Power Rod for Jigging

[Samuel Chieng]

Hey guys,

Need plenty of expert opinions for a jigging rod, to fish close structure. And when I say close, I mean CLOSE. Scenarios is like this...gonna be fishing near oil drilling platforms (like 10m away), where HUGE GTs are ever present. This of course means a lock down, head wrenching, stop-in-its-track fishing where lots of grunt will have to be borne by the rod and reel and of course angler, before it breaks you off at the pylons.

At the moment, I have a 5'4" JM Terminator 400gm, but am looking for something a lil' lighter in rod weight, as it should pull double duty as a deep jigging tool for monster doggies. (We all do wish for it don we?)

i've narrowed it down to a few within the same budget range.

Smith AMJ S52EX...OR Simth WRC55 Nirai. Which would be more suitable for my type of fishing?

The Carpenter OH56MH-S. There's a guy selling it off cheap, but then again is it suitable for this type of fishing, cos there are ppl who claims that it's a lil' too soft for this type of style, and recommend the OH55XH-S instead. If it's not then it might not be worth buying it.....yet. 

Then there's the JM Powerspell 500gms, but I am more partial to the Japanese stuff compared to the Taiwanese's. Plus I do own one JM400 already...

Of course there are others outside of my price range such as the RippleFisher 5220 and the Fisherman Spinoza Short 5122, but that will be for another time.

Am fishing a Stella SW20kPG, with PE8-10 lines, drag sets at 15kg or more (depending whether my back snaps or not!)

And just for a taste of how it's like, below is a pretty nice specimen being skull dragged up.


A mother of a GT at 57kg!!

[Jay Burgess]

I'm pretty sure both of those Smiths will be too soft for the style if fishing you'll be doing. As for the Carpenter, I'm not familiar enough with their rods to comment. Another rod you could consider is the Valley Hill Mogi Special.

[Hon-Su Chin]

well....you can forget both the Smiths.....way too soft for deep jigging with anything over 400gm. JM powerspell 500 is a better option but brutal and yeh not lightweight like all the other JM rods. Valleyhill Mogi Special.....now thats an awesome rod. Used one with 400gm in 100m of water on sambos. No problem skull dragging them up. PE 6-10 but 700gm weight is about max for it.

The Carpenter OH55XHS is not bad, very light and powerful rod but abit stiffer in the tip than the Valleyhill. Its also fair bitmore parabolic than the Valleyhill.

[Brandon Khoo]

Do you guys practice catch and release? That GT does not look well

[Samuel Chieng]

Thanx for the suggestion guys. Will look into the Mogi Special. Although I need to ask, are the Smiths really that soft till it renders them incapable of fishing deep waters? We're talking 100m-180m of deep water jigging. I've seen the bend of the Smiths in some pictures and compared to the Wei World, the Smith seem to be able to take more vigorous works.

Brandon, we do practice C&R here although that one was obviously not. 

[Greg Burt]

Having owned and used the two smith rods mentioned as well as the JM PS500  I would go for the JM only because of your statement, " This of course means a lock down, head wrenching, stop-in-its-track fishing where lots of grunt will have to be borne by the rod and reel and of course angler, before it breaks you off at the pylons".
I don't regard the Smith rods as 'soft', and I rate the Nirai as the best jigging rod I have ever owned for ease of jigging as well as heaps of power for 90% of situations, but to tackle big GT's and Doggies in the situations mentioned, the JM 500 will put more hurt on the fish, and you  .

PS: I also rate the AMJ S52EX up there with the best  .

[Cam Foley]

Have to agree with Greg on the Smith,there is a JM 3 kings special out that could maybe do the job.

[Greg Burt]

I never had a chance to test the Three Kings M and H rods I took to Fiji [thanks Cyclone Thomas], but having a good look at them and loading them up I would be more then happy with the H over the PS500 for it's lighter tip action.

PS: Have you any in the shop Cam?

[Greg Burt]

This is an extract from another site by Tackle Direct NZ's  Mat, Chris Wongs RH man, on a similar question comparing the Power Spell and Three Kings.

"I have used both the JM 3 Kings Special 300 and the JM Power Spell 400 together at the Ranfurly banks and have owned the later since they became available. They have entirely different actions to each other.
 
The baby of the 3 Kings Special rods is the 3 Kings Special 200 - it's a beautiful rod suitable for 300g jigs but is getting a little light for what you want. Forget about the JM 3 Kings Special 400 which is a brute.
 
The 3 KS 300 rod is a little heavier in weight than the PS 400 because it has a thicker wall construction, it's also a few cms longer than the PS. Both have top components as one would expect on rods of this calibre.
 
There's not much difference between them power wise. Even though the 3KS 300 hints that it's a 300gm rod - that is not entirely correct. I'd rate it at around 370gm as there's not much difference in power between it and the PS400. The 3KS 300 is a little more versatile in that it can still comfortably jig a 300gm jig whereas that's getting a little on the light side for the PS400. Having said that, as a straight out heavier model rod for the 3 Kings, Ranfurly etc I personally prefer the PS 400. For a one rod angler, then the 3 KS 300 would be better.
 
Hope that helps."

[Brandon Khoo]

Damn shame to kill one that size, Samuel

Greg, what was that ridiculous Zenaq that Duncan used to have in the store? I can't imagine that there would be a stronger jigging rod on the market.

[Hon-Su Chin]

really,Duncan had a Monster Buster in the shop?? Now thats a widow maker of a rod!!

[Greg Burt]

http://www.zenaq.com/en/off/monsterbuster.html
 

[Brandon Khoo]

That sounds exactly like what Samuel needs fishing where he is. I reckon that O/H Monster Buster would be the go - load 200lb Jerry Brown onto a Torsa 30, drop your jig down, hook up and then go water skiing.

[Luke Wyrsta]

Not cheap and not forgiving - Blue Rose Full-Gene PE10?

[Brandon Khoo]

That is another absolute brute of a rod!!