Finesse jig rod help...

[DitchPanda]

Looking for a baitcasting rod specifically to fish finesse jigs. By finesse jigs im referring to mostly jigs with medium wire hooks in the 3/16 to 5/16 range. To be specific I've got some boss and siebert mini ball jigs, eakins jigs and some homemade bitsy bugs with a better hook that Bluebasser made for me. I'm currently using a veritas 7 ft medfast which does fine but im considering stepping into something designed for finesse jigs. Any suggestions?

[waymont]

The best rod I've ever fished for that exact same application, as well as light T rigs is my G Loomis IMX-Pro 852c JWR.

[Team9nine]

Similar to above, but Loomis IMX-783C MBR is what I use for finesse jigs.

[WRB]

My suggestion is weigh* your jigs before believing advertised weights. 2 lures that rarely come close to actual weights are jigs and spinnerbaits.

if the jig with the trailer you use is under 38 oz my suggestion will surprise you; Major Craft Don Iovino "Splash-It rod using 10 lb Sniper FC.

Tom

* weight at least 2 together and divide by the number weighed to get accurate weights.

[DitchPanda]

3 minutes ago, WRB said:

My suggestion is weigh* your jigs before believing advertised weights. 2 lures that rarely come close to actual weights are jigs and spinnerbaits.

if the jig with the trailer you use is under 38 oz my suggestion will surprise you; Major Craft Don Iovino "Splash-It rod using 10 lb Sniper FC.

Tom

* weight at least 2 together and divide by the number weighed to get accurate weights.

I've actually been using my girlfriend's food scale..it is surprisingly accurate and the jigs in talking about have been very close. With a trailer they are right at 3/8ths or under. I know that the weight of a jig is just the head...but these jigs have small medium wire hooks and very sparse skirts so that adds very little weight.

 That rod suggestion is surprising to me...but I'll take it into consideration knowing the source. I've read of your jig prowess so I won't even pretend to know more than you! Thanks for the suggestion.

[fishwizzard]

12 hours ago, Team9nine said:

Similar to above, but Loomis IMX-783C MBR is what I use for finesse jigs.

I would agree, I fish a ton of 1/4oz jigs and the 783/723 Loomis rods are perfect for them.  Enough power to set the hook with a lot of line out, but a light enough tip to load well for short cast and long pitches.  

 

My current 1/4oz jig/light t-rig rod is a Poison Adrena 611M+.  The tip is a little softer then my 783glx and it has a little more backbone.  I also find it a lot more comfortable then the current glx rods, but that's obv very subjective.  

[Fishes in trees]

Falcon makes a 6/10" Finesse jig rod.   They were previously marketed as the "Eakins Jig" rod, then for some reason Eakins & Falcon parted company.  Anyway it is a good rod.  I have a couple - one from the Lowrider series and the other one from the Bucco series.  They are designed to throw lighter finesse jigs and cost less than a Loomis.  The Lowrider rod stays in the boat all the time.  I mainly use it to throw quarter ounce Brewer Slider Heads and 4 or 5 inch worms.   I have used it to throw 5/16 oz Eakins Jigs and it works great for that purpose, with a Curado 50 E and 10 lb Abrazx.  I have other rods that would be first choice for throwing the heavier 7/16 Eakins jigs, but the Eakins jig rod would work for that - kinda.

 

Falcon has a decent warranty program as well, in that after the warranty period is over and you bust the rod, for whatever reason, for a modest fee they will send you a new one.

[Hewhospeaksmuchbull]

I was looking around on Dobyns site and found this, https://dobynsrods.com/the-dobyns-sierra-ultra-finesse-casting-series/

 

They have been released yet, but looks interesting.

[Teal]

My powell Endurance 683 and 723 are good for light wire jigs.  I have a medium wire jig with trimmed skirt and a paca chunk tied on to my tatula 6'10 mh.  

 

Very good rods for the money.

 

But I'm sure they dont compare to the loomis, megabass etc

[Boomstick]

I will use my St. Croix Mojo Bass topwater rod for the real light ones, 1/4oz and under with a light wire hook. I don't have a perfect rod for those inbetween 1/4oz and 3/8oz, so I will use my 6'10" MH/F Daiwa Tatula with lighter line, but ideally a medium rod that runs on the heavier side would be ideal. My oldest son has been fishing them on his Sierra 703C, and that rod does well.

