Popping rod - advice needed

[mattharvey1]

Hi folks,

Going to the Andaman's for xmas/NY and I'm in the market for a Popping rod but they are so blinkin expensive. However after digging around in the forum yesterday I found word of the Grey's Popping rod and wondered if any of you guys own one or have used one and could give a review after hopefully having tangled with some GT's/DT's or similar and how it performed.

I know the rod is secondary to the reel but I don't know if I can justify the Circa £500 expense of a Daiwa Saltiga or a Shimano Stella which seem to be the most regularly recommended.

I currently have a Penn Mariner trolling stick coupled with a Penn 320Ld Level wind and this outfit is just for trolling and I have a lot of confidence in that set up unless I hit something really big but I need a casting outfit too and that one don't cast.
http://www.pennreels.com/01_products..._gti/320ld.htm


I do have a Shimano 6500B which has this spec so I know it's on the boundary's of what I could get away with but what do you guys think if I coupled that with the Greys Popper and 65lb Tuf line XP ? http://www.baitnhook.net/shimanobait...nningreel.aspx

I also intend to take a lighter spinning outfit for mucking around in the shallows/flats.

Thanks in advance for your help

Matt

[marktheshark]

Hi Matt
The Greys Popper rod has been reviewed recently in the tackle forum, I think; not favourably, because a lot of people have complained it's very heavy, which means it'll be great for GTs. You need a strong rod with a lot of oomph in the butt and a bit of give in the tip as you might be casting 20cm poppers, and when a big GT hits it'll turn and dive for the reef; if you can't hold it, you've lost the fight, plus an expensive popper, in the first five seconds. I cannot emphasize this enough - think 80-100lb braid, upgraded trebles and split rings, and extreme brutality.
I've seen the Greys at thefriendlyfisherman.co.uk for £165. The rod has two tips so you've got a lighter option too. The same place does an interesting ET Big Game Brute rod, 10ft 3pc casting 4-10oz, for £95. For my poppering I use a 4.5lb t/c 10ft 3pc Masterline catfish rod which does a fine job - I've had a 30lb tarpon from the shore on it - for £60.
The reel is important; it must have excellent line lay, capacity and strength, but for poppers, most of all, speed. Most 6500-8000 size reels don't crank fast enough to fool fish into taking. I use a Shimano Big Baitrunner, which pulls back 111cm of line per turn, and which has served me brilliantly for nine years, for heavy popping; and an Ultegra 10000 for medium lure work. They're expensive (£110-130) reels but they don't break the bank like a Stella, and with care last a long time - and with spare spools, I can use them in for UK beach fishing too.
There are a wealth of travel rods for light messing around - you'll get numerous recommendations for Shimano STCs, Daiwa Wildernesses, Mike Ladle Surespins and the like; there are several reviews on the tackle forum, so take your pick according to budget and preference.
I'd say your 320LD will probably be a bit light for a lot of the fish you'll run into. OK for light trolling but as you say, if you run into anything heavy (grouper, snapper, dogtooth tuna, GT) you'll struggle and you risk being spooled. I'd take a 30lb IGFA (that's 50-80lb UK) class outfit minimum, ideally with a lever drag reel that holds at least 500m of line.
Good luck ... sounds like a fantantastic trip.

[Dabler]

Hi Matt – I have no experience with GT’s or big Tuna as of yet but plan to next year on a 4 or 5 week trip across the Indian Ocean eventually ending up at a wedding in Sydney.

I fish regularly in Florida and I am heading out again on the 27th of this month. I am by no means an expert but have landed some big fish on various types of rod/reel set ups.

I have been searching the net for a suitable rod that will handle a pretty big GT or similar and fit in my suit case, but as of yet haven’t found anything that comes close. I have looked at the Greys Power Popper and at 9 feet and 3 piece its going to be a big suitcase that it’s going into! But it does look like it ‘might’ be up to the job….

I have a broad selection of travel rods from 10 foot 4 piece Cat rods to 7 foot 3 piece light spinners and have used most of them in Florida. I also have a selection of reels and do own a Stella SW10000HG (bought at an action in Marco Island and best buy of my life) which I haven’t put to the test yet.

One of my rods is a Penn Power stix 4 piece 7’ 4” 30 - 50 lbs boat rod which I had, at the time, paired up to a Shimano 6500B with 60 lbs power pro braid. I was fishing at around 150 ft and hooked into something really big. To cut this short, I got to the side of the boat a 200lbs + nurse shark. Now this is no trophy fish but it proved the ability of both rod and real with line being stripped wholesale over a 25 minute fight. I had set the real drag at 10 lbs before I started and during the fight I had to tighten the drag on three or four occasions. When it all settled down I got the scales out and checked the drag and was pleasantly surprised to find 18 lbs reading on the scales. As to the rod, it coped very well and I could really lean into it and at no time did I get the feeling that it was going to pop.

