Testing the Gekkabijin 80ML-T with metal jigs

I bought this rod for ajing situations that needed a heavier metal jig: 14 g or more. I later gave it to a friend.

One place was Nogama Island, where the outgoing tide called for long casts. The other was our fast-current spot, where I wanted to fish the incoming tide.

When either place came alive, good-sized aji could arrive almost one per cast.

A first test with 14 g

At the time, this was the only tubular-tip rod in the Gekkabijin line-up.

I fitted a 14 g metal jig and tried it. It felt as though a little more weight would be manageable too.

Sensitivity was ordinary. In various ways, the rod was ordinary.

I had bought it for its length and a price that let me fish without worrying too much about it. My impression was: reasonably good.

Looking for more reach

Perhaps the next rod would be a Yoihime Soh S78M-solid.

Then I reconsidered. It might be too short. At this long-casting spot, something of 8.6 ft or longer seemed ideal.

Sometimes 14 g was too light. An 18 g jig with its hooks removed might be a good main choice. In yesterday’s tests, when the current became faster, 28 g sometimes worked best.

There were still many conditions to think through.

The difficult part was that rods capable of casting more weight tended to sacrifice sensitivity. The question was how much compromise I could accept.

Giving the fish a moment

This is how I fished that spot on the outgoing tide.

I cast a long way, gently took up the slack, then let the rig drift. After a few seconds, the bites would begin.

Leaving everything as it was did not often result in a hooked fish. Instead, I eased the rod for about half a second, as though feeding the soft lure into the aji’s mouth.

Once I pictured the lure inside its mouth, I drew the rod back. In my experience there, the fish was hooked more than 70% of the time.

Occasionally, even repeating this several times did not work. Then I did the opposite: I wound a little as though the lure were escaping, encouraging the fish to chase it.

At the next bite, I eased off again and let the lure enter its mouth.

Using these approaches, I could get a hook-up in most cases.

My wife seemed to use a different method. Unusually, this was one spot where I appeared to have a slight advantage.

These are the author’s observations from the article published on 18 November 2021 and updated on 30 December. The 70% figure is his own estimate. The source’s “8.6 ft” notation is retained; the jig weights describe his experiments, not a manufacturer’s casting rating.

The search continued in Looking for sensitive eging rods for long-range ajing.