GT popping rod

[reganp]

What is generally considered to be the best GT popping rod? To be matched with a big steela reel. Or perhaps the top 3 rods?

[Rob Ciotucha]

Hi Peter Different rods suit different applications and line classes, you have to be more specific with what your going todo with it.

Cheers
Rob

[Warwick Joyce]

Hi Peter, Rob is right. It all depends what you are doing with it, and ultimately  how much you want to spend. I suggest looking thru the forum pages and read a few of the various posts, there is a lot of info valuable info amongst it. Thats how I figured out which rod would suit me.
Cheers

[Brandon Khoo]

Peter, welcome to the forum.

Recommending a rod as the best popping rod is something we shy away from here as the reality is there is no "best" rod. There are many producers out there making excellent rods. These includes manufacturers such as Carpenter, Fisherman, Smith, Seven Seas, Zenaq, Hots, Ripple Fisher, Valley Hill, Medusa Custom Works, Shimano, Daiwa etc.  My personal preference has been Carpenter due to their range of very specialised rods but lately, I have been very taken by what I have seen from Ripple Fisher having had the opportunity to test some of their prototypes.
 

Many of these rods are very specialised these days and you can get everything from absolute stump pullers to rods which are actually quite forgiving to rods which are designed specifically for big cup faced poppers to rod which are made specifically for surface stickbaits.

The best analogy I can give you is it is no different to someone going onto a car forum and asking what is the best car. Well, without knowing where you live or the kind of roads you are driving on or even your driving capabilities, it is impossible to come up with a suggestion. As you can appreciate, you would get people recommending everything from a Ferrari to a Hummer!

if you give us some idea on the size of the GTs you are intending to chase, the terrain you are fishing, how strong you are, your casting capabilities, how much you want to spend etc, it will narrow down a recommendation.

[reganp]

OK, OK. Points all well taken. I am scheduled to visit Wreck and Kenn reefs on back to back Nomad trips at the end of July/early August. I plan to do some popping as conditions permit, jigging when all else fails and fly fishing as the opportunities occur. I have experience fishing in mostly fresh water(flyfishig) my saltwater experience is limited to Costa Rica, Panama & Florida - the usual stuff -sailfish, marlin, tuna, jacks, dorado. I understand that these fish ( in the coral sea) will be in another league, especially if I hope to catch them on poppers. My 4 piece tidemaster just barely survives the tuna and jacks in Panama.
I want a rod that casts poppers a mile, can handle these whoppers, and takes plenty of abuse from both the fish and the user. I'm also a bit concerned about traveling with some huge casting rod so thoughts on that would be appreciated. Nomad recommends the Carpenter brand and I would be fine using their gear if not for the tuna we catch in CR and Panama. They are too much for my current set up. I'm dead if I churn up a tuna over 60 lbs.! So, it is time to pony up and spend the $ to get a rod that I can use for a sort of mixed use application. Gt's in Australia and tuna (cuberas, roosters & amberjacks) in central america. I do appreciate the advice you guys pass along. Regarding experience- I can only match you all with my enthusiasm. Although I can knock a fish over the head at 50 yards with my current set up!

[Brandon Khoo]

Peter

Firstly, you don't need to bring any popping equipment unless you want to. The equipment supplied by Nomad is excellent so you actually don't need to buy any equipment unless you prefer to have your own. You can easily turn up on the trip with nothing whatsoever and they can provide everything down to the terminals and the popper. Heavy popping equipment really isn't useable for much else apart from popping for GTs so they aren't outfits you can multi-task. Heavy GT rods aren't suitable for tuna popping.

The Carpenters are excellent but stock can be in very short supply.

Are you based in the USA?

[reganp]

Yes, USA - east coast. Great advice, you saved me lots of $. I'll have to continue my search for a heavy casting rod for popping tuna, etc. Funny thing is, I use the  Yozuri GT surface bull as my go-to lure. Live and learn. Thanks