A heavy jig rod

[Sir Shamsalot]

I'm looking for recommendations for a rod to fish 1oz jig heads (possibly a bit heavier) with a 5/8oz plastic on it and possibly 6in Little Creeper Trash Fish. This puts it a little bit outside the comfort zone of most heavy rods. I'm fishing for big walleye and bass with this rig, and the lure is a proven winner for me.

 

Currently, I'm using an old Cabella's flipping stick that is no fun to cast. I also have a Dobyns Fury 795c, but I feel that rod is more suited for treble hooks. 

 

I feel that what I'm looking for is a fast action, for the heavy single hook, swimbait rod type that casts better. With a lure range of 1 to 3oz. I do have a 7' 11" Shimano Expride that I can use as well, but I don't feel that it would be a joy to cast. Any rod and reel recommendations would be appreciated.

[clc48301]

North fork composite.  Pick out the exact rod blank action you want and build it.  Looks like you might want the Neo or Neo XH.

[redux]

That sounds like a job for the Shimano Expride 8' heavy or 7' 11" extra heavy. The 8' has a long handle (19.5") so that can be an issue. I cut mine down and epoxied some weights into it to help balance it out. The action is great and launches heavy baits.

[Bass Rutten]

The 7'3" xh expride is awesome for 3/8-1oz jigs plus trailers, it's got an amazing weight to power ratio, is light and agile and is way more manageable than your typical big jig rods which are usually 7 1/2 foot or more. It's becoming one of my all time favorites. I use it for jigs, magnum swimjigs as well as use it for throwing 5-7" weedless rigged boot tails. It's rated to 2 oz but I can full send a working class zero 6" citizen (1.3oz) plus a 1/2 oz 8/0 beast hook and it feels like it still has a little left in the tank, not much though and I doubt it will handle 3 oz without careful lob casting.

[Sir Shamsalot]

1 hour ago, Bassjam2000 said:

The 7'3" xh expride is awesome for 3/8-1oz jigs plus trailers, it's got an amazing weight to power ratio, is light and agile and is way more manageable than your typical big jig rods which are usually 7 1/2 foot or more. It's becoming one of my all time favorites. I use it for jigs, magnum swimjigs as well as use it for throwing 5-7" weedless rigged boot tails. It's rated to 2 oz but I can full send a working class zero 6" citizen (1.3oz) plus a 1/2 oz 8/0 beast hook and it feels like it still has a little left in the tank, not much though and I doubt it will handle 3 oz without careful lob casting.

I'm really liking this suggestion. It sounds like you're throwing what I'm throwing which is a big 1oz Big Hammer Jig Head with 4 to 5in boot tail behind it that weights almost 3/4oz. I'm a big fan of heavy/fast rods in that 7' 2-4" range. I'm thinking this is going on my radar for sure.

1 hour ago, redux said:

That sounds like a job for the Shimano Expride 8' heavy or 7' 11" extra heavy. The 8' has a long handle (19.5") so that can be an issue. I cut mine down and epoxied some weights into it to help balance it out. The action is great and launches heavy baits.

I do own the 7' 11'" version that I use for punching. It's got a pitching reel on it, but I've got a Curado K that I can put on and try casting with it. I'll give it a shot.

[redux]

Hope that setup works for you. I use my  cut-down 8' for punching and casting heavier jigs. Although I keep my Curado 71 on it when I switch baits, but a K would be great on either rod. Actually, switching to a K on mine might be good because it is fairly tip heavy.

[softwateronly]

8 hours ago, Sir Shamsalot said:

I'm really liking this suggestion. It sounds like you're throwing what I'm throwing which is a big 1oz Big Hammer Jig Head with 4 to 5in boot tail behind it that weights almost 3/4oz. I'm a big fan of heavy/fast rods in that 7' 2-4" range. I'm thinking this is going on my radar for sure.

I do own the 7' 11'" version that I use for punching. It's got a pitching reel on it, but I've got a Curado K that I can put on and try casting with it. I'll give it a shot.

I think you have your solution, but throwing this out there.  I'm throwing a 3/4-1oz scrounger head with a 7" jerky j on the 7'7" expride H.  It's near the limit for sure but fishes great.  With the bait moving and braid, I prefer the mod/fast action.  Also the backbone isn't far behind, I've driven a couple into bony Northern mouths.  It also excels at magnum soft plastics, large open hook swimbaits, and heavy swimjigs for me.

