Tog Rod

[Gerry Zagorski]

First of all lets not start a flaming rod war here. I know there are some very strong opinions so lets right now agree to disagree respectfully.

I'm no expert here and talked to a bunch of different people about this and would like to get other opinions... Seems there is no perfect rod and you might have to have 2 set ups depending on your style of fishing and how much weight you want or need to use.

Here is what I'm thinking....

- You want a rod that has good give in the tip but a good solid back bone. I say this for a few reasons... If the tip is too fast and you over react like me on hook sets you will pull the bait from the fish. You also want some give in the tip absorb the up and down of the seas since you want to keep your bait on the bottom and as motionless as possible. You want the rod to load up a bit slower for a good hookset but the backbone needs to be strong so once you have the fish on you can keep them out of the rocks. For this reason I'm thinking a glass rod might be best since most graphite rods don't have the give in the tip and they load up too fast, at least for me.

- Should be at least 7 feet long, maybe longer if you fish party boats. Longer rods allow you to keep your line away from the boat since you are usually fishing straight up and down. If on a party boat you need to compensate for the rails and much higher distance from the deck to the water, so that's why I say longer for party boats.

- As far as sensativity, here too I think glass rods get the nod. It's pretty much a foregone conclusion that braided lines work best here because you feel everything. Blackfish typically telegraph their hits and you will either feel it in the line or see them at the tip. The combination of Graphite and braid at least for me, has way too much sensativity and if you are not patient you'll be swinging at everything.

- Spiral or regular wrap? Don't have any opinions here since I have not fished a spiral rod but it seems to me that sprial may have some advantages. The one I see for stand up fishing is that the reel doesn't want to shift as much left to right when fighting a fish because the load is more balance and is absorbed more by the guides facing down. I'll give an example.... When fighting a heavier fish like a tuna stand up I find it difficult to keep the reel square, the torque always wants to shift the reel left or right. This might not be as much as an advantage with smaller fish like blackfish but still thinking their might be some advantage. Am I all wet here??

- Off the shelf or custom and some of that may depend on your budget. However, if you go sprial I guess you have no choice since I don't know of any off the shelf spirals.


- How much sinker weight should this rod be capable of?? I'm thinking 8 - 12 ounces, especially for the conditions we normally fish here in the winer/fall since you want your sinker to stay put. If however you have a nice calm day you might want to have another rod suited for lighter weights and this is why in the begining I'm thinking you might need 2 rods.

Once again, not trying to start a rod war here and it's likely the answer for some will be different than others based on their particular style of fishing. Just looking to get opinions so I can make a more informed choice based on how I fish and increase my odds for PUOSU... More on that later

What say you tog sharpies and rod snobs out there??

Pass the popcorn please