Need Ocean Fluke rod recommendation

[Occh639]

I would like to pick up a new casting/conventional factory rod for jigging a bucktail in the Ocean, Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Capt Richie]

I know custom rods CTS is at the top very top of the food chain...United Composites are very very good ..Pheinx are very good they make some nice blanks for fluke ,,But I'm on a No China thing ...so Im only building what I have in stock No new China blanks for a while ...

as far as factory Black hole is made in Korea .St Croix USA United Composites USA Shitmano & the rest CHINA

 

[Leprechaun]

How many times do I have to correct this inaccurate information? SHIMANO rods and nearly all their reels are NOT made in China. Shimano has plants in Malaysia, Singapore and in some distinct cases, I believe Vietnam. The best Shimano stuff (called their "TOP Shelf" products) is still made in Japan. These include the Tiagra big game lever drags, Stella, Vanquish and Twin Power spinners, the higher-end bait casters and their truly excellent Conquest line of rods. All really good stuff indeed!

You didn't say where you want to fish, whether private boat or charter/head boat, weight of bucktails you will use, and the overall rod length you prefer. Also, an idea of fore and rear grip length that you find most comfortable would help narrow the choices in a factory stick. Working with a custom builder will get you any combination of the above, of course.

I personally have a TON of really beautiful custom sticks, built on every nearly type of blank imaginable, but for my needs and tastes, its real tough to beat the Shimano Grappler series and Kilsong's Black Hole Charter Specials. I find them both to be perfect for my fluke fishing methods - and believe me, I'm a freakin' discriminating guy.

There are several sub-categories within Shimano's Grappler line of at least 35 rods - I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my 6' Type J spinner in the ML power for casting/jigging any bucktail 4oz or less. What a beautiful taper, and enough power to bring a 6' brown shark alongside last August. I don't believe there's much better out there, at any price. Now up to three friends that have purchased this exact rod on my recommendation - all are super happy with them.

 

[Capt Richie]

how many time I have to correct bad info ..you can go on a site www.bassresources.com ..

 

[Leprechaun]

I can google too. The rods those guys are referring to are low-end FW pieces, typically in the sub-$60 range. Not applicable to the rods recommended on THIS board. One of the very few SW-specific boards worth reading, IMO.

For what its worth, the Charter Special rods (and blanks) are made in China too - with Black Hole keeping an eye on production and components, of course. Have yet to hear of any problems with anything Black Hole.

Look, I don't care for the CCP any more than anyone else. But the Chinese CAN produce to any level of quality one is willing to pay for. The number one market for super-high end 6-axis CNC mills and other such cutting equipment from Germany, Switzerland and Japan is, sorry to say, China. These tools can machine to tolerances well below one TEN-THOUSANTH of an inch, and some cost in the million-dollar range. So precision and quality production is certainly possible from China. Like anything else in life, it ain't free - you gotta pay if you want good stuff. No matter where it comes from. Unfortunately, most manufacturers go to China to save money, not spend it.

My company reps Nikon Microscopes and precise measuring equipment, as well as microscopy-dedicated digital cameras to every major bio-medical research institute, materials science research facility, such as Brookhaven National Laboratory and IBM Watson, every Pharma concern large and small in lower NY, all the big hospitals and every educational institution you've ever heard of. And many, if not most of our products, other than the truly high-end pieces, are now manufactured (under Nikon's VERY hands-on supervision) - in China. No drop-off in quality detectable.

The CCP's politics, human rights violations, technology stealing and predatory marketing practices turn my stomach, and make me try to steer clear from purchases of Chinese-made goods - but its just impossible these days. Phones, computers and the such are good examples. Anyone here want to pay $2000+ for a $1000 phone, just to say its made in USA? Yeah, I don't think so.

 

[Capt Richie]

you can go on made in china shitmano rods are listed ...so do they make rods in china ? ..

 

[Leprechaun]

Can you please re-read my first paragraph? Maybe you missed the point. Don't care if they make the cheap stuff there - totally irrelevant to what is discussed on THIS board.

Anthony - go look at those Shimano Grapplers and please come back here with your thoughts. You can see most of them at Trophy Tackle in West Babylon. Tell John I sent you.

 

[Capt Richie]

as always you right !

 

[Leprechaun]

No YOU were right, as I wrote.

Now have a cookie.

 

[Occh639]

How many times do I have to correct this inaccurate information? SHIMANO rods and nearly all their reels are NOT made in China. Shimano has plants in Malaysia, Singapore and in some distinct cases, I believe Vietnam. The best Shimano stuff (called their "TOP Shelf" products) is still made in Japan. These include the Tiagra big game lever drags, Stella, Vanquish and Twin Power spinners, the higher-end bait casters and their truly excellent Conquest line of rods. All really good stuff indeed!

You didn't say where you want to fish, whether private boat or charter/head boat, weight of bucktails you will use, and the overall rod length you prefer. Also, an idea of fore and rear grip length that you find most comfortable would help narrow the choices in a factory stick. Working with a custom builder will get you any combination of the above, of course.

I personally have a TON of really beautiful custom sticks, built on every nearly type of blank imaginable, but for my needs and tastes, its real tough to beat the Shimano Grappler series and Kilsong's Black Hole Charter Specials. I find them both to be perfect for my fluke fishing methods - and believe me, I'm a freakin' discriminating guy.

