I decided to stay with a 9 foot rod for jigging at the Ditch. I like a relatively long casting tail and I even have trouble at some places with the 9 feet. For some places , I do like to use my lighter Loomis 1266 but most areas I like the 9 footer. I looked at a lot of rods. I had been fishing the Sabre 1089 and I liked it cause it would throw 2 OZ well. I broke it the day I broke my finger. I was hot for the Breakaway 1209 but decided on 9 feet. After much considering , I settled on the Loomis 108-30. Its pretty heavy. It won't throw 2 well but really zings 3. I bet you could cast 12 OZ with it!. I put a BG7000CL on it. Got the rod and reel from Mike T att www.capecodtackle.com. A very good price for a custom made Loomis too. The thing I feel really good about is its ability to handle a big fish in a fast current. So for Mr Big the Loomis 108-30 and the BG7000CL spooled with 50 LB Cortland Spectron is perfect. I do have trouble catching fish below about 16 inches though. Very tough to feel them and if they run right at you , you lose some. In summary , if you want a shorter rod for throwing 3 to 5 and you want to be able to handle a whale in the current at the Ditch , the Loomis 108-30 is one rod you should look at. My second choice was another Sabre 1089 and I will be building myself another one this winter. It throws 2 OZ well and some days when the Ditch is just meandering along , I like to use 2 OZ jigs.
Another thing to mention is that I've given up using the 50 LB spectron on the ABU 6500size reels. I use the 35 lb spectron only now on that size reel. I fished the 50 LB spectron on my BG6500CL for a whole season and eventually the reel died. I'm pretty sure I bent the spool breaking off from the bottom with the 50 LB Spectron and the 50 LB ande leader. As I stated above , I still fish the 50 LB Cortland Spectron but I now put it on the BG7000CL instead of the 6500 size. One interesting thing though is how well the 35 LB works for jigging in the ditch. Its smaller diameter creates a lot less drag than the 50 LB spectron. I could be happy with the 35 LB spectron except that to insure it breaks off in the leader instead of the expensive spectron , I have to use a 30 LB ande leader with the 35 LB spectron. That's not acceptable to me and it also not acceptable to use a heavy leader and lose lots of the spectron when I have to break off from the bottom. Therefore i use the 50 LB Spectron and a 50 LB ande leader. For some reason , that combo always breaks off in the leader material. I feel a lot more comfortable with the 50 LB leader than with the 30 LB leader.
The whole system has to be matched and chosen for the job at hand. The right rod but the wrong reel won't work. The right rod and reel but the wrong line won't work well. The right rod , leader and line won't work if the reel is too small and gets damaged by the heavy line and leader. Everything has to be matched to the fishing conditions and the lures you intend to throw. This fishing game can get complicated!
