Rod building class -- What size jigging rod?

[Dahitman44]

Ok -- I took a rod building class last spring as a community education class and I loved it. We had an awesome teacher and he was very helpful and I built the best rod ever. It is a 7 foot rigging rod with a St. Croix sc5 blank. I paid a little more and upgraded over the SC3 blank that comes with the class. Now my $350 G-Luumis sits as a back up. My rod is so sensative you just can't believe it.

Here is the question -- I went with the 7-footer because i wanted to get out and away from the boat. I have Trophy series boat with the VERY wide gunales so that is why I chose that one.

Question -- which style and size jigging rod do I want? right now I jig with a 5'6" st. croix that I love but it is too small for me and my new boat. Should I go with a 6'6" fast action? Medium or medium lite? maybe xtra fast action? Maybe just a six footer?

Can a few people respond on this issue?

Thanks for the help.

BTW -- hope the Colts kick the 'Aints ... makes the pain of the Vikings loss a little easier to deal with.

[Dahitman44]

we are almost exclusively walleye hunters if that helps.

[JohnMickish]

If you take a look at the serious rod builders catalogs, you will notice that most of their dedicated jigging rods are in the 6' to 6'3" range. I am not sure why other than with a shorter rod you get more accurate casts.

Because they are that length in the cataloges I built my Loomis IMX721 extended to 6'3".

[harvey lee]

In regards to the actions, I went to a rod shop and then worked with a few different actions and lenghts to see what I personally liked the best.

Once you place the rod blank in your hands and feel the bend in the rod tip, you might be suprised what action you may like.

[Dark Cloud]

It comes down to personal preference but all my jigging rods but one are 7 footers and that other one is a 6'6" that I keep threatening to rebuild and turn into a 7. Im mostly casting jigs so I like the length for distance and hook-sets. Even when verticle jigging I like the 7 footers...

[upnorth]

I built 6'10" Rainshadow med extra fast for jigging and it is excellent. Without going to check the blank is a SB 822.5 RX7. Nice rod.

[A.W.Wolfram]

I built 6'10" Rainshadow med extra fast for jigging and it is excellent. Without going to check the blank is a SB 822.5 RX7. Nice rod.

I have to agree with upnorth on this one, the 822.5 is my favorite jigging rod blank hands down.

The RX7 and XSB versions are both very nice. I too have a very wide boat with 28” gunwales. The shorter rods are harder to keep away from the boat when vertical jigging. For me, 6’6” to 6’10” fits the best. I also like the length for pitching jigs and fish control.

I have 1 RX7 822.5 cut down to 6’6” and some days I regret building it that way. I think I shorted myself

:)My all time favorite all around jigging, pitching and dragging rod is the XSB 822.5. All of the fish I posted in the Walleye forum this fall were caught on this blank. At this time I have 3 XSB 822.5 rods.

For the price IMHO this is the best bang for your buck.

So…to generalize the action. M or ML, Fast or XFast. I prefer M/F or XF but that is what fits my style. It sounds like you are doing your research and you are asking the right questions. When it comes down to it, it needs to fit your style, boat and application. I built 5 different rods before I found the right one for me and it wasn’t listed in the walleye jigging section of a rod blank list, it ended up being a bass drop shot rod blank.

Good luck and keep trying new things

Andy

[Dahitman44]

EXCELLENT information - -just what I wanted to know. Perfect.

Any thoughts on my ML is not the way to go?

I would have "guessed" ML and xfast?

[harvey lee]

I went with a 6-6 Medium rod with an xfast tip.

Very happy with it. Best jigging rod that I own after having 4-5 of them.

[upnorth]

med or md lt depends on the weight of the jigs you intend to use. If you are planning on less than 1/8 ounce go with the md lt. If you are over 1/8 ounce go with the med. Md lt and a 3/8 ounce jig is the about the limit so if regularly fish 3/8 or heavier you will not be real happy with the md lt.

[Dahitman44]

that is a great way to explain it - -thanks.

The medium lite is borther line.

What about the xtra fast tip -- sounds like Harvey likes it?

[upnorth]

I have like a fast or med fast action for lindy rigging. But the longer rod for Jigging I like the extra fast. But in both instances it is a personal preference and how I fish. The slightly slower rod protects the light lines I like to use for riggin and is a bit more forgiving when a fish picks up the bait and feels you on the other end. Jigging on the other hand the faster action gives me a better idea of what is happening down there and you feel em, you hit em.

[Dahitman44]

Up North --

that is what I am thinking --

I love my 7 foot rod for rigging in part cuz i sit in the captain's chair while I fish. I havee a long boat and wide rails ... perhaps I should go with a 7 foot xtra fast tip for jigging too, for the same season - -to get away from the boat?

[upnorth]

I have always been partial to the longer rods myself. And the extra fast tip helps a lot for jigging. I also have 6' Md lt fast action and that is pretty darn nice too. But I like the 6'9" better.