06-15-2011, 03:01 PM
I remember when the Shimano Butterfly Jigging system first got popular not many years ago, and the famed jigging rods hit the market. At the same size and weight of a typical medium action bass rod, but claiming 100 pound stand-up rod back bone, I was most certainly skeptical. The lifetime warranty was appealling, but I wasn't interested at the time in dropping coin on something that, in my opinion, had not proven itself yet.
Shortly after the fad began, other manufacturers, like Bass Pro brands, jumped on the band wagon and began producing their version of the Trevalla rods, which also sparked another market to become popular, very small, braid ready, high speed reels. The price was a little better on the Bass Pro brand rods, and a couple of my good friends and fishing buddies snagged one. Needless to say, the quality of the bass pro versions was not up to par, and they obviously out stepped their research and made a substandard product. Both rods broke, one on a 2' dogfish that I know wasn't 10 pounds. Both friends, on both instances, ended up with broken equipment and a bad taste in their mouth.
However, I continued to see good reviews on the actual product from Shimano, not the copy cats. Last year, before the season began, I decided to pick up a Trevalla Jigging rod in the 50-100 class spinning model, and paired it with a Penn Sargus SG5000 spinning reel. Line is Power Pro 65 pound braid, and my prefered leader is 50 lb fluorocarbon. I took some pictures of the outfit and pasted them below for reference:
![[Image: 747.jpg]](http://fearnotuna.com/uploads_user/1000/223/747.jpg)
![[Image: 748.jpg]](http://fearnotuna.com/uploads_user/1000/223/748.jpg)
![[Image: 749.jpg]](http://fearnotuna.com/uploads_user/1000/223/749.jpg)
To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure if either the rod or reel would be able to handle the pressure of my normal fishing method when targeting offshore bottom fish. We lock down the drag on the reels, and put a ton of pressure on the fish to get them off the structure in 100' of water, and to the boat before they cut us off on the reef, or get eaten by a cuda. But, after over a year of service, and landing the largest fish to date a couple weeks ago on the outfit (250 lb bullshark), I am a believer my friends. It only took me a half hour to DRAG a big bullshark to the boat, mind you, with this lightweight gear. You would not believe the heat I put on this fish, as the reel was locked down. Line, reel, and rod (and a testament to my knot tying ability) lasted through the battle. My buddy slapped the leader, so it was a landed fish. Just before he ramped up for another run, I cut the line to give my back a rest.
Needless to say, the gear has held up to numerous trips and countless fish. I don't give my seal of approval on a lot of gear, but this set up really is bullet proof. Even the drag on the reel is original, and hasn't needed to be replaced. Really strong gear, in a world of "they don't make it like they use to."
Price? The reel was 80 bucks at the time I think, and the rod was 119 at bass pro. About 20 bucks worth of line, so total for the outfit is around 220 bucks. The cool thing about the whole thing is, if you get a spare spool for the reel, you can have one spool with your heavy line for the heavier work, but swap out that spool of line with a lighter test spool, and you're ready for light work for flounder, spot tails, or casting chunks to Mahi Mahi or spadefish. Best money i've spent on a rod and reel in many, many years.
[signature]
Shortly after the fad began, other manufacturers, like Bass Pro brands, jumped on the band wagon and began producing their version of the Trevalla rods, which also sparked another market to become popular, very small, braid ready, high speed reels. The price was a little better on the Bass Pro brand rods, and a couple of my good friends and fishing buddies snagged one. Needless to say, the quality of the bass pro versions was not up to par, and they obviously out stepped their research and made a substandard product. Both rods broke, one on a 2' dogfish that I know wasn't 10 pounds. Both friends, on both instances, ended up with broken equipment and a bad taste in their mouth.
However, I continued to see good reviews on the actual product from Shimano, not the copy cats. Last year, before the season began, I decided to pick up a Trevalla Jigging rod in the 50-100 class spinning model, and paired it with a Penn Sargus SG5000 spinning reel. Line is Power Pro 65 pound braid, and my prefered leader is 50 lb fluorocarbon. I took some pictures of the outfit and pasted them below for reference:
To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure if either the rod or reel would be able to handle the pressure of my normal fishing method when targeting offshore bottom fish. We lock down the drag on the reels, and put a ton of pressure on the fish to get them off the structure in 100' of water, and to the boat before they cut us off on the reef, or get eaten by a cuda. But, after over a year of service, and landing the largest fish to date a couple weeks ago on the outfit (250 lb bullshark), I am a believer my friends. It only took me a half hour to DRAG a big bullshark to the boat, mind you, with this lightweight gear. You would not believe the heat I put on this fish, as the reel was locked down. Line, reel, and rod (and a testament to my knot tying ability) lasted through the battle. My buddy slapped the leader, so it was a landed fish. Just before he ramped up for another run, I cut the line to give my back a rest.
Needless to say, the gear has held up to numerous trips and countless fish. I don't give my seal of approval on a lot of gear, but this set up really is bullet proof. Even the drag on the reel is original, and hasn't needed to be replaced. Really strong gear, in a world of "they don't make it like they use to."
Price? The reel was 80 bucks at the time I think, and the rod was 119 at bass pro. About 20 bucks worth of line, so total for the outfit is around 220 bucks. The cool thing about the whole thing is, if you get a spare spool for the reel, you can have one spool with your heavy line for the heavier work, but swap out that spool of line with a lighter test spool, and you're ready for light work for flounder, spot tails, or casting chunks to Mahi Mahi or spadefish. Best money i've spent on a rod and reel in many, many years.
[signature]
