open water laker jigging rod?

[bobbymalone]

not sure if this is the best place for it, as this is mostly a rod building question but here goes... I figure you laker guys in here might be the best source.

I am planning on building a rod for vertical jigging lake trout and wonder what kind of blank I should go with. Here are some of the things that might help you help me:

first and foremost, i am a newbie - my laker jigging experience has been limited to just a couple times in Ontario.

jigging between 40-80 fow

1-2 oz bucktail or airplane jigs

i have been using 20-30lb braid, but am open to other suggestions

I am thinking about going with a moderate/slow action rod so hooksets don't rip the thing out of their mouths and so I can get an aesthetically pleasing parabolic bend while fighting fish. Maybe a graphite composite?

Any help? What kind of rod do you guys use for this purpose? Length, action, weight, etc.

[live4chrome]

I like a fast action rod with a good backbone for jigging lake trout for a few reasons.

mainly better hooksets

a seven foot rod is ideal, for giving those big airplane jigs the large jigging lift they need. Its nice to be able to snap those jigs up, you just cant give those heavy jigs good snap with a softer action rod.

Medium heavy, or at least a medium blank, this is what I use, I fish superior where the chance of hooking a 15 plus pounder is always there.

rig with powerpro with a 12-14 lb mono leader. I run anywhere to a 20 foot leader, but usualy around 15 feet.

[Northlander]

baitcasting or spinning?

Either way it would be 7' long with a fast action and medium to medium heavy power. I would use a good graphite rod but you dont need a super high end rod. reason being is with a superline like Power Pro you will gain a ton of feeling in that deeper water. I would use a 20# Power Pro and skip the mono leader unless you really think the lakers are getting line shy. I used to use a mono leader but on the advise of a friend who laker guides a went away from that and went straight PP. Still catch just as many fish as anyone else.

Now if your going to stay shallow in like less than 30' of water I would use a clear mono leader of about 5-10' tied on with a back to back uni knot.

[Steve Foss]

Agreed on the 7' MH action. Agreed on the superbraid. Agreed on the lack of need for a mono leader. Dark green superbraid is darn near invisible that deep, even in clear water, and lakers are not line shy. Sounds like a good rod in the making. If you build it, they will come.

I've used a 7' Berkley Lightning Rod in MH for vertical jigging, and that seems to work really well.

[Down Deep]

I have a 7 foot medium heavy Ugly Stick spinning rod rigged with a 4000 Shamano Spirex real with 20 lb Fireline and a 6 foot mono leader. I began buying some Ugly Sticks after using some of the guide rods in Alaska. Ugly Sticks have a lot of spine with a fast, but forgiving tip. They are indestructible, fairly inexpensive and a good buy for rods that I only use a couple times a year. This rod also dubs as trolling rod for larger crankbaits.

[traveler]

I don't have a rod specifically for this purpose, but I've had a few Uglysticks, and agree with downdeep...thier action should be just about right for your purpose. And they're reasonable:)

[upnorth]

For purely Jigging I would look at blank that is extra fast. 1 to 2 ounce would have me looking at at least a MH blank. If you go baitcaster I would seriously think of a spiral wrap.

[Surface Tension]

Max 20lb braid, lifting 1-2 oz jigs will put enough load on the rod you don't want to fight water resistance from a thicker braid.

I'd be comfortable with 10lb braid.

Because your vertical jigging your lure will flip and spin, I'd use a swivel about two feet up and since you have the swivle you can use mono as the leader.

7' MH graphite blank but which one.

I'd go with the baitasting setup and since your building the rod go with the spiral wrap.

Guide selection can make or break a custom rod. I'd think about the micro guides, Upnorth can add some info there.

Here is were building your own rod is a plus over picking one off the shelf. Length of butt. Its hard to find a good jigging rod that doesn't have a long butt which you do not want.

One thing you have to be careful about when vertical jigging with a graphite rod is keeping the rod tip lower then the butt when you set the hook. The angle is very sharp and if your boat drifts over your line it becomes sharper. If you have the tip high and set it takes very little pressure to snap the rod.

[live4chrome]

Good call on the spiral wrap, however I don't see where you are coming from on not wanting a larger butt. I prefer those over a smaller one beacuse you can get more leverage on the big fish.

[Steve Foss]

It's easier to jig 1-2 oz lures with a shorter butt, IMO, because they are light enough that it's wrist/arms. Heavier lures ask for a longer butt so you can bury the butt and use your body to help jig. Just the way I've looked at it.

[Northlander]

I like a shorter butt for jigging. A longer butt only gets in the way when jigging. For a trolling or rigging rod I will go with a loger butt on my rod.

[BRULEDRIFTER]

Uhhhhh, you guys are talking about butts...

The only way I fish open water lakers is by jigging. I'm not a very techie type person, and I always get confused by the fast vs. slow action. But the rod I have is a standard 6ft MH Gander MTN spinning rod with a fast (I believe.... It's not very whippy) action. I also have a 7ft M fast action Fenwick spinning rod that I like, but that one is almost too stiff. I normally use that rod for trollin/lindy riggin eyes, but it does well jiggin up big lakers, too.

I'm not a big fan of the bait casting rods. I do have one and it gets used, it's just a preference thing.

You should post some pics of your new rod when it's done!

Good luck with it!

[Surface Tension]

Spinning rod would work too. The longer butt gets in the way when jigging. There fine for a trolling rod or to increase torque for casting.