I am building 80-130lb offshore rod on a 7' Phenix black diamond blank and want suggestion for Fuji guide lay out.
Rod to be built as a spinning rod.
Mostly targetting amber jack, and tuna.

I'd rather be catching!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2016 02:27PM by Eddie Anderson.

Fuji MN style guides will do the job. Given the rating I expect the reel to be quite large so the first guide will be a size 40 stripper I wouldn't go any less than a size 12 tip so that should help with the rest of your guides. You may be able to go straight from a 40 to a 25 and then to a 16 but you won't know that until you do some testing.

Just wondering why you are using a long rod like that for jigging? So you need the length for clearance in the boat?
The extra length in their line class will really hurt the angler over a shorter rod.

The guy I am building the rod for likes 7' rods for jigging.

Eddie, this is one of my favorite ways to fish and I get down to Venice, LA every chance I get to get after YFT. I prefer to throw poppers but we have had lots of success dropping vertical jigs from the front of the boat while the guys in the back are chunking or fishing live baits. We also bottom fish this way out of Orange Beach, AL and Fort Morgan, AL. I have learned a lot in three years of fishing this way about what does and doesn't work in a rod.

Fuji MNs are the old reliables...and they work. The last dozen or so I have built utilized Fuji K-style guides. I really like KWAGs with the Alconite ring. Guys will tell you those guides aren't strong enough, don't use braid, etc. I have a lot of pictures and filets in the freezer that prove that is old-school bunk.

If you build your rod like every other rod you see down there it will be 40-30-25-20-16 or something like that. IMHO - DON'T DO IT! If you jig all day a heavy set up will wear you out. For jigging rods - which you almost always drop rather than cast - I go 30 or 25 as my largest stripper guide (depending on reel size...some of these spinners are HUGE) and then quickly reduce (using the new guide concept) to the running guides and tip I am going to use. I will routinely use 8s or 10s IF - HUGE IF - I know what knot the angler is likely to run.

When you say 80 to 130 pound jigging you are covering a TON of ground in terms of knot size. A knot with 130# will be 2X larger than the same knot in 80#. I routinely run 80# JB hollow Core or Toro Tamer 16 strand to 80# flouro using an FG knot or a PR Bobbin knot. Size 8s handle this fine. I have a Phenix Titan jigging rod that has whupped YFT to 100# and AJ to 77#. It is 25-16-10-8s to an 8 tip. The 8s also handle wind ons fine. But you need size 12s with the same set up for a larger knot with 80# fluoro.

And if you go up to 130# with a traditional knot? Then you can't afford to go smaller than 16s. In that scenario I'd probably go 40-25-16s out to a 16 tip. MUCH heavier but the only safe course with HUGE knots. I hope this helps...good luck!

Spinning reels are great for casting but how are they better than revolving spool reels for jigging or fighting fish?

Spinning reels are great for casting but how are they better than revolving spool reels for jigging or fighting fish?