Hello, all. I want to build a saltwater jigging rod for deep jigging of 6 to 9 ounce jigs. The rod will be fished with a Newell high-speed series 500 reel, spectra or similar line, 200-300 feet of water. I'm thinking 6 1/2 or 7 feet long. I've never build one like this, having only donelive bait rods up to this point.

Any ideas on which blank would be appropriate, and a suggestion re: guides? I've build on Seeker and Calstar and love them both, but not wedded to them.
I will probably spiral wrap the rod, though the rod is not for me and the recipient will possibly have to be urged in this direction a bit! (grin).

Rod will primarily be held under armpit, jigs dropped to bottom, then reeled up quick and dropped again, etc. yo-yo style. No real casting.

Any help much appreciated, all!

Happy New Year to everyone.
Chuck Horan

I enjoy using my Batson/Rainshadow - RCLB series rod for my deep jigging rod. I use the RCLB80M with heavy jigs here in Washington for deep water jigging for Lingcod and Halibut. I personally like the longer rods - this one is 8", we have them in the 7" version RCLB70M and if you want it shorter cut 6" off the butt. I have mine built with the ALPS XN series (SS316) guides, IMHO the best guide on the market for Salt Water applications. I also have the ALPS CAH reel seat or the ALPS TRI reel seat, I have more than one of these rods in my arsenal. I have these rods packed with 60lb Power pro on an AVET LX 6/3 and have caught alot of fish on it. I think the biggest fish I have caught on this rig was a 60lb Yellow fin at Guadalupe but i have also caught quite a few large Lingcod on it. Spiral wrapping it will be a very good idea, this way you will not have to fight the rod and reel only the fish. Most all of my big game rods are spiral wrapped and I am a big believer when fighting big fish. I am sure that you could find almost any type of Blank & Components needed for almost any type of technique/specie in the Batson Enterprises- Rainshadow/Forecast/ALPS product lines. If anyone ever has any questions please feel free to contact us. We are Rodbuilders & Fisherman and are Passionate about both.
Thank you

Bill Batson
CEO
Batson Enterprises
Rainshadow/Forecast/ALPS Product lines
www.batsonenterprises.com
batson@batsonenterprises.com
877-875-2381

Hi Chuck
I do a lot of deep water jigging actually I hardly ever fish with bait anymore just jigs. If you are fishing in those depths (200 to 300 feet of water) you have got the weight pretty right around 1 gram per foot of water is a good rule so 200 feet (200 grams) = appox 7 oz and 300 feet (300 grams) = approx 10.7 oz.. On days when there is a bigger run or not as much run you can up or down size your jigs to suit. although you can jig with the heavy stuff in shallow water and the light stuff in deep water. I have always recommended the Calstar Graphiter 760L but last week I cut a Batson RCLB70M down to 5' 10" and built it up into a deep water jig stick and I can tell you now that it is exactly the same as the Calstar 760L (action, weight and looks) and IMHO it feels lighter because it looks to be made with a higher modulas graphite (I will weigh one of the 760L Calstars and Batson RCLB70M's (cut down to 6 foot) when I get my points scales back from being fixed and post the results). I loaded both of them side by side and there's not much in it at all. I will also second the ALPS guides IMHO you cant go past the XTCXNZG guides (they look stronger, feel lighter have a better finish and corrosion resistance and are cheaper then the Fuji MNSG's) I would probably only use them and not the Fuji MNSG guides for jig rods if they only made a size 40 guide as most of the Jig Sticks I build are for spin reels. But if its an overhead or spiral wrap (and the customer looks at what I show him and listens to me) it will definitely get the ALPS guides. I would try the RCLB70ML and the RCLB70M cut down to around 6 foot. I would say the RCLB70ML (cut down) is good for jigs from around 150 to 450 grams (5.5 to 15.5oz) and would handle 50 or 60 pound braid and easily handle10 kilo's of drag. As for the RCLB70M (cut down) it will handle jigs from around 250 to 550 grams (8.8 to 19.5 grams) and 80 pound braid and easily handle 12 kilo's of drag. I would try both of these rods (you could probably get both of them for around the price of the Calstar and Fuji's) and see what one I like the best you will probably want to keep both of them and if you don't I'm sure you will have on problem getting rid of one of them. And do yourself another favour and get some color coded braid (it has a mark every 5 meters and changes color every 10 meters) no need to wind up to the boat after every drop to the bottom. Just keep track of how much line you have out and when you get a strike or catch a fish you can see at what depth the fish are holding and work that area of water it is a lot less work and keeps your jig in the strike zone longer. Depending on what boat (height of the sides) you are fishing out of you my want to make your rod longer this is the Japanese style of jig fishing you can find a lot of information on the internet about gear, retrieve styles, jigs ect. I have tried jigging with a long rod (7 1/2 foot) and it almost killed me working the jig and fighting the fish but these were big fish and heavy jigs in deep water. It really is an exciting way to fish with locked up drags, huge strikes that almost rip your arms out of there sockets and you out of the boat and even bigger bust ups I cant think why you wouldn't at least give it a try. It really took Australia by storm about 5 years ago and it is still growing. I cant get enough of it and the only real downside to it is the cost of the quality Japanese gear (reels, jigs and braid) and the fact it takes me about a week to get over (sore arms, back and legs) a days serious jigging. You dont need to buy the Japanese gear but most of their stuff is proven it is built better and last longer but you can still get quality cheaper gear that comes from asia. It's not hard to go jigging on a budget I'm not real keen on paying $50 on a jig or $150 on 300 yards of braid or $800 for a spin reel either.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/2007 04:12AM by Simon Oakley.

Has anyone tried any of the blanks I have listed here. Jiggermaster, Hopper, or Merrick's Sushi blanks?

the JIGGINGMASTER, yes i have tried them, great blanks and very popular for a jigging rod..have not tried the hooper blanks yet.. i think i will have one soon....the sushi blanks, i am not sure which ones they are, but i have something close(it may be them)..the rainshadow RCLB are nice blanks. i have only the "light" it sounds like i need to check the M amd MH for jigging. i will make that a priority,.. the calstar 760 i have looked at, alot..it seems very nice. i just havent had time to try it cut down..i guess i should also mention the GUSA wahooJR for a jigging rod in the 7' range, very nice blank

NERBS

Hi Paul. Any chance that you still have some jigging master blanks for sale? I found a site in Singapore but not sure if they are reliable. Would appreciate your assessment of the Hopper blanks when you get them. I have tried contacting the source but they have not been responsive to phone calls nor emails. Maybe the holidays. I'll keep trying. Thanks.

i usually have some JM around..LOL..i am not really looking at the "hooper" blank for a serious rod..i am just building a "sample" for someone. but i will let you know what i think, as unbiased as possible..LOL..but i just found a few others "short" jiggers that may make a good rod... i am waiting on those blanks now..about 3 NEW. different brands and weights..

NERBS

Simon,
If you want to build a spinning rod out of those blanks or any other blank look at using the "X" (SS316) in the UD series, they come in a #40. I am going to build a rod using them on an RCLB and R&D it.. I have rods in my collection built this way using the UD series and have cuaght Hailbut up to 80lbs on them, the structual uintegrity of this guide has not been compromised.
Bill Batson..