Jigging Rod – Help!!

OK… I have built 2 rods so far this winter for my rig presentations… and I’m now moving onto making some for jigging.
Steve (DeeZee) really turned me onto river fishing, and, most importantly, using plastics. I’m looking to build 2-3 rods for just jigging, and would like some info on what characteristics you like a jigging rod to have.
One rod will be for shore fishing, so I’m going to go with a longer rod for that application, or just use one of my rigging rods.
What I’m looking for is some advice on rod length, action, power, etc. for throwing ringworms, bucktails, etc.
The blanks I will be using are G Loomis IMX.

Thanks for any tips/info guys!

Ummm……….I’m a little confused. You’re asking us for jigging recommendations and then talking about throwing ringworms and bucktails. As far as I’m conerned, 2 different monsters and I prefer not to use the same rod for both. For jigging I like the extra fast action rods with some give in the tip. St. Croix Avid 6’3″ is a fantastic example. 7′ Legend Elite med./lt. is another good one! But the Legend is more versatile in it’s action for tossing othere things around. My experience with Loomis is that they seem to have a little more stiff to them than the Croix counterparts……..which is why I prefer them for crankin’ and weeds.

Everybody makes a suitable jigging rod and casting/flipping rod……………………..just a matter of getting out with an opportunity to try a few of them out.

My bad… I meant hair jigs. Thanks for the reply.

The rods I use are a St. Croix Avid AS60MF which is a 6 ft. rod medium power with a fast tip and a St. Croix Avid AS60MLF which is a 6 ft. rod medium lite power with a fast tip for light jigs. Just love the St. Croix Rods. Very sensitive and work great.

http://www.stcroixrods.com/rods/spincast.asp?rod=Avid%20Spinning#

One other rod you may consider for light jigs/plastics is the 5’9″ medium, extra fast. I’m typically a longer rod kind of guy, but after borrowing a buddies 5’9″ techna AV, it’s one rod I’m going to add to my collection.

Travis,

Sounds like got some winter blues to kill off in anticipation for next year? Sounds cool to me.
What I really like for throwing lighter ringworms is the St. Croix Avid or the Legend Elite rods as well but I tend to sway towards a tad bit longer rods in the 6-1/2 foot range and I like a fast tip as well for detected those infamous “thunks” on the line. Condering what line you most plan to fish with can also deter you selection (Mono or braids) I use both for diffrerent situations as well as different times of year for achieving different drop speeds and requiring different feels in the current or slightly deeper water. Gave you alot to chew on here huh?
My favorite all around action rod is the 6-1/2 foot medium with a fast tip or a medium light with a fast tip. This covers alot of my pitching needs as well as universal enough to vertical jig with if need be.

On a side note……If you get a chance to walk in to a store that has a good selection of rods? Take a little time to test out a bunch or rods with the same rod action description displayed on the rod, and then take a look at each one closely and notice how each rod is a little diffrent than the other when you have someone apply some pressure to the ends of the tips. Even though they are the same rod action, you will see a noticeable difference between the two. This is actually quite normal, but intersting to know to say the least.

As you might guess from my user name, I’m predisposed to custome made rods (my father owns and builds Lakelady Rods, come see us at the Walleye Expo).

I like custom rods because you know exactly what you’ve got. I use a 7′ custom made G-Loomis “Hot Shot” for most of my jigging; but you can buy great off the rack rods too.

Here are couple of things to think about when buying or building any rod:

No two people are the same — physical stature, size of hands, length of forearm dictate the butt grip length you should look for. St Croix and G-Loomis all build rods with multiple butt lengths. Balance is also very important. Make sure any rod you use works perfectly with the reel you are going to use with it. A properly balanced rig will feel weightless.

** Most importantly** An inherent feature in all rod blanks is the spine. A rod that twists out of alignment – moving right or left while under stress – was built without consideration of the spine. Make sure that your rod was built with the spine oriented properly. G-Loomis and St Croix both take care to get “most” of their rods in tune, but always double check. You will find alot of the same exact rods off the rack at any store that are not “in-tune”. Also think about superlines and what impact they might have on your guides, spend the money on high quality guides like Fuji Alconite, etc.

