Favorite jigging rod for open water

[TK Tack]

looking for some opinions on vertical jigging rod setups. I have a lot of setups but my go-to is a 6'3" MLXF with Sedona 1000 and typically use suffix 832 with some kind of flouro leader. Looking for some other options that work with for the first month on the big lake.

[Boar]

I have a 7' custom rod made by chad huderle of prior lake mn, I paired it with a tica and use power pro 8 lbtest 2 lb diameter. I can tell the difference be tween a granet pebble and a quartz pebble. unbelievable rod.

[TK Tack]

Thanks! What kind of blank did he use?

[NAMASafetyDirector]

I use the same thing as you only a 6'6 St.Croix. It's a personal preference deal but that's a heck of a good place to start!

[bobbymalone]

I have built a few jigging rods on 6'3" MLXF st Croix rods. Scv and sciv. Great blanks. Spendy though. My dad was always in the cheap rod camp until he fished a high end Croix blank. I've heard good things about batson and mhx blanks too.

I hate braid and leaders on light rods. I just don't see the need for it. I think your splitting hairs over increased sensitivity. Especially for jigging in 14 fow. I'd take it over cheap mono though. I use p line copolymer. I save the superlines for casting rods and where I need 20+ test.

[NAMASafetyDirector]

There are a few reasons i like Suffix 832 with a mono leader. First of all i like to have a swivel between the two to help or eliminate line twist especially when using a whilstler type jig (which works awesome on the opener i might add). Second of all when jigging structure or rock reefs on LOW is inevitable your gonna get snagged. I like having braid in order to either muscle out the snag or simply snap off the mono leader, re-tie and move on. I only loose 3-6 feet of line that way (whatever the leader length is). Additionally I feel i get a nice solid hook set with a little bit of give from the leader. With a MLXF i feel you give up a little in hooksetting power so the 832 helps with that but the leader helps with a bit of stretch in the even you find yourself in a battle with a larger fish. Again, all personal preference. If i feel like there's something better, hey I'll try it!

[ghuntofish]

St. Croix avid series, medium light action, 6'6". I equip this with a Pflueger Supreme XT reel. Really nice set up

[TK Tack]

Thanks for the info fellas! I'm going to try the p-line on a ML setup and see how that works too.

Question - Is the stretch low enough when jigging out deeper off the edge of reefs, say 30 ft, or does it even matter?

I also build a few rods, been looking at the Batson MXF blanks in their RX8 line, seems to compare to the SCIV which I really like. I'm building a setup for my old man and he doesn't have any decent rods, I priced out all the guides, aluminum handle, cork, etc for about $140 which didn't seem bad to me. I'm going to try and spool him up with some of that p-line, he doesn't like cutting superline.

[bobbymalone]

I've used p line at 30 feet and it was fine. I wouldnt try a super light jig though,I usually use 1/4 heads.

If you like mono, that p line is the best out there imo

[wookie24]

I use a St Croix Eyecon Dropshot rod, its 6'8" Medium with extra fast tip, pair with pflueger president reel and powerpro 10 lb, tough to beat, light and super sensitive

[TK Tack]

Do you drop shot out there with live/frozen bait?

[wookie24]

No dropshotting, just vertical jigging, rod model just happens to be made for dropshotting

[TK Tack]

I paired it with a tica and use power pro 8 lbtest 2 lb diameter.

Boar - Is that a Tica 500 or 1000? I paired a St Croix Legend MLXF with a Tica Cetus 500 from my ice fishing gear and love it. My two cents is that the 500 reels are enough for even the bigger walleyes. They have 6 lb drag, and for vertical jigging, how much line do you really need on the spool anyway.