"Light" jig fishing rod recommendations?

[stiffler]

My favorite way to fish is casting/pitching 3/8 oz to 1/2 oz arkie style or swim jigs into cover. Be it brush, vegatation, logs, etc.. Nothing too too heavy though. I'll swim it, hop it, let it fall into pockets..whatever. Im looking for a versatile rod to pair up with my Curado. Right now Im fishing with a 7ft MH/F St. Croix Triumph. Its a great rod, but just to heavy for what im wanting to do. Im having trouble feeling the lure, and the weight of the rod just doesnt feeling right to me when working a jig the way i want. Im looking for something light with enough backbone to set the hook and get a big bass out of cover. 6'6" to 7ft at around the $130 price range would be perfect. I'd prefer MH/F but was at Dicks today checking out a Fenwick HMG 7ft M/F and it felt pretty. Just worried the medium action might be to light. Any of you guys have any recommendations?

 

Thanks in advance 

 

Edit* I should clear up what I meant. I probably shouldnt of used the word "light". What i meant was, IMO, the truumph feels heavier then other rods around the same specs. And for me it feels clunky, and unbalanced. 

[Derek1]

Go to a bps and check out the carbonlite 2.0, great rod for $120. 

[FishingGeekTX]

Triumph MH looks right in your sweet spot: 3/8-3/4 oz  

If you throw a 1/2 ounce jig with trailer, that's close to 3/4 ounces, right at the max rating.  You feel the rod is overpowered, so go one step lower, st croix M power.  Why are you concerned that MH feels too heavy, but M would feel under-powered?  I suspect it will feel just right.  It will slightly exceed most M ratings though. (most seem rated at 5/8oz), but what feels right to you matters.

 

Some on these forums believe St. Croix run "heavy" in terms of rated power, so staying with st croix might keep this easier for you to choose a M and expect it to be correct.   Some also believe Dobyn's run on the softer side of rated power, you could try their MH, for example, you might a Dobyn's 703c.  For example.

 

Other than that, you'd have to try them out by feel.  That's one nice thing about the carbonlite recommendation above, you may be able to go to store and feel it.

 

Other factors that I don't think will help:
Rod length - longer rods give you more feel, but you don't want longer.
Rod taper - from fast you'd have to find a moderate-fast, and that's not usually recommended for setting a large single hook lure...more for smaller hooks including treble hooks.

 

[CroakHunter]

I use a 7' medium heavy duckett micro magic for that application

[LionHeart]

To me, those are not light jigs.  A 1/2 oz calls for a heavy power rod in my experience.  For that matter, most of the time, I use a heavy power rod for a 3/8 oz jig as well.

 

Definitely would not recommend a medium power rod for either.

 

St croix  Mojo Jigs and Baits would be good for the 3/8 but too light for 1/2 IMO.

 

Diawa Tatula 7'3" Med Heavy would work well for 3/8 oz also.  You could definitely get away with it for 1/2 oz also, and I'm sure many do it with success, but a 1/2 oz jig with trailer is pushing the limit on most medium heavy rods IMO.

[WRB]

Dobyns FR704C, 703 may not have the power for good hook sets fishing just around cover.

Tom

[stiffler]

1 hour ago, FishingGeekTX said:

Triumph MH looks right in your sweet spot: 3/8-3/4 oz  

If you throw a 1/2 ounce jig with trailer, that's close to 3/4 ounces, right at the max rating.  You feel the rod is overpowered, so go one step lower, st croix M power.  Why are you concerned that MH feels too heavy, but M would feel under-powered?  I suspect it will feel just right.  It will slightly exceed most M ratings though. (most seem rated at 5/8oz), but what feels right to you matters.

 

Some on these forums believe St. Croix run "heavy" in terms of rated power, so staying with st croix might keep this easier for you to choose a M and expect it to be correct.   Some also believe Dobyn's run on the softer side of rated power, you could try their MH, for example, you might a Dobyn's 703c.  For example.

