# Setup for Jewfish on soft plastics.



## JET01 (Dec 30, 2010)

Thinking of getting a new setup for the yak. 
My standard bream/flatty gear is 2 shimano t-curve flights 6'6 and 7' with 1000 & 2500 Stradic CI4s. I want to start targeting Jews and kings on soft plastics in botany bay and port hacking so wanted to go a bit heavier. 
I'm thinking of maybe a 3-6kg between 6'6 and 7ft as anything too short is hard to guide the line around the bow of my revolution and anything too long gets hard to re-rig if I get busted off or snagged. For the reel a 4000 CI4 with 6kg fireline exceed that i have a spare of.
With a $500 budget what would you choose? Ive only ever had shimano spinning reels because I can get them serviced close to home. But would be open to suggestions on other brands.


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## feelfree09 (May 5, 2009)

3-6 or 4-7kg t-curve with a 4000 stradic. im personally gonna use a 3012 hi-gear certate and a 5-9kg daiwa spellbinder rod. $700 not inc braid. ray and annes in adelaide are doing some wicked combos at the moment. loomis bsr803 and ci4 4000 for $599


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## JET01 (Dec 30, 2010)

I noticed that 4-7kg t curve. Great length for what I'm looking for. Only thing that has put me off is the drop in price tag from the old t-curves. What's the reason or the price drop? Do they use cheaper or poorer quality components? My t-curve flights were just under $200 dollars as they were the run models. But originally around 400 (apparently) If the quality of the t-curve is going to be similar to a pflueger trion or raider 2 then I won't bother paying more for the brand name.
Would like to hear more opinions of the new t-curves.


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## Wrassemagnet (Oct 17, 2007)

I think you're choice of 6kg braid is a good middle of the road strategy for these 2 species. However it would pretty much restrict you to a longer rod ie 6'10 or 7' to make up for the decreased castability of that weight braid. The longer rod will absorb the jewie headshakes better too. A 3 to 6kg rod is also the better choice than the heavier in my opinion as it's hard to justify any more guts than that when even 10kg rods and 10kg drags slow these big babies down only marginally better. You do want a bit of backbone to try and steer them away from structure but if you're fishing heavy structure up close like bridge pylons you probably should be going with around 20 to 25lb outfits anyway. Bottom line with the plastics outfit for me is I'm casting most of the time so I go for castability and chase the jewies as they tire themselves out (one advantage of mirage drives ;-) ). I do stay away from bridges and moorings though on my jewie missions and get by with 8lb braid/15lb leader for cast plastics and 6lb braid/8lb leader for trolled/jigged metal blades. I guess if you were casting towards pylons from open water and retrieving towards your yak you will probably be fine with a 6kg outfit but if you're trolling past the pylons or dropshotting them I've read other guys recommend heavier gear eg 20lb braid/25lb leader. I've also read other's using 12lb and 15lb outfits with good success for livebaiting jewies so I think your 3-6kg outfit would be fine for this too, bearing in mind the trolling of the livies has been through holes with sandy bottom away from heavy structure.

The kings are a different story altogether - although I would still think your 6kg outfit with a 7' rod and 15lb leader would make for a very sporting light kingie outfit, you would have to be gentle with them though.

I agree the BSR803GLX Loomis would be an awesome allrounder for your Jewies and as a light kingie rod. It's very light, very sensitive and casts 5 to 7 inch plastics, weighted or unweighted, as well as metals up to around 15g unbelievably well. It's not too bad with small roosta poppers as long as you cast with the wind. I haven't tried it with surface pencils. It's pretty good for trolling as the extra fast action gives the hardbodies a nice tight wiggle. I haven't tried it downrigging (yet). It is 6'10 but I'm only 5'7 so the compromise in casting distance is made up for by ease of handling. I've had it for 4 years and it's proven to be quite robust with those unbreakable titanium guides.

Regarding the T-curves, I bought one of the overhead Lucanus models and I was a bit upset when the first guide bent as I was trying to adjust the alignment with the reel seat while putting the thing together (it comes as a 2 piece). I don't have gorilla hands, in fact, my hands are pretty soft, but to be fair I think I muscled it in a bit too far before trying to align it. Otherwise it's very light for it's size with a nice feel to it although I do prefer cork grips for sensitivity (even though they are probably less hard-wearing).

Others on this forum swear by the Nitro range of rods and I've seen and handled them, they are a pretty impressive bit of kit and honestly you could do a lot worse than having a squizz at one before committing to anything.

