Advice needed: surface iron rod
 

Hi guys,

I need your advice, I am about to get an accurate tern 400 which I am going to use it for surface iron, however still no idea about the rod to use, I know 9' long would be ideal, however I am fishing only from a kayak and having that length on the rod it makes the things complicated at the time put the fish in the kayak, so I would like to get something small 7'6" or 8' worst case, wondering if you can advice about what rod would be ok for this, I am thinking on getting a custom one due to not sure I'm going to find what I am looking for.

Thanks in advance

Both my buddy and I use 9 ft rods in our kayak haven’t really had any problem at all. Sometimes it’s a little long for re-lining.


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Love your Gonzaga videos.


I think you need to decide what works for you, the reason why most yakkers want a rod longer than even the boaters for the surface iron is to reach breaking fish is easier. When you are on a boat, an 8'rod combined with the extra height of a standing person, plus the height of the boat off the water line gives a significant added distance to the cast, an additional 10' minimum. to make up that gap, combined with the fact that it takes longer for a yakker to chase down breaking fish, a longer rod is typically desired to make up the gap.


You can do various things to get longer casts without lengthening the rod, or use techniques to minimize the distance you need to cast.


If it was me, I would use speed jigging, so you don't have all of the wind resistance of the jig and monofilament, by using thinner, denser, lead jigs, and much thinner braided main line, you are able to effectively make up the gap between a 9' rod and a 7.5' rod. Typically though, speed jiggers use spinning tackle for the high rate of retrieve.


In the end, it's up to the fisherman to devise what works best for them.

Hi Carlos,

When it comes to jig fishing, most anglers prefer a slow taper rod over a fast taper. During my SoCal headboat days, I used a Sabre 540(10ft) and a 220(8.5ft) both with a few inches cut off the tips to give them a slower taper. Those are vintage today.

Using a longer blank on a kayak is fine for smaller fish, but no fun when trying to gaff a trophy that is actively avoiding your attempts. For that reason, I have stuck to 7ft blanks for the fishery in SE Florida. Personally, I would opt for at least a 500 sized tern for the faster line retrieval. I like Rainshadow knife jigging blanks. They are made for speed jigging but have served me well for surface and slow pitch jigging also.

https://www.rainshadowrodblanks.com/...-knifejigging/

These blanks are affordable, yet of decent quality. The line ratings tend to be a little under what the rods can actually work well with. I wrap most my own blanks with the exception of a few that a sponsor has wrapped on my behalf. Due to the economics of potentially losing gear, I have gone with this brand since I started kayak fishing.

Seeker has a brand of rods made with endorsement by kayak fisherman Kevin Nakada just for use on kayaks. The description does not mention the taper of the blanks, so I cannot recommend a specific blank.

https://seekerrods.com/finished-rods/beacon

Everyone has different personal preferences, Good luck with your decision.

Highly informational post.. Kevin is on this forum if I'm not mistaken. Maybe the sewer squad can get him to chime in? Would love to know the taper on those Seekers..:reel:

Those Beacons are great looking rods! Would love to try one. It was explained to me by staff at Seeker that the "power" in those rods is much closer to the seat so that when under heavier loads, the rod flexes closer to the angler's center of gravity so they are not thrown off balance with sudden pulls, etc., making it safer to use on smaller vessels like kayaks. The only reason I did not get the Beacon is that almost all my gear does double duty both on the kayak and the boat and I wanted that extra length for castability from the boat and I just deal with the extra length in the kayak. Still considering adding a Beacon to the quiver in the future though for throwing lighter plastics/swimbaits. Would love to hear more info/reviews on them!

How big are the fish you are targetting? I find that with a long rod (over 8') the jig will sometimes hang in the water at the beginning/back stroke of the cast. I like the 7'9" to 8'2" swimbait rods quite a bit for throwing a jig from the kayak. Most of them are rated to throw big baits, alot of guys use them for yellowtail (think Phenix m1 inshore), dont think I would chance casting them into a boil of bluefin for fear of a bigger fish taking your jig, but for yt, and similar sized fish they are fine. I have a few and I think all of them are rated throw 1-5oz at the least and I think the heaviest is 4-10oz. A typical surface iron weighs about 3oz so they cast them well, they usually have a little faster taper than a traditional jig stick, but they get the job done. I also have a west coast style jig stick, its a seeker 6480h and I have a harder time casting it on the kayak than I do with the swimbait rods fwiw.

Main idea is for yellowtail, bigger one so far was 30lbs, I am planning a trip to Punta Eugenia, hopefully I can get bigger ones there. I have the idea of getting a compact but strong set up.