Patriot D. Fire Vortex

[Dan Colebrook]

thats a great pic!!

[Allan Chan Hian Lian]

PMed you, Nathan.

[Nathan Tsao]

Thanks again guys,

I'm a small guy too, only about 150lbs, so the reality is that my body really cant handle such heavy equipment or drags. Rather, when the fish strikes i just set the hook, sit down, and hold on while my friends hammer down on the fish with the boat. Once i'm sitting down and have my feet placed, then i crank the drag down and let the boat drag the fish away from the caves. I suppose this is cheating, but i cannot afford to lose plugs, especially now that Heru's have gone up to $ 30-$40 each, yikes!

A 145lb GT recently came up from a shorecaster on Oahu (65kg). The state record GT is 191lb (85kg). There are some huge fish here, i know i have almost no chance at anything this size regardless of tackle class. But i figure an extra heavy rod/line will slightly decrease the percentage of gear failure if the opportunity should come up?!?

Brandon, should i honestly just not waste money on the Fire Vortex, and wait for something else to pop up?

[Brandon Khoo]

Hi Nathan

I can't really tell you not to waste your momey as that would be a bridge too far. The point I would make is that the Fire Vortex is brutal beyond belief. There are rods out there that are easier on your back. How did you find the BG Jack? Did you find it manageable? I would suggest that even a Fisherman R10 77L would be more comfortable to fish with than the BG Jack. That said, I think that the super heavy GT rods all hurt a bit too much or that could simply be a reflection that I am getting too old.

The compromise to be paid is that the more manageable rods don't quite pop the monster poppers as well but that is a compromise I am happy to pay!

[Duncan O'Connell]

Hi Nathan,

I wouldn't want to tell you which way to go, other than try the rod first. As a crowbar to tow big fish out of caves, it might be just the tool you need, but it is simply too much rod for most anglers.
I use the Black Mafia, one step down as my heaviest popping rod. It is not what I would call an all day rod but for working big bloopers it is pretty much without equal. Poppers don't 'pop' so much as go 'kaboom!' when you are working them on the Black Mafia. Also the kevlar wraps give a lot of durability to the rod in rough house situation - like when you fish massive drag and risk the rod colliding with the gunnels every so often!

Cheers

Duncan

[Jay Burgess]

Hi Nathan, I have for sale a Sevenseas Big Pop 78 Powerful. It's the heaviest in the Sevenseas range of GT rods. I would consider it a bit lighter action than a Carpenter SP78UHL but a lot more forgiving to fish with. It has a nice action, and there's not too many poppers you can't fish with it. I am the same weight as you and I found it quite manageable to fish with.

[Vinh Nguyen]

The compromise to be paid is that the more manageable rods don't quite pop the monster poppers as well but that is a compromise I am happy to pay!

So true.  It's those pe10-12 rods that are able to cast and pull a big cup popper through the water so crisp with very loud blurbs and large water displacement.  It's not an ego thing, I'm firm believer of big lure= big fish.  And I can definately attest to seeing some ungodly sized GT come up on our lures out here in Hawaiian waters.

[Mark Harris]

As Brandon says, it's a compromise Vinh. 

I am with him on this one - I would much rather fish comfortably all day with a more user-friendly rod, plus take advantage of the bigger casting distances you inevitably get from those rods.

And it's not only a matter of bigger rod = bigger lures = bigger displacement.  I have seen plenty of guys fishing with uncomfortably stiff, heavy rods who are simply not capable of casting lures far enough with such set ups, and then can't keep the effort required to work the lures properly for more than a short period. 

I have seen a lot of big GTs caught on lures in 100-170 gram range, all very manageable with user-friendly rods.

It's all a matter of compromise and personal preference about how you like to fish I guess.

[Brandon Khoo]

I still have a place for a mega-popper outfit on certain trips but for me, there is a pretty clear understanding that I am going to go hard for about fifteen to twenty minutes with that outfit and then go back to something more manageable. Lures like the I Cup, Ultra Bigmouth GT3 or King Kong take an enormous toll on the angler when you are using them properly. Going kaboom with lures of this size is not something many anglers can keep up for long periods of time. I have seen too many anglers using big heavy poppers when they would honestly be better served using a 125g Cubera and actually popping it properly.

The other thing anglers needs to understand is that a rod which pops those monster poppers so effectively becomes your worst enemy once you're into a fight with a big GT. You may think the rod may permit you to put more hurt on a big fish but conversely, the big fish can a world of hurt onto you as well through the rod. I also think the additional hurt you put onto the fish can work against you as it can make a fish panic even more.

As Mark alludes to, the size of the outfit isn't the key, it is the ability of the angler to utlise it effectively. I agree with this 100%. Smart manufacturers are starting to create equipment to facilitate this. The latest Sea Frog 120 can be popped by even a TBL711 but it has a lot of presence in the water. It's the same length as the old Sea Frog 180!

A while back, we had a discussion on PE12 outfits with mega poppers. The discussion was started by one of our members who had developed an obssession with the heaviest outfit and poppers possible but he weighed under 70kg. We haven't heard from him in a long time and I wonder whether he is still water skiing somewhere as a result of that outfit.

[Mark Harris]

All beautifully put Brandon.

You raise an interesting issue - lure presence versus size. The new Seafrog 120 you refer is the dual hook version yes?  I did not realise this was as long as the old 180!

I am always looking for poppers that have really big presence for their relatively small size, the sort of thing you would fish with SP80M or CV79/40. Until now Adhek Venus 125 has been my go-to lure on that criteria.