TexasKayakFisherman.com est. 2000

[Jigawatt]

Curious if anyone has fished with this rod and can offer an opinion. I'm thinking of pairing a 7'6", Med Hvy with a 4000 sized reel.

[Ron Mc]

That's a great length rod, easy to reach around your boat, and easy to get long casts sitting down.
The line and lure weight is correct for a wide range of fishing, the reel capacity fits right in the middle of the rod rating.

I have a MH Loomis GL2 that's a foot longer, and I've fished since the 90s. It's been a real workhorse, will horse a slot red around, and has caught kings and big jacks, including lifting them at the end. It's matched with the same age Penn 4400SS. I've loaned the combo to friends on two Estes trips, and they both flipped over it.

I've added ML in both bait and spinning rods, and really enjoy fishing them inshore - 12-lb fluro is the top end of the line rating on these rods, but they're lighter in hand, zing 1/4-oz (TSL grasswalker), will also fish 1/8 oz (even if they're not rated that low), won't exactly horse slot reds, but will definitely land them - and the ML do have enough butt to stop a red from going under your boat when you don't want it to. I also like my rods in different lengths, 7' has a little more control for close casting, but IMO if you only get one rod, 7-1/2' is a better choice all around. Longer rods also give you leverage advantage on fish.

All that said, MH will still cast 1/4 oz just as far as you'd ever want to, and has the backbone to take a 2-oz spider weight to the surf.

St. Croix has always made great rods since the glass days. Many high-dollar rods used their blanks, including Russ Peak and Vince Cummings. Here's an old fly rod listed on this website: https://grauersfineflytackle.com/about/

Russ Peak
7 1/2′ (blank), P447, 2 pc, marked for 6/7 line, smooth casting 4/5 wgt rod, owners name and Pasadena California on butt section in black script which is difficult to see, all cork cigar grip and reel seat with alum C&R, original bag, non original tube, dark brown blank, dark brown wraps, spigot ferrule, a very smooth casting classic rod, very difficult rod to find even in a blank—$500

I have the same St. Croix blank in a Vince Cummings Water Witch, and it's an amazing fly rod, will fish a 3-wt line as a perfect dry fly rod, progressive mid-weight, and becomes a wet fly rod with the 6- or 7-wt line it's rated for.

[Chubs]

I have been eyeing those rods myself.

I like that they are long but also have a shorter butt length. The butt length is a major issue for me on standard rods. When you fish from a kayak you hands are a lot closer to your body, sitting especially. Standing maybe not so much, but you still don't want to reach out too far because it affects your center of gravity in a negative way and you become more tippy.

I didn't like the price point though, and I favor a shorter rod for jigging because it's tiring to keep whipping the longer rods. I ended up getting a Bass Pro 6' rod with a very short butt, medium power, fast action. Works great for jigging. I also have a 6'6" Waterloo Phantom which is med-light, mod fast. I wish it was a little faster but it's also great for jigging / jerk baits. All of them have a short butt, around 6~9" in length

I've also got a 13 fishing Omen Crank bait rod - it's a good rod but the butt is over a foot long - it's a definite hindrance in the kayak, but for just chunking and winding the crank / wake baits it's fine and gets the job done.

[Ron Mc]

The 13 Fishing Omen 7'1" is my ML bait rod, and it's a hoot to cast, but then only $30 cheaper than the St. Croix. They also offer 7'7" in 3 weights.
https://www.tackledirect.com/13-fishing ... -rods.html
13Fishing imports Japanese blanks and builds them up in FL - not a bad thing, the Japanese are nuts about fishing.