CustomRodFan,
I’m about to build my first rod. I figured to learn on this one so I chose to make more of a trolling rod. I picked a MH Cabela’s IM7 kit, basically because it was cheap and complete.

To my question: They provided Superloy guides. I asked them if they were OK to use with Spiderwire Braid and they said so, but I wouldn’t mind additional, less biased opinions. The Superloy guides are constructed of “high-quality Aluminum Oxide”.

-T

T-

Superloy Guides are ok. They are a less expensive option for sure. And the Cablea’s Kits are a great 1st step. If you want advice from the “real” expert. Check out lakeladyrods.com. It’s my Dad’s website; He’s a member of the custom rod builders guild and He’d love to give you some advice on building your rod.

(ps) He also has built a 15′ trolling rod to specs given by Dustin and James — I used it all summer and even let Dustin give it a shot last year. Now that rod gets some strange looks down on pool 4!!!

Corbin

i have found that for me rods 5’9″ work the best for vert. jigging .my arms get to hurtin with the 6 1/2ers after 6 or so hrs. of jiggin . may be old age to? but for castin i like 6 1/2 it just feels better when i work the jig,med to med light both work for me.i tryed med. hevy. with 1/2oz jig/superdo this fall in a 6’er in deep water worked ok.have fun makein your rods.

Thanks guys for all the tips/recommendations! I will do a little research prior to figuring out what to build. I’m a stickler for longer rods as well, but it looks like for vertical jigging under 6′ would be best, judging from the responses.

One quick question… anybody use the Okuma line of reels… namely spinning? They look pretty nice, and plenty of BB (up to 10), for a reasonable price. I’m a Shimano man myself, but supplying all these rods with either Sustains and/ or Twinpowers (Japan model of the Sustain…which I have now) will be pretty spendy.

oh boy. now you’ll get James and Nate going at each other. quite a debate on the Okuma line counters a couple of monthes back.

I’ve got a line counter Okuma and so far so good for me. I’m going to pick up one or two spinning models this Spring.

I bought a Quantum Catalyst Pti Model. 8 bb’s. seems really smooth, but I think I remember some disparaging remarks on that line of reels myself. Got it at Joes’ in St paul for $89.95.

the Kinetic version has 6 bb’s for 69.99. really like the titanium bail on the catalyst

Hey Steve, Hopefully we might be safe on this one as he is talking ”spinning” reels for a jigging rod and the line counters on on baitcasters. whew!!! lol. Nate does like to ”mix it up” so to speak as it gets alot of different opinions out there and that means lots of information for everyone. Hes up north working this week and won’t be back until Sunday night so maybe this will get into the archieves by then. lol. Couldn’t resist Nate, miss teasing you this week. lol. I better get off this subject while I’m still alive as I can no longer out run him. lol. Bill

Bill,
thought they were going to have to build a steel cage for that one! Strong opinions from both sides. I’ll just pick up a Daiwa this Spring and use both. The Okuma has worked well for me.

I use the okuma and the daiwa… and right now my first problem is with the Diawa…. the button to zero the line counter no longer works… the okuma is still going strong…

HAAAAAAAA

I may be out of town but that does not mean there I can’t go to the Library to read what you guys are up to behind my bacK Hey River Eyes keep it up stick with the OKUMA and sell that Diawa to James

as far as reels go I have not used the Okuma Spinning Reels but, if you want one of the best jigging reels I would say go with a Quantum Energy if you can find them it will be the best money spent.

now you boys behave I have to go back to work.

Well guys I think we got ”BUSTED”. LOL.

well Nate.. Im going to HAVE to use the Okuma!… without the line reset working.. I have to do math or somethng to make the Diawa actually count line!….. and Ive had the Okuma for one year longer than the Diawa….. guess thats a pretty limited test… but its the only one Ive got!

