I am so in on this slow pitch thing

[steelfish]

this slow pith jigging is really cool, I dont have a proper setup for it but I have a trevala rod with my trinidad 16 that I use from time to time with jigs with assisted hooks, flatfalls and sometimes those megabait that Sheridad use.
a proper slowpitch rod will bend more than the trevala rod and are thinner (my trevala is 5.5ft XH model).

these are some pics of my 4 o 5oz jigs with some rockfish and a small YT

[the rockfish ninja]

this slow pith jigging is really cool, I dont have a proper setup for it but I have a trevala rod with my trinidad 16 that I use from time to time with jigs with assisted hooks, flatfalls and sometimes those megabait that Sheridad use.
a proper slowpitch rod will bend more than the trevala rod and are thinner (my trevala is 5.5ft XH model).

these are some pics of my 4 o 5oz jigs with some rockfish and a small YT

That's exactly the rod that got me started on this. Still use it for shallow water ultra light.

[thorhammer]

Tony, nice work on the pigs! I'm thinking to build a lite jigging rod, maybe not full slow action, but similar weight, to use with my Cortez Squidders where I'm using 30lb PP and 30-40 leader. I have Torium on a heavy ST Croix I built that I use, and also 9500SS on the heavy Trevala butterfly jig rod, but these are overkill on bass and snappas. I want something lighter in hand for 50-120 G jigs.

[steelfish]

this slow pith jigging is really cool, I dont have a proper setup for it but I have a trevala rod with my trinidad 16 that I use from time to time with jigs with assisted hooks, flatfalls and sometimes those megabait that Sheridad use.
a proper slowpitch rod will bend more than the trevala rod and are thinner (my trevala is 5.5ft XH model).

these are some pics of my 4 o 5oz jigs with some rockfish and a small YT

That's exactly the rod that got me started on this. Still use it for shallow water ultra light.

trevala 5.8 HX as ultralight rod?  dang!
your Shimano Grappler slow J rod looks pretty thin, what are the specs?

I must admit I use my trevala on shallow waters too, kind of heavy for light fish, in the late years I've been downsizing my gear and I have plans (but no time) to build me a light knife jiggin rod and use it with a slow profile reel or my saltist 20h to enjoy more when fishing for 3# - 4# rock fish, what have stoped me abit is that in my local waters there are tons of Sea Lions that go after your fish on every hookup, so the faster your have the fish on the boat the better.

[thorhammer]

Alex, that's what i want to do with the CC Squidders, which to me is low profile, lol. 3-4 lb fish in 120 feet or less.


i have that same pink jig you have

[the rockfish ninja]

this slow pith jigging is really cool, I dont have a proper setup for it but I have a trevala rod with my trinidad 16 that I use from time to time with jigs with assisted hooks, flatfalls and sometimes those megabait that Sheridad use.
a proper slowpitch rod will bend more than the trevala rod and are thinner (my trevala is 5.5ft XH model).

these are some pics of my 4 o 5oz jigs with some rockfish and a small YT

That's exactly the rod that got me started on this. Still use it for shallow water ultra light.

trevala 5.8 HX as ultralight rod?  dang!
your Shimano Grappler slow J rod looks pretty thin, what are the specs?

I must admit I use my trevala on shallow waters too, kind of heavy for light fish, in the late years I've been downsizing my gear and I have plans (but no time) to build me a light knife jiggin rod and use it with a slow profile reel or my saltist 20h to enjoy more when fishing for 3# - 4# rock fish, what have stoped me abit is that in my local waters there are tons of Sea Lions that go after your fish on every hookup, so the faster your have the fish on the boat the better.

Maybe we have different Trevalas, I have the Trevala 'S' which looks like a slow pitch rod, not the one with full handles. It's rated for 168gr jigs *average*, while the Grappler is rated differently with *max* jig weight of 330gr. (Some mfgs use average wt jig ratings, some use max wt jig ratings, makes it hard to figure out what to order sometimes.)

Using the grams=feet depth calculation, I fish the Trevala up to 150ft, and the Shimano for anything beyond that. The sweet spot or best average wt jigs for the Grappler is about 180-260gr from what I feel.

