blaasoppie#1
Senior Member
Many of you may have already read this in the other jigging forums, but for those of you that haven’t here it is:
I have been looking for a suitable 30lb jigging rod for some time to go with my Stella 8000FA and finally decided on the Shimano Blue Rose S535R.
Specifications:
Length-5.3m
Jig Weight-100-200g
Max line rating-PE5
Rod weight-185g
Carbon fiber content 63.2%
Glass fiber content 36.8%
Price ex shipping $430.00
Leader 60lb - 80lb Flouro
Knot - PR
Don’t like the split grip or poodle grip as I refer to it, but made the purchase anyway from http://www.fishingbuddy.com.sg not knowing really what I was going to end up with; their service was excellent buy the way.
It is the hardest thing to purchase a rod online as you really have to hold it in your hands to get a good feel for it so when it finally showed up (once again in a flimsy plastic package that was seriously kinked from shipping) it was with baited breath that I pulled the rod out of the package at which time my fears were brought to fruition; I did not want single foot guides, the rod was as light as a freaking wand (John actually offered to buy it on the spot for bass fishing) and it was thin as a noodle - There is no way this thing is ever going to handle anything of size!!
I don’t know why it is so hard to find info on rods; if I were Shimano I would have the full deal, pictures of each rod under different weight loads, photos from every angle, a review etc, etc, but no you almost have to have a secret clearance to get any info.
So that night (rod showed up day before my trip so I was at least stoked with that) I once again punished the bedroom cupboard door handle with the ritualistic new rod bedroom battle and was handsomely rewarded with a reasonable fight which gave me a little comfort; the hinges were rated at 150lbs so the door had an unfair advantage.
Saturday turned up and at 02h30 we were out to sea and had an excellent day jigging ending up with about 40-50 fish between John and myself. Just after I caught the marlin on my spinning rod I hooked a huge sailfish on the blue noodle, I felt a hit 10m from the boat a saw him following my jig all the way to the surface so I dropped it back 30m and he dived after it and grabbed the jig; I struck him about 5 times, but the hook did not set - man that would have been unreal.
Check this GT's pec fin is missing!
The Blue Rose S535R totally outperformed my expectations and teamed with a Stella 8000 and 33lb YGK this set-up is a machine; I was cleaned up a couple of times by larger fish, but the GT's that I caught were immensely strong and I handled them pretty good.
Blue Rose S535R with some stiff competition from the Jigging Master 250g
Jigging Master 250g under load
The rod easily handles 200g jigs and the best range I found was 150g.
You can jig till the cows come home with this rod as it is so light and is unequivocally my favorite rod although my S60MD is the monster dog!
My new Stella SW8000PG will be christened on the blue noodle next week friday; get a Blue Noodle and you won't be sorry.
The SA Blue Rose rods have different product codes, but the rods i saw in MIAS were made in Indonesia which is where the Japanese models that i purchased are made so maybe some of them are Japanese models and not European models?
The Jigging Master 200g is comparable to the Blue Rose S535R and the JM250g is just one step up; both very nice rods.If i was not a Blue Rose fan the JM rods would certainly be my next choice.
I have been looking for a suitable 30lb jigging rod for some time to go with my Stella 8000FA and finally decided on the Shimano Blue Rose S535R.
Specifications:
Length-5.3m
Jig Weight-100-200g
Max line rating-PE5
Rod weight-185g
Carbon fiber content 63.2%
Glass fiber content 36.8%
Price ex shipping $430.00
Leader 60lb - 80lb Flouro
Knot - PR
Don’t like the split grip or poodle grip as I refer to it, but made the purchase anyway from http://www.fishingbuddy.com.sg not knowing really what I was going to end up with; their service was excellent buy the way.
It is the hardest thing to purchase a rod online as you really have to hold it in your hands to get a good feel for it so when it finally showed up (once again in a flimsy plastic package that was seriously kinked from shipping) it was with baited breath that I pulled the rod out of the package at which time my fears were brought to fruition; I did not want single foot guides, the rod was as light as a freaking wand (John actually offered to buy it on the spot for bass fishing) and it was thin as a noodle - There is no way this thing is ever going to handle anything of size!!
I don’t know why it is so hard to find info on rods; if I were Shimano I would have the full deal, pictures of each rod under different weight loads, photos from every angle, a review etc, etc, but no you almost have to have a secret clearance to get any info.
So that night (rod showed up day before my trip so I was at least stoked with that) I once again punished the bedroom cupboard door handle with the ritualistic new rod bedroom battle and was handsomely rewarded with a reasonable fight which gave me a little comfort; the hinges were rated at 150lbs so the door had an unfair advantage.
Saturday turned up and at 02h30 we were out to sea and had an excellent day jigging ending up with about 40-50 fish between John and myself. Just after I caught the marlin on my spinning rod I hooked a huge sailfish on the blue noodle, I felt a hit 10m from the boat a saw him following my jig all the way to the surface so I dropped it back 30m and he dived after it and grabbed the jig; I struck him about 5 times, but the hook did not set - man that would have been unreal.
Check this GT's pec fin is missing!
The Blue Rose S535R totally outperformed my expectations and teamed with a Stella 8000 and 33lb YGK this set-up is a machine; I was cleaned up a couple of times by larger fish, but the GT's that I caught were immensely strong and I handled them pretty good.
Blue Rose S535R with some stiff competition from the Jigging Master 250g
Jigging Master 250g under load
The rod easily handles 200g jigs and the best range I found was 150g.
You can jig till the cows come home with this rod as it is so light and is unequivocally my favorite rod although my S60MD is the monster dog!
My new Stella SW8000PG will be christened on the blue noodle next week friday; get a Blue Noodle and you won't be sorry.
The SA Blue Rose rods have different product codes, but the rods i saw in MIAS were made in Indonesia which is where the Japanese models that i purchased are made so maybe some of them are Japanese models and not European models?
The Jigging Master 200g is comparable to the Blue Rose S535R and the JM250g is just one step up; both very nice rods.If i was not a Blue Rose fan the JM rods would certainly be my next choice.
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