New GT rod

[stella fella]

Hey guys, I'm going to be heading up to the whitsundays later this year and I need a new GT rod. I've had a look at smith, ripple fisher, carpenter and zenaq rods but I am also considering getting a custom rod built. I'm looking for some advive from anyone has any of these rods or knows of a really good quality blank around 8ft. Looking at a rating of PE 8-10, and will be using
100lb varivas on a stella sw18000

Cheers Nick

[Mr nofish]

I have not done any GT popping personally (yet!) but i have friends who travel to New Cal every year and there brand of choice is Rippler Fisher. I myself own rippler fishers but in there jigging gear, and they are nothing short of spectacular, and if the boys on Nomad charters are using them everyday I think the choice is fairly simple

[STELLA BOY]

Have a look at the Temple Reef Black Devil 300 very nice rod! I just got myself one with 18k Stella on it and feels very nice. Plus is half the price as the ripplefisher and carpenter rods.

[stella fella]

The black devil looks pretty sweet. probably a bit short for my liking though. both you guys have awesome names btw

[Richo]

Galdiator and Shimano both do cheaper GT sticks that do the job comfortably. I like the Ripple Fisher though but way to costly for me.

[Mr nofish]

If the Ripple are fairing to high for the masses have a look at Yamaga. There responsible for making rippler fisher rods.

[Richo]

I nearly purchased a Yamaga for Spanglies last month, very nice sticks.

[Mr nofish]

Originally Posted by Richo

I nearly purchased a Yamaga for Spanglies last month, very nice sticks.

Was it one of the Blue snipers? A mate of mine owns a PE4 version and i was very impressed with its casting ability and loading up on a decent king is a pleasure as well as having a hell of alot of power.

[spoonta66]

For a nice stick that will do both poppers and stickbaits for up there you won't go past either a Carpenter DJ83MH or a CV79/40 for just about the best all round GT rod you can buy.

Damn near impossible to find either but I do know of one CV79/40 in Australia but you will have to be quick. There is no better multi purpose GT rod anywhere in the world, no one will argue that!

[stella fella]

Originally Posted by Mr nofish

If the Ripple are fairing to high for the masses have a look at Yamaga. There responsible for making rippler fisher rods.

I've had a look at yamaga as well on the nomad site and they seem pretty impressive. Didn't know they made ripple fisher though.

[kaleido]

Originally Posted by stella fella

I've had a look at yamaga as well on the nomad site and they seem pretty impressive. Didn't know they made ripple fisher though.

Yamaga is the parent company of Ripplefisher.
For the best all round GT rod either a CV79/40 Carpenter of which they are in stock in a few dedicated shops in Aus. Or a ripplefisher GT79/Reversal.

If you cant afford the premium rods, the Live Fibre Venom and Saltiga S-Extreme are good buys.

I personally use Zenaq FC80/10 and an FCL Labo 81 Extreme for my popping. Zenaq for poppers and FCL for stickbaits. Both matched with Saltigas and 100 or 130lb Sunline Monster Battle PE

[stella fella]

Originally Posted by spoonta66

For a nice stick that will do both poppers and stickbaits for up there you won't go past either a Carpenter DJ83MH or a CV79/40 for just about the best all round GT rod you can buy.

Damn near impossible to find either but I do know of one CV79/40 in Australia but you will have to be quick. There is no better multi purpose GT rod anywhere in the world, no one will argue that!

I was just looking at the coral viper. How do they stack up against the monster hunter 80H in terms of how parabolic they are, and how well siuted they are to fishing both poppers and stick baits? will they both comfortably run 15kg+ drag?

www.gtpopping.com

These are the boys to be asking.

I have a kaiser el toro 150. Great rod and only about $600 to your door.

[stella fella]

Originally Posted by brimia

www.gtpopping.com

These are the boys to be asking.

I have a kaiser el toro 150. Great rod and only about $600 to your door.

I thought about registering on the forum but I spend too much time on here already! I'd never get any sleep! The el toro looks pretty sexy. Whats the drag rating and how well do they cast?

casts further that you will want to retrieve. there is 2 models. 150 and 250. depending on how hardcore you want to go! the 150 is a PE 8-10 rod i think, so 100lb line is fine. Works a 100g – 150g ish popper really well and is very light. Depends on what you want to do with it. Poppers are the best bet for a beginner as stick bates can be harder to work and poppers are ‘generally’ more effective as they create more fuss. Make sure you get yourself some good popping/ jigging gloves as your hands will be red raw by the end of day 1.