I've heard thru the grapevine that DFG CA may extend the depth for rockfish out to 300ft or more in 2021. I don't want a heavier SPJ rod but using my rod at max jig wt probably won't be much fun or very effective. I'll wait & see B4 I start buying 300 plus gram jigs though.

[Benni3]

Alex, that's what i want to do with the CC Squidders, which to me is low profile, lol. 3-4 lb fish in 120 feet or less.


i have that same pink jig you have

Are the pink ones good on miss hatteras,,,,,,,

[the rockfish ninja]

Tony, nice work on the pigs! I'm thinking to build a lite jigging rod, maybe not full slow action, but similar weight, to use with my Cortez Squidders where I'm using 30lb PP and 30-40 leader. I have Torium on a heavy ST Croix I built that I use, and also 9500SS on the heavy Trevala butterfly jig rod, but these are overkill on bass and snappas. I want something lighter in hand for 50-120 G jigs.

Bass rods are good for that, they just don't have a long butt section to tuck under your elbow to jig properly. If you're building one, you can design it any way you want just using a bass rod blank. More cost effective too, SPJ blanks are stupid pricey and not worth the price being asked, it's because slow jig is a new thing.

We all know when it comes to tech items, a year later everybody & his brother comes out with a cheap version. I think this will be the same.

[Swami805]

I heard down here in So Cal they're extending the depth to 600'? ouch my arm hurts just thinking about it but wouldn't mind getting an occasional cow cod
So Mr Ninja how do you like a lever drag for that type of fishing? Is it a hassle going in and out of gear with the lever? I'm liking a bait caster with a thumb bar for all the going in and out of gear to keep contact with the bottom. The shimano Calcuta 800 looks pretty good for that

[the rockfish ninja]

I heard down here in So Cal they're extending the depth to 600'? ouch my arm hurts just thinking about it but wouldn't mind getting an occasional cow cod
So Mr Ninja how do you like a lever drag for that type of fishing? Is it a hassle going in and out of gear with the lever? I'm liking a bait caster with a thumb bar for all the going in and out of gear to keep contact with the bottom. The shimano Calcuta 800 looks pretty good for that

Lever drag all the way. The 3 most popular reels for this is the Valiant, Shimano Ocea, & Daiwa Saltiga for their tight tolerances & lack of backplay on the handle. Makes a difference when jigging for hours.

I don't use reels with thumb press because I use my thumb a lot in casting and controlling descent. A false spool release from a slipped thumb can cost you a fish or even worse, rats nest.

It was an evolution for me, I started out with a Lexa but the casting magnets slowed down the descent and the small spool didn't give me enough torque. Went to my Avets but there's a bit of slop & play in the handle, ended up with a Valiant 300 for this. Lighter than the Saltiga & Ocea and cheaper due to sale price.

[steelfish]

Lever drag all the way. The 3 most popular reels for this is the Valiant, Shimano Ocea, & Daiwa Saltiga for their tight tolerances & lack of backplay on the handle.

my poors man reels of choice:

trinidad 16 instead of Shimano Ocea
Saltist 20h instead of Saltiga
nothing on the place of Valiant reel.

2 outta 3, not bad.

[the rockfish ninja]

Lever drag all the way. The 3 most popular reels for this is the Valiant, Shimano Ocea, & Daiwa Saltiga for their tight tolerances & lack of backplay on the handle.

my poors man reels of choice:

trinidad 16 instead of Shimano Ocea
Saltist 20h instead of Saltiga
nothing on the place of Valiant reel.

2 outta 3, not bad.

Whatever gear you go with, one thing is for sure, you are in the prime area for this technique, which works best in smooth seas. The Sea of Cortez has some of the calmest waters in this part of the world when it comes to waves & swell from what I see.

This thing came out of Asia, and took hold in Florida in the US first, both mostly calm water areas. Up here near SF CA the swell, waves, & wind make it challenging at times.

Keep us up to date on your jigging adventures.