There are several sub-categories within Shimano's Grappler line of at least 35 rods - I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my 6' Type J spinner in the ML power for casting/jigging any bucktail 4oz or less. What a beautiful taper, and enough power to bring a 6' brown shark alongside last August. I don't believe there's much better out there, at any price. Now up to three friends that have purchased this exact rod on my recommendation - all are super happy with them.

I will be fishing from a friends private boat primarily in Montauk. I never fluke fish in Montauk so not sure what size Bucktails I will be using . I have a trevals S Medium which gets me to about 3oz but anything above that is what I am looking for. Will A Slow pitch BH charter special 6’8 fit my needs you think
thanks .

 

[Capt Richie]

No YOU were right, as I wrote.

Now have a cookie.

No cookie for me ..Poach eggs are my speed ..

 

[Leprechaun]

Huh, I love poached eggs too.

See, we DO have something in common!

Besides loving to jig fluke, I mean.

 

[Leprechaun]

Anthony - yes, definitely. Good to 6oz bucktails and 8oz sinkers. My good friend Capt. Mike Bady bought a Charter Special 6'8" specifically for fishing conditions at Montauk - after taking a hard look at mine. He really does like it.

 

[Occh639]

Anthony - yes, definitely. Good to 6oz bucktails and 8oz sinkers. My good friend Capt. Mike Bady bought a Charter Special 6'8" specifically for fishing conditions at Montauk - after taking a hard look at mine. He really does like it.

Ok, thanks . what do you think about pairing It with that Catalina I have
Also, from your recommendation, I booked Capt Mike for an Oct. trip for shallow water togging w/jigs

 

[Capt Richie]

Anthony - yes, definitely. Good to 6oz bucktails and 8oz sinkers. My good friend Capt. Mike Bady bought a Charter Special 6'8" specifically for fishing conditions at Montauk - after taking a hard look at mine. He really does like it.

I think the BH challenger is a much better rod than the charter special built & fished both...The CS is kinda dead & the Challenger is alive ,sensitive tip ...both are on the brittle side so be careful with swinging fish & getting stuck ..No High sticking ...Im the king of high sticking and need a rod that can handle it..

 

[Leprechaun]

For fluke jigging, that Catalina has few equals and no betters, in a compact low-profile bait caster. Also - its by far the smoothest reel I've ever used for this type of fishing. It will match perfectly with the BH CS. In fact that's the exact setup Capt. Mike uses. Keep the line pound test to 20lbs - in Sufix 832, Daiwa J-Braid or Berkely X-9, for the combination of thin diameter, excellent abrasion resistance, good handling characteristics, and the ability to break your hung rigs free from deep snags (most of the time). See my thread on "Pink Braid" to learn of my own mis-adventures with very high-end, thin Japanese braid.

Capt. Mike's made East-end shallow-water light tackle tog jigging a priority. It really is special to fish that way. And he's damn good at finding the proper locales to do that type of fishing - out there in the land of mega-tidal currents.

 

[Leprechaun]

Late this morning I called Shimano/USA in California and asked the rep where they produce the Grappler series of rods. After a bit of a delay, he came back and told me that the original run was made in Malaysia (mine is one of that lot), but the current ones are indeed now made in China.

So in the interest of fairness and “doing the right thing,” it turns out Capt. Richie is correct - he was right.

Not that having these rods made in China really matters all that much to me, as long as the quality remains high and Shimano stands behind them. I love my own Grappler and will continue using it and recommending it as a top notch candidate in the “Factory-built fluke/tog jigging rod” category.

 

[captmike28]

Ok, thanks . what do you think about pairing It with that Catalina I have
Also, from your recommendation, I booked Capt Mike for an Oct. trip for shallow water togging w/jigs

Anthony,
As Lep indicated I did buy the BH Charter Special last season to fish Montauk and other times when 4-6 oz. jigs are required. And I paired it with the same Catalina reel you have. Although I own and fish with almost all custom rods, I must admit this is one sweet set up. Personally I think you will be very happy with that combination.
Mike

 

[Occh639]

So in the interest of fairness, I called Shimano/USA in California this morning and asked where they produce the Grappler series of rods. They told me that the original run was made in Malaysia (mine is one of that lot), but the current ones are indeed made in China. So as of now, Capt. Richie is correct. Not that having these rods made in China really matters to me, as long as the quality remains high and Shimano stands behind them.

Anthony,
As Lep indicated I did buy the BH Charter Special last season to fish Montauk and other times when 4-6 oz. jigs are required. And I paired it with the same Catalina reel you have. Although I own and fish with almost all custom rods, I must admit this is one sweet set up. Personally I think you will be very happy with that combination.
Mike

Thanks Mike, I am giving it serious consideration. I went to Fishermans world in Connecticut today to pull on one and I liked it but the one I‘m considering is a used acid wrapped Model. I prefer the regular conventional model.
btw…I could not believe all the new rods that have hit the market, I saw a factory rod that was close to $500. ?

 

[Leprechaun]

Both Mike and I own the spiral-wrapped model. It is really nice to use.