[DitchPanda]

10 hours ago, Fishes in trees said:

Falcon makes a 6/10" Finesse jig rod.   They were previously marketed as the "Eakins Jig" rod, then for some reason Eakins & Falcon parted company.  Anyway it is a good rod.  I have a couple - one from the Lowrider series and the other one from the Bucco series.  They are designed to throw lighter finesse jigs and cost less than a Loomis.  The Lowrider rod stays in the boat all the time.  I mainly use it to throw quarter ounce Brewer Slider Heads and 4 or 5 inch worms.   I have used it to throw 5/16 oz Eakins Jigs and it works great for that purpose, with a Curado 50 E and 10 lb Abrazx.  I have other rods that would be first choice for throwing the heavier 7/16 Eakins jigs, but the Eakins jig rod would work for that - kinda.

 

Falcon has a decent warranty program as well, in that after the warranty period is over and you bust the rod, for whatever reason, for a modest fee they will send you a new one.

This is one rod I'm considering. I love falcon rods...I have several of the old bucoo micro guide ones and they are great. I've got 2 trap casters which are 7ft medhvy modfast...how does the finesse jig rod compare for softness? I feel like the trapcasters are a little light for jigs

[Ogandrews]

I throw finesse jigs, as well as stroking heavier tubes, on a loomis imx pro 892c jwr which is a 7’5” medium extra fast. 30lbs powerpro maxcuatro to a 8-12lbs mono or floro leader. I like a longer rod for fishing jigs, especially with light line I feel like I get a much better hook set and can keep pressure better.

 

 

[Fishes in trees]

Strictly my opinion, but I think that the trap casters are designed to throw stuff with, so. they have a mod/fast tip compared to the ex fast one on the finesse jig rod.  The finesse jig rod is designed as more of a "feel" rod.  The designation on the finesse jig rod is correct, IMO.  It handles jig worms, regular Eakins Jigs and similar size baits great.  I have a bunch of the 7/16 oz Eakins jigs and I think that they kind of overpower the rod.  I've got other jig rods for heavier weights, mostly I'd use my 7'2" MH/ ex fast tip Fenwick AETO.  I think that the AETOS line is still manufactured by Fenwick, but this particular model is long discontinued.

[waymont]

On 9/6/2020 at 8:07 PM, DitchPanda said:

By finesse jigs im referring to mostly jigs with medium wire hooks in the 3/16 to 5/16 range.

Your want for a jig rod using these weights you would be best suited with any Loomis 2 power JWR, or 3 power MBR rod. Some of the responses seem to be ignoring the lighter weights you want to throw. Just my 2 cents.

[Steveo-1969]

I had a custom casting rod built by @Delaware Valley Tackle to specifically fish 3/16 ounce SK Bitsy Bug jigs (3/8 ounce total weight). It's built on a St. Croix 5S610MLXF blank (extended to 7'2"). This blank's lure weight rating is 1/8-1/2 ounce but is more powerful than the ML power rating IMO. I fish it with 10# line, I started with fluorocarbon but have been using 10# Sufix Advance Monofilament for the past year and really like it.

 

Don't know if you've thought about going the custom route but I can tell you I have zero regrets!

[Westcoast]

My choice would be and is a 2 power loomis. I have both a 852c and a 802c and they both get finesse jig duty with max total weight of 3/8oz. Any more than 3/8oz total I go up to an 3 power. 

[fishwizzard]

7 hours ago, Steveo-1969 said:

I had a custom casting rod built by @Delaware Valley Tackle to specifically fish 3/16 ounce SK Bitsy Bug jigs (3/8 ounce total weight). It's built on a St. Croix 5S610MLXF blank (extended to 7'2"). This blank's lure weight rating is 1/8-1/2 ounce but is more powerful than the ML power rating IMO. I fish it with 10# line, I started with fluorocarbon but have been using 10# Sufix Advance Monofilament for the past year and really like it.

 

Don't know if you've thought about going the custom route but I can tell you I have zero regrets!

Would love to see a pic of that thing.  I fish a lot of 3/8oz total weight jigs/t-rigs have always wanted to try a SC ml/xf. 

[kayaking_kev]

Xtasy 723c is great at Finesse Jigs.

[Steveo-1969]

14 hours ago, fishwizzard said:

Would love to see a pic of that thing.  I fish a lot of 3/8oz total weight jigs/t-rigs have always wanted to try a SC ml/xf. 

I sent you a message.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

On ‎9‎/‎7‎/‎2020 at 12:29 AM, WRB said:

My suggestion is weigh* your jigs before believing advertised weights. 2 lures that rarely come close to actual weights are jigs and spinnerbaits.

if the jig with the trailer you use is under 38 oz my suggestion will surprise you; Major Craft Don Iovino "Splash-It rod using 10 lb Sniper FC.

