Go the 4000 Tim, would suit that rod better

 Yeah agree with Sam

A mate of mine has the same rod with a 3000 Branzino, he reckons a 4000 sized reel is definately not needed for jigging the depths ill be jigging.

cheers tim

Nice rod, but definitely go the 4000 size reel.  I run the 6312 which is only 3 inches longer.  Actually got plans for a sustain FG 5000 for it.  Take the rod into a store and get what feels good and balances the rod.  I dont use the daiwa reels but the 4000 shimanos spool up well with PE2.  3000 wouldnt have the same capacity.

I will be jigging 40-100 gram jigs in 20-50 metres of water most of the time, maybe a little deeper if theres bugger all current offshore. I have only light jigged offshore once so far using my offshore soft plastic combo (7 foot 8-15kg Egrell Bear Essentials rod with a Saltiga S Extreme 4500 spooled with 50lb Saltiga Hyper Pe) I was using 60 gram Jazz Bakutyo jigs and hooked and landed 3-4 Cobia around the 10kg mark. Thats when i realised these demersal jigs work great, and now im hooked. I was going to keep using my soft plastic combo for light jigging but decided a shorter rod would be better. Since my first light jigging session i have purchased over 40 jigs between 40-100 grams, i've been buying all the fancy brands like Ima Gun, Jazz Bakutyo, Evergreen Caprice Kids, Javelin Jets, CB One, Shout, Fcl Labo, Jackall Laser Jigs, Zest Leaf. I've also got plenty of Shout Jaco Assist hooks and plenty of Van Fook Assist hooks.

I should recieve my Xzoga either Thursday or Friday so looking forward to that. Then i just need a reel and some pe2 braid and some decent bloody weather up here in QLD and i can try out the new combo.

Don't hold back on the opinions of what size reel i should run on the Xzoga, all opinions and reccomendations are welcome

cheers tim

 Have a look at the new diawa Catalina 4000, nice bit of gear very light , built tough 10kgs of drag and will be ideal for the type of fishing you described, the 4000 is a fair bit smaller than a 4500

Dirt the Catalina is a nice reel but a bit to heavy for the rod im getting, im trying to keep it nice and light

Don't really want a reel that weighs more than 350 grams.

cheers tim

I would def go the 4000 and max line capacity mate, especially if your in waters where tropical stuff swims.  You never know when your going to get spooled.

As you can see i got my xzoga yesterday

The metal logo on the grip wasn't glued down properly so i carefully removed it. Decided to stick my Saltiga on it tonight just so i could load it up. Must say it feels good, just need my Caldia for it now.

cheers tim

i have a daiwa fuego 3000 that fit 275m of 20lb braid on it, its a touch smaller than a stradic ci4 4000 which i also have that has 275m of a better quality/thinner 30lb braid (daiwa accudepth). find these 2 reels to be on par with each other just ones for a shimano tvs 70l and the other a tvs 70ml. i think a caldia kix would be a killer reel as i have an older model caldia 2000 and its not to bad, maybe check out the line capacity for the 3000/4000 and figure out if you want to run 20lb or 30lb or pe2 or pe3 as this can vary.

Thanks for the comments Righteo

They say on the Daiwa website that the new Caldia 3000 will fit 250 metres of pe2 braid. I plan on running 8 strand YGK pe2, i can get it for $80 for 300 metres which is good value. I know the new Caldia is a better reel than the Sol 3000 but with the gold/orange colour metal bits on the xzoga rod a Sol might look good. I might have to try my dads Sol 3000 and see how good it looks. I guess i can always bling up the Sol too with a new knob etc.

cheers tim

Hey

How do you find this setup. I have one very similar, I've got the Xzoga Taka SI 6013 and I'm running a Certate Hyper Custom 4000 with YGK PE2 300m and another 50m of Powerpro 50lbs of backing (cause I had 50m spare and it filled the reel nicely).

Upgraded the Hyper to Carbotex drag washers and I've managed to stop 15 kilo GT in 24m of water powering back to the reef, some...... well I had no chane and just got smashed into the reef.

I'm very happy with the rod and it loads up nicely. My badge was the same but have just left it and it's still there aftre a few trips.

If you are after more jigs in that 40-100g range PM me and I can point you in the direction of a company that makes them and they are a fraction of the price compared to what they want for them here.

tikki169- I haven't used the rod yet, i'm just waiting on my 3000 Caldia to arrive, it should be here next week.

Please shoot me a PM about those jigs

cheers tim

Got the new reel this week

Hopefully the weather is good this weekend so i can get offshore and test it out 

cheers tim

Tryed out the xzoga/caldia combo yesterday and it felt pretty good

Got a couple of small fish but nothing to exciting

cheers tim

Needs a power knob on thart caldia! Wow what part of the coast is that, looks deep close to the shore. Bought my first jig of ebay, a caprice kid 75 gram in the pink, gold, white colour. Never been jigging, would love to hook me combi jerk and 3500 seagate up to a sambo to kick things off. 

tim-o - We were fishing off North Stradbroke Island in QLD in depths from 20-50 metres

cheers tim