I've got nothing against Shimano, in fact my yak jigging rod is a shimano PE3 JigWrex and it's absolutely awesome, built like a tank.

I'm sure you've read what other's much more knowledgeable than me have posted about jewies and yellow fiends but if not have a look through the 'fish of the month' threads for some really great advice.

Hope this helps


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## JET01 (Dec 30, 2010)

Just wanted to say thanks a lot for taking the time to post such a long reply! I really appreciate your input as there's a good chance it'll save me some money. 
Most of these questions regarding rod, reel and line size get asked pretty often so i can understand when the long-term members get frustrated by seemingly repetitive questions. 
It's great to know that the 3-6kg is going to be a good option. I read on Fishraider that a guy in Brisbane Waters caught a 155cm (37.7Kg) Jewfish on a 3-6kg rod and 20lb leader... he didn't say what main line he had on though.

The 1-4kg rods i have just don't seem to handle the 3/8th jig heads with 5inch jerk shads that i've needed to use in deeper water around the bridges. Not surprising really.

I've got some 5" crazy legs jerk shads that i'm going to give a crack when i first get home.

Now looking at a few rods online:

3-6kg Pflueger Trion 702 
3-6kg Shimano Jewel 702 
4-7Kg Shimano T-curve Revolution Inshore 691 
8-15lb Samaki Zing 702

I can't wait to get home and check all these rods out in the flesh. Not sure which way i'll go. 
I've read heaps of reviews of the Trions and after having a 2-4kg one myself i know they are great rods for the price. I've never had a Samaki though or EVA grips so might give something new a try. 
Does anyone know which one of these rods would be the lightest? 
Performance wise there's a good chance they're all similar, so as i'm going to be using a CI4 reel with it, i'll try to stay as light as possible weight wise.


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## cranky (Aug 17, 2008)

i have that jewel and it feels to light for what your after and the tip is soft, i much prefer using my 7 foot starlo stix tournament pro midspin at $130 bucks it is a good cheaper option.


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## wadefishes (May 8, 2011)

I dont know much bout jewfishing but have caught one before and do you think you would need a 4000 size ci4 the 3000 would suit me but as i said i dont no much about it.


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## Wrassemagnet (Oct 17, 2007)

wadefishes said:


> I dont know much bout jewfishing but have caught one before and do you think you would need a 4000 size ci4 the 3000 would suit me but as i said i dont no much about it.


Good point, a 3000 reel should be plenty when running braid, lighter and easier to cast with plenty of capacity and drag capability for yak jewies.


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## RackRaider (Nov 10, 2010)

cranky said:


> i have that jewel and it feels to light for what your after and the tip is soft, i much prefer using my 7 foot starlo stix tournament pro midspin at $130 bucks it is a good cheaper option.


 I love mine, its a great rod, Jet i reckon these would be fine the jewel should be rated a bit heavier, it'll handle any estuary fish you can find. Its got a bit of grunt, perfect for turning a jewies head when fishing on rockwalls


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## JET01 (Dec 30, 2010)

Does anyone have any suggestions as to which Trion would be the best for flickin heavier plastics. Both 7' 3-6kg but one is labelled 701MFXT and the othe is 702M
Obviously one is 1piece and the other one is 2 piece. But what I the rest of it all about.?


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## JET01 (Dec 30, 2010)

Does anyone have any suggestions as to which Trion would be the best for flickin heavier plastics. Both 7' 3-6kg but one is labelled 701MFXT and the othe is 702M
Obviously one is 1piece and the other one is 2 piece. But what I the rest of it all about.?


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## JET01 (Dec 30, 2010)

Thanks for the input everyone. Ended up going with a 4-6kg sonic spin pro. One of the BCF exclusive rods. Its exactly what I was after. It's got a nice short butt for the yak ( the 3-6kg trion had a really long butt which I didn't like) its 6'9" which is short enough for handling in the yak and long enough to get around the bow of the revolution. It's got plenty of guts down low and at only $70 if I happen to drop it over the side it won't be the end of the world. I flicked some 7" jerk shads and some jogging grubs around the captain cook bridge pylons just after I bought it. 
Great plastics setup. Flicked 3/8 jig heads no worries.

Thanks again for the info.


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## Wrassemagnet (Oct 17, 2007)

Well it sounds like your research has paid off so far. Next I wanna see a 1m+ grunting beast of a jewie on your lap!


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## JET01 (Dec 30, 2010)

One can only hope.


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