A casting rod for mostly Jigs and Dropshot??

[Darth Baiter]

As the title says, I am in the market for a rod like this for a friend. He wants to use 10 pound test and up for this rod, and he also plans on doing some carolina and texas rigging on it. He will be using 10 pound Mono and Fluorocarbon. I was thinking the Dobyns Mike Long Jig rod would be good, but he is a Loomis fan and I am trying to see if there are any Loomis rods to suit what he wants. Any suggestions would be great. Oh, and the rod has to be at least 7 feet or over, and he will be using jigs up to 3/4oz. Thanks in advance!

[froteur]

Is he looking for one rod to do both? Unless he is bubba-shotting, the rod he uses for 3/4 oz jigs will be too heavy for finesse dropshotting. That being said, the Loomis MBR844 is the classic Loomis jig rod.

Perry

[Darth Baiter]

He wants to do all 4 techniques with the same rod.

[BB144]

I have to agree with Froteur, unless he's going to be bubba-shotting, a jig rod will make dropshotting tough. And even bubba-shotting, it may be too heavy. I can't imagine myself casting a standard dropshot rig (1/8oz weight, tiny hook, tiny straight tail worm) on my Loomis MBR844C.

That being said, the MBR844C is a good jig rod; I used it all last year for jigs, pitching, and frogging. It will be replaced in its jig fishing duties this year by my new DX784ML.

If he is planning on fishing 3/8-3/4oz jigs, I'd definitely go with the 4 powered Loomis. But if he's going to be fishing like 3/8 and under, he may want to check out the MBR843C. It can handle smaller jigs fine, and would make dropshotting a little easier.

Dropshotting, however, is one of the few techniques I actually prefer to fish on a spinning rod. And a ML or M spinning rod at that. Find out what kind of dropshotting he's going to be doing, because the MBR843 might work if he's planning to bubba-shot with a 3/8oz weight and a t-rigged senko or something.

[stykbowslim]

Is he looking for one rod to do both? Unless he is bubba-shotting, the rod he uses for 3/4 oz jigs will be too heavy for finesse dropshotting. That being said, the Loomis MBR844 is the classic Loomis jig rod.

Perry

What is "bubba-shotting" ? thanks

[Steve Williams]

"bubba shotting" is using heavier lines .012"-.018", 3/8, 1/2oz or larger weight, bigger bait (like a beaver, 7" finnesse worm or 10" worm) and basically dropshotting in heavy cover, grass, etc. usually shallow water.

I don't think you will find one rod that will fish jigs and also dropshot with. I love the ML Jig rod and it can do a lot of things very well, but it is not a dropshot rod. Most drop shot rods have a very soft tip so that the fish doesn't feel the rod and can take the bait in. They are designed for a reel set rather than a hookset and the tip will give so that you don't break 5-7lb lines. You usually don't feel the bite so much as the rod gets "mushy" or heavy. You can really tell by watching the tip move in my experience more so than feeling it, especially in really deep water.

[froteur]

When people hear drop shot, many (including myself) think finesse. However, drop shooting can be done with many types of equipment and in many types of environments. I've dropshotted the delta with 1/4 oz or heavier weights and 30 lb braid on a heavy baitcaster - in shallow water. Then I've dropshotted canyon lakes with 4 or 6 lb flouro on my light or medium light spinning rod in 50 feet of water.

When people refer to the mush bite and reel set, it is generally with the "traditional" deep dropshotting. I dropshotted in less than 5 feet of water last year at Clear Lake (I was flipping my medium light rig into light cover) and THAT was no mush bite. The fish hammered the bait!

In any case, it's a very versatile technique.

Perry

[stykbowslim]

"bubba shotting" is using heavier lines .012"-.018", 3/8, 1/2oz or larger weight, bigger bait (like a beaver, 7" finnesse worm or 10" worm) and basically dropshotting in heavy cover, grass, etc. usually shallow water.

I don't think you will find one rod that will fish jigs and also dropshot with. I love the ML Jig rod and it can do a lot of things very well, but it is not a dropshot rod. Most drop shot rods have a very soft tip so that the fish doesn't feel the rod and can take the bait in. They are designed for a reel set rather than a hookset and the tip will give so that you don't break 5-7lb lines. You usually don't feel the bite so much as the rod gets "mushy" or heavy. You can really tell by watching the tip move in my experience more so than feeling it, especially in really deep water.

Thanks Steve... almost sounds like pitchin 'n flippin

[Darth Baiter]

Sounds like some good suggestions, keep em coming...

[robchik04]

Would definitely help to know what kind of drop shotting. I fish the Cal Delta and Clear Lake a lot and use a powell 733 Med-Hvy Ex-Fast for my drop shotting. Up to 3/8 ounce DS weights on 20 pound braid with 8-12 pound FC on a top shot. BUT i would not throw a 3/4 jig on it. I would suggest a Powell Endurance 764, or the Max 764 if you can find it. Regardless of brand, you'll probably want to keep your buddy in the 4 power (Heavy) with a fast action tip.