Topwater Caranx Ignobilis: Giant Trevally (GT) > Tackle & Techniques
Ultimate Heavy Popping Rod & Why
Luke Wyrsta:
--- Quote from: hon-su on March 18, 2008, 10:41:55 AM ---Mate forget the Calstars, they are dinosaurs compare to the Jap rods. Altho still pretty good nice to use but just cant compare. Smith do make a blank available so I reckon you should check out the WRC 80P/35.
This guy is the closest Smith stockist to you.
http://www.#########.com/product_view.php?product_id=211
If you're worried about sizes of knots getting caught on tips, etc, upsize the tip and first 2 guides to 16's.
--- End quote ---
I think you're a bit out of line there mate. No comparison, they are both fishing rods are they not??? I think many people get blinded by the bling and price tags associated with Japanese rods - they are sweet and perform well but it's ignorant to have that kind of tunnel vision in my opinion. I would put my left ball on the XH as being one of the best blanks I've used for turning massive GTs - its performance and power is ridiculous. Quality GT rods don?t just come from Japan - period.
Santosh Shanmuga:
Luke, so in a perfect world, the H would be better suited for casting, while the XH for jigging?
Thanks for all the help Luke! As of now, Calstar is the best bang for the buck. I've seen Calstars muscle big fish too.
Still, I'm open to other ideas. Hon-su, how much would the Smith blanks cost? Your link doesn't work.
Sachin Chaudhry:
Thanks Guys. I have a WV80XH and a Caranx Deep Monster.
Also have a Calstar GF700XH and a Tenryu Draggo Machine GT86 (This rod is rated to PE8 but I really think it won't do much good on bigger poppers so it is confined to PE6 and pencils only. Most of the time it is a non travelling reserve on the fishing trips. Beautiful workmanship on the rod though.
Am looking at a Stella 18000 around April or May and trying to narrow down the rod choice on this. Have also got a Sevenseas Armorclad 77 on offer from a dealer. I am not seeing too many on this thread backing up the Smith WRC 60 or the Komodo Dragon. Anyone want to give a low down on either of these? What about the Zenaq FC 7- 10?
I agree with Luke on the GF700XH having mega grunt but just wish they could get the length around 8ft so the casting distance could be a bit better. Luke do you know if they have a Grafighter blank around 8ft that could handle 100lb braid and chuck poppers up to 250 gram max?
Sachin Chaudhry:
Santosh, my personal opinion is that a good GT rod needs to be around the 7ft 6 inch mark to 8ft or so. This primarily to do with getting that little bit more distance and also being able to keep some distance between the fish and the boat should you need to such as when the fish is hanging near the motor (especially outboards).
However if popping for tuna which tend to fight by going straight down and staying there a long rod can be quite brutal over an extended time and this is when the Calstars would be a better fighting tool in my opinion.
The extra casting distance is also handy when you cannot get to close to the reef edge due to safety reasons and unfortunately most of the time the wash zone is where most of the fish and especially bigger fish tend to be. Do not underestimate the safety element as a swim to to the reef if your boat capsizes is not the best or cheapest experience one can have. I have been there twice.
Stephen Polzin:
Here's some recent footage I posted up of the Calstar 700H in action. (Apologies for reposting this, but the link has disappeared from my previous post in reports). I'm in the grey hat with the Calstar, while my mate in the dark blue hat is using a Shimano GT special.
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=t0nFpz1-5Yc
When I first built the Calstar I intended to later move on to a Smith or a Carpenter, but now I simply don't feel the need... The Calstar just works so well!
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