Need some suggestions. I was looking to build a kind of dual purpose rod for vertical jigging irons with the ability to drop some squid or a sardine to the bottom. I was thinking of an RCLB70M, but the guy I spoke to at GetBit said the XF action wouldn't do well for jigging. He suggested the RCJB78MH or RCJB84H, but suggested they may be under powered for pulling something big off the bottom.

I will have a Penn Senator Special 112 on the rod with 30 lbs mono.

Any west coast guys, please give me your tackle expertise! If I am off in my estimation of what I need, please let me know as well, i.e. If 30 lbs line is no good. I don't think my reel will put much more than 8 lbs of pressure on the fish unless I mod it.

Go to the web site for the boat you are going on. They will have recommendations for the gear you should have, or you can call their office and ask.

Randy your going into the right direction. As in terms of trying to pull something off the bottom, what are you going for?

We have had very successful clients fish in the California market with our entire lineup. If you want to talk to someone here in the office, please call 877-875-2381 and speak to sales.

Thank you,

R. McBride

Batson Enterprises
BatsonEnterprises.com | RainShadowRodBlanks.com | ALPSForeCast.com | Build2Fish.com

I've built a few RCKJB700-112 for the same purpose. I fish in northern California and it can handle anything i could expect to catch off the bottom.

$0.02 from the east coast. Seeker Hercules gts70l or heavier. I do like the rainshadow / Batson blanks as well. Merry Christmas, MH

Hi Randy. Talk to Ryan as he will steer you in the right direction. Your problem is going to be with the reel more than the rod. Most west coast guys(So. Cal) run 40lb min. if you are going to be doing vertical jigging.
As this is a rod building forum I wont get into reel stuff and I am not sure what species you are targeting. Rockcod/ling cod are a big difference than yellowtail when it comes to vertical jigging. Plus most guys now use braid
with a topshot or short leader. Braid much better especially if your codding.

Yeah...it's amazing how big some of this tackle gets. I've seen a video of a chick pulling in a bull red on a Barbie rod...so I imagine I can make this work. May not be the best setup, but I think it's a good start in that direction. This will be my first ever conventional.

I plan on calling Batson after Christmas to get some advice on blank selection. Looks like they have some good options.

Braid is definitely going on this reel once I need to change the line. But, since the reel came spooled with mono, I figure I'll use it. It's a thin mono anyways according to the reel guy I bought it from. 30 lb looks to be just larger than the thickness of some 14 lb I have.

Well I hope everyone has a truly blessed Christmas, be back in a couple days!!!

Hey Randy,

I'm new here to the forum and this is actually going to be my first post, I'm a west coast guy both socal and norcal. XF rods aren't typically recommended for jigging/crankbaiting because of how the fish need "the give" to really take the bait in a way that ensures a solid hookset. That being said, all of those blanks listed appear to be graphite and glass composite rods which is great. Calstar rods dominate the socal scene because of their durability and the action of their glass rods. Grafighters are some of their most popular "all purpose" blanks and they are also graphite glass composite. The softer glass tips of these rods provides that "give" that a moving bait needs, even if they are rated F or XF.

Basically what I'm saying is that as long as you're not dealing with an XF full graphite rod you should be fine. It sounds like you're dealing with an XF graphite / glass composite, so even if it is rated as an XF it should still be ok IMHO for the iron.

As for length, I wouldn't go too short, especially if you're going to be fishing live bait on the bottom. Short rods give you more leverage and are used to fight large pelagic fish because there is less torque against you. When fishing large pelagic fish with live bait, you typically wait for the fish to take your bait and take line off your spool. Give it a few seconds, put it in gear, and give it a quick hookset. This is way different from bottom fishing because there is basically no slack in the line, and you're going to be setting the hook against a fish that is moving away from you (you won't need a long rod). Bottom fish (I assume rockfish, sheephead, lingcod, halibut, sand bass, and possibly wsb or yt) typically just bite and tug. It's going to be up to you to take the slack out and set the hook, which longer rods take the advantage here. For jigging, the extra length of a longer XF rod will also make up for the throw of a shorter slower rod. Either way, the glass should provide all the "give" that you need. I say 7' at least, and longer if you plan on using it to cast surface irons.

As far as your reel choice, you can make anything work but the one you have isn't really selected for jigging. 112s retrieve very slowly so you're going to have to reel FAST to get a yellowtail to bite your jig. Also, stay away from straight braid. The stretch of mono actually helps with jig fishing and if you're going to be fishing on the party boat, the deckhands and fellow anglers around you will appreciate that you're going to be less likely to saw off those around you who are also fishing mono. Braid is great as a backing, but unless you're a jedi on the water with professional level control of your line, a mono topshot of 50-100 yards would probably serve you better.

Hope this helps. Good luck and tight lines,
Nick



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2015 11:24PM by Nick Lam.

