smith nirai or fremantle

[Doug Mcleod]

I am currently looking at getting a new jig stick , mainly fishing for doggies in 40 -80 m of water.I have looked at the smith nirai & fremantle & liked both for different reasons.Just wondering if any one else has an opinion on these 2 rods, or any other suggestions that may be worth a look at.
        thanks in advance
                         Doug

[Brandon Khoo]

Doug, just remember that opinions are exactly that - opinions.

While I have been a big fan of the Nirai, a big doggie is shallow water is a big ask and loading up hard has seen some unfortunate results on these.

Personally, I feel loading up to the max on PE8 which is something like 114lb line in Ultra Jigman is just too much for the Nirai. I think the Nirai is a very nice stick but for big doggies in shallow water, find yourself a stronger stick.

The Fremantle is not and has never been one of my favourites. I understand Smith have phased this out.

There is a lot of choice in heavy jig sticks today. Take your time and do your research before naking up your mind.

[Matt Kilpatrick]

Brandon, I recently purchased a Nirai from Neil Griffiths of Jones's Tackle, which I plan to match with an Accurate B2-665 reel in the next few weeks, so the rod hasn't seen any action yet. I'm just curious, what sort of stick would you recommend for heavier work?

[Greg Burt]

Matt, the Nirai is a spin rod only, it needs a Stella 20000 or a Saltiga.
 As Brandon mentioned it is really working on Doggies in shallow water, it is an 'easy' jigging rod with a max rated drag to 13 kg but although it has lots of power I believe you need a stiffer rod when playing with the Doggies especially with a shark problem. Jigging for Ambo's and Reef species it is unreal

[Brandon Khoo]

Matt, as Greg just pointed out, BIG problem. The Nirai is designed for a spinning reel, not an overhead. ideally, a 20000 Stella or Saltiga Expedition. You better take this back and have a chat with Neil!

Bun has pretty much summed it up. If you want to go and play with bigger fish, especially in shallow water, you need a rod with more guts than a Nirai. Unfortunately, there aren't anywhere near as many options for an overhead. Locally, you might check out a Jigging Master 500 series. I know Zenaq has something absolutely evil called a Monster Buster which would break me in half. I'm not sure of much else in the market for a heavy overhead jig rod. Ripple Fisher and Fisherman can custom build anything you want but that is getting into serious bucks.

I know brands like Valley Hill have very powerful jig rods for overheads but I have not seen them for sale in this country.

Maybe someone else might have some suggestions.

[Greg Burt]

Matt, if you are jigging local SEQ waters the Nirai is a top choice, it really handles 250-400gm jigs in 60-120m of water really well and it is easy on the angler [me]

[Doug Mcleod]

Thanks for the replies guys.
Unfortunately i live in Victoria & researching theses kinds of rods down here is a little difficult.So if possible do you have any recommendations for the above kind of fishing.I currently use a 6500 exp & 90lb varivas & 80 jerry brown combined with a t curve 400 .The reel & the line work well , but the rod I found to be lacking the goods on larger fish.
So if you have any suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
       Doug

[Andre van Wyk]

Doug

Not too sure what is available to you where you are, so maybe some of these suggestions are not an option:

Carpenter OH - Beast of a stick...... but I believe very hard to come by, and big dollars...Spinning Version Only
Tuna Max - S57XH comes in both spinning and over head configs and the spinning version is responsible for the World Record ( Pending _ Dogtooth, taken on a jig in Rodriques at 104.5 Kilos...
Jigging Master Powerspell 500 - More parabolic Action and avialable in Spinning or overhead models. Certainly available in Aus, and the agent is a regular contributor on this site...

I am not familiar with the Ripple Fish or Fisherman sticks....

What about the SHimano Blue Rose Series>? Any thoughts from those who have used them?


Cheers
Andre

[Brandon Khoo]

The Blue Roses are available in Australia although Shimano Australia do not import the full range into the country.

There is a PE8 model and now a PE10 model. The PE8 model, the S53SD is a beautiful lightweight stick and would be perfect if you like a faster action jig stick. The PE10 rod, the S60MD just looks plain crazy! It's looks as heavy as the Zenaq Monster Buster. If I used either of these, the only busting these two rods would do would be to break me in half.

Duncan O'Connell has one of the Monster Busters lying around in his shop. So far, no one is game to buy it!

I should make the point that the heaiest Monster Buster is a overhead stick, not a spinning stick which is what both Blue Roses are.

[Matt Kilpatrick]

Cheers Brandon, Greg. I woke up this morning and straight away realised I had mixed up my rods and reels!  In fact, I recently purchased two sticks from Jones?s Tackle, the Nirai and the Shimano Blue Rose S53SD (the PE 8 model). I already had a Saltiga Expedition to match with the Nirai and I will match the Blue Rose with an Accurate B2-665, hopefully next week. Sorry for the confusion!

I don?t yet have a trip planned yet which will stretch the Nirai, but I was curious to know what the next step up is. I see Andre and Brandon have made some suggestions ? thanks. I hope to properly christen these outfits when I fish Yeppoon in 5 weeks time.

Thanks for your comments Greg. I mainly fish in SEQ, often out of Mooloolaba. BTW, I have been meaning to ask you, have you cracked the code of the Mooloolah River jewfish? I remember you made a comment about these wonderful fish on a thread some time ago about the Smith baby runboh. I spend lots of hours chasing jewies in the Richmond River at Ballina. Matt

[Brandon Khoo]

Hi Matt

Unfortunately, the S53SD is also made for a spinning reel! 
Shimano Australia do not import a PE8 Blue Rose for an overhead. They do have a PE6 model but I am not familiar with this rod at all as I am too uncoordinated to jig with an overhead.

I think you might still need to go back and have a chat with Neil!

[Matt Kilpatrick]

Thanks Brandon. Okay, I have checked the model of my Blue Rose ? it is a B5315S, which is 5'3" overhead rod. The Shimano site says, ?The B5315S overhead is of a similar length and can handle PE 8 braid?, however, the tech table then specifies PE Max 6. I thought the rod says PE Max 8, but I would have to check.

If there is a discrepancy, it is like my Saltiga Muramura 76, which all the technical info says is a PE 6 rod, however, the rod label says PE 8.