Hi Daz welcome to Fishwrecked.
There are plenty of rods to choose from as you know. Have you gone to the shops to check them out in hand? Dont forget there's the Shimano JiWrex range which are awesome for the big fish as well as Hearty Rise's Top Gun rods which are designed for big fish but easy to handle.

Is $600 limited to 2 rods or each rod??

one from Oceanside Jig Master but this is a PE 2-3 rod. Absolutely no complaints and very light confortable rod and I'm sure Ryan/Honsu have them in the PE 6-8 range. Worth a look and you get your members discount!!
just leave those Zest jigs for me...ha ha
the other is a Xzoga PE 6 rod. once again cant complain and light comfortable rod and again you get your members discount.
the parabolic rods have so much power.
would recommend you look at both and put a reel on each.
good luck and post some threads when you get back

Hi Daz,
In my limited experience jigging for dogtooth, 180lb breaking strain leader was found to be highly recommended. Also, to use a swivel-split-ring-swivel connection to the assist hook. This all has to do with their teeth.

Big Doggies seem to like 2 types of jigs: Short fat and very fast ones like the sevenseas hooker, or long, slim and slow ones like the Smith Nagamasa's. You will probably want PE8 with 100lb breaking strain and put on as much line on it as possible - the waters there are deep and getting spooled is always a possibility with big Dogtooth.

Finally, stay away from SEED rods, unless you intend to have a 1 piece become a 2 piece. I have never and will never recommend an XZOGA rod. I realise they are/were sponsors of this forum so if you want to know my reasons for this, I would rather take it to PMs.

For around $600 I would recommend the Hot's WEi World 48XXH. http://www.hots.co.jp/j/products/rod/weiworld.html

This is a very, very good rod! It is also roughly about 600$. I would also recommend the Jigwrex or the Shimano Blue Rose over the other two.

One last thing, most rods that are designed to jig around 200g are around PE5 and will not be able to comfortably fish 14kg of drag.

Guessing you need very abrasion resistant assists for dogtooth? I'm guessing wire or zylon?

I havent done a lot of heavy jigging, but have a xzoga, smith and a van staal. The smith (AMJ) is probably my favourite, I really like their rods. Soft tip for working lighter jigs, but heaps of power. They do a few different heavy models, not sure what is best suited to dogtooth? Pretty happy with the van staal too (i was somewhat surprised, as i'd orginally bought it for overhead fishing mostly, but quite a capable jigger). They had two heavy short spin models at baileys bait box for half price, but I think they're closed down now. Had a play around with an alutecnos jig rod that seemed nice as well. People in other parts of the world like jigging master, but some people here dont (not sure why, but never held one anyways). No idea what to recommend though.
I woulda thought you'd want to run closer to 15kg than 9kg of drag though?
Perhaps it might make sense to get a heavy rod for deep work for doggies and a lighter rod for working lighter jigs for 'smaller' fish like tuna and the like? Did Mark make any recommendations on the type of tackle to get?

Kasey, I've seen the hots wei world here, but not close to $600 ;) (guessing with 3 weeks enough time to order from OS though)

Yes I second the recommendation for the Hots Wei World, haven't used one personally but I've used one of their popping rods and my mate has one of their lighter jigging rods. Their gear is exceptionally light and nice to use, seriously considering a Wei World for myself. Also there's a few options from ocean revolution that would suit, their blanks are made by Smith and are wuickly making a name for themself. I've been very happy with my PE6 Zenaq and they make a couple of heavier options that would be good for doggies, they're really nice looking rods. All these are a little outside your budget but if you can stretch it, it opens up heaps more options.

I'm leaning towards the Smith AMJS52EX. I'll need to check it out this weekend.

Now to line & saltiga 6500expeditions - I've just recently purchased this reel - always been a shimano advocate. Can anyone let me know their experiences with line capacity on the expedition.
Also - what line to choose. I'm looking at a PE6-PE8 - probably a PE6 (80lb) so I can get 400meters on the spool... FINS? Tufline XP? JIG MAN? or VARIVAS?

Am I too ambitious?... how much pe6 or 8 can I realistically lay?
Daz

90lb PE6. Should get 400m plus from my research.

Pm sent

Well....I have had both EXP6500 and Stella 20k FA and now SW 20K....for capacity I go the Stellas. My EXP held exactly 300m of PE8 filled to the rim and a little more. The Stellas were comfortable with the same line and backing. KC's SW20k (FA) is currently loaded with nearly 600m of PE5. My new SW will hold more and then there's the new 20K MAX spool which will 600m of PE6. Both the Saltigas and Stella can do the job comfortably but the Stella is better with the line capacity.

Cheers guys,
90lb PE6 Varivas might be the go if I can get 400m of it on. But it comes at a premium price I see.
Ultimately - 300m should be sufficient, but you never know.
Honsu - what PE8 did you have on your EXP6500?
I also have the 10000FA, so might have to fit a 20000 spool if I need the capacity. Do you still stock these?
Daz.

get Varivas Avani Big One Max Power instead:

300m spool of 85lb PE6.

I had Varvivas Avani 10x10, then YGK Ultra Jigman PE8. Personally I keep the Saltiga with heavy line for shallow water work. Deep/doggies I'd go the stella. Run PE 5 or 6. I'm gonna respool my 20k with PE 5 (78lb) YGK Ultra Jigman 600m when I can get hold of some. Otherwise buy a "super deep" MAX spool and this will hold 600m of PE6.

I can checked if I can still get hold of the FA spool.

Thanks Honsu.
What do you think of FINS 80lb & Tufline. I like the thicker diameter for knot strength. Availablity in big spools (1200yd) is good.
Varvivas avani 600m spool is $400 - am i right?
daz

Thicker line is just easier for tying knots, its not any stonger than better, thinner line and you do get over it.

good points.
I guess I've just had poor exeriences with thinner diameter line. In particular - daiwa sensor & whiplash.
I'll probably end up going jigman... I'd love varivas - but it comes at a premium price. And if I'm out on a jigging charter in future - I don't want to lose line to a tangle up with 4 other anglers on raging sambos. that's when it becomes expensive.
daz.

too right Matt,
I don't want to spend time guessing where my jig is, especially if we're fishing 300m of water. I might get jigman ultra - 300m spool of pe8. Wish I could get a 400m spool of pe6 (but I beleive the next spool size is 600m).
I'll have to speak to Rocky first & get his opinion. He may suggest a minimum of 500m - and run only PE8.
Daz.

Thanks Matt,
good info.
daz.

Finally spoke with Rocky (shorefire) & he suggested I spool with 400m's of PE6. I'll have a look in a few tackle stores this weekend & spool up. I'll also be ditching the standard saltiga drag washers & replace them with the carbontex.

As for the rod, I'm considering a calstar grafighter blank. I'll most likely use the tcurve deep jig 400 & see how it handles the dogs. It was more than capable with the sambos - it's just tiring to the angler.

If it doesn't work out too well, I'll use one of Rocky's calstar 410's. It will be good to see how it performs. Zenaq rods also interest me - I may have to save the pennies for one of them.
Daz.