For vertical jigging applications, the shorter than 6′ models listed by several respondents are the way to go. I had grown quite uncomfortable in vertical jigging application over the last couple of years…. granted I do very little of it and thought the “rust” was largely due to very little practice. Finally I realized that as my rod or choice for casting jigs kept getting longer over the last season, stretching 6′ 8″ – 7′, I kept feeling less and less able to vertical jig with an type of control or proficiency. And then I used a lil’ shortie rod off a friend that had an extra fast tip! The lighbulbs went off… “Hey, I can vertical jig again!” The right tool for the job makes all the difference.

For casting, I use 6′ 8″ St. Croix Avid series rods. Medium power. Extra fast tip. They cast jigs wonderfully and are amazingly sensitive allowing me to react unbelieveably quick to the lightest tap and this model has the power needed to drive the hook home after a long cast with mono… this is VERY important as a med. light power rod or medium action rod will NOT be able to pick up enough line and drive the hook home with authority on those long casts.

My intentions are to pick up some “vertical jigging rods”, most likely a sub-6′ St. Croix Avids, to supply to all of my customers this next season. I’ve got jig casting rods galore and look forward to experimenting with these shorter rods to see how favorably my clientel will react to their introduction to our arsenal.

Another factor with a shorter jig rod is weight. There is a bid difference holding horizontally a 7′ rod with a jig attached vs a 6′ or less rod. Less fatige means more concentration as well.

What I don’t like about the spinning rods is their long cork handle below the reel. It catches on things

Can I cut this off ? And my guess is that it would throw it out of balance. How much out of balance ? I don’t think I want to cut up a brand new rod to do my own R&D

I think the butt of the rod blank goes all the way through the handle on most quality rods. Cutting into it seems like a very bad idea – especially on a graphite rod, as once there are nicks in the graphite, it becomes brittle.

No! No surgery on a new St. Croix! Brings bad luck ya’ know?! Sheeesshhh…. any guy that would contemplate such a thing needs to go back to the old Snoopy rod as a punishment…lol

All kidding aside, shortening the handle would throw the rod balance so far out of whack that it would be much less sensitive and functional to fish with. Could you counter some of this by adding a rod balancer kit and fine-tuning the balance that way? I’m sure you could.

Personally, I LOVE those longer handles on the longer spinning rods I use for casting. Notice that shorter rods designed for vertical jigging do not have them as the rod is held in completely different positions when using these seperate techniques. Case in point would be St.Croix rod – AS59MXF See how short the handle is? This is the 5′ 9″ rod is used for vertical jigging that reinforced the notion that a GREAT rod for casting jigs is NOT necessarily the tool for the job in vertical jigging applications.

(We covered much of the following in our jig casting video due for release at the end of Feb.)

When casting, I grip the reel and allow the long handle to run right under my forearm with the rest of the blank pointing up and away from my body at a 45 degree angle in relationshiop to the surface of the water. I see lots of guys holding this type of rod so the handle is NOT supported under the forearm, with the rod position held much to low. Basically in a vertical jigging position. This negates the sensitivity of the rod by forcing all vibration to be transfered through the line and into the hand through the reel! Think for a moment on the purpose of the rod and how to maximize the sensitivity of the rod by changing rod positions when fishing…. when casting, with the body position squarely facing the area being fished, a rod held at a 45 degree angle in relationship to the surface of the water and out from the body will allow any vibrations sent down the line to be transfered to the rod at the point at which the mono meets the rod tip. (The angle of the line runs 90 degrees in relationship to the shaft of the rod.) Now begin slowly dropping the rod tip and assume that the lure or bait has not changed positions and is still well out on a cast away from the boat. At a 30 degree angle your rod is less sensitive and when pointed directly at the jig as its being fished, the rod is basically a non-factor as all vibration and weight is being sent up the line and is transmitted to the angler through the reel. This position is incredibly uncomfortable and anyone fishing this way is missing out on the functionality of the design as well as one of the most comfotable and sensitive ways to hold a spinning rod. By running that long handle parallel with the forearm, the rod handle “locks” itself into the arm with only the slightest pressure exerted by the hand to grasp the reel. The rod wants to fall slightly forward but cannot because of the position of the handle against the arm. In effect it becomes an extension of your arm and actually holding the rod is nearly effortless and when a fish does pick up a jig, the balance on the rod changes and even the slightest vibrations are detected like it was an earthquake because the vibrations or sensation of weight are transfered to the hand through the rod, which is by design and through careful selction of materials, the intended use of the tool.

