Conference wahoo::fishing-v2

re:                       <<< Note 172.0 by COBRA::HURLEY >>>

	I use a 7.5' Daiwa graphite extra heavy action rod with the 113H
	which works great for bait and jigging (though I'm still working 
	at perfecting jigging).  I bought it specifically for both and
	looked around for a while before I found it.

	A friend of mine just picked up the 113H and I think the Penn
	Power stick, 8' (black with gold thread, heavy guides).  Sounds
	like the same setup ?  He did real good with cod a couple of
	weeks ago (bait).  It's got some graphite in it, and seems
	sensitive enough for bait.

	Are you happy and successful bait fishing with the setup you have ?
	If so, I'd stick with it.  IMO that's all you need to know, though I'd
	like to have a setup specifically for each too.  On the other hand,
	another rod might get in the way on a crowded party boat...
	The 8' Penn might be a little large for bait, but if you catching
	fish consistently and it works good for jigging, that says a lot.

	With my setup, I can convert from bait to jigging and vice versa
	real fast if needed, and will probably stick with the 1 deep sea
	rod (for now ;-).

	Ken

    
    	Yup that does sound like the same stick, black and gold. I really
    dont know if I'm happy with it for bait or not. A few mates and
    fishermen had commented that there is a lot more flexibility in the
    power stick for jigging and movement but for bait you really want a
    very stout (sp?) rod with no give to hook set bigtime. I'm not sure
    what way so thats why I started this entry..

    	If the rod is real flexible, you can make up for this flexibility 
    (if you're fishing deep water) by going to the dacron line. It has less 
    stretch. If your fishing in less than 150' of water it probably won't make 
    much difference though.
    
    	I too have a 7 1/2' Daiwa rod (Meat Stick). I use it for both but 
    prefer the 8' rod I got my father (Montique or something like that). It 
    was inexpesive, it's light, and it turned out to be EXTREMELY sensitive.
    It's so sensitive, I can feel when someone crosses my line.
    
    	I may be wrong, but I think it's the jig fishing where the
    sensitivity is really going to matter. Although there can be little
    nibbles when bait fishing, it seems more often than not you can easily
    feel them. When jig fishing, you need to be able to feel a pickup when
    the jig is dropping. You also need to be able to feel and determine
    bottom features or you tend to lose lots of jigs (something I do a
    fairly good job at ;-)
    
    	RAYJ

       I've got the Penn Special Senator. Picked it up at KMART a few
    months ago at that price. Worked fine for me so far!
                             Denny

 I've got a Penn Special Senator 6/0 rod, and I don't think it's nearly
as nice as the power stick. I don't think you need more rods; I think
we need better fishing. That won't happen until substantive measures are taken
to return groundfish stocks to reasonable levels. The commercials are
fighting restrictions at every turn; this season is the only season that 
matters.

 Cod aren't the sort of fish that require alot of specialized tackle. An
eight foot fairly stout rod and a 4/0-6/0 reels spooled with 50 lb test is
all the equipment you really ever need.

 The Doctah

Any cod worth keeping will hit either bait or a jig hard enough that your
average broom stick (like the Sweet Stik series of rods) will be MORE than
sensitive enough.

While on that note, I'd like to mention that until last Saturday (5/2), I
had two Sweet Stiks.  My car was broken into in the middle of the night and
both my rods were stolen, along with miscellaneous other tackle.  If you happen
upon either rod (8' honey, 113h, double chevron or 7'3" black, 25GLS,
double chevron) kindly let me know!!

Tim

    You want a stiff light (weight not action) rod for cod either jig or
    bait. Stiff so that it is sensitive with a 8-26 jig or bank sinker.
    Any wimpy tip rod will ruin your feel for the fish. The dacron won't
    make up for the lack of sensitity in the rod.
    
    I know a few folks that like an 80lb class igfa blank for cod, it has
    the right stiffness but light it ain't (also very pricy).
    
    Bruce

    	Just a little clarification. The dacron line, as Bruce said, is
    not going to make any noticable difference in sensitivity. If you have a
    relatively flexible rod though AND your fishing deep water, it may help
    with the hook set (i.e. you won't get the line stretch that you would
    with mono.) 
    
    	Dacron tends to be more expensive than mono and heaven help you if
    you get knots/tangles in the line. What this really comes down to is, 
    whatever floats your boat.
    
    	RAYJ

    	After a trip this year I've come to the conclusion that my Penn 500
    Jigmaster is just to small for cod. Looks like I'll be going to the
    113H since this is the second time in a row that this reel has given me
    trouble (read - broken).
    
    	My father had a spare reel that I stuck on while I was out there.
    It was loaded with nylon line. Nylon has less stretch than mono and
    more than dacron. I couldn't believe how much sensitivity I lost
    fishing in a little over 200' of water with the nylon vs dacron.
    
    	During one of the many moves on my last trip, I pulled a bunch of the 
    nylon line off and wound on a bunch of dacron from my broken reel. The 
    difference in sensitivity was like night and day. This was with
    everything else the same (i.e. same rod/reel/~depth). 
    
    	I'm not sure how the new lines such as spider wire or iron thread
    work in comparison to dacron, but the last trip out gave me a direct
    comparison of nylon and dacron with all other factors being the same.
    Once you get used to using dacron in deep-water, you'll probably not want 
    to use anything else.
    
    	RAYJ