[Brewcrafter]

I heard down here in So Cal they're extending the depth to 600'? ouch my arm hurts just thinking about it but wouldn't mind getting an occasional cow cod
So Mr Ninja how do you like a lever drag for that type of fishing? Is it a hassle going in and out of gear with the lever? I'm liking a bait caster with a thumb bar for all the going in and out of gear to keep contact with the bottom. The shimano Calcuta 800 looks pretty good for that

600' ?  Yeah, right.  BUT if it happens I'm calling Hardy Boy Todd and The Boss for a Tanacom! - john

[steelfish]

Bass rods are good for that, they just don't have a long butt section to tuck under your elbow to jig properly. If you're building one, you can design it any way you want just using a bass rod blank. More cost effective too, SPJ blanks are stupid pricey and not worth the price being asked, it's because slow jig is a new thing.
We all know when it comes to tech items, a year later everybody & his brother comes out with a cheap version. I think this will be the same.

I just did that with a bass rod, my idea is to use it for something more as "light shallow jigging rod" than a proper Slow Pitch rod, it will be paired with slowprofile reels like the vintage Bantam magnumlite 2000 and/or abu garcia Ultramax XL, both reels have around 9# drag

this rod had a 6" rear grip, I cut the buttcap and inserted a piece of another broken rod to make it 14" reargrip and added a new buttcap, the rod lure weight is 1/4 to 3/4oz but it cast 1oz lures to the moon with no problem, the sweet spot is around 3/4oz.

i took the cheap guides out from it and installed some ALPS double foot and fuji LDBAG 5.5 microguides on the running guides

I dont know how good this rod could be as light jigging rod because it doesnt bend to the grip as normal jigging rods/SPJ rods but wanted to try my luck with a franken-rod before getting a more proper blank for SPJ

[the rockfish ninja]

Bass rods are good for that, they just don't have a long butt section to tuck under your elbow to jig properly. If you're building one, you can design it any way you want just using a bass rod blank. More cost effective too, SPJ blanks are stupid pricey and not worth the price being asked, it's because slow jig is a new thing.
We all know when it comes to tech items, a year later everybody & his brother comes out with a cheap version. I think this will be the same.

I just did that with a bass rod, my idea is to use it for something more as "light shallow jigging rod" than a proper Slow Pitch rod, it will be paired with slowprofile reels like the vintage Bantam magnumlite 2000 and/or abu garcia Ultramax XL, both reels have around 9# drag

this rod had a 6" rear grip, I cut the buttcap and inserted a piece of another broken rod to make it 14" reargrip and added a new buttcap, the rod lure weight is 1/4 to 3/4oz but it cast 1oz lures to the moon with no problem, the sweet spot is around 3/4oz.

i took the cheap guides out from it and installed some ALPS double foot and fuji LDBAG 5.5 microguides on the running guides

I dont know how good this rod could be as light jigging rod because it doesnt bend to the grip as normal jigging rods/SPJ rods but wanted to try my luck with a franken-rod before getting a more proper blank for SPJ

I always love a good home spun project, looks like it can be a nice light jigging rod, do a report when you get your first fish on it.

It might not be a legit SPJ rod like you say but a good test run from what I see. Three things I'll mention for you to consider when you find a true SPJ blank for your next project.

- SPJ rods are spec'd with lure weight ratings, (always in grams), make sure to choose the rating that will match most of the depths you'll be fishing. (*the average calculation is gram=foot in depth) Also this rating is completely different than the rating on that bass rod which is spec'd for casting thru air and not jigging thru water.

- Most SPJ rods are extremely minimal in handles & grips to keep it light so you can jig all day without a sore shoulder.

- Virtually no quality SPJ rod has spiral wrapped guides, that's an innovation brought on from the cheap Tsunami slow rods and USA mfgs, and has little benefit for SPJ as you don't lift fish with the rod as much as you crank them up with a quality *ROUND* reel.


Here's an article out of Japan about SPJ rods from the website considered the bible of SPJ.

https://www.anglers-secrets.com/rods-and-reels/


..... as for the "slowprofile" reel, you'll find out very quickly that they aren't the best for this technique. I can be done, but a round reel with better torque power and a large inch per crank rating is the premier setup for slow jigging.


Good luck on the next one and look up Rainshadow slow pitch blanks, they've recently been selling out of Charkbait at a decent price.