which rod?

[Dawgs]

I live in nj and I know what I use here but I'm looking on some info on what rod for Florida. I want to get a gift for someone who fishes for kings,mahi,cobia....
Grouper and snapper.

I have a custom rod maker here but I'm not sure what I need....heavy? Medium? Fast?

Thanks for your input
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[Tarpon4me]

Well, one rod won't be good for all those different fish. You need to pick trolling or bottom fishing, and we can go from there.
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[Dawgs]

I think I would rather buy them a rod that's more hands on so let's go with bottom fishing.

Again I'm not from fla....so which of those fish are bottom fish?
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[Tarpon4me]

Snapper, Grouper, Sea Bass, and such are bottom species. Amberjack and other fish are also caught while bottom fishing.

As far as the best type of bottom fishing rod, I prefer jigging rods. Shimano makes one called a Trevala, which runs around 120 bucks. It's very small and light weight, but don't let that fool you. The 120 lb class rod can handle the biggest of bottom dwellers. If that's out of your price range, Shakespear makes a Tiger Jigging rod for around 70 bucks. Any Basspro will carry both of those rods.
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[Dawgs]

I'm familiar with the trevala but I have custom rod maker here I'm gonna use but I'm not sure on the specs I should get. Length? Action? Etc
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[Tarpon4me]

He can use the Trevala blank. The length and spec's won't have much variance. I'd get the 120 lb class rod, in between 6-7' in length. Doesn't have to be anything specific. Just make sure what ever eyes he puts on it, match the type of reel you want to use. i.e. spinning rod eyes for spinning rods, and low profile eyes for conventional type reels. You are honestly better off just buying the rod in it's completed form. Just my 2 cents.
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