OK… I’m sure you can tell that the talk of cutting those handles got me worked up a bit. Promise me you won’t do that! If you really don’t like the long handles, first take the time to get used to them. I’ll loan you a rod to play with Dave. It took me some time to learn to use them and then in time I’ve come to love them. If a good honest attempt using them doesn’t win you over, having a custom rod built would allow you to specify the handle length and type and incorporate a balancer set to get everything working together again.

Geesh !! I almost cut my rod up before I got through that last book !! (jk)

Thanks James, I really thought that would be a bad idea but i had to ask.I own 3 St.Croix rods right now and two of them have the long handle. I too put the reel seat in between my middle finger and ring finger allowing the butt of the rod to follow down my forearm. It does work great , now I need to do something about my belly gettin in the way all the time

I enjoy any kind of jigging. I have two custom made rods (5’6” & 7’0”) that are my favorites. For vertical jigging the short rod is absolutely the best for me but stinks for casting light jigs. For casting light jigs the long rod is absolutely the best for me. Both rods are stiff with fast tips. For balance, I use a small 500 series Shimano reel on the short rod and a larger 2000 series Shimano reel on the long rod. Of course, I also use 6’0” and 6’6” store bought rods for jigging but prefer using the above two rods for the applications they were specifically designed. One can easily fill up the boat until there is no room for additional rods

Dave Gulczinski

Just got back for the Rod Guild show in Nashville. Saw all the new stuff for rod builders … my head is still hurting!

Justin is right-on with his comments about handles, angles and so on. Clearly there is a lot more to rods and the physics of them and how they perform than just “looks”. Guides even the number of guides and thier placement on the blank, spine and its relationship to the blank, handles, even the adhesives we use all contribute to the ultimate feel of the rod.

Only a custom rod builder with hundreds of rods built can really prepare the perfect rod for a paticular situation. Certainly there is a great deal more to building a rod, than just “shaking” or bending the rod to determine its action and power.

Custom rods are suprisingly affordable and each one is created to suit individual fishing styles.

Check us out at the upcoming Walleye Expo at Canterbury Park in Shakopee Jan. 31- Feb. 2. We’ll be in booth #33 on the second floor.

Kris Kristufek
LakeLady Custom Rods

James puts it well here (as usual) with the balance of the rod and position that you hold it. Having a rod balance in your hand effortless is one of the most confortable and most ideal positions for holding your rod while picthing jigs. If any of you are skeptical at this, go out and buy a rod balancer (or I have plenty to give away) and put it on the butt of the rod and get it to balance out with your reel combo that you are using. Ideally, you want this setup to rest on one finger around the reel seat of the reel. Now that you have accomplished this try fishing with it now the way James had just replied about above and see the difference. I have played with rod balancers quite a few years ago to gain some sensitivity on some other name brand rods or when I had a heavier reel on. This does improve sensitivity but most of all it takes less effort to hold the rod in your hand, therefore you can fish that much longer and be that much more efficient. The harder you grip your rod/reel, the less sensitive you become to the rod.

Having said all that, go take a new St. Croix off a rack at a store and put a reel on it and look how well this setup balances in your hand for hours and hours of effortless fishing, and I am absolutely convinced the lees fatigue you have in your wrist, hand, arm, shoulder by the end of the day, you will be that much more efficient out on the water, which will definately up your odds.