Live bait fishing in socal is usually done with 20-30lb mono, and jig fishing is usually done with 40lb mono or more. You could probably get away with 30lb, though.

Hey Nick, thank you for the most informative answer so far! The 112 I have is the 112H which is supposed to be a higher retrieve than the standard Senator. Don't know if it's high enough still... I will have to look at the ratios recommended for this and compare.

Maybe I'll stick with surface irons and build another for yo-yos...damn this hobby! Just keeps begging for more.

Definitely gives me some ammo to make my decision with tho!

Being new to the conventional arena, are these rods made for specific reels the way spinners are? Or could I upgrade the reel on the same rod later on? Seems like it may be a little more forgiving of that since there is no real reduction train, like you have to plan for with a spinning reel.

No worries. The senators are total workhorses for reels and they definitely deserve a lot of respect. The 112h is faster than the 112, but were talking something like 3:1 upgrading to 4:1 which is still kind of slow. As long as you know what you're getting into and you put the ball in your court, you can still make the senator work for you.

Definitely take advantage of the large spool though by keeping it full. By filling your spool all the way, you make the most out of every revolution / crank and you can actually get your jig to move pretty quick through the water. One revolution of a full spool will take in a lot more line than that of a half-filled spool. Large spools also make excellent casters because it lowers the amount of revolutions your spool needs to make per casted distance. For example, a 50 yard cast would take 200 revolutions on a half empty spool, but only 100 revolutions on a full one. This decreases the friction of your components, and you'll be able to cast further. (This is why you see a lot of narrow conventional reels. Folks like the large diameter spool but don't want the weight or need the line of a full width reel).

If you're ok turning the handle a little more, you can save a couple hundred bucks by making the senator work for you. Plus, the slower ratio will make it easier to horse the fish in once you do hook it. I mean, there are better reels for that specific application but it all depends on if you feel you need it or not.

As far as rods made specifically for reels, I don't actually know. I know that some companies like to market their rods for specific reels so they can increase sales of both rod and reel, but as far as custom blanks, I have no idea. Like you said, the reduction train isn't as much of an issue so I don't see why it would be an issue. I've mixed and matched conventional rods /reels (sometimes on the same trip) and know a few deckhands / captains that do the same, and I haven't heard of any un-obvious limitations.

You're right about this hobby. It's got me too brother, hook line and sinker.

Ha ha! At least it's a rewarding one! The only part that gets really tedious for me is the cross wraps, but the payoff there is pretty nice! I can do inlays pretty well. I'm attempting my first multi thread wrap on a bass rod for my daughter right now...late Christmas gift.

Well if I really decide I need a faster ratio, I was just doing some reading on upgrading to a 5:1 gear kit on this rod. Kinda pricey, but not as much as a new reel. Plus I can upgrade the drag to 5 washers.

I can't wait until I retire and can just fish all the time. Only 25 years or so, ha ha!

Well maybe I'll look for a 7' 6" to 8' with a fast rather than XF glass/graphite for a multipurpose rod.

Nick if you're still following this, I talked to the guys at Batson, and they recommended the RCLB79ML as a jack of all, master of none. We'll see how it works out. If nothing else I can use it as a live bait/surface iron chunker (depending on how the reel casts). And there's always more rods to build if I need a more moderate action...It has the glass tip like you were talking about so I'll give it a shot.

Randy Weakley Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nick if you're still following this, I talked to
> the guys at Batson, and they recommended the
> RCLB79ML as a jack of all, master of none. We'll
> see how it works out. If nothing else I can use
> it as a live bait/surface iron chunker (depending
> on how the reel casts). And there's always more
> rods to build if I need a more moderate
> action...It has the glass tip like you were
> talking about so I'll give it a shot.
Great! Glad we could help. There is a numerous amount of blanks to choose from in our lineup. We have some new models that are going to come out this summer as well. Good luck!

R. McBride

Batson Enterprises
BatsonEnterprises.com | RainShadowRodBlanks.com | ALPSForeCast.com | Build2Fish.com

Randy Weakley Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nick if you're still following this, I talked to
> the guys at Batson, and they recommended the
> RCLB79ML as a jack of all, master of none. We'll
> see how it works out. If nothing else I can use
> it as a live bait/surface iron chunker (depending
> on how the reel casts). And there's always more
> rods to build if I need a more moderate
> action...It has the glass tip like you were
> talking about so I'll give it a shot.
Great! Glad we could help. There is a numerous amount of blanks to choose from in our lineup. We have some new models that are going to come out this summer as well. Good luck!

R. McBride

Batson Enterprises
BatsonEnterprises.com | RainShadowRodBlanks.com | ALPSForeCast.com | Build2Fish.com

That sounds awesome. Great choice in length, and with the composite rod it sounds like you'll be stickin em. Have fun on the build!

Nick