Carpenter Rod Choice help

[Jason D'Angelo]

Fairly new to the popping fishing craze im only 22 years old and live in south australia
and have been doing trips to exmouth
in the last year.
really enjoy it and looking forward to upgrading to a carpenter rod.

running a 6500 saltiga with 80-100lb braid
170-200lb leader.
now i mainly only use stickbaits
* Smith Baby runbohs (sinking)
*ASWB 130 SS scad

is what i mainly have used and will continue to with other lures.

just wondering what would be the best rod suited to this application, have heard the endless passions are great as well as the monster
but carpenter is all knew to me and i have no ideas so
thanks for the help much appreciated budget not a issue

[Duncan O'Connell]

Hi Jason,

The Endless Passions are great stickbait rods, The EP85/36 will definitely work the lures that you mention as well as some larger stickbaits too. The softer tip really excells at getting a good action out of floating stickbaits in particular, which can sometimes be a little tricky to work, especially for the newcomer.

The Monster Hunter MH80H is a more powerful rod which will work medium to large stickbaits and poppers very well. This rod is probably a bit much for throwing smaller lures like Baby Runbohs really well but it will work lures like the 130SS Scad and larger very easily.

Both rods will work very well for you in WA - on a trip to the Montebellos last year, Kenji Konishi and his field testers were using both of these rods extensively. If you are looking for a stickbait specific rod, the Endless Passion is the perfect tool. On the other hand, for a more powerful all-rounder, the Monster Hunter MH80H is superb

Hope this helps

Cheers

Duncan

[Mark Harris]

Personally, I would say that EP 85/36 is not the best match with the heavy set up (6500 Saltiga and 80-100 lb braid) that Jason mentions he will use?

Leaving MH80H aside as it would be fairly horrrible with a Smith Baby Runboh (!) and indeed any stickbait under about 160 grams, then I would suggest Jason looks at EP82/38, CV79/40 or DJ83MH. Those would be a better match to the 6500 Saltiga and 80-100lb line I think.

[Sean Costello]

Hi Jason

If you are mainly fishing exmouth then the MH80h gets my vote, as mark said though it wont be much good with the runbohs. I fished ningaloo in april and hooked all my fish right in the breakers, the extra power of the monster hunter came in handy extracting the fish, its also a very good casting rod which helps reach the back of the reef when the swells up a bit.

Sean

[Brandon Khoo]

There is no real issue with using a 6500 sized reel with an EP85. Prior to the Stella 10000 coming out in 2008, we all used the large sized reels such as the 10000FA (same size as current 180000) and 6000 or 6500 Stellas.

On what is a suitable Carpenter rod, I would suggest that you think beyond what you like using now but how you think your GT fishing needs may evolve in the next year or two. I think the reality is that you will move away from a small lure like the Baby Runboh (which isn't really a GT lure) to what would generally be regarded as more GT sized lures. You may also want to think of getting into poppers and other lures rather than just stickbaits.

If you like fishing around the PE8 (roughly 100lb) level, then you could think about the CV79 RF40, the EP82 or the EP85. If you wanted the versatility of going up to PE10, then the MH80H could be a good option.

You do need to get a decent understanding though of the different rods and their recommended/ideal casting weights though.

[Mark Harris]

Certainly no real issue with EP85/38 and Saltiga 6500 Brandon, but it's not the ideal/best match is it? 

EP85/36 is lovely light and really rather subtle GT rod, and given the other options, it seems to defeat the purpose to me if you pair it with a lumpy Saltiga 6500.  Prior to 2008 we had no real choice as you say, but things have moved on a lot since then.

[Jason D'Angelo]

Thanks all for the replies.
i have a understanding now. i will just use the baby runbohs
on my smaller outfit.

but will need the heavyer rod for the big aswbs etc.
the Monster sounds good, and yes  i do no as much help as possible to get the gts out of the breakers ive found it very hard at times to drag them out with
my Jigging Master Gt Monster rod.

the monster rods comes in a couple models yes? whats the ratings, also what is a suitable Pe to run through these rods, is pe8 to light you would all say ?

[Mark Harris]

Jason.

I think you should only look at MH80H and not MH79XH. MH80H is a PE8-10 rod. PE8 is definitely alright - I fish mine with PE8 probably about 90% of the time.

When you say Big ASWBs.. what size do you mean?  I would use MH80H for the relatively huge ASWB 185 and 225. There are more appropriate rods for smaller.