 

scott

[Bass Rutten]

19 hours ago, Sir Shamsalot said:

I'm a big fan of heavy/fast rods in that 7' 2-4" range.

The interesting thing about the expride xh is that it actually has a mod-fast taper but still has the backbone for them monster hooksets.

[ATA]

Being in Socal I needed something exactly like that, I got the G-Loomise Conquest 905For that, I am really happy with it. It has ability to cast far, Also very sensetive, and have fast taper. I got the best all around(except pricing).

[Lucky6]

On 4/20/2021 at 3:49 PM, ATA said:

Being in Socal I needed something exactly like that, I got the G-Loomise Conquest 905For that, I am really happy with it. It has ability to cast far, Also very sensetive, and have fast taper. I got the best all around(except pricing).

I second the conquest 905... rod is incredibly powerful for big heavy jig n pig big rigs... rated 3/4 to 3 ounces. 

 

It throws half ounce jigs with trailers just fine as well. 

 

For socal this rod can be used for stripers, halibut as well, or pike / musky up north.

 

Such a versatile rod, feel like it is the best rod on the planet for swimming the huddleston 68 as well as most single hook applications near its weight range.

 

Paired mine up with a calcutta conquest 201xg running 50lb braid,  this rig can handle giant fish ? 

[Tackleholic]

I'm curious to know if H/F is considered the only way to go.  Do any of you use a 7'6" MH/F?

[LrgmouthShad]

2 hours ago, Tackleholic said:

H/F is considered the only way to go

Not the only way to go. MH fine too. I used a 7’ MH for a while with success.

 

If having trouble sticking fish on a MH, there are a load of factors you can change besides rod power. Think drag setting, think weedguard thickness, think hook thickness, think reeling down to get rid of all slack before hookset. 
 

Jig setup and ensuring you get good hook penetration with a jig IMO is built over experience with a certain setup and with fishing jigs in general. You get comfortable over time knowing approximations for what your drag should be set at, how thick your weedguard should be, and what hooks on jigs might be too ‘light’ or too ‘heavy’ for this particular setup. And if they are either light or heavy, you can tweak as needed from your baseline, but again, that does not always need to be changing rods. 

[Jar11591]

2 hours ago, Tackleholic said:

I'm curious to know if H/F is considered the only way to go.  Do any of you use a 7'6" MH/F?

I don’t use a 7’6”, but use H/F and MH/F for jigs depending on the cover. Timber and light to moderate weed cover I will use a MH/F, and for heavy weed cover up to punching mats, I’ll use the heavy. 

[GrumpyOlPhartte]

Don’t know if I’m too late to the party, but based on the recommendation of @WRB I bought an iRod Genesis IRG754F-H (Magic Stick).  It’s a 7’5” rod rated for 1/2 - 2-oz.  lures and it works fine with large jigs and small swimbaits such as  6-inch Little Creepers and MagDrafts. Not being a purist, I also use it for larger t-rigs, both worms and creature baits. I can’t address flipping and pitching but overall I love the rod. It seems to have plenty of backbone.

[Catt]

On 12/25/2022 at 5:21 AM, Tackleholic said:

I'm curious to know if H/F is considered the only way to go.  Do any of you use a 7'6" MH/F?

 

I have a Diawia Tatula TTU731MHFB, 7' 3" Medium  Heavy Fast, rated for 1/4-1 oz. I use it for flipping-n-pitching, light punching up to 3/4 oz, & Stanley Rabbits/Zoom's Horny Toad.

[Mike L]

On 12/25/2022 at 6:21 AM, Tackleholic said:

I'm curious to know if H/F is considered the only way to go.  Do any of you use a 7'6" MH/F?

It really depends as some rods can be over or under powered depending on the actual punching conditions you encounter. 
 

My 2 setups that I posted above covers all conditions in the vast majority of the waters I fish, hense the different lines used on the 2 rods which are different in action but not in power. 
 

I use the same MH/F Tatula that @Catt posted above exclusively for the same level of cover in the same weight range. 

For that I use 20# Shooter 

I do not use a 7’ 6” length rod for anything as it’s perceived extra distance and leverage is not that big of an advantage for me. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike