Hi,

I'm looking to build a rod for jigging tuna in the northeast canyons and was wondering if anyone had any suggestiions on a blank. I was think of using a Calstar GF700XH and matching it with a Diawa Saltiga-SA50 reel.

Thanks in advance.

Bruno

That's fine. A lot of guys who are hardcore jiggers are going the 8' all graphite route with GUSA, Loomis, and a blank no longer available, Cosmotech. TEh longer length moves teh jig more and gets more hook ups, tehy all fight the fish with the rail so teh additional length isn't a problem. One of these guys has jigged Tuna up to the 200# range with an 8' Cosmotech & a Salti 50, the guy is about 5'6 an 140#'s - it's all technique.

Otehr blanks are GUSA Wahoo & Predator, some people prefer all glass & composites and there are a ton of those blanks you could use as well. The CAlstar XH is pretty stout, but should do the job well if you know how to fight a fish, if not that particular blank will put a lot of strain on your back while fighting a big fish. Teh advantage of all graphite is the do not wear you out from jigging for 8 hours straight, which is what a few of them do.

PS - I have caught zero Tuna jigging, all that comes from speaking to people who have been jigging for a long time.

Check out Donart. He has some blanks with colors and good prices.

BRUNO, MY FAMILY HAS THREE PARTY BOATS IN THE NORTHEAST THAT AVERAGE TWO- THREE TRIPS PER WEEK. I HAVE A ROD SHOP IN POINT PLEASANT NEW JERSEY AND HAVE FOUND THE SWB 80XH BY FORECAST/BATSON TO BE THE BEST. ITS ALL GLASS. WE CUT EACH END FOR VARIOUS REASONS AND OUR AVERAGE LENGTH IS ABOUT 7'. MOST DECKHANDS LIKE THEM AT 7 1/2' AS YOU GET MORE "SWEEP" TO THE JIG. I WOULD BE CAREFUL WITH GRAPHITE. ASK ANY TEN PARTY BOAT CAPTAIS OR MATE IF THEY HAVE A GRAPHITE TUNA JIG STICK, I'LL BET YOU NOT ONE OF THEM HAS A GRAPHITE. GOOD LUCK EITHER WAY KEVIN BOGAN

Hi Bruno

I have been building quite a few heavy spinning / jig rods lately for guys fishing 50lb - 100lb braid on both high quality threadlines (Saltigas, Stellas, etc) and overheads (Saltigas, Penns, Shimanos, etc).
The majority of these rods have been built on uncut Calstar GF700H blanks, and all the clients have been extremely happy with the results whether they are jigging (for tuna, samson fish, dogtooth, etc), or spinning for large trevally.
The blanks are 7' long and are very versatile, with a sensitive tip and a lock up butt section that make them ideal jig and heavy spinning rods.
I am more than happy to forward a few recipes if you are interested.
Regards

George

Just because the mates & capts in the Northeast do not use graphite rods, that doesn't mean a thing. The North East fisherman are caveman technology wise, as all around the world people are using graphite, and especially graphite composites for jigging. Taht doesn't mean glass rods are garbage, they certainly aren't, I have several friends who fish on teh Jamaica, (and one who is not allowed to fish there anymore, lol) who use 8' Glass rods. Mostly HArnells.

Thank you, all for the info it was very helpful. George I would like to take you up on your offer for some recipes. I think i'll give the GF700h a try. I've built 3 rods on the gf700l for live lining stripers and I love them.

Thanks again

Bruno

billy, i agree w/ your explanation of why charter cpts dont use graphite rods on their boats. more reasons would simply be costs and abuse. charters and their customers are usually hard on their equipment, especially mates and durability is a huge factor. most use solid glass rods for wire and coule care less for sensitivity on those rods.

i have an interesting rod i need to build as well and have been doing some research on what blank i want to use for this possible duel purpose. i need to build a rod for the keys for fishing for grouper on the bottom. possibly for goliaths. the rod may also serve a second purpose of trolling for sails, but it would not be its main purpose. 50# class is the range i was thinking and i have thought about calstar's graphiter series. and, it will be spiralled of course.