Jig rod or overhead?

[Luvit]

I have been enjoying the offshore fishing of late and have been using a couple of 24kg overhead rod comb's and they do the job but are not as fun to use as spin gear IMO.

I have also been using a couple of 7 ft 6-10kg fast taper snapper spin rods and they a lot of fun to catch fish on but they are not ideal for trolling. The rod tips are light and when the seas are a little choppy the drag of the lures loads the tips and then they spring back and pull the lures out.

So I was thinking of possibly replacing one of those with a shorter jig rod that would be stiffer and not pull the lures out.

Because there is always the chance of a larger fish grabbing a lure I wanted some line capacity of around 500 & 600 meters. Not wanting to spend a lot on this set up and thought a Fin nor Lethal 100 match to a T curve jig 200 rod. This would give me plenty of 15kg braid and stop most fish. I could also use to deep jig with or troll live baits making it quite multi purpose rod. I have read a bit about braid breaking under heat pressure when it passes back and forth over the runners and is one of the reasons a lot of anglers that were using spin gear for the 100kg+ blue fin down south have reverted back to overhead reels. I could top shot the braid with 150m of mono to give the combo some stretch.

There is a possibility of catching a 100+kg marlin and 50+kg yellow fin so this is the reason behind the line capacity.

Or do I stick with an over combination in the 10-15kg range?

Any advise from the offshore fisho's?

Thank

[STKE]

Not that I know much.

But with that amount of line is braid going to be the best option? Wouldn't it perish

[Luvit]

I don't know.

I've had braid on reels for many many years and not had a problem with perishing.

[Arod]

Doesn't help with your rod selections, but when trolling with spin rods (or any longer rod), I often use a rubber band wrapped around the line a few times then hook this on to a bollard/rail on the gunwale. This helps keep the line angle a lot flatter and reduces the chance of the lures springing out of the water. In rough conditions or towing divers/large skirts you can double the rubber bands up if you're finding they're popping off. Alternatively, you can also use a downrigger/outrigger clip to hold your line down for the same result if you want to get fancy.

Works well running multiple lines from a smaller boat without outriggers too, as your line angles are staggered to help avoid tangles when turning.

[Bi_polar]

I recon you might be best with a big threadline on a jig stick and then if later on you want to have a big spin outfit too you can put the threadline on a spin rod

[Luvit]

Thanks Arod for the tips they are appreciated.

I currently use rubber bands and sometime outrigger clips on the rods trolling straight out the back and it works well. (Also they are the most aggressive lure heads so they hold in better than the long and short rigger positions)

But because I don't have out riggers I use some adjustable rod holders that angle the rods out to the side of the boat to place the lures in clean water. This where the 7 ft spin rods are loading pulling the less aggressive lures out. If I run rubber bands on the side rods they come to close into the wash.

These are some of the reasons I'm considering a replacement out fit.

thanks again.

[Luvit]

Thanks Stu,

My heart says go the spin gear for the fun and my head says stick with overheads.

A new set up that has multi uses is exciting and next year I'll be heading to the Kimberly's for a 3 week fishing holiday so the jigging rod would be useful there to.

No need to rush it.

[Luvit]

For anyone interested. I'm not he first to ask this question and on further investigation it is possible, but not ideal to use a jig rod for trolling because of the different tapers.

Trolling rods are made to be stiffer than the jig rods. The jig rods are softer and harder to set hooks when trolling resulting in not as many hook ups staying put.

This seems to be the under lying message from the pages I've been reading. If it was that easy everyone would be doing it.

[Arod]

No dramas. Always good to need a reason to get a new combo. Can always run a lighter gauge hook to help offset the softer rod For better hookups.

If you want to take a 10kg overhead or jig setup out before you buy one let me know.

You'll love the Kimberly's, hard coming back to fish here afterwards though!

[Luvit]

Thanks for the generous rod offer, I might take you up on that.

I'm looking forward to the trip. It's a long service leave trip I'm doing with a mate I've known since we were 16 y/o and I'm now 44.

I'm glad he was the successful one. He is having s 7m custom Assasin boat built and it should be ready by Aoril this year. By next year it should be well kitted out.