Now this got me thinking and being a bit of a “reverse engineering freak” I sent this rod to a local rod repairer and had the bottom 2 guides replaced with much larger spinning guides. I took it to Marco Island last Month. Wow, I was hooking into 30+ lbs Jacks from the jetty below our condo and they didn’t stand a chance, these fish are hooligans and usually head straight for the pilling’s but with this set up (I was using my Shimano Sustain 8000FE & 60 lbs power pro) I held them out with no bother at all. I also landed a 150 ish lbs Lemon Shark with this set up from the beach with no bother.

I was using mostly Yo-zuri poppers and rapala’s of various sizes (up to 3 ½ ozs) and with the heavier lures was getting easy 50 - 60 yard casts. The rod is probably a bit stiff at the top end to chuck the lures as far as a purpose built rob (Carpenter, Smith etc etc) But at £49.99 and £20.00 to have the guides replaced I may have stumbled upon the poor mans GT stopper. I was so impressed with the results I have decided to invest in some more R & D and have ordered from e-bay a 7’ 3” Power stix 4 piece 50 lbs + Rod (again at 49.99) I will replace the guides and pair it up with my Stella and hopefully hit some big Sails, Wahoo and maybe some Black Fin Tuna. I also bought some Shimano Butterfly Jigs and will test both outfits at jigging and hopefully hook into a big grouper.

I’ll let you know the outcome when I get back.

[marktheshark]

Those Penn Power Stix are an odd number; it's a nice blank with not a bad action (I've got the 30-50 and had a 20-30 until this summer) and there's still one or two outlets selling them new for £40, which makes them good value for money.
I wouldn't fancy chucking plugs all day with the 30-50 but the 20-30 (there's no way it's a proper 20-30; more like a 12lb class) had a nice whippy tip and could easily be used for heavy casting.
However, the rings are woeful; the seat's a Fuji but the rings aren't; my 1-year-old 20-30 had corrosion forming on some of them when I gave it away in Cuba, and the varnishing is really sloppy on my 30-50. Without a rod bag the rings can get damaged knocking around in the case - I pad mine with bubble-wrap. You did well to have yours re-rung, but why stop at the first two?
Good value, and fun while they last, but that won't be very long unless you really cosset them.

[Dabler]

I’m not as young as I used to be and did get a tad tender in the neck and shoulders. I was chucking lures on average around maybe 3 hrs a day, but I always take my wife with me, she does a great massage and makes the best G & T in the world!

Agree with you on the guides, they are shabby and might just get them all replaced, although the finish on my rod is tops, can’t complain there.

Matt, the Shimano Sustain 8000PG (Power Gear) has a gear ratio of 5.0:1 and can take 33lbs of drag, that’s a lot. Not sure if you can get them in the UK but you can in the US. They are reasonably priced even with the $ £ rate the way it is at the moment. Have a look at this link

http://www.anglers-proshop.com/produ...?product_id=17

As Mark said, retrieval speed is most important as is stopping ability. Take a look on you tube, type in GT fishing and watch how these yobs beat you up, I can’t wait….

[mattharvey1]

Thanks guys - I only just came back on the forum and saw this.

Appreciate the advice and seeing as I couldn't get the money together for the full on Japanese road and Shimano reel imported from Australia I will be taking your advice.

I'll report back sometime in late Jan.

Cheers

Matt

[Ken L]

The Penn Power Stix is not a good rod. I too have major corrosion problems with the rings on mine after just a single trip to the Andaman islands where it was out daily for a week and then rinced off and cleaned before being put back in it's tube. To make matters worse, the epoxy covering the rod is so thick that it's going to be hard work to replace he rings and retain any sort of estetic quality.
One option to look at for popping/jigging on the cheap is the Cormeran black bull catfish rod. It's 2.7m and rated to cast 100 - 300g and is available from Askari. Partner this with a Shimano Navi 8000 PG and you have a budget outfit that will do the business.

Forget trying to find a travel rod that's up to the job. There isn't one !

On a slightly more positive note, I did recently exchange a serise of e-mails with Dick Tallents of Masterline who told me that they would be looking at the apparent gap in the market and would build a XX heavy duty travel spinning rod if they thought there is a market for a rod like this.
If people want a travel rod that will deal with popping, catfish, sturgeon, Norway and the like, why not drop Masterline an e-mail and let them know that a market exists?

[Richard S]

Hi guys , been running popping trips a while now and the rod that has been absolutely brilliant for mid range jacks and snappers , up 50 lb . Is the diawa Tournament global TTG - 280 , 2 piece 2.8mts casts big poppers easily and the power is fantastic without being heavy.


There is a fine dividing line between power and weight . In Guinea we cast big poppers for up to 5 hrs a day working sandbars and wrecks , let alone actually fighting the fish . Most of the time its sheer fatigue that stops you fishing , so always aim for lightness and balance .

Greys popper rod is useless , mainly because its so heavy most of the clients cannot cast with it for more than 25 mins . Its is badly weighted and way too heavy .

I cannot tell you the number of times clients have brought their own rods then endded up fishing with the diawas .

A popping rod is all about lightness and power , also the Tournament rod might be a biot long but popping is also about covering ground and the extra length really helps by putting an extra 10 yards on your cast.


Regards richard.