9ft for Drop Shot
- Thread starter esatpil
- Start date
Dingleberry
Senior Member
Bud, with jigs, you want to fish as light as the conditions permit. Therefore a lighter rod might be necessary for effective casting of 1/16 or 1/8 ounce jigs. One obviously cannot cast these lighter jigs very far, so to maximise lure time in the water you are going to be casting and retrieving an aweful lot. I have found that holding the rod with the base of the reel between my pinkie and ring finger postions my hand at the centre of gravity of a balanced rig. One can fish for hours like this. If, however, one uses a longer rod the centre of gravity moves forward with the same reel. This has the effect of putting excessive strain on the wrist and requires varied hand positions during cast and retrieve. I would honestly suggest 6,6' or 7' rods. If you want to cast heavier jigs, a heavier combination may be necessary, but the extra length will untimately decrease lure-in-water time.
Agreed. Short, light, balanced is the ideal. But the keywords are: "as conditions permit" I want to fish beyond surf and off rocks and intend to go for fish in the 2kg+ class, so need a rod with plenty backbone and pull. Incidentally, use and old Mitchell 301 with 0,3mm monofilament and finds this to be perfectly balanced with the 8ft rod. Anyone still remember/have/use these reels?
Dingle - I'm gonna disagree with you on some points mate.... A rig should be blanced no matter what length it is... I fish the exact same hand posistion as you are talking about, with reel seat shaft between pinkie and ring finger, on all my Spinning set ups.... From my light spinning rig which is 7ft with a Fin Nor ISX 4000, to my 8ft Exage with a Stella 6000, to my jigging set ups which are 5'6" matched to the Stella 6000, and 5'7" matched to a Stella 20000, and my heavy popping rod, which is an 8'3" Carpenter which is matched to the Stella 20000. All these rods feel balanced because of the design of the rod and the plavemnet of the reel seat. All rods should be balanced... if they aren't then the reel seat placement is incorrect.
I do agree with you though on the extra effort when using a longer rod in some cases because of the added weight. However, I feel this is minimal... A longer lighter rod will enable you to throw smaller lures more easily without a doubt.
That being said, I feel the perfect length for light tackle spinning, is 7' to 8'6".
I do agree with you though on the extra effort when using a longer rod in some cases because of the added weight. However, I feel this is minimal... A longer lighter rod will enable you to throw smaller lures more easily without a doubt.
That being said, I feel the perfect length for light tackle spinning, is 7' to 8'6".
Warren Jay
New member
In the surf you need a rod with a bit of backbone that can cast up to 1.5oz I use a Firewolf 8'6" which works well in any conditions.
[color=#006600]Deon Brits [/color]wrote:
Got GT's, blue fins, big eyes, greenspot kingies, bonnies, etc on drop shot and live mozzies at Kilwa. Also have enough backbone to cast sinker and bait so you don't need to carry 2 rods if dropshotting not producing.
Biggest fish out so far is about 8kg cob and GT of 7kg. Different fite but handled aggressive kingies and dead weight cob.
Here is a pic of rod
We have used these exact same rods with stella 4 000 for about 12 months and they are flipping awesome. Balanced and lite and give in right areas.
Got GT's, blue fins, big eyes, greenspot kingies, bonnies, etc on drop shot and live mozzies at Kilwa. Also have enough backbone to cast sinker and bait so you don't need to carry 2 rods if dropshotting not producing.
Biggest fish out so far is about 8kg cob and GT of 7kg. Different fite but handled aggressive kingies and dead weight cob.
Here is a pic of rod
