Favorite walleye jigging rod?

[anchor man]

I'll be making a purchase for a new jigging rod soon and was curious what others prefer the most. I'd like a light to medium light action in 6 or 6'2" range. Not willing to spend more than about $150.

Thanks

Thanks

[Bassboy1645]

I have an Extiant something made by I wanna say HT?? Not sure but it fits the bill. I picked it up at gander 2 yrs ago for abot 40 bucks. not sure If you can find them anymore. Its a med heavy action 6'2'' I use it mainly for casting cranks now but it doubles for pitching jigs. I would prefer a stiffer rod for jigging. More sensitivity I htink esp if paired with fireline or powerpro. I Jig mainly mono low strecth now though cuz I hated having to get a strenuous workout trying to break the fireline everytime my jigs got hung up

[HateHumminbird]

AnchorMan:

You have quite a few options for $150! There are many good jigging sticks out there, and much depends on personal preference, appearance, and what you place more importance upon. You could look towards commercial or more affordable custom rods at that price point.

As commercial rods go, I'm a fan of the St. Croix Avids and Fenwick HMG's. I own two avids, and have used friends HMG's and like them both. A much more affordable option that I've tried and like as well is the Limit Creek.

A custom rod is a good way to go, especially if you like your wraps and colors to be personalized to your liking. They're typically made with a bit more attention to detail, especially if you point out specific features you'd like to see. One of the avids I own is a custom rod built on the avid blank, and I absolutely love it.

I just picked up a custom rod from Scotty's Custom Rods. Though I have not yet fished it, I was able to pick and choose the features I wanted, without any of the junk I didn't. His base rod is about $100. I'll be posting pictures soon in the Sponsor Showcase Forum of this rod so you can get an idea of what that looks like.

Whatever you choose, make sure you take the time to look at a bunch of rods so buyer's remorse never sets in.

Joel

[Northlander]

For the $150 you can get many many nice jigging rods.

You can find Loomis, St. Croix, Fenwick, All Star, Gander, Cabelas and many others in that price range.

Like Jnelson said a custom rod is a option as well. Many good custom rod makers out there. Midwest Rod and Reel, Scotty, Engels and Thorn Bro. are all good makers.

Best thing is find a store with many brands and play with them. Put a reel on it in the store, get some line and tie a paper clip to it and put the clip on the eye guide and flex the rod. See what ya like. Rods have come a long long way in the past 5-10 years and even the big retail chain brands are very nice. The Gander Mt. rods are good for the price and they take them back if they brake. Lots of higher end rod companies are going away from a lifetime warranty and you at times wont get a broken rod replaced by them. St. Croix and Loomis are both getting very picky about this.

[caseymcq]

For $150 you could actually get into some nice combos. Cabela's has a Shimano Symetre/Cabela's Tourney Trail rod for $110. Shimano Sedona/Cablea's Tourney Trail rod $70, I think that is a steal. Shimano Sahara/Cabela's Fish Eagle II rod for $110. I have a couple Fish Eagle II rods. For the price $80 they are great rods. A relatively inexpensive reel to throw on it would be a Abu Garcia Cardinal 300 for $35. I have one of these reels and I love it. I bought a St. Croix Triumph last spring. It is St. Croix "cheaper" line. Still really impressive rods for $60. I think they are a bargin. Put that Abu reel I mentioned on it and for $100 you are into a nice set up and still have $50 to burn on gas, bait, tackle, pop/beer etc. Fenwick HMX rods are really good for the money. I have two of those. One is a 6'6" Medium-light rod that is my favorite for riggin'.

If you want to put the whole $150 (or close to it) towards a rod you could go with a G Loomis GL2, St. Croix Avid, Cabela's XML, Fenwick HMG.

I don't have any experience with custom rods but if you can get into one of those for $150 or less that might be the way to go.

Whatever you end up getting please give us a report on it. I am curious to hear anyone's opinion on rods and reels.

[fish2live]

if i was only going to use this rod for jigging i would get a 6 ft medium extra fast st.croix avid they are right at the 150 mark or a 6ft medium fast action g loomis gl-2 this is right there also. gander and cabelas make some nice rods but, to me they don't seem to be balanced as well. i have both a 6ft gl-2 awsome jig rod and a 6'8 medium extra fast avid that pulls double duty for casting jigs and verticle jigging. hope this helps

steve

[gspman]

A St. Croix Avid 6'6" MF is a good rod for jigging and for all 'round usage. I'd go with that for starters and then build out from there.