If you want the power to pull fish out the reef and still some subtlety in the tip for stickbaits in the 130 to 170 range, then I think DJ83MH could be the most appropriate Carpenter rod.  I understand that the newer Monster Hunter blanks are based on the DJ. It's a very good rod indeed and I believe it is Carpenter's longest selling GT rod model - that says a lot.  DJ83MH will also give you the flexibility of using chuggers up to 150 grams without problem.

[Brandon Khoo]

Not really an issue, I think. We seem to have gotten to an almost obsessive level with the 10000 and I see people recommending it left right and centre. That is all well and good but I think it would be helpful if we were also more transparent about the trade-off. With an 18000 or a 6500, it's a reel that has been specifically designed for this purpose. No compromises and no add-ons required. With the 10000, we are asking a smaller reel to step up to do a big job to the point where we need to acquire an aftermarket spool.

There is clearly significantly more wear and tear on the smaller reel and provided people understand the need for more regular maintenance and servicing, that's fine. I am finding that after almost every heavy trip, my 10000s need a proper service. They seem to develop niggling issues far more easily than the 18000s. What I am finding is that 18000s need a service roughly every three trips whereas 10000s need it after about 1.5 trips.

I have no issue with people recommending 10000s. I think I was the first person here to be running them with 16000 spools but I do think that we should be more open about the trade-off. If someone is looking for a single reel only and there is a possibility that they want to fish PE10 at some point, then I would steer them towards an 18000.

Certainly no real issue with EP85/38 and Saltiga 6500 Brandon, but it's not the ideal/best match is it? 

EP85/36 is lovely light and really rather subtle GT rod, and given the other options, it seems to defeat the purpose to me if you pair it with a lumpy Saltiga 6500.  Prior to 2008 we had no real choice as you say, but things have moved on a lot since then.

[Mark Harris]

I have no issue with people recommending 10000s. I think I was the first person here to be running them with 16000 spools but I do think that we should be more open about the trade-off. If someone is looking for a single reel only and there is a possibility that they want to fish PE10 at some point, then I would steer them towards an 18000.

I think that is a good point Brandon and perhaps we have all got sucked into the 10000 +16000 thing to some extent.

Just last week for whatever reason I decided to add another Stella to the popping arsenal. After quite some thought it was another 18000 rather than another 10000. I think I have made the point before in this forum that we are asking a lot of Stella 10000 when whacking a 16000 spool on there. 

Nonetheless, I freely admit that I have become a bit obsessed with fishing the lighter, more subtle GT rods like the EPs and Coral Viper with 10000s.  And I am probably contradicting myself all over the place! 

[Sean Costello]

Jason, I run 100lb JB solid through my 80h and it handled everything i gave it, diameter wise 100lb jb falls between pe 8 and 10

On the topic of the 10000 and 16000 spool, i may be the first to go on record saying i dislike it for GTs, just feels wrong to me, 18000 will be the next reel i buy.

[Brandon Khoo]

Don't get me wrong, the 10000 with 16000 spool combination is a brilliant combination. I was only trying to highlight that there are compromises which people need to be aware of, not the least is the wear and tear on a smaller reel and the not inconsequential fact that a 10000 with the aftermarket spool will cost more than an 18000. There is no doubt that the overall lightness of the 10000 is a big factor for many people.

I have no issue with people recommending 10000s. I think I was the first person here to be running them with 16000 spools but I do think that we should be more open about the trade-off. If someone is looking for a single reel only and there is a possibility that they want to fish PE10 at some point, then I would steer them towards an 18000.

I think that is a good point Brandon and perhaps we have all got sucked into the 10000 +16000 thing to some extent.

Just last week for whatever reason I decided to add another Stella to the popping arsenal. After quite some thought it was another 18000 rather than another 10000. I think I have made the point before in this forum that we are asking a lot of Stella 10000 when whacking a 16000 spool on there. 

Nonetheless, I freely admit that I have become a bit obsessed with fishing the lighter, more subtle GT rods like the EPs and Coral Viper with 10000s.  And I am probably contradicting myself all over the place! 

[Jason D'Angelo]

Thanks for the imput again guys, will mainly be using the SS130 aswbs up at exy its all you need really

[Mark Harris]

For stickbaits around that weight, then you would be better off with DJ83MH, Coral Viper or an EP.  An MH80H would be overkill IMHO.

[Tony Warnett]

Jason,

I have both the CV79 & MH80 and I fish this water seasonally.
I totaly agree with Sean go the MH80 it works the ASWB well too mate.