 

Other than that, you'd have to try them out by feel.  That's one nice thing about the carbonlite recommendation above, you may be able to go to store and feel it.

 

Other factors that I don't think will help:
Rod length - longer rods give you more feel, but you don't want longer.
Rod taper - from fast you'd have to find a moderate-fast, and that's not usually recommended for setting a large single hook lure...more for smaller hooks including treble hooks.

 

IMO it does seem like the St. Croix runs heavier. At least with the Triumph line of rods. Ive fished the mojo series rod before and dont remember it being that heavy.

 

I also have a gloomis in similar specs and I feel a big difference 

[haggard]

If you're used to a StC and it feels a bit too heavy, I'd stick with StC, even the same model lineup (Triumph) and go one step lighter, since you already know what the StC feels like. Going to another brand you'll be starting from mostly scratch again, with no reference.

[r83srock]

5 hours ago, LionHeart said:

To me, those are not light jigs.  A 1/2 oz calls for a heavy power rod in my experience.  For that matter, most of the time, I use a heavy power rod for a 3/8 oz jig as well.

 

Definitely would not recommend a medium power rod for either.

 

St croix  Mojo Jigs and Baits would be good for the 3/8 but too light for 1/2 IMO.

 

Diawa Tatula 7'3" Med Heavy would work well for 3/8 oz also.  You could definitely get away with it for 1/2 oz also, and I'm sure many do it with success, but a 1/2 oz jig with trailer is pushing the limit on most medium heavy rods IMO.

I agree with this. The mojo he’s describing will have a softer tip than the triumph you have. For 1/2oz jigs is definitely go to a heavy power as well.

[Glaucus]

HMG rods are great. 3/8-1/2 isn't light jig fishing. It calls for at least a MH. With a trailer on those size jigs you will max out a MH rod, but it will be just fine. You will seriously overpower almost any M rod with those size jigs with trailers.

[Catt]

I throw 1/4-1/2 oz jigs probably 75℅ of the time around moderate grass, scattered brush, & timber.

 

I'm in the market for a new "light" jig, here's a few that would fit.

 

Daiwa Tatula 7' 1" medium heavy extra fast, lure rating 1/4-1 oz $150

 

Lew's TP-1 Black 7' 3" medium heavy fast, lure rating 3/16-1 oz $130

 

 

[Shimano_1]

7'0 med hvy shimano slx rods would be my choice for that application.  I wouldn't fish a jig on a medium rod and I wouldn't go shorter than 7 foot. I've played around with different rods and actions and found that anything softer than most med heavy rods resulted in lost fish. 

[Westcoast]

For a 3/8 oz jig a Loomis 3 power is a perfect match. The 893 or 853 to be specific. May be out of your price range but would be worth it to save up or look for something used. Jigs are one presentation where I like to use the most sensitive rod I can afford. 

[Catt]

1 hour ago, Westcoast said:

I like to use the most sensitive rod I can afford. 

 

Sensitivity has nothing to do with price ?

[Tyler Brooks Lorenz]

Just bought the St. Croix mojo bass 7’6” MHMF 12-25LB 3/8-1 1/4oz Pitchn’ rod. I’m out here in Cali so there isn’t too much vegetation in the lakes I fish. I wanted a rod that I could jig fish with but also flip a Texas rig worm into some cover if I needed to as well. Have it paired with a Chronarch CI4+ HG 7.4:1 with 65lb braid and 16-20lb Floro leader. 

[Michigander]

So "light" jigs are sort of confusing, the weight you stated doesn't quite fall into that category for me. Did you mean light wire jigs? I fish my 1/8-1/4 jigs on a M power rod, but they have thinner hooks on them so the less powerful rod is appropriate for that application.

 

Also, I like HMGs but they tend to be a little lighter in the backbone department. Lost some good bass that ran into Lily pads and I didn't have a the power to get them back out before they spit the hook.