Best Finesse Jigging Rod

I purchased a G Loomis GLX (6’3″ MLXF) last year and it’s an unbelievable tool. The feel of the rod is surreal and while they are spendy, I know it’s helped me put more fish in the boat. I also have an IMX for pitching.

I like to vertical jig most of the year and like a very light and sensitive setup. Most of the time is on the river slipping downstream or working current seams when the water is very cold and the fish are lethargic. The GLX works great for that and I’ve also been able to horse some big fish in the boat with it.

What else is comparable? I have some cash burning a hole in the pocket so I’m not worried about getting a deal or good value – those are the Limit Creek rods I have (which I love). I don’t have a ton of experience with St Croix and never touched a Fenwick….any good options for custom? Love to get some opinions.

I have been building on the new MHX ELITE PRO ROD BLANKS and for the money they are very light and sensitive. Pair it with a SKS handle and titanium guides and watch out fish.

Croix legend elite are my best jigging rods. I can feel a fathead getting freaked out in 15 fow while drifting downstream.

St Croix Legend Elite or Legend Xtreme would fit those bills. If you like Loomis, the NRX is supposed to be insane…

I have held the GLX and Legend Elite side by side and feel the St. Croix was the better rod but not by much. I have heard good things about Elliott Fishing rods designed by Gregg Thorne. I wish I could get my hands on one to see for myself.

Ditto on the Elliott rods ,I handled them at the clam ice show, saving my money.

I have some friends that swear by the JT Rods (and not on there pro staff or whatever fwiw). I’d be curious to get others opinion on it, but a 6’10” JTX ML would be my next jigging rod purchase.

My go-to jigging rods are the JTX ML (6’10) and my TUCR APEX 6’8 MXF. I also use the JT Panhandler 6’6″ quite a bit too.

Before I had these rods, I primarily used GLoomis Walleye Series (6’10 Maglite XF and 6ft IMX Maglite XF)

All of these rods are in the same price range (or within $50 of each other). In my opinion, the JTX and TUCR rods are more sensitive and noticeably lighter in weight than the GLoomis rods. I can’t say 1 is better than the other, they have different feels but I always have a plain jig tied on 1 and a bucktail jig tied on the other. I do still use the GLoomis Walleye series for jig/plastics though (sold the GLoomis IMX)

I have never held or used a GLoomis NRX, but I have never seen a review that didnt rave about those as well (aside from the price point)

The JTX and TUCR rods look pretty sweet. I’d love to try the St Croix rods but they are widely available. I think the JTX might be the ticket.

I’ve been custom building rods since about ’78/79ish. Its almost mind boggling the advancement of rods since the late 80’s – and even more so in the last 5-8 years.

Just walking ICAST and seeing the vast amount of rod manufactures that you will never see or hear of is just crazy. Rods that were absolute top of the line 15-20 years ago are now your $25.00 rods at walmart.

The fascinating part of rod selection today is the ability to get a very specific rod that will perform to perfection for very precise applications. For manufactured rods, I run a crap load of Quatum Smoke and EXO rods. In the custom/semi-custom I have JT’s, TUCR, Thorn… Each are very good quality rods and the craftsmanship I feel equals the level I put into building my own rods.

When clients are asking me what rod to get for a high-end custom, I try to get them to view and understand what it is exactly they want from the rod. If its just a much lighter /more sensitive rod, “manufactured” is about the best route and there are a ton of equivalents. But if your looking for a very specific use like pitching 1/4-3/8 blades, dragging plastics, using much lighter line, and so on it can be very benificial to talk to a custom builder and bring your dream rod to life

I searched high and low with my last rod purchase and handled almost every single one in the $150-400 range for vertical jigging. It was going to have braid so I needed a nice soft tip, allow a lil give for fish to take before I set it, and not have them feel me before the set. And a decent comfortable reel seat. I get not every rod can have the Fenwick full cork seats but some of the seats nowadays are so uncomfortable it baffles me why they stick em on there. That’s where you grab the rod, it’s not the 5-8″ of full cork underneath. Make that out of dog crap for all I care! Noone fishes off it, make a better seat!

Imo all the high end rods are way too stiff. Have to get into the light action, which isn’t easy to come by, in order to get that feel I was looking for. The cheaper $100-150 options have that action but a bit tip heavy and the reel seats are awful. Once you put braid on any rod over $150, IMO, you’ve reached max sensitivity. Can only feel so much.

Brand names and price tags didn’t concern me with this purchase. I simply didn’t like the high end rods action, sure they were lighter than a feather, but that don’t matter if action isnt there. And not about to drop $400 on something that ain’t perfect.

13 muse black mlf with a Tatula 2000 I believe. Perfectly balanced and sensitivity, fatheads I can feel on my cheaper fenwicks with mono, my first cast off hidden falls shore I had to figure out what’s wrong until I realized it was my 3.25″ bfnt paddletail, paddling….

bigcrappie wrote:

I have been building on the new MHX ELITE PRO ROD BLANKS and for the money they are very light and sensitive. Pair it with a SKS handle and titanium guides and watch out fish.

I have been looking at those blanks myself along with the Batson Immortal series. How is the action on the ML/f? Is it bending half way down the blank? Hard to tell not being able to lay hands on them. Some manufactures Fast action seems medfast at best to me.

Gave my 7’2″ ML/xF St Croix I built to my dad for his B-day so looking around myself again. That St. Croix blank is a good one esp. for pitching 1/4 oz sonars/blade baits but was not pitching the 1/16-1/8th oz jigs as far as I liked. So looking at other blanks to try.

Sorry if this is hi-jacking, was going to start a new thread but thought it was the same discussion.

Thanks for all the good responses. I might look into custom as I have a pretty specific application for vertical jigging on the river in cold, fast water.

@Randy Weiland are you still building? Shoot me a pm if you’d have interest/time to build one.

I can vouch for the Loomis NRX and it’s sensitivity. I have a 6 8” NRX JWS 803 S MH. While the Loomis rods are a bit stiffer than what most are probably used to, it is incredible how much sensitivity is translated through the blank. They are expensive, but I would recommend this rod to anyone. I was able to get my hands on a few Conquest Loomis/Shimano rods at ICAST. Although I haven’t fished one yet, I can only imagine the quality/sensitivity of one based on my NRX.

Matt Moen wrote:

The JTX and TUCR rods look pretty sweet. I’d love to try the St Croix rods but they are widely available. I think the JTX might be the ticket.

Matt,

Sending you a PM, would love to set you up with a JTX, probably my favorite rod in the lineup.