Fast or Slow Taper

[Andrew Opie]

G,day every one,
I am normally interested in the popping part of this forum, but after a day of throwing poppers and you are at anchor on some nice looking reef you have to do something. And dropping a jig is better than sitting around.
So what I'm after is some advice on what type of jigging rod I should look at getting to have a power packed jigging rod..
The rod that I have now is a Saltiga SG Deep 55s teamed with a Saltiga Expedition. It seems to be a little under done on some of the bigger fish that I have tangled with.
I am thinking that may be a faster taper rod would be better at knocking over some of the larger fish (Dog tooth etc) that normally show up. I have looked about and like the way the Hastings GUSA SW 70 XXH sounds.
This is a fast taper rod at 7' long and sounds like a power house of a rod (I have seen the 70XH and it had heaps of power).

So the question is this, am I better at staying with a slower (parabolic) rod  or going to a fast taper rod.
Any help in making up my mind would be great.

[Ben Keller]

Slow taper for me. Thats not to say fast taper rods dont have thier time and place, and they do have better lifting power, but the thing with slower taper rods, is the ability to short stroke them and grind up fish under heaps of drag. I am speaking from a conventional reel point of view here.

If I was using a spinning reel for jigging (which I wouldnt be  ) Id go for fast taper. Having the reel under the rod takes away the ability to really grind the fish up when the rod is fully loaded, especially if there is high rails on the boat, too slow a taper and you may need to lean right over the rail for the reel not to touch the rail, so the extra length can be a reel bonus.

It will be harder on you to jig long period and it will be more sore, but it will also mean you can long stroke more easily.

As for length I wouldnt go more than 6' I dont think, but it depends how long you will be jigging, and how big the fish you intend on catching are. If your fishing for long periods, with heavy jigs and big fish, dont shag around, but a conventional and do it properly 

[Andrew Opie]

Thanks for your reply Ben,
You put up some very good points to think about when trying to work out what type of rod to use.
Most of the jigging I do is in areas were we don't have to do a lot of drops to get hooked up to a monster doggy, so maybe a faster taper rod would work better for me.
But I think I should sit down and have a good think about it some more first.

Anymore thoughts would be great.