Hiramasa

Well done mate, impressive haul.

Frikken strong rods Dutchy. I've got full faith in my 80lb Salina after seeing it under some heavy load.

Yeah agree with the jigging / bottom stuff mate, at the end of the day it's a matter of whether the rod can handle the weight huh. I do bugger all jigging so it's good to know the Catalina can handle the heavy leads.

Not sure why the whole rod would vibrate on the troll, but as long as the lure swims ok that's the main thing. I've heard that some jig rods will just rip lures out of the water coz they're too stiff.

Hopefully the extra 100g of the Saragosa still balances ok with the Catalina. I'll head down and check it out.

Great advice Ale, cheers mate, always good to hear first hand info.

The Catalinas sure do get great reviews. Word is the Deep Jigs are a bit broomstick in action whereas the Catalina have a more parabolic action. That probably helps with trolling divers I guess, gives a bit more flex...

The Catalina 5000 is 100g lighter than the Goza 10,000 but it'd probably still balance ok. Rays have the Catalina rods for $250 at the moment... pretty good deal I reckon.

Do you run 50lb on your 59H?

No dramas with really heavy leads?

And yeah I too can vouch for those Okuma Salina rods. I've got the 80lb version. Hooked a massive smooth ray at Port Augusta last year and figured I'd try get it to the top just to test the rod out (figured if I snapped it it's only $100). Locked up the drag on my Saragosa 18,000 running 80lb and started pulling... didn't break it and got it to the top, biggest ray I've ever hooked. Very strong rods for the money.

Hey guys.

I'm after a 50lb rod to match a Saragosa 10,000. The primary use will be bottom bashing offshore with heavy lead (up to 15-20 oz) and I'd also like to double it for trolling divers for tuna and kings. Budget is $300.

I was initially looking at the Deep Jig 300 or the Monster Mesh but have heard that jig rods won't troll divers well.

Also hearing good reports about the Catalina rods.

Just trying to find something that is versatile enough to handle big leads but also suit trolling.

Any suggestions would be great.

Cheers.

I just put the whole snapper block in a scaler bag mate. It's weighed down with a 9lb dive weight as they tend to want to float when still frozen solid.

The whiting burley I leave chunky and use a wire mesh cage style burley pot. I find with whiting the smell will keep them close as much as the food itself. Plus if u leave it chunky the wire cage will break off small particles. I find if I mash it up it doesn't last long enough.

Here's my burley selection for different species:

Snapper: frozen burley block from the tackle shop.

Tommies / gar: off the shelf chook pellets soaked in tuna oil

Whiting: pilchards, old cockles, squid heads. Basically anything but pellets as I find pellet burley on the bottom just brings in the crappies and tends to spook the whiting.

After having a lot of success last snapper season using jigs and switchblades and with this weather not allowing much fishing time I hit the shed to make up a new assortment of micro jigs. I came up with my own idea of using old salmon lures, old lucanus style jigs, and plastic squid to make up the jig.

The plastic squid retail at $2:95 per pack for 5. A pack of decent jig assist hooks are also cheap as the quality only needs to be good enough for big snapper. I used Williamson assist hooks, but as per one of the pics you can also just use standard 8/0 suicides and 80lb leader to form your own assist hook. Add in a few split rings and youre in business. Each of the jigs below range from 70g through to 100g. I prefer them heavy as I fish deep drops for reds and heavier jigs allow you to 'bounce' the jig along the bottom and get it down easier in stronger tides.

The metal part of the jig (salmon lure) doesn't need to be anything fancy, as it only acts as the weight to get it down.. it's the squid with the hook that does the damage.

I've found that these work best for drifting across the drop. My technique is to firstly use the sounder to find the fish, then once they appear on the screen cast the jig up drift of the fish. This will allow the jig time to sink. I then simply bounce the jig along the bottom through the school. Usually it gets taken on the drop as it's bounced along the bottom.

Snapper tend to fight much harder if the boat is drifting, not anchored. They can petty much free swim when drifting instead of being yanked into the current.

Here's a few pics of the jigs both on the table and how they would appear in the water. Add in a light rod, 10lb braid and hang on!

I use the Surgeons Knot mate, very simple but very strong. Easy to tie in the dark and in rough seas.

Check it out on YouTube.