Tom

* weight at least 2 together and divide by the number weighed to get accurate weights.

Absolutely Right, You would surprised how many jigs are heavier or lighter then the specified weight. Tungsten jigs are the most accurate in my experience.  Tungsten is expensive so incorrect weights are nearly always light. If you have a favorite trailer I would suggest you weigh he jig and trailer together and look for a rod that would likely have a sweet spot similar to that weight...As for a rod it depends on what you want to spend.  The 802 or 852 IMX would be ideal.  I kind of made an impulse buy last cyber monday and got a 7'1 M F Muse.  I had regrets almost immediately until I actually used the rod.  Its rated 1/4-5/8 but throws a 3/16 well.  I really like it for the 1/4 keitech football and other light to medium wire jigs to about 5/16.  Its good for mojo rigs and shakey heads to.  It reminds me of an SC Avid with  equal or better sensitivity and balance making it feel lighter then the Avid.  The Muse is $180, but as far as I can tell 13 uses the same 36T blank and guides for the $130 Omen Black 3.  Just a suggestion if you are on a tight budget. 

[Bankbeater]

I use a St. Croix premier mh/f for all jigs up to 3/4 ounce. Jigs over 3/4 ounce are fished on the punch rig. 

[CountryboyinDC]

I use a Falcon Cara T7 6'10 MH/F finesse jig rod.  I liked it so much, I bought a backup for when this inevitably breaks.  No longer made, and I've stopped purchasing Falcon products on account of them stopping making rods in the US.  My jig/trailer combos all weigh 7/16 oz or less, but they have heavier hooks than the original Jewell finesse jigs. 

Another rod that would probably work that I have is a G.Loomis IMX Pro 7'2 MH/XF jig and worm rod.  It's a little faster action and seems more powerful than the Falcon.  I've been using it with some smaller swim jigs/smaller trailers, and it is definitely a good rod for that.  It is powerful enough that I might worry about bending out the hooks on some of the jigs you mentioned.

I use spinning gear for Bitsy Bug-sized jigs (and smaller), when I do fish them.  

[NOC 1]

On 9/10/2020 at 4:28 PM, CountryboyinDC said:

I use a Falcon Cara T7 6'10 MH/F finesse jig rod.  I liked it so much, I bought a backup for when this inevitably breaks.  No longer made, and I've stopped purchasing Falcon products on account of them stopping making rods in the US.  My jig/trailer combos all weigh 7/16 oz or less, but they have heavier hooks than the original Jewell finesse jigs. 

Another rod that would probably work that I have is a G.Loomis IMX Pro 7'2 MH/XF jig and worm rod.  It's a little faster action and seems more powerful than the Falcon.  I've been using it with some smaller swim jigs/smaller trailers, and it is definitely a good rod for that.  It is powerful enough that I might worry about bending out the hooks on some of the jigs you mentioned.

I use spinning gear for Bitsy Bug-sized jigs (and smaller), when I do fish them.  

I don't know if it would make any difference to you, but Falcon still builds their rods in the US I believe. At least they still operate a factory building something.

 

As far as I know they just stopped using blanks made in the USA because their supplier went out of business.

 

There are still American jobs there.

[CountryboyinDC]

5 hours ago, NOC 1 said:

I don't know if it would make any difference to you, but Falcon still builds their rods in the US I believe. At least they still operate a factory building something.

 

As far as I know they just stopped using blanks made in the USA because their supplier went out of business.

 

There are still American jobs there.

I don't know what they're doing for sure.  There are other companies that use blanks made outside of the US and put some form of 'made in USA' label on them.  And since they say nothing, it's hard to know which lines are made where.  With St. Croix or ALX, at least they are up front about it.  I really like a bunch of the Falcon tapes, they tend to be a hair slower than the competition, and I felt they were reasonably priced.  But as long as other companies are making rods in the US (and make that known), I'll probably support other companies.

[Fastbee]

On 9/7/2020 at 1:34 PM, Teal said:

My powell Endurance 683 and 723 are good for light wire jigs.  I have a medium wire jig with trimmed skirt and a paca chunk tied on to my tatula 6'10 mh.  

 

Very good rods for the money.

 

But I'm sure they dont compare to the loomis, megabass etc

I'll add that a Powell Endurance 724CB makes a pretty good finesse jig rod.  It is full graphite, not a composite.  I used a Powell Inferno 683 for a while until I sold it, good rod for the money too.  Like Teal said, they aren't super high end but the Endurance line from Powell is pretty nice.