Can short popping rods be used for jigging?

[stickbom!]

A friend asked me this question via PM and I decided to post my reply here as it may come in handy for others.

Hi Mike,

just to check on something.
have noticed there are some pretty long jigging sticks like 6.5 ft or near 7ft plus in the market.
and also, there are those shorter popping sticks for casting & working heavier chuggers like 7-7.2ft for example.

whats your take on using these sort of popping rods for jigging?
do you think those jigging actions, all the jerking etc, will do harm to the tip of the popping rod for example? as the tip of the popping rod is only meant for loading of the popper during casting and not meant for handling jigs which are sometimes heavier than the chuggers and constant pressure by the jerking actions from jigging?

Hello there, the only thing that will get damaged is your back if you tried to use a short popping rod to jig. Most long jerking rods (7-9 footers) have a very slow taper which makes it feel pretty much like a short jigging rod when fully loaded. Short popping rods have much faster tapers and are designed for max leverage against surface running fish + launching BIG lures without dislocating your arms in the process. There's no written rule against using short pop rods for long jerking but if I had a choice, I wouldn't really do it (again ) Hope this helps

[Sportfisherman]

Mike ,

In my opinion it's a matter of what one used to with , the American anglers are so used to with long jigging rod w conventional reel , they are at a loss of words now with the intoductions of short rod + spinning reel jigging outfit .

I suppose those " short " popping rod can be used as occasional jigging outfit but to get a optimum results , I think short rod is better for most anglers although Mr. Kitamura ( name correction ) is a jigger with long rod .

Jon .

[stickbom!]

There's no written rule against using short pop rods for long jerking

Hey Jon didn't you see my disclaimer?

Western anglers use long rods and overhead reels for flinging jigs and the fishes targeted are mostly surface or sub-surface species. Totally different ball game if you ask me. For their style of jigging, long and stiff poles will work fine

Other than personal preference, I think the use of long or short rods will depend pretty much on the required jigging style/fishing conditions.

Well bottom line is, don't take ANYONE'S words wholesale. What works for you and me may not work for others. Agreed?

[Sportfisherman]

Hi Mike ,

Agreed whole heartedly , everyone is different and myself had used my popping rod to jig , it was very hard work sepecially with high speed reel .

Jon .

There's no written rule against using short pop rods for long jerking

Hey Jon didn't you see my disclaimer?

Western anglers use long rods and overhead reels for flinging jigs and the fishes targeted are mostly surface or sub-surface species. Totally different ball game if you ask me. For their style of jigging, long and stiff poles will work fine

Other than personal preference, I think the use of long or short rods will depend pretty much on the required jigging style/fishing conditions.

Well bottom line is, don't take ANYONE'S words wholesale. What works for you and me may not work for others. Agreed?

[stickbom!]

Jon, what a coincidence, I did the same with my LR86 and a friend's Gusa Predator... never want to try it again

The SAURUS Char-Mas 90H & CB-ONE 84XH was a blast to jig with though

[eeyore]

Hi Mike ,

Agreed whole heartedly , everyone is different and myself had used my popping rod to jig , it was very hard work sepecially with high speed reel .

Jon .

Hi Jon,

Can share more on your above mentioned experienced.

So may I know it is the length of your popping rod causes you to tire out or the high speed reel make you tire more quickly ?

Thank you very much

[eeyore]

Jon, what a coincidence, I did the same with my LR86 and a friend's Gusa Predator... never want to try it again

Hi,

Can elaborate more about your statement "... never want to try it again " very curious to know what happened ?

Tight Line

[stickbom!]

Eeyore, a long and fast actioned rod puts a great deal of stress on your back when you're fighting a fish vertically down/up. Most popping rods have mod/fast or fast taper so they aren't exactly the best choice for jigging. As for high speed reels and jigging, well try driving up a steep slope in high gear. See if your car protests

[eeyore]

Eeyore, a long and fast actioned rod puts a great deal of stress on your back when you're fighting a fish vertically down/up. Most popping rods have mod/fast or fast taper so they aren't exactly the best choice for jigging. As for high speed reels and jigging, well try driving up a steep slope in high gear. See if your car protests

Thank you very much for your input now I got the point liao

[MarkR]

Eeyore, when we going casting practise huh?