Is biger better? 6Ft. vs 6.5 Ft. for trolling for blues and stripers with Penn 113 and Jig Master reels with wire. Thanks. FishDoc

Fish Doc, I am by no means an expert when it comes blues and stripers. I have used 6 foot rods quite a bit but it was usually for stand-up yellowfin tuna fishing. the short rod gives you a better angle to fight the tuna. i am not sure if you would want that short of a rod to fight these fish that you mentioned . i have mostly 7 footers on my boat. Are you planning on running these with downriggers?

Mr.Kav (07-16-2001 12:37):
Fish Doc, I am by no means an expert when it comes blues and stripers. I have used 6 foot rods quite a bit but it was usually for stand-up yellowfin tuna fishing. the short rod gives you a better angle to fight the tuna. i am not sure if you would want that short of a rod to fight these fish that you mentioned . i have mostly 7 footers on my boat. Are you planning on running these with downriggers?
I plan on using at least one downrigger. I just bought four custom six foot rods from Red Top on the Canal. My thinking was that my two sons 10 and 12 would have an easier time with the shorter rods especially for jigging. What is the advantage of the longer rod. I am thinking about exchanging them before I use them.

Fishdoc, If you are planning on jigging these rods the advantage of the longer rod would be that you can cover more area with a longer rod every time that you raise and lower the rod tip. I might run one of the 6 footers off the downrigger (Mediun heavy action) but I think if you didn't want to get into a longer jigging stick because of your childrens' age I would go with the 6.6 rods. You can do anything with them, I have one that sometimes I throw chunks into the rocks with and I have yet to have a problem. Hope this helps.