]

Just been back from Northern Mariana where I could test Patriot Design VX400/57 to the full. Here are the photos of the catch.

The rod is very light to jig by hand. It is powerfull and very user friendly (I did not tired so much landing 78kg dogtooth). And what I liked the most of all is that you can control and regulate pressure to the fish very adequately and easily even during dogtooth powerfull runs with this rod. I also have PD Ultimate 59, but for Ultimate you have just to hold it and wait till it makes its job, stop and get the fish tired. With VX400/57 I could effectively regulate my pressure on the fish even during its first and most powerful run - it is very cool feeling, I must say.... I did not acheive such emotions with the rods I used before...

Hi Dmitrii,
I'm very interested in your description of the Patriot Design jig rods, particularly... I could effectively regulate my pressure on the fish even during its first and most powerful run
I take it that is by changing the angle of the rod & where it loads up?
I'm currently looking into the Kevlar PD Grand Adventure (2 piece) 572/50lb for jigging 20-40kg fish and interested in it's taper and performance, say compared to the Carbon models VX300/56 which also look suitable.

Thanks for any tips,

Cheers David

[Dmitrii Novgorodtcev]

Hi David,
Sorry for late answer.

Yes, you understood my words correctly. VX series is easier vs kevlar PD rods to regulate the pressure by making the rod higher or lower, but you should be carefull with your drag setting and not allow high sticking in case of high drag setting, because VX series is not as strong as kevlar series.

PM also sent.