Hi everyone,
I'm not exactly new on the forum, I've been reading fo a long time now, but did not wrote so much.
I'm having trouble with choosing a popping rod...
I'm a 27 yo french fisherman and I would say fit enough to fish with a big stick.
I've been travelling for GTs those last years already in Djibouti, Egypt, Madagascar, Mayotte and Indonesia. So I'm beginning to know the fish. I used to fish with my big bluefin tuna rods (Major Craft GKC 86, Palms Olukai 73, Daiwa 803 XXH wich are PE 8 and PE 6 rods) but those rods are not made to maneuvrate big poppers, and they generally don't do the job well with heavier than 120g.
So now I'm trying to get a proper popping Rod.
I'm going for an exploration trip in SW madagascar in november, and I'm hesitating in the choice. The aim is to have a good rod to fish with poppers in the 120 to 200 grams range, and some big sinking stickbaits.This is what I saw and can get in france in my budget :
- Yamaga Blanks 710/10 Chugger
- Yamaga blanks 711/10 Dual
- Temple Reef reefer 711-10
- Temple Reef GT stick 710-8
- Hot's gipang Ryujin 3rd generation 79XH
They look pretty similar on the paper, more or less same size, same weight, same butt length. Unfortunately, I cannot hold in my hands any of those rods in my area, so I can't choose with the feeling. The yamaga 710/10 and Temple Reef 710-8 are maybe more popper typed ?
The temple reef 710-8 is lighter, and also the less expensive...
And yes, the reel will be a Stella 14k with a french aftermarket spool upgrade.
I'm really looking for a rod that will work poppers properly, and I can use with a big drag setting to pull hard on the fish with braid around 110 - 120 lbs.
Do you have any advice to help me ? I've been searching a lot on the forum bt did not find so much about those rods.
Thank you very much, and please forgive my english faults... I'm french !
