Looking to build a rod for lake trout jigging (mostly 1/2 - 3/4oz. jigs) and eyeing either the Batson SP844 or Revelation RevIP70MH-SB blank. Other than price, the specs look fairly close between the two, just wondered if anyone had experience with them and might recommend one vs. the other. Many thanks - appreciated!

Wouldn't be my choice either one. I lean more to mag bass here. Made jig/trolling rods out of telescoping flipping sticks back in the day when I flew into fish lakers.

Wouldn't be my choice either one. I lean more to mag bass here. Made jig/trolling rods out of telescoping flipping sticks back in the day when I flew into fish lakers. Jigged Mackinaws in Lake Tahoe with my custom G Loomis MB 843, Lamiglas made a telescoping 7 1/2 ft. rod specifically for jigging spoons, but that was 20 years ago.

Thanks Spencer, I usually build on MB843s and MB844s too for jigging rods, just thought of trying something with a more moderate action.

Hi Mike,
There's as many action preferences for jigging as there are anglers. If you were to go with something faster like Spencer mentioned, I might suggest the SB842. I feel it would have a better mid & tip section for putting good action on jigs.
One thing we expect to see in the future is more anglers using lighter slow pitch blanks for non-traditional slow pitch jigging applications like lake trout (especially with the larger 1.5-3oz. jigs), salmon, walleye, and so on. Best of luck with the build.

-The Batson TEAM
BatsonEnterprises.com

Thanks Geoff, I'll take a look at the SB842 and the slow-pitch series. I've built quite a few laker-designated rods using MB843's, Revelation, and Immortal series MH-F blanks over the years and they work just fine. Lately though, I've been using 1/2oz blade baits with good success (10# braid/leader) and thought a more-moderate action but with the same MH power might work well. I'm on one of the NY Finger Lakes where common size is 4 - 8lbs and occasionally heavier. Appreciated

Geoff,

What blank do you recommend for "light" slow jigging salmon, walleye, etc.?

Thanks.

My favorite salmon jigging rod is the Rainshadow XBB962, they quit making that blank because there was so very little difference between it and their more popular XBB964, which would my second choice. Both have nice soft, M Fast tips. Forgot to mention the XBB964 is good to 4 oz., you may get 5 with some jigs. If you are fishing deep with the heavier stuff, say 6 oz. or so I would use another popular back bouncing blank that was originally designed for bass anglers the IMB944, it has a new part number now REVMB944 maybe, it's been in the mix for salmon for 15 - 20 years. I use 50 lb. braid on all my jig rods with a 30 lb. fluoro top shot to help ensure I don't lose those expensive jigs, it's inevitable that you will hang bottom from time to time.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2024 05:15PM by Spencer Phipps.

Hi Jordan,
Without having too much personal experience slow jigging for either species mentioned, I would recommend our two lightest models, REVSJ66ML & REVSJ66L, for salmon and walleye respectively. This is based on an assumed jig weight of 2-4oz. for salmon and 3/4-1.5oz. for walleye. Slow jigging has become so popular in some fisheries I just naturally expect it to pop up in others. If anyone has some empirical experience in non-traditional slow jig fisheries, I'm sure we'd all love to hear feedback.

-Geoff

Thanks Spencer and Geoff!

Geoff, is the 6'6" favored over the 7'?

I've heard how popular it has become for salt water and suspected it might catch on for more fresh water species as well. I might have to build one to try it...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2024 10:04PM by Jordan Smith.

Hi Jordan,
I think the 7' RX7 Slow Jig models are Rainshadow's current best sellers. However, the new 7'6" models have only been on the market for a few months. I think the longer models are popular for getting around outboard motors etc.
Personally, I'd probably go with the 6'6" models if possible as they require less effort to work, and I imagine the shorter jig cycle would be better for freshwater applications. Again, just my assumptions.

That makes sense to me. Thanks for your thoughts.